Okay, so I mentioned it in the previous post: my current Guitar Love/Lust (I’ve used both words…and they both apply) is Hamer.
Hamer was perhaps the first “boutique” guitar company. Now there are several, with the most famous being Paul Reed Smith. Hamer Guitars was formed because the founders felt that the 70s Fenders and Gibsons were pretty much crap, and imports were pretty much crap, and the only decent guitars were vintage Fenders and Gibsons that were way too expensive. They felt they could make guitars just as good for less price, and everyone would be happy.
Fast forward to a month ago. I’m away from home at the military school for Captains. I go out looking for cheap guitars at pawn shops. I checked all of ’em out that I could find with Google Maps, and don’t see anything that really jumps out at me. Then I kind of get lost, end up in a pretty bad part of town, and see a pawn shop. I stop, and go in. The manager asks me what I’m looking for, and I say, “Guitars.” He says that he
What Is My Korean Hamer Standard Worth?
It’s an absolutely gorgeous guitar. It is what they call Cherry Burst (yellow-orange in the middle, slowly shading to cherry red on the edges), and has a beautifully figured surface. It looks similar to what they call “quilted maple”, but not exactly (I find out later it is silky oak). I love the contoured top, which reminds me of the higher-end Paul Reed Smith and Carvin guitars.
I ask to play it, and it has a good sound. The action is decent, and smooth, and it has 24 frets and a tune-o-matic bridge. But Hamer? At the time I was thinking it was basically one of those 3rd-tier companies that sometimes puts out a few lines of instruments that appear to be good quality, but still use cheap materials or lack in workmanship. I admitted this one didn’t seem that bad, but it never pays to jump too quickly on a pawn shop guitar whose worth you aren’t sure of. I’ve made that mistake a few too many times.
The price tag on it was $350. I start to walk out, and he asks me how much I want to pay. I tell him: probably less than you are willing to take. He says $250. I say $180. He says $200 with tax included. I tell him I will think about it, but he still won’t budge below $200 “out the door”.
Hamer Sunburst Electric Guitars
So I go home, and I do continue to think about it. I spend some time researching it on the internet, and find out the companies history.
To be honest, it is difficult to learn that much about a specific guitar on the internet. There are so many brands, and each brand has so many different lines, and they usually change their lineup every 2-3 years. Guitar lines merge and split and appear and disappear. It’s almost like the car industry in that. I now know that Hamer built its reputation on top-quality USA-made guitars, but they have also expanded to have guitars built in Korea, and even China now. Just like Paul Reed Smith, by the way. I’m still not sure where the Stellar was made, but I think it was probably Korea. In any case, my research leads me to believe that the guitar is well worth $200, so I return and buy it.
It is one of the most guitars I’ve ever played. It has a rich, full, fat sound that is the best of any guitar I’ve ever owned for Santana, Journey, and ZZ Top style songs. Bending is smooth and fluid. It has a nice growl down low when distorted, but still sings pure in the upper register for soloes. The tone cleans up very nicely for blues/jazz, too.
Hamer Daytona Sunburst Electric Guitar Made In Korea
So, of course, I have to have more. I started scouring eBay. I found and won a Hamer Sunburst Archtop Flame (in Tobacco Burst: dark orange blending into black on the edges) for $180, mainly because I wanted the case it came with. It has 22 frets, the same pickup configuration, and has an even fuller tone. It is in what they now call the “XT” line, which is the guitars made in Korea. Still high quality, but probably slightly less than that of the Hamer USA models, and probably equal to the Stellar.
Then I saw a Hamer Centaua and bid $100. I figure that $100 is worth it for almost any guitar, much less a Hamer. My guitar looks identical to this. But I have to admit I’m a little confused, because if you look up reviews of the Centaura on Harmony Central, you get that it is made in the US and has a H/S/S configuration. So is the CT212 not a Centaura? Well, if you look up reviews of the CT21 on Harmony Central, you get that it still has an H/S/S pickup configuration,
Also called the Centaurs, but is made in Indonesia. Finally, this website specifically refers to a Slammer Centaura CT212, and although the picture is wrong (still an H/S/S configuration), the features listed say it is an H/S/H…but this still isn’t my guitar, because it goes on to say there is a coil-tap pull-up volume knob. Mine does not have that.
Dating Imported Hamers?
In any case, after getting it all tuned up and locked down, I found that it has the best tremolo on any guitar I’ve ever played. To be honest, I never understood how anyone can use a tremolo, because even the double-locking tremolos I’ve used don’t seem to return to true tuning. This one does. The bridge position sound is extremely hot, which makes it perfect for metal, but the 2/4 positions on the 5 way apparently auto-tap the double coils. The result is a great quack for blues/country, and a great warm tone in the full neck position for jazz and solos. Again, just another guitar that is great fun to just play. The action is a little too high, and it needs another spring to allow me to tune it A440 (right now it only balances out at Ab), but that shouldn’t take much money, and I have a great sounding and playing guitar for whammy bar tricks!
And now, just today, I probably bid more than I should, but just won a Hamer Californian. Remember how I said lines change and merge? Well, the current Californian looks quite a bit like my Centaura, and appears to be about the same level of quality. But what I won is this older model:
Another Californian currently for sale has an imprint on the back of the headstock that says it was made in Korea. This one doesn’t. I don’t know if the imprint was a decal that mine has had rubbed off, or if mine was made in the US, like the earlier Californians were. Here’s reviews of the USA-made model, and reviews of the Korean-made model. Reading the reviews, I might feel slightly sheepish because I paid $260 + shipping, and you can see several that paid only $200 or just slightly more. One even paid just $100, but that guitar was in pretty bad condition. I don’t feel bad about spending so much more because they simply aren’t making these guitars anymore. It is apparently made for burning/shredding. It doesn’t even have a tone knob! That sounds perfect for me, because I always leave them turned fully up, anyway. The 27 frets is cool, too…I already like the extra range of 24, so 27 could be lots of fun. In any case, I expect the price of these guitars to continue to rise over the next decade. It should be quite collectible.
