Hamer Californian Elite

Hamer Californian Elite Azteh gold finish...1 volume, 3-way selector, Original floyd rose bridge, schaller locking, pick-up Dunkun S/H, passive, maybe neck is maple...Hamer hard case. Maybe made late of 80's or early of 90's.

My favorite style is LA metal and Thrash metal. People say hamer is ONLY for the metal, but sound quality is really good. Especially, original sound without heavy gain or distortion is quite good for me. I really like it.

Good. It couldn't be better.

Strong enough.

Well, i can not mention about this. Because, I live in south korea. Do hamer has any shop in south korea?

TOP

1996 made in usa
27 frets
solid top
3way tone selector
s/h pick up
seymour duncan pickups.
passive electronic
mahogany body and maple 3 piece neck (stressed neck system)
super strat style body
floyed rose licensed shaller locking tremolo bridge it's best
medium hamer frets,25 2/1 scale
hamer usa hard case

rock and metal & modern style, every style ok~
marshall, hughes.,peavey5150 ,laney and more..
setting is perfect really cool~
modern vintage and punch sound very good~

action really cool legato play very easily.

1996~2005 here in now haha~

Build in 1990, my Californian Elite has a solid 2-piece flamed maple body, bolt-on 3-piece maple neck (25.5" scale) with ebony fretboard, which has 27 frets (on the treble side) and Hamer's trademark "boomerang" inlays. The hardware is black, 6 in-line Schaller M6 mini tuners on the pitched explorer-style headstock (reversed headstock was available too), and the trem is Schaller's Floyd Rose II version (recessed), made for Hamer. the electronics is active, the pickups by EMG (SA/89, I think), 1 volume (push/pull for coil split on bridge humbucker), and 1 tone (presence or mid-boost), all factory-installed. I bought this guitar used, so it has a few dings, but Hamer didn't use the old nitro finish anymore, so the finish has no cracks (it is green transparent, by the way). Trussrod access is, like on almost all Hamers, on the headstock, as locking nut the FR R-2 is used. It came with the original case, strap and tools for adjustment

Well, if you look for the typical Strat or LP sound, this guitar doesn't deliver those. Because of the maple body/maple-ebony neck construction this guitar is quite bright sounding, the EMGs do also enhance the treble even further, but still one gets very useful sounds out of it. While it doesn't sound like Strat or LP, the sound is always transparent, not muddy at all, very Steve Lukather-like. This guitar has lots of sustain, no treble loss when turning down the volume. I play it through a Marshall MR-6100, it works well with other amps too, one has to turn down the treble on the amp a little bit. Nice playability too (slim neck profile), and not heavy for an all-maple guitar

The guitar was set up well. This is my 6th Hamer, and they have always been well-made. As I said earlier, they didn't use a nitro finish on this anymore, thus no cracks.

Being a used 12-year-old instrument, it doesn't show lots of wear. The strap buttons have been replaced with Dimarzio clip locks, a great guitar for live and studio situations. Guitars with either Floyd Rose or active electronics should be used with backup, I'd use another Californian as backup, but it seems hard to find now.

Didn't deal with Hamer on warranty issues yet, but did talk with the Hamer people online, and they're always helpful

I have searched a long time for this instrument, and it is even better than my expectation. This is my main guitar now. It fits me perfectly for it's playability and sound. The combination of maple body and EMG pickups may be too trebly and bright for other players, but I love it that way. As I search for another one as backup, I don't want to imagine if it was stolen, I'd definitely try to get another one

It's an '89 U.S.A made model. 27 frets. Ebony fretboard, Dot inlay. 3 piece maple neck. 2 piece flame maple body(not top). cherry transparent color. I changed the pickup configuration. Dimarzio FastTrack 1 at the neck position and Dimarzio Evolution Custom(silver color). Schaller Floyd Rose.

After I changed the pickup configuration, sounds radically changed. Evolution is just so hot, hot hot! I use it with 010 gauge Ernie ball Regular. Crunchin' Sounds are very tastable. I got a new 5-way selector for advanced tones. When I select just single pickup from the Humbucker. It gets just like Fender. But sound is too characteristic, so you must research for the best tone! :)
Neck Position P/U(FastTrack) is very bright. Using totally the Neck P/U, I can get boosted Telecaster Tone without any Pedals. Selecting only one single from the Neck P/U, I can get strat-like sound. If I run it thru JMP-1, I can easily get Yngwie Malmsteen's recent sound(it is just like sound of Yngwie's '98 concert.)
Very very great!
But sounds seem to be so hard that I can hardly get jazzy or soft tone. Anyway I am perfectly satisfied with this gear.

