Early Sunbursts: How many do we have here?

[Joe mama]

sell it to me

[Kerry Marchman]

Here's my '81.. OK, I know I cheated. It's a Special, but it has a nice Sunburst finish..

[Hamer95USA]

On 9/4/2022 at 12:41 AM, wil50n said:

7 0094 and 9 0621. The second pic is more indicative of the colour of the '77, but still the red is even deeper in person

What's up with the guitar on the right with the extra knob & mini toggle switch? 

[thomasfxlt]

79, 79, 79, 85 

 

[Mike Burn]

Good day from Germany, here's my 1979:

[donner]

Hi Mike,

your old Demo of thhis (or another example) has ignited a lot of itches for owning a Sunburst here, not only one!

[wil50n]

On 8/8/2023 at 4:47 PM, Hamer95USA said:

What's up with the guitar on the right with the extra knob & mini toggle switch? 

Modded by a previous owner. When I bought it, there were piezo bridge saddles and EMGs. The extra pot was for piezo volume and the mini switch selected piezo or the EMGs. I removed the saddles, EMGs and wiring and left the knob and switch in place, but they do nothing now.

[Vintage Hamer-Lover]

Got a new Sunburst-family member from a very nice guy in Freiburg, Germany: 9 1372

 

 

 

She got a very flat sustain bridge - never seen. Does somebody can help me with informations about it: why? advantages? disadvantages?

 

 

The highest Ser. Nr. 9 1372 is on the right

 

[donner]

Congrats on yer family!

Feed them all well 😉

[kizanski]

2 hours ago, Vintage Hamer-Lover said:

 

God DAMN that's beautiful! 

[Joe mama]

17 hours ago, Vintage Hamer-Lover said:

Got a new Sunburst-family member from a very nice guy in Freiburg, Germany: 9 1372

 

 

 

She got a very flat sustain bridge - never seen. Does somebody can help me with informations about it: why? advantages? disadvantages?

 

 

The highest Ser. Nr. 9 1372 is on the right

 

you need to sell me one of them

[Disturber]

20 hours ago, Vintage Hamer-Lover said:

Got a new Sunburst-family member from a very nice guy in Freiburg, Germany: 9 1372

She got a very flat sustain bridge - never seen. Does somebody can help me with informations about it: why? advantages? disadvantages?

 

 

 

That looks very weird. The Sustian block bridge is made the way it is to have the correct height for the neck angle. 

The bridge in your pic looks more like the bridge on the '78 shimmed bridge version. But without the shim. I am not at home, so I can not look at my '78 to compare.

I notice that the saddles on your bridge aren't even screwed that high, to compensate for the fact that the bridge is lower. That is weird. Do you have a different neck angle on that Sunburst compared to your other Sunbursts?

Does that bridge give you enough string height to set up the guitar correctly? It looks pretty tight for the strings to move over the pickup and pickup frame? 

You could always make a rosewood shim, like for the '78 Hamer bridges, for that one. If you want to increase the string height.

Never seen a bridge like that without a shim on a Sunburst before.

[Vintage Hamer-Lover]

On 9/1/2023 at 9:12 AM, Disturber said:

That looks very weird. The Sustian block bridge is made the way it is to have the correct height for the neck angle. 

The bridge in your pic looks more like the bridge on the '78 shimmed bridge version. But without the shim. I am not at home, so I can not look at my '78 to compare.

I notice that the saddles on your bridge aren't even screwed that high, to compensate for the fact that the bridge is lower. That is weird. Do you have a different neck angle on that Sunburst compared to your other Sunbursts?

Does that bridge give you enough string height to set up the guitar correctly? It looks pretty tight for the strings to move over the pickup and pickup frame? 

You could always make a rosewood shim, like for the '78 Hamer bridges, for that one. If you want to increase the string height.

Never seen a bridge like that without a shim on a Sunburst before.

Thank You very much for Your reply, Disturber,  and sorry for my late reaction: I was on a short trip to the river Rhine with my wife.

Yes, all Your remarks are right - and strange. The string height seems to be correct. Also the space between strings and pickups incl. frames. But there is only a very little space left to lower the saddles on this thinner bridgeplate

I suppose most likely is Your assumption, that my new family member 9 1372 had a neck reset. Must be  a long time ago: the former owner bought her around 10 years ago, he did no repairs, and the owner before said he did neither.

Differences to the other four Sunbursts:

- the neck angle is a minor

- the bridge plate and the PU frames are less high

- some colour on the neck next to the body is a bit darker

But why all this action? Changing two PU frames and installing a rare bridge plate instead of refixing her with the correct angle? Just a bad done neck repair? Because I suppose, even ten years ago it won't be easy to find an original Hamer plate in Germany or Europe. Or did any firm or manufacturer reproduced this 78-style bridge plate?

I should have cleaned her better, but here are some further impressions of the neck heel.

 

And most important: she can scream and sounds great!
 

[Gabe]

Isn’t that just some hameritis round the neck heel?

 

Gabe 😀

 

 

[Disturber]

Looks like it might even have had a neck brake at one time. From pic number three. It looks funky?

[VECTOR]

20 hours ago, Vintage Hamer-Lover said:

Thank You very much for Your reply, Disturber,  and sorry for my late reaction: I was on a short trip to the river Rhine with my wife.

Yes, all Your remarks are right - and strange. The string height seems to be correct. Also the space between strings and pickups incl. frames. But there is only a very little space left to lower the saddles on this thinner bridgeplate

I suppose most likely is Your assumption, that my new family member 9 1372 had a neck reset. Must be  a long time ago: the former owner bought her around 10 years ago, he did no repairs, and the owner before said he did neither.

Differences to the other four Sunbursts:

- the neck angle is a minor

- the bridge plate and the PU frames are less high

- some colour on the neck next to the body is a bit darker

But why all this action? Changing two PU frames and installing a rare bridge plate instead of refixing her with the correct angle? Just a bad done neck repair? Because I suppose, even ten years ago it won't be easy to find an original Hamer plate in Germany or Europe. Or did any firm or manufacturer reproduced this 78-style bridge plate?

I should have cleaned her better, but here are some further impressions of the neck heel.

 

And most important: she can scream and sounds great!
 

If it plays great and sounds awesome it does not matter. Enjoy!

[Snoozingcat]

On 8/13/2023 at 9:50 AM, Mike Burn said:

Good day from Germany, here's my 1979:

I’ve seen a You Tube clip of you playing this Mike. Lovely guitar, and you are a fine player. 

[Vintage Hamer-Lover]

 

Felt in love again with a Sunburst: # 8 0313 ❣️

Just purchased her from a nice German guitar luthier named Alexander Fiedler in Lohr, Bavaria. Looks like NOS, even the Hamer Logo has the fresh white like toothpaste.

[Cboss]

On 8/12/2023 at 5:11 PM, thomasfxlt said:

79, 79, 79, 85 

 

That 85!❤  what are your thoughts on this bridge vs the sustain blocks on your others?