Hamer Duotone Custom USA

This is the 1994 US model.It has the same pick-up configuration as the newer model(2 humbuckers+piezzo)and the same control.

I used this guitar live all the time.I have the humbuckers plugged into my multi-effect and the piezzo plugged into a volume pedal anddirectly into the board.This way I can switch between accoustic to fiery guitar solo without even stopping my picking.By combining the piezzo with the humbuckers you can get a lot different sounds ranging from a tele to a jazz axe.

The action on mine is very close to an accoustic and the neck feels accoustic as well.It has no flaw(just a nick in the back.The finish is almost flawless just a bit of finish missing on the inside of the holes,but who cares the rest is perfect

I used this guitar all the time live and have absolutely no pronlems.I change the strap buttons on mine since all my guitars have locking strap buttons.I ualways use a back-up just in case I break a string(It happened only twice to me in the last 20 years)

I emailed hamer the first week I had the guitar to tell them how much I enjoyed it and had and answer only a few hours later

I've been playing for over twenty years and still have my Strat wich I use with the hamer(It is way faster for fiery solos)If it was stolen I would definitely get another one.I've played a lot of guitars through the years and the Duotone rates as one of the highest for quality and tone

I'm not sure what year I have. I bought used on Ebay. This is the USA model where it has the USA printed on the headstock. The top or cap is a solid spruce arched top. The back and sides are one piece. The guitar seems half solid and half hollow with an f hollow on the bass side of the body. There is also a center block. The neck has a rosewood fingerboard with medium frets. It only has one tone control which works globally for both pick-ups. You can't have separate settings on both pick-ups. If the tone control is at ten, it's at 10 for both pick-ups. It has 2 volume controls. One for the Seymour Duncan '59 humbuckers and the other for the piezo. The piezo has volume and Eq controls on the back of the guitar where there is no access to it as you're playing The bridge is a fixed carved rosewood. It almost looks like a flattop bridge. The strings go through the body. It has a double cutaway body that looks like a PRS. It has Schaller tuners. The neck is set and the guitar is heavy athough I'm used to playing hollowbodies. There are two output jacks. The one they call Stereo is for the humbuckers and the other is Acoustic for the piezo. The Stereo jack is not really stereo. It's just a mono jack for the humbucker. The only way you can use the guitar in a stereo mode would be to use both plugs simultaneously and plug into 2 different amps. The guitar came with a hard shell case.

You can get a nice variety of sounds out of this guitar. The neck pick-up gives a decent jazz tone. The bridge pick-up gives you a nice bright but not harsh tone. Both pick-ups together gives you a Gibson 335 type sound. These pick-ups are punchy and powerful. This guitar is very versatile and sounds good clean and dirty. The piezo is excellent. Plugged into an acoustic amp with tweeter gives a great acoustic sound. If you had your eyes closed, you would definately think it was an amplified acoustic guitar. This probably has to do with the piezo and bridge design. The guitar records great. The piezo can be plugged directly into the board with an awesome sound. The sustain is great on this guitar.

The action was low when I received it. I get a slight buzz on the high E string when I play aggressively using a heavy pick. This isn't a problem once it's plugged into an amp. The only problem I found were some of the fret inlays were a little higher than the fingerboard. The neck is a little clubby, but I like having some meat on the back of the necks. The pots and pickup selector were clean without any noise or pop. I get an occasional pop from the Piezo/Humbucker selector.

This is a quality built guitar. I can tell it was built to last. To me, the guitar is very heavy which is probably why it has great sustain. I was a little concerned about having intonation problems with the fixed bridge. I put my worries to rest after I played it and checked it out on a tuner. I get a little hum in the piezo mode when I take my hands off the strings. It's seems like the strings and bridge may not be grounded. The humbuckers are absolutely quiet. It stays in tune pretty well and is fun to play.

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I've been playing for 37 years. I have several other guitars ranging from Fender Strat, Gibson E175, Takamine Nylon string, Epi 12 string and a couple of custom made archtops. I mainly play Jazz, Blues, and little bit of rock and funk. I wanted something versatile that will cover all bases. The Hamer Custom Duotone fits the bill. It's also solid as a rock. The only other thing I could ask for in this guitar would be coil taps. I would have had to special order that and have a new one built that would have listed at $2900. When I called the rep at the custom shop he said the coil taps would have been an extra $150 and I would have to use different pick-ups. Therefore, the total would have been over $3,000. That's when I decide to forget about the coil taps and find a used one on Ebay. I'm very happy with the guitar. Now I have something that will cover a lot of bases. This guitar has the potential for being a real work horse. I would definately buy another one if I had to.

USA Built, 2000. The guitar has two humbuckers and a piezo with the ability to access them through a stereo jack. It also has a separate "acoustic only" jack. The piezo is supported with a fully adjustable preamp that is adjusted on the back of the guitar. The finish is a tobacco burst. Absolutely flawless finish that even looks tough. The strings load through the body across an acoustic type bridge setup. The neck is between thin and fat...just perfect. The balance of the guitar is amazing. Once you tune this guitar and play a new set of strings for 30 minutes and retune it just does not go out of tune. I play blues, R&B, rock, pop and I cannot find anything this guitar cannot do and do well. I believe the frets would be classed as jumbo. I have made no modifications to the factory setup. It is as good as I could imagine. The guitar came with the finest guitar case I have ever seen.

This guitar is adaptable to any style I can think of. I even do some finerstyle with it on stage without any difficulty and the piezo produces great sound. I like GHS strings made for this type of guitar. I use the guitar with a Hughes & Kettner Tube 50 head and various cabinets and run the piezo out to a Fender Acoustisonic Junior that we run to the board. There is no noise of any kind from the guitar. There is probably no sound that this guitar cannot make. The pickups are awesome and the ability to blend them is unlimited. Very easy to get a phat sound without a lot of effects interference in the process.

Everything about the action, fit and finish is just flawless in my opinion. The only thing that I might change is the bridge. It is a fixed wooden type of bridge I have never seen anywhere else. I was frightened of the bridge when I bought the guitar, but I have never felt that it has caused any compromise of any kind. The design allowed for the bridge, and I think it enhances the acoustic capabilities. I guess if its perfect there is no reason to not to like it. I have found no flaws.

I have gigged with this guitar over 50 times and I don't even think about taking a backup anymore. This guitar is built to play and last beyond anything else I have seen on the market ever.

No opportunity, but these guys have to love guitars to build this one the way they have done it.

Overall the Hamer USA Duotone Custom is the finest guitar I have ever owned. I also own a PRS McCarty Hollowbody II, a Fender American Deluxe Strat, and several acoustics. I have owned Mosrites, other Fenders, Gretsch, Gibson 335, and several I would like to forget. I have been playing for 40 years. I just love to play it. It does not have a downside in my opinion. I chose it for flexibility and the opportunity to gig with one guitar where appropriate and it delivers. I wish all guitars had a tremolo system, but the tuning stability and scale length are a good trade-off. I can bend the strings on this guitar consistently into pitch effortlessly. Love it.