Hamer Archtop

2000 Korean made
Sunburst

It's an import of the Hamer Studio. It resembles the Les Paul DC, but much lighter. Nothing too fancy.

This is the weakest aspect of the guitar. The Duncan Designed pickups are terrible. I replaced the bridge with a Duncan JB, and it sounds great, so I recommend replacing both pickups to everyone who buys this guitar.

The set up when I originally got it was very comfortable as it still is today. Some minor tweaking to the bridge, but nothing I couldn't handle myself.

The finish is beautiful. There are slight imperfections, but for a $300 guitar, this exceeds my expectations.

I've had it going on 10 years strong, and it has no indication of falling apart or anything. I've used it for gigging without any problem as well.

Never needed to contact Hamer.

For the money, this guitar is very hard to beat. It's very comfortable, well built, durable, and eye catching. Isn't that what everyone wants? At the time when these were coming out, there wasn't another import guitar that could match the quality it had. I recommend a change in pickups, and possibly tuner heads (they're ok, but not the best). Otherwise, finding these for sale on Craigslist or Ebay would be a cheap investment on a great guitar for all skill levels. This could easily be a go-to guitar for any gigging players who don't want to pay much money. Personally, I just never saw the point of bringing a $3000 guitar to a $300 gig.

This is an '01 Korean made Archtop. Black finish on a double cut Paul body style, wide cream colored binding, solid mahogany, with a mahogany set neck. 3+3 tuners on a 14 degree tilt headstock. 24 3/4" scale 22 fret rosewood fretboard with "brother o' pearl" dots. Stop tailpiece with a stanard "tun-a-matic" bridge. 2 vol, 1 tone, 3 way switch. And 2 of the ever present "Designed by Duncan" humbuckers.

Not being plugged into an amp, there's this beautiful resonance, where the guitar rings. All notes sounded clear, with some impressive sustain. Plugged in however....

On a clean amp, the pickups don't do this guitar justice. The "Duncans" are a low output pickup. Normally, that's fine with me. Less output, more tone. Not on these. The neck is almost lifeless. There's none of that GROWL that humbuckers give in the neck position. A lot of midrange, enough to get that Billy Gibbon's PING tone for those "La Grange" covers, but none of that growl. A shame really.

The bridge is just crappy. There's no other polite way to put it. On the clean amp, it just sucks. Pure and simple.

Distorted however, The pickups are fine. They don't stand out, they just work. If you're into metal or the like, these will suit you. But if you need a more adult tone, you'll need to replace thes pickups.

Volume controls and switch are fine, but I find that the tone control needs to be set at the "3" position to give it tone.

Here I have nothing but compliments! The neck is a flattened "C" shape that your hand melts into. The frets are well seated and polished. there's none of that fretboard edge razor that some of the imports have. (Ok, I HATE the plastic nut! Kills the sustain and tone, and made the low E string buzz. A new bone nut improved it vastly!)

The body is comfortable. The arch is classic, and the binding adds that touch of elegance. The neck is joined to the body, with plenty of room to reach the 22nd fret. Even the jack placement is well thought out.

It was used, and well kept. Some pick swirls on the body, a minor ding in the headstock, and that was it. Haven;t played live with it yet, and won't till I dump those pickups, but I feel she'll handle it well.

The finish is substancial, hardware seems solid, and the strap buttons are good.

Haven't dealt with them, but their site seems to have forgotten this model.

I'm just glad I got a "pre-Fender" one. I think that Fender's purchase of Hamer is going to destroy this great company. (Just as they did with Guild, Gretch, Charvel/Jackson, and the others they own.)

27 years or so of playing and being a tech. This is #24 of my collection, (Look for some on eBay soon according to my wife.) and it's a keeper. With pickup changes of course.

I have 23 others ranging from a '65 Gibson firebird, to a '06 squier Tele. This could end up in the top 5 of my go to guitars. (Firebird, Tradition Paul clone, Electra X155, Sunlite GS140 Strat clone, are the main 4, the 5th changes daily.)

Minus the crappy nut, and lifeless pickups, this is a great guitar. Fantastic Paul feel without the hefty tag. Much nicer then the $700 Epiphones, and very distinctive in it's own right.

Not sure what year this one is, bought it used. set neck construction, Gold (rustable) hardware, cherry sunburst flametop, goldhardware and gold vol/tone pots...yeah. 22 frets, Duncan Design pickups, PRS looking kind of body.

Upon buying this guitar, of course it beat my Mexican Fat Strat. However, it wasn't until I purchased a Seymour Duncan Custom Custom pickup to give it good tone. Dont listen to what the other reviewers say, they just nitpick...I play fast, aggressive rock and roll hardcore, and plugged into my 5150 I dont know how it compares to other expensive guitars but man, with this new pickup this guitar delivers the goods

The finish is pretty, sure. But this guitar looks like something taht an old guy over the age of thirty would use like maybe the guy from that supercool band Creed. I haven't paid attention to much of the action and fit stuff...i just plug in and play. I know all older guitar players who have no life outside of guitar will say, "Ha, punk kid who sucks at guitar, doesnt know what he's reviewing..." I know what i am reviewing, and for the price i paid this guitar is good. have you ever heard someone say, "Give any good guitar player any kind of guitar and amp, and they will still sound good." Yeah fellas, there's some inspiration for ya.... though im sure maybe the action could be improved...afterall it was NOT made in America ya know what im sayin?