Serial Numbers For Korean Made Guitars
I still have bids in on a few guitars. We’ll see if I win any of them. I have low enough bids in that I feel if I win, I’ll feel like I got a steal, but low enough that I’ll likely be outbid and not on the hook for it.
1) USA-made. Starting at more than $ 3.6 k and running up to as much as $4900 (not including options, and excluding 2 special models that cost $10k and $8.5k), they are all beautiful and wonderful. Top quality. The way to tell is that it is usually just called “Hamer USA”, the serial numbers are stamped into the headstock, and there are usually just 6 digits . The first digit is the year and the following numbers are the amount of guitars Hamer has produced. Example 855342. This guitar would be a 2008 and it is the 55, 342nd guitar built to date. They are hand-made in low volume. 3 pieces a day. 2) XT Series (current) or Hamer Slammer Series (in the 80s and 90s). Ranging from $390 to about $900, these are made in Indonesia. The current XT series are just plain nice guitars with great sound, basically lower-priced versions of the Hamer USA models, just top quality factory-made in Indonesia rather than hand-made. The earlier
So, of course, I have to have more. I started scouring eBay. I found and won a Hamer Sunburst Archtop Flame (in Tobacco Burst: dark orange blending into black on the edges) for $180, mainly because I wanted the case it came with. It has 22 frets, the same pickup configuration, and has an even fuller tone. It is in what they now call the “XT” line, which is the guitars made in Korea. Still high quality, but probably slightly less than that of the Hamer USA models, and probably equal to the Stellar.
Then I saw a Hamer Centaua and bid $100. I figure that $100 is worth it for almost any guitar, much less a Hamer. My guitar looks identical to this. But I have to admit I’m a little confused, because if you look up reviews of the Centaura on Harmony Central, you get that it is made in the US and has a H/S/S configuration. So is the CT212 not a Centaura? Well, if you look up reviews of the CT21 on Harmony Central, you get that it still has an H/S/S pickup configuration,
Also called the Centaurs, but is made in Indonesia. Finally, this website specifically refers to a Slammer Centaura CT212, and although the picture is wrong (still an H/S/S configuration), the features listed say it is an H/S/H…but this still isn’t my guitar, because it goes on to say there is a coil-tap pull-up volume knob. Mine does not have that.
Dating Imported Hamers?
In any case, after getting it all tuned up and locked down, I found that it has the best tremolo on any guitar I’ve ever played. To be honest, I never understood how anyone can use a tremolo, because even the double-locking tremolos I’ve used don’t seem to return to true tuning. This one does. The bridge position sound is extremely hot, which makes it perfect for metal, but the 2/4 positions on the 5 way apparently auto-tap the double coils. The result is a great quack for blues/country, and a great warm tone in the full neck position for jazz and solos. Again, just another guitar that is great fun to just play. The action is a little too high, and it needs another spring to allow me to tune it A440 (right now it only balances out at Ab), but that shouldn’t take much money, and I have a great sounding and playing guitar for whammy bar tricks!
And now, just today, I probably bid more than I should, but just won a Hamer Californian. Remember how I said lines change and merge? Well, the current Californian looks quite a bit like my Centaura, and appears to be about the same level of quality. But what I won is this older model:
Another Californian currently for sale has an imprint on the back of the headstock that says it was made in Korea. This one doesn’t. I don’t know if the imprint was a decal that mine has had rubbed off, or if mine was made in the US, like the earlier Californians were. Here’s reviews of the USA-made model, and reviews of the Korean-made model. Reading the reviews, I might feel slightly sheepish because I paid $260 + shipping, and you can see several that paid only $200 or just slightly more. One even paid just $100, but that guitar was in pretty bad condition. I don’t feel bad about spending so much more because they simply aren’t making these guitars anymore. It is apparently made for burning/shredding. It doesn’t even have a tone knob! That sounds perfect for me, because I always leave them turned fully up, anyway. The 27 frets is cool, too…I already like the extra range of 24, so 27 could be lots of fun. In any case, I expect the price of these guitars to continue to rise over the next decade. It should be quite collectible.
Serial Numbers For Korean Made Guitars
I still have bids in on a few guitars. We’ll see if I win any of them. I have low enough bids in that I feel if I win, I’ll feel like I got a steal, but low enough that I’ll likely be outbid and not on the hook for it.
1) USA-made. Starting at more than $ 3.6 k and running up to as much as $4900 (not including options, and excluding 2 special models that cost $10k and $8.5k), they are all beautiful and wonderful. Top quality. The way to tell is that it is usually just called “Hamer USA”, the serial numbers are stamped into the headstock, and there are usually just 6 digits . The first digit is the year and the following numbers are the amount of guitars Hamer has produced. Example 855342. This guitar would be a 2008 and it is the 55, 342nd guitar built to date. They are hand-made in low volume. 3 pieces a day. 2) XT Series (current) or Hamer Slammer Series (in the 80s and 90s). Ranging from $390 to about $900, these are made in Indonesia. The current XT series are just plain nice guitars with great sound, basically lower-priced versions of the Hamer USA models, just top quality factory-made in Indonesia rather than hand-made. The earlier
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