Hamer Artist Studio

I am reviewing a 1996 Hamer Artist Studio USA (subsuquent years dropped the term studio from the title). It has a Wilikinson wrap around tremolo, two Seth Lover humbuckers, a flamed maple top with a mahogany body and rosewood neck. It is semi hollow with one f-hole. The tuners are Schaller. This guitar is relatively basic as far as features go, but all of the components are top quality. The guitar will stay in tune for an entire gig (and maybe even still be in tune the next morning when it is time to practice). I am giving this guitar a 9 as far as features go, because while there is nothing mind blowing or innovative about them, they certainly are of a very high quality.

This guitar sounds great. I am a nascent Jazz player, and I play in a Blues band and a Jam band. I can forsee the day when I might have to buy another guitar for the Jazz (a big hollow body for those amazing Wes tones), but really this guitar is super versatile. It is beautiful for the blues, producing velvety rich lead tones ala' Les Paul. It can deliver beautiful Jerry Garcia like tones when played clean. Of course, it is very "Gibson" in conception, I would not play this guitar in a funk or R and B band (guitars that are very "Fender" are much more apt for that task). Really though, you can produce a pleasant range of tones that will sound equally well playing Led Zep, Al King, Garcia, etc. While not suitable for all Jazz, you will probably be okay with this guitar. I will give this guitar a 10 in sound. In my opinion this guitar sounds signifcantly better than guitars in the "Gibson" arena, and they can be purchased used for signifcantly less than most othetr guitars of equal quality.
Oh yeah, I play through an amp modeler, usally on the Fender Tweed settings (through a carvin PA). I have played through a vintage Bassman, and it sounds GREAT!!

Before this guitar I played a cheapo Ibanez Artstar set up with 12 gauge strings. Compared to that guitar, even with 12 gauge, it feels like I am playing with ten gauge. Superb action and feel. The top is beautifully bookmatched, finish is great too. I'll give this a ten as well

Had an issue with the input jack, very likely caused by my own stupdity though. Other than that no issues. This guitar is hand crafted and made to last. I play it six hours a day six days a week and have no real issues with it.

o have had no contact with them as a company, so I have no opinion

These guitars are going for under 800 bucks in some places used (used retail by the blue book is 1150). The msrp brand new is like 2,700$. This guitar is as good, if not better, than some of the big names out there charging big dollars. If you want a Les paul or a prs but can't afford one, get one of these babies used. I assure you, you will be happier with this, and you will pay a fraction of the cost.

I saw the one response here and had to jump in. I have a Hamer Artist Studio that I got on sale. It was made for a Hamer salesman, and has a non-catalog Tobacco Sunburst finish, with the gold Seth Lovers, etc. I agree completely with the other review here, except that the neck still feels beefy to me. Also, the peghead is heavy, and the neck rotates floorward if I let go of it. It is odd that there is an unusualy wide space between the 3rd and 4th strings, I think it is, or else the 3rd and 2nd. You can roll back the rhythm volume pot and edge up the tone to a more jangly, brit pop sound when both pickups are on.

I write a lot of songs on my Artist. It sounds like an acoustic guitar, plugged in or not. I also do a lot of dropped D stuff on it, and occasional E-tunigs. I use Everly Rocker 10's for strings. I play it through a Marshal Slash head and a 1936 cab. And a Boss M/EX pedal board with an MXR Dyna-Comp, an Ibanez Tube Screamer, a Boss Turbo overdrive and a Metal Zone pedal. It is not noisy, except it buzzes near the amp. It has a "Dry", wooden sound. It does not sound like a Les Paul and it is not "scooped-mid", or shimmery. It sounds like metal strings vibrating against tree pieces, to me. It is certainly bright, although the tone control can easily manage that. I can get standard three pickup sounds, and two more with the volume pots edged back a little. Not a lot of variety, but it doesn't matter - this thing oozes character. I just don't like the neck, and the heavy headstock. I can play Led Zep on it, and it actaully has good definition even through the Metal Zone pedal, but I tend to think of it as a strummer, for big chords, and clangy, open string stuff, like on the Beatles' "Help". It looks real good on me, because I have brown hair.

It had been played by this salesman in some gigs, and as a store-to-store demo, so it was set up the way he liked it. Action is a little high, like for blues. The top is a beautiful bookmatched maple, with the brown sunburst and gold hardware.

