The Special also carried the special-wound Hamer/DiMarzio PAF humbuckers. Several ads were reproduced, including one for Pastore Music of Union City, New Jersey, promoting Hamer and Travis Bean guitars, Risson and Orange amps, Anvil cases, and Tychobrahe effects pedals; a good snapshot of a real guitar shop of the times. Brand Manager Frank Rindone assumed all marketing, advertising and sales responsibilities. Hamer never had guitars made in Japan. The Import Sunburst Arch Top Flame Top was basically the equivalent of the Hamer USA Studio, which descended from the Sunburst Archtop Standard. Otherwise, it was similar to the Mirage. There were two primary differences; first the Artist Archtop was a semi-hollowbody with a sound chamber and f-hole, and the second was in pickups, which were Seymour Duncan Seth Lovers. Surprise, AZ. Hamer Electric Guitars for sale | eBay Cheap Trick Robin Zander Custom 12-String Guitar Pezband Tommy Gawenda Sunburst The pickups are Semour Duncan,its neck thru and a double cut away body. Production was reportedly around 10 guitars per week. that's for sure. Authorized Dealer Locator | Fender However, the truly deluxe features were 25th Anniversary engraved sterling silver truss rod cover and back control plate, a line of sterling silver purfling on the inside of the body binding, and a special silver-colored hardshell case! An unbound rosewood fingerboard with dots could be had for $699.95; $50 more got you a bound fingerboard with crown inlays. The new arrangement with Holmes allowed Hamer to broaden its offering by building a more mainstream instrument called the "Sunburst." The Who Pete Townshend Sunburst The early instruments produced by this company were similar to the Gibson Flying V and the Explorer. Sterling By Music Man StingRay Bass Guitar- Sunburst. Dantzig and Hamer did well with their business. This is my tribute to the fine guitars and basses made by Hamer USA. The neck remained typically Hamer and definitely Gibson-ish, with the tapered Hamer three-and-three head and heel at the body. To his dismay, McCarty couldnt care less about guitars. Numbers were stamped on the guitars, either in ink or black paint, or in yellow on dark instruments. Cruising The pickguard was a natty laminated tortoise affair, sort of oval extending under the strings from the neck, but with a kind of batwing extension over the treble cutaway horn. The pickguard was laminated pearloid. A finetune bridge and stop tailpiece completed the outfit. 1985-ca. The 22-fret rosewood fingerboard is bound with pearl dot inlays. Beginning in around 88 Hamer basses increasingly used EMG pickups, which began replacing Hamer Slammers. One thing led to another and in 73 Dantzig and Hamer opened a music store called Northern Prairie Music in the northwestern suburb of Wilmette, Illinois. USA guitars and import lines from Korea and Indonesia. The beginnings of Hamer Guitars (pronounced Hay-mer, not hammer) go back to those heady days of the early 70s, when Chicago was the breeding ground of soon-to-be-famous rock bands such as REO Speedwagon, Styx, and Cheap Trick. by Ronnie Dungan, "FMIC Suspends Hamer Production" on Premier Guitars website, Hamer Guitars History Interview with Jol Dantzig, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hamer_Guitars&oldid=1126369721, This page was last edited on 9 December 2022, at 00:19. In 95 Hamer introduced the Artist Archtop (Model GATA), the Studio Archtop Artist, and the new version of the CruiseBass. . Dire Straits Mark Knopfler Sunburst Controls were one volume and two tone with a three-way select behind the bridge unusual placement. These almost always came with a cream bobbin on the bridge pickup and a zebra (cream/black) bobbin on the neck pickup. Hamer Guitars - Date Your Hamer - Ed Roman Guitars Paul Hamer, the company's president, and chief salesperson, left in 1987 to pursue a career in retail. A streamlined version, the Phantom GT, was also offered beginning in 84. This model did not go into production in the 70s, but the shape, at least, found an incarnation in 82 as the Vector, right in step with the tastes of those heavy metal times. This did not really make good business sense. The Standard Custom remains in the line to this day. By around 82, Hamer had turned the corner on the road to success. The Import Stellar 1 was clearly a nod to the success of Paul Reed Smith guitars, with slightly offset double-cutaways, the upper horn extended a bit. Carved flame maple top over mahogany, rosewood dotneck with three-and-three head. This included guitars like Nielsens five-necked monstrosity, which was built by 82. These were controlled by a five-way select and one volume and one tone control. Finishes included Black, Transparent Wine Red, Sunburst, Silver Sunburst, Two-Tone Sunburst, Red Metallic, Transparent Blue, and Purple Metallic, though not all finishes were available on all models. The Artist Ultimate remains atop the Hamer line to this day. Hamer Standard 1997 | Reverb And now you know all about them. In 95, Hamer brought back a number of variations on the venerable CruiseBass, the original of which had run from 82 to 90. Hamer Slammer DA21 SSH Black Electric Guitar. Vintage guitars were called used guitars in those days, laughs Dantzig. Vanguard There have been a lot of Hamer guitars over the last quarter century. It was kind of a mistake. Ive always been a gearhead.. From 82 until the early 90s Hamer used Hamer Slammers black-bobbined humbuckers with Hamer stamped on the bottom plate.