Hamer Centaura

This is an early 1990s rock/metal guitar. All handmade in the United States. Ash body (dinky style/size) in beautiful natural finish with 24 fret rock maple neck and maple fretboard....mother of pearl dot inlaws. Reverse headstock; guitar has all black hardware (Schaller-licensed Floyd Rose with locking nut and Schaller tuners. EMG pickups (89 (splittable humbucker) in bridge with SA single coils in middle and neck position). Five way switch and coil tap switch....volume and tone controls.

As I said, this is a rock/metal guitar. The EMGs are really hot as they are active pickups and the humbucker gives you full shred capability. The single coils are very versatile and you can attain an acceptable blues/funk sound out of them. This is not a vintage Strat but will get much closer than most 80s metal guitars due to EMGs and alder or ash bodies as opposed to basswood or poplar. The only reason I have given it a 9 is that the humbucker with middle coil is a little too nasty and trebly for me. I will have it rewired to have humbucker and neck single coil on at the same time and will that be perfect full yet nasty sound.

Like the other American made Hamers I have (1996 Studio and 1994 Studio Custom), simply amazing. These are handmade, semi-production guitars and they always feel and play like a dream. The action is too low and will be corrected when the Floyd is set up for .10s. I had one Ibanez in the past with a Floyd and had a terrible experience with it..breaking strings and horrible problems correctly using the micro tuners. This Schaller-Floyd is great so far. I merely unclamped the locking nut, tuned up, and locked down. It has stayed in tune with moderate use of the tremolo to bend pitches down almost as well as a Wilkinson or Paul Reed Smith. Pulling up will natch things sharp but I don't use the bar much at all, let alone up.

I only purchsed it yesterday but is as solid as all my other American Hamers, which I always gigged with. Wood and hardward are all top notch quality so expect no problem there except having to replace Floyd parts after normal wear and tear. One of the strap buttons has come loost but lit looks like a previous owner futzed with it for some reason....I will super glue it in. I would not gig without backup solely because it does have a FLoyd Rose and thus much easier to break string.

Have never dealt with Hamer and this is a used instrument. Have dealt with a local dealer who is great.

I have been playing for 11.5 years and play mostly 70s/80s hard rock/metal. I own two other American made Hamers (Studio and Studio Custom) and a Tacoma D-10 acoustic. My amp is a 1979 Marshall 50w Mk II Master Volume (dimed) with an original Ibanez TSZ-9 to attain good early 80s saturated gain. Bottom is a 1975 custom color Marhsall 4x12 with 30w Celestion greenbacks. This guitars is great....I anticipate that the Gibson style Hamers shall remain my main guitars but I always like to have a super-Strat style around and got sick of modding Fender copies with Seymour Duncans. With the quality, 24 frets, EMGs and a usable Floyd, this thing fit the bill perfectly. It was a baragin at $350 considerng when new in 1991-1992 it listed for $1200+. Only reason I didn't put a 10 here was need to get neck and bridge pickups on at once to balance out the sound so it is not quite so metallic.

24 fret, Floyd Rose + NutLock, S/S/H, 5-way, 1 tone, 1 volume, 1 coil-tap, Black-granite paint job, Passive electronics. Year: 1990

A truly awesome sounding guitar. I absolutely love it. All pickups are awesome sounding and they actually give really different tones. The coil-tap on the humbucker gives a real switch between Les Paul and Strat sounds. The tone pot actually does something useful. Turn it down and experience the Clapton/Slash "Woman Tone". Handles all styles excellently, except Country I guess.

Amazing action. Flawless.

I've had this guitar 8 years and it hasn't needed a single adjustment. The neck is still as flat as a board. Utterly dependable guitar.

Not applicable. Never had a problem.

This guitar is truly amazing. It is great for blistering leads but also excels at ambient texture playing. I play Pink Floyd material through it and it sounds unbelievable. It looks like a metal shred guitar from the '80's and for any type of metal/rock it is fantastic. But, as I mentioned, it is one of those guitars that can handle just about anything. It has tone! This guitar is so much fun to play. It never goes out of tune, the bridge is perfectly set, and for home recording it really does the job, as you can get several very distinct sounds through the pickups. I like to dis products as much as anyone, but this thing really is damn near perfect.

This is a 1993 Hamer Centura. It is a 24 fret, dinky shaped guitar (like a standard Jackson, or Ibanez body shape). It has 3 pickups 2 single coils and one humbucker. I have replaced the stock pickups with EMG's and cannot remember what was originally in it. It has an alder body and a maple neck with pao ferro fingerboard. Mine has a sparkle silver finish (the Star Wars guitar is what they call it). It has a Floyd Rose Pro bridge and locking nut, with standard shaller tuners. The neck is wide and thin (a lot like the Ibanez Wizard necks), with medium jumbo frets and standard mother of toilet seat inlays. It came with a form fitting case and was made in the USA

I play Progressive/Death metal and this guitar suits that style to a T. I use a Marshall VS-100 amp with EMG pickups on the guitar and it RAGES. It has a full, but defined sound (alder wood) that captures the sound of the EMG's really well. I am not thrilled about the Floyd Rose though, it sucks some of the sustain out of this guitar. My Ibanez has a much better FR (I think I might change the one on this guitar)

The guy I bought is from had the action so high it was almost unplayable, but I don't think Hamer had anything to do with it. The tuners, frets, etc. were in great shape (the guy had only had the guitar for a month...then he sold it to me) and I assume that they were like that straight from the factory.

Well, I have had to buy 3 different output jacks for this thing. the jack is at a strange angle and the cords just seem to make mince-meat out of it. Other than that it seems to have stood up well in 5 years (time for a re-fret though) The finish is still in good condition and the neck wood is still beautiful (pao ferro). You can depend on Hamer quality (but I NEVER gig without a backup).

Hamer used to be better about customer service, but the bigger they get the worse they get. I have no clue about warranties etc. But everytime I call they dodge questions and try to sell me stuff...annoying!!!

I have been playing for about 10 years and this is one of my favorite guitars. It plays great and always sounds consistant. I would but it again in a heartbeat. Only problem is that damn Floyd Rose...oh well.