Hamer Echotone

2000 year Hamer Echotone from Korea, it's a good start for a 335 style tone monster. If you like to play Blues or Jazz and quick switch to R&R this one will do it for a miniscule amount of greenbacks compared to the "real" thing. This is a player and it does the job quite well for the money!

Sounds GREAT, what more can you say? It will do what you want as long as you don't ask it to spit fire like a Les Paul or scream like a Tele or Strat.

The only things I changed so far are the Kluson style Machines for the Grover Imperials which did a LOT for it! After a non-professional setup (DIY) it plays like a dream (played very well to start with!). Found the neck had a slight "belly" to it but adjusted with ease. Lowered the bridge quite a lot on the bass "E" and did some machining to it to add set screws so it would lock on the posts like the expensive bridge systems (easy to do and free!), stop piece is next for this treatment as it gives a better sustain and tone (better overall coupling).Adjusted the pickups and such, the nut groove is a little high on the strings but just fine otherwise, next string change I might shave it just a wee bit more. The sunburst finish is stunning and nicely done with some birds eye pattern to it front and back. The neck is nicely finished along with the fret board and inlays and the frets themselves are close to regular "Gibson" style and were finished off acceptably well. Found the patch cord plug recepticle lock nut very loose and one of the tone pot's loose also, no matter a decent upgrade would be a quality 500k pot change out in the near future, this player is worth it. The pickups sound real Seymore Duncan humbucking good (good as you can get without going into huge debt),leave them be and change out the pots if you gotta tinker with something to satisfy yourself like i do! To sum it up you are getting a lot for the money! I my humble opinion I would have to say that this is a much better deal than the Epiphone 335 dot! Put your greenbacks where they belong, in your pocket and play your butt off with this one!

Too young to tell, it has to "grow old" a little first but looks like it should do just fine. As with being prepared, I wouldn't show up at any gig without at least one backup in the first place!

Never had too.

Been playing on and off since I was knee high to a grasshopper with a 20 year gap that is now being closed. If it was stolen I would miss it and find another one! The only thing missing that I can't upgrade would be a resell value as not may people know about this guitar and thank goodness as the price is still very good! Just wait a couple more years!

This is a Korean made semi hollow body ES-335 copy. Basic features of a guitar of this type. Blonde flametop( very impressive) maple top and back, cream body and neck binding, set neck, dual Duncan designed humbuckers, vintage style tuners. This one has gold hardware.

This guitar has some of the best sound that i have heard from a hollowbody guitar. Actually i was suprised by the sound available
since it is a 335 copy and for the price very surprising. clear and bright.

bought used the action on this guitar is also surprising. this one came with action set so low i thought it was going to buzz big time
but no buzz and can put it through it's paces well. Finish is fantastic - no flaws found and has a honey blonde flametop(actually more flamey then my les paul)and gold hardware. Tone controls are not fantastic but also not too bad.

only had a few weeks so far but appears to be fairly durable(only time will tell)

have not had to deal with them as of yet

been playing for about 15 years, own a les paul classic, fender strat
epi les paul 12 string, yamaha rgz610A(fat strat)the echotone and a couple of acoustics(6 and 12 strings)Amps are a crate Vintage club, peavey bandit, another small crate If it was stolen i would more then likly pickup another as the price is unbeatable for the quality and sound. i really love the sound of it. I did shop around and checked out almost all brands of this type including a gibby 335 and bought the hamer as i could not tell the difference much at all.

already covered by others--my tuners are kluson butterfly copies--they seem ok---they look cool--mine is new 2002--love the bound neck---nut is cut well too---finish is nice red--not thick---nice grain in wood-

sounds really good to me---neck pickup is very throaty and zz toppish---verdict is still out on bridge pickup-but it rocks---overall--for the price--it sounds tom terific--pickups are loud--bridge pickup meters out really hot---