I play shows regularly, toured with this guitar. The guitar stands up like any other guitar under $1000. However, the gold hardware is starting to rust, as all of my guitars start to rust in the bridge (but never the tuners like it is now)...i rock out when i play, and i do sweat. my strap button was loose when i bought it, but it wasnt anything that Krazy Glu and a couple o'toothpicks couldnt fix. I only bring my Strat as a backup ontour incase i break a string (which an E A and D string lasts only a few practices for me, on any guitar. You can think the Koreans for the construction job they made. The other day i noticed the nut that holds down the top of the tuner is starting to get loose...never had that happen before. The durability is mediocre or less, yeah. The other day my pickup switch broke off (there's still enough slack to flip the switch though) through a gig bag...dont have a hard case, that's probably why. Well, atleast it still plays. Oh yeah, and it stays in tune. Rock and roll, brah.

never even tried...i just go to the local music shop for all repairs and supplies.

I have been playing guitar for 8 years, i play punk rock hardcore rock and roll stuff that's fast, plenty of power chords and pentatonic scale. I play this guitar w/ a Seymour Duncan pickup through my Peavey 5150 amp (ooh yeah). the sound is good, it's a lot better than my old Mexican Fat Strat, i just wish the construction of the guitar was more rock solid. In conclusion, it stays and tune, it looks, sounds, feels good. Rock and roll brah.

Curled maple Aztec Gold, SD designed PU's. Awesome finish.

I've been playing Jazz, Blues and Rock for 36 years, in sessions recordings and live performances. This guitar delivers even with stock PU. I use Carvin Quad X preamp combined with my trade secret all-tube amp, this guitar will put the expensive counterparts to shame.

As with all my other 17 guitars, I have to make few adjustments on the truss rod, PU height, relative string gauge, etc. to fit my style. I am very pleased because all my parameters were met and satisfied

I added Straplocks and changed the PU selector due to my demands in playing this instrument. I always have a back-up but it rocks.

N/A

I will buy another guitar (or 2) if I will have another chance.

2000 model Hamer Archtop with Aztec Gold finish. This guitar was imported from Korea. It has 22 frets and two Duncan Designed humbuckers. There are two volume knobs and one tone knob. A three way selector switch is also one of the many features of this guitar. The guitar resembles a PRS. The tuners are generic but do a decent job.

I play classic rock, metal, and progressive rock. This guitar fits all of these styles very well. The Duncan designed humbuckers sound pretty good. The neck pickup sounds a little too thin for my taste though. I use a Fender Princeton 65 amp. The guitar sounds very good on the clean channel. The distortion channel is a lacking, but that could be due to my amp.

The guitar was set up perfectly for me. The action is low. The Aztec Gold finish is beautiful. There are no flaws whatsoever. I unfortunately cannot say the same about other guitars I have seen in this pricerange.

I just jam at home, but I believe this guitar would be okay for klive gigging. It seems like it is very well made.

Never dealt with them. However, the Guitar Center I bought it from was outstanding. GC takes a lot of flack but I had a great experience with them.

I have been playing for about two years. I have had this guitar for over a year. I have played many guitars in this price range since I purchased this guitar. There is no guitar in this price range that can touch it. If this guitar were stolen, I would get another without hesitation. The only faults that I can find in this guitar are the pickups could be better and so could the tuners. But for 300 bucks this is still an awesome guitar.

USA Archtop gold hardware, Aztec Gold Finish, 24 frets, 2 humbuckers -controls: treble volume bass volume and tone. 3 way selector
PRS look and style (double cutaway), jumbo frets

I play all sorts of styles of music, from christian worship to hard rock, and pop rock and emo types of music and more.
I've had this guitar about 10 months now.
I put on average I'd say at least 10-15 hours into playing it per week.
The treble and bass humbuckers have great distinction and give a lot of versatility and option to the player.
Plus your volume knobs are like the output for each of the humbuckers so if you ever want to set them and use them together you can get some very nice sounds.
I personally think the guitar has great sound to it.
You couldn't ask for a better treble sound out of a humbucker, and I haven't changed the pick-ups like others have.
And as far as the bass goes, this guitar was definitely designed with metal heads in mind, because it's literally rocks.
I was blown away by the sound of this guitar when I first plugged it in, sure my last guitar was a pretty sad Ibanez, but still, personally I think for the price the sound quality of the guitar is top-notch.

One of the things that stands out about it is the action.
It has a great feel to it.
You can always adjust things such as bridge height and position and what not, and it plays wonderfully.
The jumbo frets help out a lot, and the fretboard has a nice feel to it.
Basically the things just really comfortable to play.
It's simple to adjust the bridge if you're getting any buzzing, or you feel the strings are to high up, or you're not getting enough punch so to speak.
As far as flaws, the only problem I had was with my selector switch, but I took into the store and it took five minutes to fix, plus it was under warranty so.

This guitar is built to take a beating, it has and will continue to withstand gigging and live playing for me.
It's the real deal here folks, without the price tag.
The hardware seems pretty good, I suppose you could have to replace a switch or a tuner sometime in the things lifespan, but it's not like the hardware seems cheap either.
The thing's got 14 layers of laquer finish, 14 layers! I don't think that seems thin and I couldn't see it ever wearing off unless you put steel wool to the thing. Of course I'd hope you're smarter than that.
It you're going to do that on anything, take out your stratocaster, because once you have a a guitar like this, that thing will be collecting dust.
Yeah the starp buttons seem fine, they've lasted this long, i'd say they're solid.
Yeah, I depend on this thing. I don't use a back-up, and I think I've broken one string in the entire 10 months that i've owned it.