You could play this the rest of your life. Hardware is good. The finish is like, some umpteen coats of handrubbed lacquer - it's got real depth. The strap buttons work for me. I have used it as the only guitar on a gig. I'd use it solo, yes.

I've only e-mailed them, but they seem to be there for you.

I've been playing for 38 years. I have too muc stuff. No questions on this baby, just, "will it be here when the sale starts?". I had to work overtime all that weekend and was afraid that I'd miss it. I'd get another Hamer to replace it, maybe not the same one. I love the sound and the looks. I hate the neck. It is not that versatile, and not as bell-like and meay as some other ones, but it is a great singin' and playin' guitar for me, and it certainly can be used for lead, although I keep heavy (for me) strings on it. (I've been known to use 8's). I bought an Epiphone Del Rey the same day, and they both have the same body shape, so they are kind of a comparison to each other. The Hamer seemed like a Les Paul, but it had that f-hole - I raved about it for weeks. I wish it had an acoustic pickup under the bridge, like a duo-tone. I will add that it is not my favorite all-around guitar, and it is not as truly "me" as much as some other ones, but it is a very well-made axe, and a tribute to what Hamer can do - I think it's a solid alternative to Gibson, and I've told Hamer that. I am a Guild fan at heart, so I'm still partial to my Blues 90 and S-100, but the Hamer is perfect for some things. It sounds nice unplugged.

This is a double cutaway, Les Paul Special shaped guitar that was made in the USA in 1996. It's a semi-hollow body style with an f-hole on the upper body. Very light in weight. It has a natural finished, fairly thick, flamed maple top (very heavy flame) that is solid wood rather than the laminate found on ES-335s. The neck is Hamer's usual 3 piece construction which is supposedly stiffer than a one piece mahogany. Rosewood fretboard with dot inlays. Both body and neck are unbound.
The bridge is a Wilkinson wrap-around style model and offers fore and aft adjustments as well as fine tuning on the "G" and "B" strings. It's rock solid and has no moving parts to compromise the sound quality.
The tuners are Shallers and have no slop whatsoever.
In keeping with its Gibson vibe, the Artist Studio has a 24 3/4 inch neck and has a comfortable middle of the road feel. It's not as beefy as a 59 Les Paul style neck, more like one of the later slim tapers instead. It's certainly not thin feeling however. The medium, well rounded frets are flawlessly finished and don't have that "railroad track" feel many Gibson's have.
Like most Hamer's of this type, the guitar has two volume knobs and one tone. Rolling the tone off doesn't turn the sound to mud, but makes it a nice and jazzy sounding.
The pickups are two covered Seymour Duncan Seth Lovers, which are repros of the original, unpotted Gibson humbuckers.
It may be a simple guitar, but it has all the right features.

This is a gorgeous sounding guitar. Unlike many humbucker equipped guitars of this style, the neck pickup sounds full, but clear and transparent. Chimey high end. My ES-335 sounds muddy by comparison. The bridge pickup is perhaps a bit bright, but rolling off the tone slightly yields a nice, fat sound. I usually play this guitar with my twin reverb for blues and jazz. It's rare to find a guitar with humbuckers that sounds this great perfectly clean. I hate almost hate to use distortion because the clean sound is so good.
Rolling off the volume on the neck pickup gives the guitar an almost acoustic quality.
Many semi-hollow body guitars sound "banjo-y" when played unplugged - not this one.
When reading other reviews of this guitar, I've heard comments that it sounds more like a Les Paul than a ES-335. Frankly, I think it sounds like neither (and I have both of those as well - a 59 reissue and an older 335).
Despite the fact that the pickups are unpotted, I've had no problems with feedback.
I wouldn't recommend this guitar to a metal head. It would be a waste to have this guitar plugged into a a saturated amp, and they would probably prefer a duller, fatter sounding guitar.

The action was way too high (and I don't like really low action), but that was simple to adjust. The music store had replaced the original 9s with 10s, so maybe they screwed up the action when they did that. Everything else was perfect (really). As pointed out in magazine reviews, Hamer really obsesses about details on their guitars. Based on my track record with them, I'm going to assume the music store altered the action and not penalize them for it.

Everything points to a guitar that will last a lifetime.

Hamer actively participates in the bulletin board at the Hamer Fan Club web page and seems very proactive about solving customer problems.

I own a bunch of other guitars: Gibsons, Fenders, PRS, G&Ls, Robin, etc. and this is one of the best. It just suits me perfectly. It's one of those rare guitars that just resonates in your hands and feels alive when you play it - just wonderful.