i got this as a second on ebay for less than 300 dollars---it came with the worst set up i have ever seen--high action--neck was way bowed in----i took about am hour and made it perfect---if u buy one, expect to fix it yourself or pay to get it done---u need an allen wrench to tweak the truss rod--mine needed several hard twists but now neck is arrow straightand i got the action super low with no buzzes--amazing huh? the bridge is a little bit poorly designed --the thumbwheels are too little--
i had an epiphone dot---this hamer is way more guitar--more solid--better neck--the hamer neck is realllllllllly big--its wide and big---it plays better than most of the pitiful new high priced gibson 335's--those things are embarassing---and they are american--i guess america dont care anymore--

the hamer plays better each time i pick it up--i think its happy just to be out of freeking korea---who wouldnt be?--its deadly quiet electronically--big solid strap buttons---nice sorta jumbo-ish frets---excellent dressing on the frets from the factory--no problems--for the money--this guitar is amazing---people talk about changing pickups in them--but i dont see any need to--expecially when you start playing thru a bunch of pedals---i like that the output jack is on the side instead of on the top--guitar has a solid block thru it--like a real 335---plays in tune really well with new set of 10's--look--its not near as good as a vintage gibson 335--but i dont have 2 or 3 grand to spend--do you?---in summary--if you can score one cheap--i'd say--definitely go for it--i think they have been discontinued by hamer--and they are expensive in retail stores---on ebay--you can score factory seconds for cheap--and they look great--i can find no blems on mine---plus--i'm rough on guitars and tend to beat them up a lot anyway--so who cares about a blem?--mine is for sure gonna get a bigsby put on it---

i like it a lot--this guitar will last at least till george bush gets the whole world blown up--after that--who really cares.?

who knows--i think they spend all day kissing up to rick nielson

go to a guitar store and say----"i want a great playing great looking new 335 guitar for 265 dollars"----then wait till they quit laughing

A korean 335 copy, 2 humbuckers, 3-way togel switch, 2 f-holes, semi-hollow body. Others here have it described well. Mine is tranparent red. Don't know the year but it is only a few years old. I would say late 90's or early 2000's. Has a tune-o-matic bridge and cheap imitation grover tuners.

I bought this guitar used and it already had the pickups replaced with seymour duncan 59's in both positions. It also had the pots changed out and it had been rewired. I don't know what the original duncan inspired pickups sound like but with the 59's this guitar sings. This guitar sounds fantastic. It get a rich full vintage sound which is perfect for the blues and roots rock music that I play. I play it through a fender blues deville amp. I use keely modified blues drive 2 and TS-9 for distortion.

Again I bought it used so I don't know how it came from the factory. I use heavy strings so I had to get it set-up to accomodate them. Had tuning problems when I first got it. However, after I replaced the nut with a new bone nut and replaced the cheap tuners that come on the guitar, it haven't had any problems. The tone seams to have gotten better as well. I am very happy now. The guitar looks good, the finish is nice and the workmanship appears first rate.

Like I said above, the tuners are cheap. The knobs also feel cheap. I replaced them and now the guitar feels rock solid.

Never need to use them

I bought this guitar for $350 and it already had the new wiring and Seymour Duncan 59's pickups. I spent another $100 to get a new nut and grover super romatica tuners purchased and installed. I absolutely love this guitar now and I have only $450 into it. I like is so much that I am searching for another right now. I am afraid that the word is going to get out on what good guitars these are before I can get another. I have been playing for about twenty years and I have a Fender American Hot Rodded Texas Special Strat (paid $1,040 new) and 75 Ibanez Explorer (worth about $1,000) and this is now my favorite guitar. This guitar gets great tone and it plays great as well. I looked at all of the other 335 copies and this one is the best.

Korean 335 knockoff (got it used so I don't know the year)Duncan designed humbuckers,2 volume,2 tone, transparent red maple with cream binding....standard echotone but after a few months I gave it a custom bridge and Bigsby trem

I play surf, rockabilly and punk and this is the ideal guitar, beautiful jangly clean tones, solid rock'n roll with my Danelectro Daddy-o overdrive. I use a dano slap echo as well, gives me that classic '50s sound. I pretty much only use the neck pickup, it gives me all the bright, high-end tone I like. I used the stock setup for 3-4 months before getting the Bigsby and it was great, but it's even better sounding now. The bigsby tranfers a lot more sound into the guitar for a bigger hollowbody tone. Also my bridge is designed to do much the same thing (TONE-o-matic, my uncle makes them for Brian Setzer and other hollowbody players) so it's fuller than before while still keeping the twang I want.