Yeah, I got it repaired.
Like I just said, the selector switch and jack, they just put in a new one, and yes it was covered under warranty.
I want to say it's got a lifetime warranty, as long as you've got you're receipt of course, plus i've got the card the came when you buy the guitar and it has all the details of the warranty and what not.

I've been playing more than 5 years now.
Guitar-wise, I sold my first acoustic guitar and an electric, then I got this one.
If it were stolen I would definitely get another one, no question, I love this thing.
Basically, I got this thing on sale, and for the money you couldn't ask for anything better.
The thing has great sound, great quality, great looks, and it plays, and for the price I paid, the thing's a dream come true.
Hamer's got good quality guitars and it might not be a PRS, but it's close enough for me and an heck of a lot less.
Some minor upgrades and you've got a guitar that'll rock as good as anything.
I love it.

2001 Korean model, 22 frets, mahogany body w/ arched maple top, black finish, 2 Duncan Design humbuckers (chrome covered), hardtail bridge, thin neck-very comfortable, double cutaway body design-sorta like a Les Paul or a PRS, only smaller and lighter.

It sounds way better than my old guitar (2000 model Ibanez RG220b), but I'm taking off some points because it buzzes when I hit any notes on the first fret.

I'm predominantly a metal player, but I like all kinds of music, everything from Fear Factory to BB King. I preffer playing with a shitload of distortion, and this guitar can really get the job done. The bridge pickup has a dirty, but fairly warm and inviting tone-perfect for Sabbath-esque riffs. The neck pickup sounds excellent on a clean setting. It also sounds pretty good unplugged-perfect for practicing scales and shit while watching TV.

I play through an Ibanez Smash Box *Deftones-esque crunch guaranteed*, Ibanez Chorus/Flanger, Boss Digital Delay, and a little 30 watt Marshall.

The action was surprisingly good. It's a little low-I need to get it set up properly. The finish is absolutely flawless. Beautiful guitar.

I love the neck on this guitar. It's not too thin, but thin enough. I hate fat necks.

I'm in the process of writing some tunes, and possibly getting a band together soon. I can totally see gigging with this axe. Like I said, it has a similar vibe to a Les Paul, only lightweight, so that would make it perfect for gigging.

I'd still take a backup though.

The guy at Guitar Center that sold it to me was really cool-he even changed the strings for me.

I'm probably going to take it back and install some new pickups *Seymour Duncan Jeff Beck sig. pickup in bridge, S. Duncan Classic 59 in neck* and some Sperzel locking tuners, as soon as I get paid again.

I've been playing about 2 years-I'm no Yngwie Malmsteen (sp?), but I'm having a blast. Aside from the Hamer, I also have an Ibanez RG220b, a no-name accoustic, 30w Marshall amp.

If it were lost or stolen I would definately buy another one, or possibly a Schecter.

I love the way it feels when sitting down, or strapped on. It's got a very nice aura about it. All it needs are the aforementioned new pickups and tuners, and I'll be all set.

1993 USA Archtop. Solid mahogany body. Prestressed mahogany neck dove joint. Simple volume, volume, tone. Two P-90 Duncan pickups. Body styled after the Paul, hence the archtop name. Tune-O-Matic bridge, Schaller tuners that stay in tune.

Wonderful in between tone. Not a Strat, not a Paul. You can hear its distinct voice in the band mix. Can be noisy when using excessive gain on the distortion box. Tone control Q in just the right place. Varries tone beautifully.

Built as a piece of art. Wonderful. USA model NOT imported models. Have owned this guitar for a year.
All but perfect assembly. One small crack in the finish at the binding on the neck joint. Only the clear coat, no structural problem.

This guitar is made to play. A little heavy but this gives it the meaty tone. Schaller tuner stay in tune. I use Gibson 740's 10-39. Install them with adequite number of wraps, pre-strech, tune and forget. I never goes out of tune! Only guitar I can say that about and I have owned or played almost everything. I use this guitar live NO BACKUP. It never let me down.

Hamer/Kaman Music are very supportive. 'Tho I've never needed them for this guitar.

No question the finest guitar I have ever owned. I've owned Gibson, Fender, Rickenbacker. Have played everything else. Yes, PRS too. Fit, finish, value. Simple to operate. Worry about the music not the instrument. What more could you want?

2000 model cherry sunburst h/h pickups goldhardware
1tone 2vol knobs 3 way toggle rosewood fretboard

excellent sound warm kinda of blusey bite no noise or humm

no flaws good set up

emailed me back within 2 days about neck radius

excellent work excellent sound i love it

-mahogany body set mah neck rosewood neck 1 vol 2 tone 1 3way switch
aztec gold maple top gold hardware

excellent sound

excellent guitar for the price awesome looks excellent playabilty
could not pass up this guitar at guitar center for the price.
change the pickups like 90% of the people do any way and it is awesome.

2001 hamer archtop guitar with the sunburst finish. Gold hardware, set neck and mahogany body with pearl dot inlays. The top is flamed the best i have ever seen one

i play creed metallica stained just about any rock style and this one covers it all. The stock pickups have a fat sound that is just a little too muddy for me so i put 2 dimarzio super distortion pickups in it and it scorches like a 7 headed demon from hell. And the clean tones sound like a bell.