Action is very good. Nothing seems to matter.
But a little bit noisy like Fender vintages. I don't know why it is.

More than 10 years have passed since it's made, but no problem.

Had no customer support

Very good guitar for my taste. Just wanna say that it's king of super-strats. It's been discontinued from the HAMER factory. If I can afford it, I would like to make a new one of Californian models in any proper custom shop.

92 elite, 27 frets, ebony fingerboard with boomerang inlays, Seymour Duncan trembuckers neck and bridge, flame maple all the way through solid bookmatched body, Schaller Floyd Rose trem, side mounted strat jack, one volume control.

This is a shredding guitar. The bridge pickup is a Duncan Distortion trembucker, when I brought the guitar home it was adjusted too close to the strings making it bright and harsh. Backing it off to about 1/8th inch away it provided a compressed hot tone, when you dig in it slams the speakers. I feel this incredible attack is due to the ebony fingerboard and the solid maple body. This is an ideal combination, hot strong magnet pickup on a tonally bright guitar, it lets you keep the pickups away from the strings for excellent dynamic range. Pick lightly the tone is smooth and compressed, dig in and it barks, the base strings can literally sound like a drum. The neck pickup is cool in a different way, it is a Duncan trembucker single coil stack but it must be a custom wind for Hamer, it measures 11k ohms and their catalog lists the parallel axis stack at 7k. The neck pickup sounds like a hot strat, elastic attack, good highs, some bell tones, and tight solid base. With the bridge adjusted to 1/8th, the neck volume balances pretty well. Hamer must have spent some time specing these pickups, because they provide a wide range of tones on a guitar with no tone control. Again I feel the ebony/solid maple combination makes these pickups come alive, the mohagony body californian probably couldn't do these pickups justice. The ultimate bonus is the combined position neck and bridge, the tone hollows out and quacks like a strat middle position only with authority. Like the other positions, serious attack when you want it clear and smooth when you go easy.

I'll have to quote many people here, it's the finest quality production guitar available. Finish is striking and flawless (transparant stain), bookmatched, flame all the way through the body, you can see flame in the cutaways and on the sides and back, the general grain beneath the flame is wavy, neck and frets are perfect. Neck pocket tight, cutaways beveled and also finished flawlessly. Control cavity shielded and neat. Schaller Floyd is the top quality Floyd setup. Stays in tune period.

It is build as durable as a Fender or Gibson but Detailed like a PRS, it will go the distance.

Hamer seems to have a good reputation, I don't have a warranty having made a trade for a seven year old instrument.

This guitar is the king of superstrats. I am a Les Paul fan but happened into a good trade for this Californian, (I did not trade a Les for it). The more I play it the cooler it seems to become. Unlike an Anderson or Suhr it has a totally radical personality, but the same quality. It is a head turner that plays incredibly well, with an arsenal of hot tones.

This Hamer was purchased used from a small guitar shop who didn't know anything about it (especially the value!), but based on some digging, I identified it as a `91 USA-made model. It has a 27-fret bound maple bolt-on neck with boomerang inlays, one-piece "Cherry Transparent" mahogany body with scalloped cutaways, and a Schaller Floyd Rose tremolo. There is a slanted single-coil (or more likely a stacked humbucker) at the neck and a humbucker at the bridge; I couldn't identify them, but they aren't stock. One volume knob, no tone control, and a 3-way selector switch. The jack is on the bottom, and it's reversed so that your cord loops up around the strap rather than right to the floor.
I'll give it an 9; it's a great guitar, but a tone control and more versatile pickup selections would make it perfect.

I'm a Jackson Dinky player first and foremost, playing metal along the lines of Megadeth, Testament, etc. The Hamer has a fuller sound than the Jacksons, and more sustain. There was a tad more midrange coming from this guitar than I normally care for (and no tone control), but I use a Peavey Express 112 and ART Xtreme with scooped mids...not a problem. I couldn't tell what brand the pickups are, but the neck sounds like a stacked humbucker rather than a single. Since I usually prefer a toned-down clean sound, I'll probably use another guitar for that.
Great full sound and sustain with distortion, for anything from basic bluesy overdrive to death metal style. The only drawback is that, again, there's no way to change the sound with the controls. Suits most of my needs just fine.

