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Monaco Superpro. Tell me about your joy.


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Getting back into playing and thinking about guitars I've never played or owned. Reorganizing what I have and polishing them up, changing strings, reorganizing my "studio," etc. From what I understand the Superpro is a semi hollow body with no F holes or is it full hollow? How does this compare to the Newport or for that matter, a Gibson 335? Has anyone changed out the Custom Custom and Custom to anything like Fat Cats or any other lower gain pickups? How much larger is the body compared to a Monaco Elite, or is it smaller than a 335? I like the idea of the 25.5" scale. How does that go with the TOM? I've only played S and T style with 25.5. 

Almost forgot, any for sale?

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I owned one for a while. Really Nice guitar. I'm not sure if "chambered" is the same as hollow or semi-hollow? My Newport is more of a "woody" sounding guitar than the SuperPro was. I believe the SP arrived here with SD Seth Lovers if I remember correctly as the Custom Custom setup had been replaced. Guitar seemed quite a bit larger than anything else I've owned, but not overly big. Not uncomfortable. Scale length gave it a nice snap, but I think , ultimately, that's the main reason I sold it. I'm really gravitating back to 24 3/4" scale length. I believe Elduave owned it(maybe Original owner?), sold it. A buddy bought it in Minneapolis, played it for a while. I bought from him and sold it back to Elduave. Picture shows size compared to Elite.

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The Super Pro and the Newport are different animals. Both are hollow bodies, but with different scale length. And the Newport has a spruce top, Phat Cats and a Bigsby. The Newport is twangier in sound. 

I have never tried the Monaco Monaco, but I suspect I'd like it a bit more than the Super Pro even, as it has a center block. The lack of center block under the bridge pup in the Super Pro can make it sound like a big acoustic if the bridge pickup is of a low output type (PAF type of output). I must have had about 7 to 10 humbuckers in the bridge position in mine. I liked an old Burstbucker and the old Duncan JB I have in it now the most. The Burstbucker made the SP sound like a Keith Richards wannabee through my Fender amps, just awesome and Stonesy. But the guitar sounded to acoustic through my old Marshalls, when driven harder. The JB keeps the SP tight and focused when played through a cranked amp through a 4x12 cab. Then it can sound fantastic. But it has a ballsy bass output and it's pretty middy too. I try to dial that out a bit. It's a great rock guitar with the JB in the bridge. Sounds like a fat baryton Les Paul, kinda. I have an old Custom in the neck. It's a great neck pickup in this guitar.

And oh, I keep the volume on both the neck Custom and the bridge JB on around 7-8 almost always. Makes them sound like a good pair of PAF's. And when I need more humph I roll up the up JB to 10, for solos and when I want to make a lot of evil noise.

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Mine is a custom order goldtop with Lollar Imperial pickups, korina construction and ebony board. It also has 2 f holes.

It IS quite a bit larger than the other Hamers. I think it compares favorably to any 335 I ever owned. At the moment, I think it is my favorite Hamer ever. The only thing that keeps it from being my favorite semi-hollow ever is a somewhat similar (though even larger) Huber Rietbergen.....Which is sort of in another dimension, price-wise.

VERY different guitar than the Newport.

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Mine has been around the HFC a couple times, but it'll be with me for the long-haul. I love it. Came to me with SD Alnico II Pros instead of Custom/Custom Custom. I love the sound and haven't changed them. It's both more defined and more complex than any 335 I've ever played, and the longer scale gives the pickups more separation. Incredibly versatile, and just a joy to play. As at home rockin with the gain dimed as clean finger style, there's little you can't find in its repertoire.

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I've owned three SuperPro guitars.  All were killer, with respect to fit and finish.  I'm just not sure the scale and the semi-hollow construction works for me.  It doesn't really sound like a 335.  The scale length changes that.  I just couldn't warm up to the tone.  Two had Seth Lovers and I ran three sets of pickups through the best one.  I won't get another.  Just my opinion and my ear.  They are works of art...

PUGuKfZ.jpg

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Mine was made with a spruce top, sparkle trans-orange finish and an ebony board. The top and the finish push it a little closer to a Newport pro, but it still is its own thing.

 

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I have a SP in Jazzburst. Great guitar & the top is fantastic! The scale is Fender like which

suits me to a tee. I changed the pups. The original SDs were an aural equivalent to an 

outhouse in mid July. Almost as bad as the 59/JB combo. 14k for a bridge pup??? Gimmie

a phuckin break. I switched them for a custom wound set of Fralins that i purchased yrs ago from

a feller on TGP. It can do a great jazz tone, the middle position is chimey & the bridge plain

rocks! Great looking & sounding instrument. 😎

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If you like the 25 1/2 scale, you’ll love the Monaco.  I own three (a Monaco, a Monaco Superpro and a custom built Monaco DuoTone).   In addition to the tonal benefit, the chambered body takes some weight out of the guitar so it’s pretty comfortable.   It would be a tank on the shoulder if it were all solid.    Also - I wouldn’t refer to the solid wood under the pickups as a “block”.  That referred to Gibson terminology of glueing in a block of wood in the center of a 335.  Monacos (and Artists) were built with an “island” of solid mahogany that was never removed from the back.  
 

Good luck with your hunt.    One Monaco Superpro is currently listed on Reverb.

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1 hour ago, RBG said:

    Also - I wouldn’t refer to the solid wood under the pickups as a “block”.  

Neither the Newport or Super Pro that Ting Dung Who asks about have solid wood under the bridge pup. The are hollow bodies. The pickup basically sits in the cavity, only held in place by the pickup frame.

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Regarding "Hollow" or "Not Hollow"......the SuperPro is really more of a hybrid.

There is an "island" of solid Mahogany under the nick pickup and and a solid Mahogany island under the saddle and stop tailpiece area.  The chambering goes under the bridge pickup area.  I stand partially corrected.

 

 

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  • 5 months later...

Late to this topic.  I got my Superpro in ‘07; ordered it with a Duncan Jazz in the neck & a Seth Lover in the bridge.  The only thing I’d change is the nut width; it’s just a tad narrow when compared with my R7 LP.   Other than that, the neck carve is perfect, and by the fourth fret it widens nicely.  The resonance is way different from a solid body, and the construction itself is flawless, just what you’d expect from Hamer.  I’ll always keep an eye out for a 335 with the right neck specs, but the Superpro is the nicest guitar I’ve ever owned in 40+ years.  One silly issue is the way it sits on a standard guitar stand when plugged in.  Anyone else bothered by that?

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