The set up was suprisingly well, It wasnt perfect though the nut was cut way too high and the frets had a hardly noticable buzz with high bending on the upper frets. The top is flamed like i have never seen i know i got lucky with this one. I put schallar locking tuners on it instead of the no name tuner from the factory

i can depend on this one for anything. I would take this any where i went. I put 20 hours a week on this thing and it smiles back and says is that all you got. I put straplocks on because the stock ones are a little small

N/A

This guitar is for you if you want a PRS guitar or a Les Paul DC. It has the fat sustain but cost and weighs a third of the weight and the price. I have a strat a les paul DC standard and a SG which i use for slide this hamer is a nice additon and can hold its own with the other guitars easily. I been playing for 10 years and if some one stole this guitar id rip off thier balls and feed them to thier mother . Have a nice day

Mahogany body,Maple carved flame top,Two volume, one tone control ect.

I talked to my buddys that work at guitar center and the word is out! Buy the thing,change the pickups with high end ones that the big buck Guitars have, replace the tuners with Top flight ones and your in! two of the employees have done just that. The sound is a 6.5 until the upgrade and a 10 afterwards. this axe is on sale for $299,00...{shhhhhhh!!!!} now as Of FEB 27 2001

Everything was set up just fine. There can be no disagreement that this is a Great Looking Guitar.

Hey $299 for a flametop Quality Mahogany body and the only thing left is a pickup change and tuners and you have a great guitar that you don't have to be married to! If it were stolen life would go on as the world would stop turning if you lost your custom shop Gibson

- Nice archtop Flame Top
- Bound Mahagony - Craved Maple Top
- Rosewood Fingerboard
- Mahagony Neck
- 2 Duncan Designed Humbuckers
- Aztec Gold finish
- 3-way switch for pickup selection
- 2 volume and 1 tone knob

The sound is pretty nice considering the prize of the guitar. The Duncan Designed humbuckers are very warm and have great sustain. Even though I liked the pickups I exchanged them for Seymour Duncan JB (bridge) and 59 (neck)pickups. Those gave em the sound I was actually looking for. I also wanted to get them in cream/black color to get a better look (It looks a lot like the Santana PRS model).

The factory did a very good job setting up the guitar. I didn't have any problems. Great action!!

The finish/ color (aztec Gold) is beautiful.

Haven't had any problems. The only thing I might change in the future are the tuners. I might put some Schaller tuner in. That is it. But there is nothing wrong with the tuner on this guitar. This guitar really stays in tune.

No problems!

Overall, I want to say that this guitar is pretty nice. I've been playing now for 14 years and I've had quite a few guitars, and I have to say that this one is a "keeper". I have an Ibanez RG 560 with DiMarzio pickups (Tonezone & HS3), Fender Stevie Ray Vaughan Signature Model, and Ovation Guitars, and I must say that this guitar is at the same level as all the other guitars I own.

It sounds great for Santana songs as well as Jazz. The Duncan 59 pickup gives you a great warm, and very powerful sound (in neck position) and the JB model is great for Lead-guitar playing. The way I modified this guitar, you can use it for any type of music (Jazz, Blues, Funk, Rock, Metal.....) It sounds great. Plus, you can't beat the prize. For $299 you get a GREAT guitar. I guess I was lucky to get it for this prize. Please note that the prize went up on these guitars. I recently checked the prize at Guitar Center and it went up to $499.

99 hamer archtop. Aztec gold finish. 22 fret, Red mahogoney set neck(glued not bolted) with rosewood fretboard. 5 piece mahagoney body with bookmatched flame maple top. 2 duncan designed HB (decent. two volume and one tone control.

Acoustically this guitar sounds pretty good. Its fairly bright with a good midrange twang and nice sustain. Not as dark or rich as a Les Paul but this is to be expected because of its composition (its fairly light about as heavy as a strat) Amplified the guitar does a pretty good job of emulating the classic les paul sounds only "lighter" with more midrage and less bass. The pickups are good but very "vanilla" sounding. I believe that this guitar would definitely benefit from a pickup upgrade but they sound good enough as is that i'm not all fired up to spend $200 on ducan seth lover's. Clean sounds are good in the neck and neck/middle position with the bright engaged on my 68 bassman. The bridge pickup is worthless for clean although this is true for every guitar except the telecaster in my opinion. Distorted, the guitar really shines with fat smooth leads out of the neck pickup and bright muccular tones from the bridge that are perfect fo hard rock or heavy metal. I've heard better but this guitar ain't bad.