I got it slightly used so everything was set up properly when I got it. The finish is beautiful, binding was near perfect. Not the best looking piece of wood, but not bad. Haven't had any problem with the tuning pegs even with heavy trem use. One problem with adding the Bigsby is that it doesn't come all the way up to where the old tailpiece was, leaving 2 holes. I've had them filled and colored to match, though, so it's only visible from a few feet away.

I play a couple punk shows a month with it plus house parties and it holds up great. I played it almost every day this past year and nothing has gone wrong with it. I worry about my belt buckle scratching the back but other than that the finish is still like new. (I tend to baby it though, 'cause it looks so cool!) I put straplocks on it 'cause those huge strap buttons were screwing up my strap! This is my main guitar. I do bring a backup guitar to shows, but I never need it.

I've had no need

I've been playing for about 8 years. I have a Charvel metal-head type guitar (which hasn't been touched since I got this one) and an Ibanez acoustic. I actually didn't intend to buy it. I went to the music shop with my bass player so he could get strings, picked it up while waiting for him and fell in love with it. This is a fantastic sounding guitar for the price and the bigsby is well worth the few extra holes.

1998 korean made hamer echotone custom (no longer made) 22 frets,solid maple top and back 2 duncan designed gold humbuckers,passive electronics,I believe the guitar is all maple,wine red,335 copy,tunomatic bridge with trapeze
tailpiece,sealed shaller type tuners,set neck, mediam frets,came with hardshell case.

This was my attempt to own a 335 without the cost, I own 2 strats
1 old and 1 new a Robben Ford esprit and a Telecaster. I have several
vintage tube amps (fender) a musicman (2-10) and several solid state
amps (peavey).This guitar blew me away, I have tried three other 335 copies and did not like the sound or feel.I was hoping for the best but never thought it would sound this good, I am a progressive blues player and also play jazz fusion. (Robin Ford, Larry Carlton, Steve Lukather) and this guitar makes it on all fronts. I use a Ibanez tube screamer with a roland delay, ibanez EQ, and compression. great sounds on all pickup selections. And yes I have been able to get a Stevie Ray sound using the front pickup. So far I have just been recording with this guitar, but I will now be taking it to the gigs as one of my main guitars.

I bought the guitar on E-bay so the set up was pretty decent, action good not to low (don't like it to low) light gauge strings which I don't generally use but thought I'd give these tired fingers a break
from the 11's after all these years. Pickups needed to be adjusted
I like to tweek them just near the sweet spot (good for chords and lead).This guitar is not a factory second so it looks pretty good for finish and workmanship. (did remove pickguard)

I believe this guitar will have a long life if cared for, However the
gold finish I'm sure will be gone soon, good oversize strap buttons,
I'm used to the reliability of a stratocaster but would trust this guitar on all my gigs (I have to it sounds so great). But I still bring a backup now, its easier when you break strings besides I can't
go a night without playing my strat.

never used it

I started playing guitar 35 years ago and use vintage fender amps
(Bandmaster reverb,Bassmans)also musicman 2-10, and peavey transitube
amps.If it were stolen yes I would buy another one, Hell I'm thinking
of buying another one anyway. I love the sound out of this axe for the price it's a buy.I'd endorse this guitar any day for Hamer.

P.S. Hey Hamer you should consider a U.S.A. made model for the purists. Thanks Enjoy Doc

2001 Sunburst Hamer Echotone. ES-335 clone, stop tailpiece, 2 Duncan designed humbuckers, Kluson clone tuners. 3 way pickup selector. Solid maple construction: a real bonus for tone I think. What else does it need? Not a lot

This is a fantastic sounding guitar. Unplugged, it is sweet and sustaining. Plugged into a reasonable valve amp, you get great blues, jazz, rock, jangle, clean rhythym; even metal is possible. Sustain is excellent. Feedback when you want it. Like to play the Beatles: this is the one. Try the middle selection (both pickups) and try the intro chord to a hard day's night: harmonics and jangle perfect. Great for country and absolutely screams the blues: big, fat and sustaining. I played this next to a reissue Gibson ES-335 (5 times the price)and couldn't justify the extra money for the Gibson.