It looks like the shop set this up adequately, although it needed to be cleaned up after being played by any number of people. The only flaws were one small chip and a replaced fine-tune knob that didn't match. The finish is flawless, and the clear cherry finish accentuates the woodgrain beautifully. The bridge pickup was a little uneven and the neck pickup was loose, but that only took a minute to remedy.
Another 9 here, pretty good for a used `91. The shop should've checked it out just a little better, but no complaints.

No comment so far -- I haven't gigged with it yet, and it won't be my main guitar. But Hamers have an excellent repuation, the Schaller bridge is solid as can be, and for an 8-year-old guitar, it's already held up nicely.
It looks like I could trust it without a backup, but that's not a concern. However, it's my highest-quality guitar for sure.

Although I haven't needed any help so far, there's plenty of resources for Hamer players. Kaman (Hamer's parent company) has a good website, and the "Hamer Fan Club" maintains a support bulletin board, not to mention help on identifying used Hamers. So far, I've had all my questions answered without having to call. It's used, so obviously no warranty is expected.

In 8 years of playing, this is the finest instrument I've ever owned. Although I've had Fenders, Epiphones and other clones in the past, this is the only guitar I've *had* to have other than my Jacksons. I'd never played one previously, and had only seen this model advertised on websites. I was in love as soon as I spotted it in the store, and I immediately traded away my brand-new Epiphone Explorer for this! As you can tell, the shop I bought it at was charging a fraction of what this guitar is worth -- as the salesman told me, they are mostly a Fender/Gibson shop and didn't have any demand for a "heavy metal" guitar. Merry Christmas to me!
It's not even fair to compare to this guitar (priced used) to guitars selling for this price brand new, and I imagine that a USA model with these features probably sells for over $1,000 new. It's versatile enough to have a place in my line-up, and you can believe that I'm going to get this thing insured! Hamers can be a little spendy brand new, but the price was unbeatable for a used one, and I strongly recommend it to anyone, regardless of style.

I'm not sure what year it was made, I bought it in '95 so I imagine it's probably a '93 or '94... Easily the most incredible guitar I've played.. 27 frets, ebony finger board.. Seymour Duncan Trembucker pick-ups, double coil in the bridge position,..single coil at the neck,.. no tone knob, who needs one? Floyd Rose.. and all Hamer hardware... Came with the usual music store throw ins like cords,.. strap,..locking nut tool,... case.. etc...

As a metal guitar player for the past twelve years I find it quite satisfying, .. I had a Les Paul and it just wasn't cutting the metal thing at all, so I sold it to buy the Hamer... I play through a Crate "blue voodoo" straight in, no efects (HUGE sound)..I use a Digitec DP 6 for my leads, mostly as a volume boost (can anyone tell me a sound guy who turns up leads?) ... About the noise factor... what noise?. When I bought it I thought it was making a racket, so the music store where I bought it payed to get it shielded,.. turned out it was a faulty cord..ha ha... My only beef with this guitar is that the neck pick-up is noticably quieter than the bridge pick-up, but I don't use it much anyways

When I bought it,.. it was set up pretty well, almost perfect... awesome finish, no dings or dents, I couldn't have been happier, no complaints here,... straped her on and and went for it......

Well,.. I use it exsclusivly live,... no probs... It always stays in tune and I can't say I've had a problem yet (knock on wood) The finish is great (except it's black... finger prints like crazy),... rugged hardware,..Floyr Rose,..what more to say?

Never had a problem... The music store has been wonderful though

I've been playing for about twelve years, mostly metal... Other gear?.. Fender Heartfield for drop "D" tunings live....and if it was stolen I would deffinatley buy another(Hamer),... I love it,..I love it,... I love it.... I compared it to many Jackson models but they just didn't rate in the long run,.. in closing I would just like to say that I am realy sold on this guitar,.. I've been playing it for three years now and its been wonderful... I'm sure this guitar is mabey not versatile enough for all styles,.. but it's perfect for what I need