The guitar plays fine. the action might be a little high for some but I don't like it hovering just above the frets anyway. The nut like many guitars is a little suspect as the action at the first fret is just a little too high. Either the slots need to be deepened ot the nut should be filed. The pickups were adjusted fine in terms of height but the rear pickup cover vibrates annoyingly with certain notes. This doesn't induce feed back and you can't hear it live but I need to trace this down and get rid of it. The finish is amazing at this price. The aztec gold color is very nice and the flame maple while not quite as good as say a PRS or a custom shop guitar it is beautiful none the less and I get a lot of complements on its looks. That being said there are a couple of flaws in or under the finish. Between the pickups is a black speck of of something (tint or dust maybe). The back of the neck has a smallhole in it that was obviously filled before it was finished. There is a small chip in the fretboard near the nut that has been filled. There are also some touchups at the edges of the fretboard near the fret ends. The neck is wide and medium thick but not the baseball bat type you find on some Les paul type guitars. It feels great in my hands and plays well. The biggest problem is the damn pickup selector which depending on the day of the week will or wont stay in the bridge postion. This is very annoying and will have to be fixed. Lastly, the body is made from 5 pieces of red mahagoney Although I would prefer a solid piece, this is standard for cheaper guitars (the standard strat is a 3 pice poplar body). If it wasnt for these MINOR FLAWS I would give this guitar 8 because of its good playability and great looking finish

THIS GUITAR STAYS IN TUNE!!!!!!! I don't know if I'm lucky or not but this guitar stays in tune for DAYS with only minor tweaks after a heavey blues bending spree. If I was just using it for rhythym I would barely need to touch the tuners (which are average at best)

never dealt with them

First of all I want to state that I do like this guitar. It plays and looks great and gave me that dual humbucker sound for a fraction of what you would overpay for the cheapest shit Gibson (before you get on Hamer check out what gibson offers in the sub $1000 range)Here's my only caveat you have to search through a bunch of these to find a good one. It took three tries to find one that felt good played good and looked good. Each of the three guitars was vastly different in materials, set up and feel. This is what you should expect in a cheapo korean model -INCONSISTENT MANUFACTURING. This does not mean that there are no good korean Archtops. It just means that youy have to look for one. I found one and I like it. A great guitar for $399

Mahogony body and neck maple top. Cherry sunburst finish with two ducan design pickups.

The sound ain't bad, not bad at all. It one of the few good things that I can still say about it.

The fit, finish, action and setup were terrible.

I didn't keep it long enough to find out, but I suspect it was not going to be very good.

Now theres a good joke! No phone number, no web address. Who you gonna call.

Ok, I admit it, I was wrong in my previous submission. I must have been out of my mind!!! I sent the guitar back a few day after the submisson. I really wanted to believe I had a good guitar and the so called small problems could be solved. They couldn't. I apologize to all those on this page that dogged this guitar, you were right I was wrong. Do not buy this guitar. There are a lot more instruments out there a lot more worthy of you money!!!

Mahogony body and neck, maple top. Cherry sunburst gold hardware. Two Duncan-design pickups(which are good at what they do),all things consider, even thought they seem to get bad reveiws. The guitar was made in korea. The neck is glued on, not bolted like some cheapy's. Two volume controls and one tone control. The neck is thin but has a great feel, even for my long fingers. Beautiful!!!!!

The guitar gives a good rock sound. Probably not best suit for country. It does has good sustain. But lets face it, if your looking for a replication of a Strat or a Les Paul sound then go buy a Strat or a Les Paul. On stage through a good Marshall it screams!!! I have not had the buzzing problem others have reported. At low volume it cleans up good, although I say again, "this is not a Les Paul or a Strat".

The finish had only one very small flaw. The pickup selector was noisy for the first few times but then smoothed out. The neck was bowed back slightly, and I say only slightly. After I ajusted it then all was fine. I lowered my strings and get pretty fair action. The frets were fairly low cut from factory, unlike my Gibson Explorer that I had to file down and do a setup on in order for it to play decent. The neck of the Hamer felt like an old friend from the first time I play it. The tuners are very smooth.

Only time will tell, but am confident that if taken care of it will do well in the long run

It has a limited lifetime warrenty. If they stand behind it then thats good. I have not dealt with the company so I don't know how well they will stand behind their product.

I have been playing for 33 years and have played in bands off and on for 25 of those years. I have owned Gibsons, Fenders, Ibenez......you name it. And trust me, any of these names on a guitar doesn't necessarily mean "Quality". To the guy who calls this a piece of crap, He should have played my first really professional guitar I bought, or so I thought. It was a Gibson Marauder. "Now theres a piece of crap" which by the way cost almost as much 25 five years ago as this guitar does today. I quickly traded that for a Fender Strat. I thought now here a guitar, but love nor money could get the harmonics and the action set up right. So then I traded for a Les Paul. You guessed it
another pile of trash. Finally I got ahold of a Gibson Explorer that I fell in love with and still own one, along with a 1984 studio Les Paul. Both are my pride and joy. Guitars are like new auto's, Just because it's new and just because it has a certain brand name on it don't make it good. Maybe part of the problem is that this guitar is not a beginner guitar, even thought the price would suggest so. But also if your name is Eric Clapton, then you can buy whatever you want. As far as it staying in tune, I don't have a problem, if you do, then tighten the screws on the end of the tuner, that may help. As far as the guitar going out of tune when you apply pressureto the neck,then don't do that!! And I have news for you, try it on whatever your playing. I'll tell you what you'll find, it does the same thing. Yes The neck is light and thin. The whole guitar is light, but that was one of the attractions for me. The bottom line is everyone has different taste. Play this guitar before you buy it as I recommend that you do with any brand. I have never owned, nor could afford a US made Hamer, so I can't compare the two. But this one is definitely worth considering!!!!!

Mahogony body and neck, cherry sunburst gold hardware. Two Duncan-design pickups(which are good at what they do),all things consider, even thought they seem to get bad reveiws. The guitar was made in korea. The neck is glued on, not bolted like some cheapy's. Two volume controls and one tone control. The neck is thin but has a great feel, even for my long fingers. Beautiful!!!!!

The guitar gives a good rock sound. Probably not best suit for country. It does has good sustain. But lets face it, if your looking for a replication of a Strat or a Les Paul sound then go buy a Strat or a Les Paul. On stage through a good Marshall it screams!!! I have not had the buzzing problem others have reported. At low volume it cleans up good, although I say again, "this is not a Les Paul or a Strat".

The finish had only one very small flaw. The pickup selector was noisy for the first few times but then smoothed out. The neck was bowed back slightly, and I say only slightly. After I ajusted it then all was fine. I lowered my strings and get pretty fair action. The frets were fairly low cut from factory, unlike my Gibson Explorer that I had to file down and do a setup on in order for it to play decent. The neck of the Hamer felt like an old friend from the first time I play it. The tuners are very smooth.

Only time will tell, but am confident that if taken care of it will do well in the long run

It has a limited lifetime warrenty. If they stand behind it then thats good. I have not dealt with the company so I don't know how well they will stand behind their product.

I have been playing for 33 years and have played in bands off and on for 25 of those years. I have owned Gibsons, Fenders, Ibenez......you name it. And trust me, any of these names on a guitar doesn't necessarily mean "Quality". To the guy who calls this a piece of crap, He should have played my first really professional guitar I bought, or so I thought. It was a Gibson Marauder. "Now theres a piece of crap" which by the way cost almost as much 25 five years ago as this guitar does today. I quickly traded that for a Fender Strat. I thought now here a guitar, but love nor money could get the harmonics and the action set up right. So then I traded for a Les Paul. You guessed it
another pile of trash. Finally I got ahold of a Gibson Explorer that I fell in love with and still own one, along with a 1984 studio Les Paul. Both are my pride and joy. Guitars are like new auto's, Just because it's new and just because it has a certain brand name on it don't make it good. Maybe part of the problem is that this guitar is not a beginner guitar, even thought the price would suggest so. But also if your name is Eric Clapton, then you can buy whatever you want. As far as it staying in tune, I don't have a problem, if you do, then tighten the screws on the end of the tuner, that may help. As far as the guitar going out of tune when you apply pressureto the neck,then don't do that!! And I have news for you, try it on whatever your playing. I'll tell you what you'll find, it does the same thing. Yes The neck is light and thin. The whole guitar is light, but that was one of the attractions for me. The bottom line is everyone has different taste. Play this guitar before you buy it as I recommend that you do with any brand. I have never owned, nor could afford a US made Hamer, so I can't compare the two. But this one is definitely worth considering!!!!!

Sticker on the back of the neck said "Made in Korea". 2 volume, 1 "tone" control. Beautiful finish, great looking guitar. It ends there.

Unlike the rest of the poor souls on this page, I was lucky enough not to have even left the store with the thing. I went to my local Guitar Center looking for Epiphones and since they don't carry them the manager started plugging the Hamer. He told me it's the absolute top of the line, better than a Les Paul (at $499?). Before I go any further, let me say that I am a complete amateur. This will be my second electric, the first was a Telecaster Thinline semihollow that's just beautiful but too mellow for my taste. But even I could see that this Hamer was crap. I plug it in and it sounded God-awful... the salesman had just appeared to tune it. I tried to tune it and two strums and the thing was out again. It was all buzzy at certain frets and I told the manager, who said that the truss rod just needed adjusting because he had just put this piece of crap on the floor the day before. Wouldn't you make sure the thing played correctly before putting it out in front of customers? He "fixed" it and gave it back to me, and it just sounded awful. No character, no sparkle, cheesy controls made no difference, garbage. Anyway, it never got any better. Horrible. Don't do it.

Guitar was set up so poorly that it buzzed and rattled, truss rod was all out of whack, I could do better with rubberbands and a tennis racket.

Doesn't stay in tune if you can even get it IN tune to begin with.

Didn't call, won't call, won't buy it, hates it.

It's a shame because the guitar looks fantastic. Beautiful finish, nice, flowing lines, sounds like hell though. I'm waiting until I get paid to go back for the sweet turquoise Fender Fat Strat I saw, played, and fell in love with.

Ah, the bargain basement bin. A aztec gold import, made in 2000, maybe 1999. Two Duncan Designed (not too bad, honest) pick-ups, one tone (like it makes a difference). Nice finish, it looks sharp, but looks aren't everything. It's a pretty sweet les paul style wanna-be. All gold hardware, Tune-O-Matic bridge. Volume control for each pickup. The tuners bite. Sorry.

I'm a blues player, true and true. I've been playing acoustic for as long as I can remember. I was looking for a moderately priced electric that had a good sound out of it. I had been using a friends fender for a while (a mexican made doohicky, nothing special). I like the hamer, the look, the style, the feel. I checked it out at the store and thought it was pretty sweet. I like it. I brought it home. I plugged it in to my Crate. It sounded pretty good, for all of 10 minutes. Then it went out of tune. I retuned it, same thing. So, it can't stay in tune, that's okay. I played with it some more. It's pretty clean so long as you are high up on the neck, after that, forget it. It has a bit of a hum and the action was pretty poor. Also, if you apply any pressure at all to the neck, you can hear a change in the note. It's like they made the guitar out of the same balsam wood they make the little flying planes out of. Who needs bends when all you have to do is just apply a little thumb pressure. This will be going back tomorrow. I got it Wednesday, today is Friday. It lasted all of three days. GOOD NIGHT IRENE! I'm going to pick up a new guitar tomorrow. Probably going for the Amer. Std. Tele.

It was set up okay, although the action was a little high for my taste. The pickups seem a little cockeyed. I wish I'd had my glasses with me at the store, and some punk was attempting to slap base some punk tune. Wood quality was pretty poor on the neck. The body was be-a-utiful though. It was perfect, no blemishes, no nothing. Wish the whole package was like that.

Strap buttons are solid, so far. The body will take a beating me thinks, but the neck, eek gahd I dunno. Balsam wood I tell ya, balsam wood. The finish looks sharp and heavy, but who knows. I wouldn't use this on a gig. I wouldn't use this on a pinata.
Not going to give it a chance to play live......it would be pretty good if you were playing dead though.

Haven't called them, have no interest in calling them. In fact, anyone know their number? Didn't think so.

I've been playing for quite a few years now, and all I can say is that this is by far one of the most pathetic excuses for a guitar I've ever come across. Yeah, I know, you get what you pay for, but I have a Tacoma I bough for $500 bucks and it is just amazing. I've got a martin that I inherited from my great uncle that makes me cry when I play it. I've used a SRV Strat and it was just beautiful. I've played a Dean (okay I guess) les knock off that runs about $500 and it sounded so much better than this hamer. It's quality was much better, more reliable. Even the $100 job my baby brother got when he was ten was more solidly built (yeah, that sounds really sucked, worse than this one, but it lasted). If this guitar were lost or stolen, i'd feel bad for the schmuck that found it or took it. I bought this cause it sounded great the first time I played it. It was sharp and not too pricey. But once you get out of the store and really jam on it, it chokes--worse than the Boston Red Sox. I'll let you know what I think of my new guitar in a few months. I expect that one to last. Peace and happy playing.

Mahogony body and neck with carved maple top. Two Duncan-designed (which means manufactured cheaply by another company) pickups. Volume pots for each pickup, single tone pot. Tune-o-matic bridge. All hardware is gold colored.

I play everything from jazz to heavy metal. This guitar is anemic when it comes to sound. The variation in tones is virtually nil. I play through a Boss multi-effects processor and a high end Ampeg tube amp. Some tweaking made the guitar sound halfway decent. Straight through an amp with no effects unit, this guitar sounds like a low end $100 Les Paul copy.

There were no obvious flaws when the guitar arrived. The nut wasn't well cut, leaving the action on the 1st fret too high. The action was, of course, set too high, and the truss rod was loose. Minor adjustments made the action much better. However, the neck is so light that even light pressure caused the guitar to go out of tune. The finish looks nice. The wood is so light in weight that it feels more like pine than mahogany. The neck feels like plastic.

I'm not going to keep this guitar long enough to find out about reliability. Given how light the wood is, I doubt that this is a sturdy guitar. My thin Ibanez S series custom weighs more.

Don't need customer support. I'll never buy another Hamer guitar.

This guitar lists for $849.00? What a load of crap. Artificially inflated list price to make a bad guitar look good. It's too light, the neck bends if you even breathe on it, the sound is thin and hardly changes with pick-up configuration, it was poorly adjusted from the factory, it's difficult to play sitting down... I wouldn't use this guitar as my 5th backup. I've been playing a long time, and I've owned everything from Ibanez to Fender Strats to a genuine Les Paul Gold Top to off brands. This Hamer is, especially for the price, one of the worst guitars I've owned. It won't disgrace my studio for long. I'm returning it tomorrow.

This is a second submission, approximately one month from date of purchase. What I said earlier here remains the same.

Now that I have had time to really know this guitar, I can say that it isn't really very good. I plays like a budget instrument. And it sounds like one. It compares with an epiphone, basically. Unless you are a very casual beginner, don't waste your money.
The overdrive on my Marshall makes the thing feedback like a microphone. Cheaply made pickups. Not real Duncans, I am quite sure!
The neck is so flimsey that you can flat the tuning by lightly pressing on the back of the neck. It sounds like a toy.

The action and finish were good.

NA

NA

All toll, I have been playing about 37 years. This was the first budget guitar that I have ever purchased for myself. It is also the last. The sales guy at the store was nice enough to refund my money. I bought a new American Standard Telecastor, instead.
Don't misunderstand me: this would be an okay instrument for a kid, although my first electric was a fender, way back when. Fender, Gibson. You can't lose with them. And then, the Designer brands. But never buy a toy if you really want to play. Get a used Strat or SG. Get one of the budget Gibsons or Fenders: they're going to be a zillion times better than any asian-made copy brand.
Word to the wise.

Korean made, amber maple top on mahogany back. Set mahogany neck with gold hardware and two "Duncan Designed" humbuckers. Came (at Guitar Center) w/out a bag or case. Look real close and you'll see the back is a veneer over a multi-piece back, but it looks nice. Just as I'd have spec'd it, but with "real" Duncans

Sounded...okay. Not great, certainly not like I'd expect the maple/mahogany combo to sound. I liked it, although I'd have tweaked the p/ups if I'd kept the guitar.

The finish was beautiful, and flawless. The flame in the top was marginal, but quite nice for the price.
THe problem was the fretwork and neck. I'm an amateur luthier (I've made my last six guitars), and I could not get this thing to play clean. I even took it to John at Hidden Music (Hickory Hills, IL) who's a HELL of a set-up guy. He reduced, but did not eliminate a bad buzzing from frets 8-10. No truss rod adjustment or saddle adjustment would fix it. I SHOULD have caught this in the store, except some 12 year old was playing what was almost a chord through a Marshall half-stack right next to me.

Didn't have it long enough to tell.

Hamer is virtually unreachable. Their phone number never even appears on their web site, and neither does their e-mail! The Hamer fan club is filled with people who disavow the Korean made Hamers, and and several people posted messages asking what I expected for "only" $400 dollars. Hamer seems content to put their name on these things, profit from them and then just refer all complaints to the store. Luckily, the one good thing about Guitar Center (other than cheap prices) is a liberal return policy. Back it went, with never another Hamer to cross my threshold.

Been playing 10 years, have (go count)... 9 guitars and two amps. Wanted a set neck, since I don't make those yet, and liked the looks and reputation of the Hamer. Won't EVER deal with them again. I understand that everything can have a problem-I even spent some $ on a pro set-up before I tried to contact Hamer-but the total disavowal of a product with their name on it blew me away. I didn't expect a USA Hamer-those run $1500 or more. I just wanted it to PLAY. Epiphone seems to do it, so does Squire. And you can actually CONTACT them.
Suffice to say, I was peeved.

Its a 1999 model, I assume. Made in the Korea, I think. Double-cutaway Les-Paul copy. 22 frets. Really nice finish. It has a through body neck, with square inlays. Two volumes and a tone control, with 3-way switch. It has two Seymour Duncan P-90s. Nice fretboard, although I am not sure what its made of. It has Schaller tuners and a Schaller tune-o-matic style bridge.

As soon as you realize that it is NOT a Les Paul or a Gibson of any kind, it begins to sound okay, although the sustain isn't the best. Through my practice amp and with either overdrive or some devices, it sounds great for straight-ahead rock. Plain, it has a somewhat hollow sound reminiscent of Korean instruments, particularly using the bridge pick-up alone. I haven't used it with my Marshall yet. I gave it a 7, but I would rate it higher for other guitars in its price range.

The action was decent enough, but I lowered it to my tastes (very, very low). Not much fret noise with the strings low, surprizingly. The only down-side is that the cutaway was not designed for easy playing while seated. The cutaway is located at an uncomfortable place. However, this is not a problem when standing up. The output jack is also at an odd place, making it hard to lean the instrument when not in use without unplugging it.

Too new to know, really. But so far, so good.

I have been playing about 37 years, 29-ish professionally, etc. Over the years, I have owned just about everything. These days, my main guitar is an American Standard Deluxe Strat, which I love. The Hamer is strictly a "second" guitar, the one that I keep in the living room, (now that I am single again).
If this instrument were stolen, etc., I would probably look around for something else, but not because I don't like it. In the coming months I hope to purchase another Les Paul in any case. I bought the Hamer just to play a flat neck in the meantime. But I like the thing. Its like a second mistress.
I should have played it sitting down in the store. Had I done so, I might have chosen something else. Sitting, it is like playing a V or something like that, since you have to hold the guitar up when playing. The cutaway is too far up the body, making it useless as leg rest.
Otherwise, and given the price and manufacturer, I would give it a good recommendation.

The prettiest guitar I own, Gold Aztec lacquer over a beautiful flame maple top, mahogany body, rosewood fretboard and set maple neck. All gold hardware, Duncan Design pick-ups, and M.O.P. dot inlays. This guitar was hanging next to a PRS on the wall, and it put it to shame!

Prog-power-pop. This axe has great tone. The Duncan Designed Pickups are responsive(but i changed them!! read on) and well suited to pretty much all styles, but I like Seth Lovers and popped in a pair of those(personal preference. The Duncan's are great) Line 6 Flexi HD is my amp and this axe goes great with it. Clean is crystal, and dirty is rich and warm.

My one gripe. I hate these tuners. They are a schallers, and I am put Sperzel locking tuners on. The rest of the guitar is immaculate, the finish is FLAWLESS and the set up was fine. Once again I changed the pick-ups in addition to the tuners, ( which will virtually turn this 499.00 axe into a 2,500 usa model since the wood and hardware are all pretty much the same!)But the stock tuners hurt the rating.

This thing is solid. I wouldn't throw it out of a bus, but I'm sure she'll last

never called, never will (DIY guy)

17 years, and dozens of guitars, and I have never seen a guitar as beautiful as this. If this was stolen I'd kill the mofo, because I don't think they'll last at this price(they list for $900, Guitar Center bought a train full or something). My finished guitar is matched to the specs of the top of the line USA Hamer Artist (but this is an Archtop and has no sound chamber)and is a solid 10!!!!!! BUT!!! as purchased I'd have to give it a nine because of those cheese ball tuners. Still, for 499.00 I got a guitar that plays better than my PRS did(sold it), and sounded as good as any Les Paul I have owned. A versatile and marveleous guitar. Don't let the fact that it's an import scare you, because MADE IN USA doesn't neccessarily mean quality all the time, and for the extra 2,000 you'd spend on a PRS that looks half as good you could make the minor ($375. for pickups and tuners) adjustments I made and have an axe that would put the big boys to shame. Bravo!Once again, a 9 that became a 10