The guitar is quite well made. A few minor flaws but nothing significant. The electrics are quiet. After 6 months of solid playing, it still feels new. It sounds better also: mellower and the tuning; which was a little unstable to start with is now rock solid. All new guitars take a while to settle. The action/ intonation from the factory was poor but I insisted on a proper setup at the store where I purchased it. They did a great job and the action is low and easy and the intonation is excellent suggesting the neck is good. Overall the build quality is good. I always expect to have a guitar set up regardless of the price unless it has been hand built by a luthier.

Covered this above. So far, so good. As with any reasonable guitar, look after it and it will look after you

Not had to contact Hamer. Bought it from Paradise Music in Victoria. Nice guys to deal with and have always looked after me.

Been playing 27 years. Have access to Fenders and Gibsons. Have a Peavey Delta Blues amp and a Seymour Duncan 84-50 amp along with a Maton Mastersound guitar. Can honestly say that I prefer this to all the guitars I could play. It was a bargain price wise and can cover a range of styles. With a decent tube amp and the Echotone, I manage to sound pretty reasonable and can sound pretty close to some of the music I hear in recordings. Compared to the equivalent Epiphones, Dearmonds, Arias etc, to my ear, the Echotone was far superior. If you are after an ES-335 copy, give the Echotone a try; you won't be disappointed! The Hamer American series would be the ultimate however. I have played thes and they are a step up again in quality for a reasonable price.

i purchased this hamer from guitar center. it is a korean import made in 2000. 24 frets, thin hollow body. 2 volume & tone controls with duncan designed pickups. I'm not certain what that meant but I have removed them to see the undersides & I am impressed. These are quality humbuckers & they will scream or ring clear & true. I used to play professionally with a Les Paul that I had made in '68. It had p-100's & this guitar is every bit the equal of sound of the p-100's. The maple wood is strong, resonates well, & the finish is as good as the finishes on 335's I've played in the past. the thin hollow body has a beautiful tone for blues or rock. The stock tail piece was just fine, but the tune-a-matic bridge had to go. The saddle of the G string would rock from side to side. I also had to get rid of the CRAPPY ASS tuners. I first replaced them with grovers & they also did a bad job of keeping it in tune. I replaced them with sperzel tuners. Problem solved! I replace the bridge with a nashville tuner from stew-mac. Problem solved. The strap pins were also sub-par. A set of schaller locking pins did the trick. I have found a set of rio grande tx. barbecue humbuckers that will be next on my list. It sounds ok right now & I can only slip so much past my wife at any one time. I am 6'7" so my hands are very big. The neck feels great & is large enough to accomodate my hands.

I use it in a weekend band for rock & blues. I am running it thru a johnson marquis JM-60 with a 12 inch delta 300 watt & a mesa boogie 2X12 rectifier cabinet which doubles the power to 120 watts. Plenty for what I use it for. Very little feedback or howl. I can get a rich, full sound for playing rhythm or make it squal with tube effects.

Poor setup from the factory, but that was expected for the price. I had it setup for intonation & the action was lowered a bit. the nut was set too high for the g,b,& little e. A file took care of the problem. No work was needed on the truss rod. I had to tighten the pickup selector switch. No big deal.

I have had this guitar 18 months & it has not had a variance in adjustments due to seasonal change or temperature that I can tell. I do use this without a backup. Who the hell is going to mess with your guitar besides yourself if you are my size?

never neede to contact the mfr.

I've played guitar for 42 years & also own a crown d-45 knockoff (1970 model) with a dearmand acoustic pickup '64 model mounted on it.If this guitar were stolen & would buy another one & duplicate my upgrades. I love the (1) sound,(2) light weight-I used to play an anvil, eh I mean a les paul(3)the way it looks. I do miss the solid body when it comes to sustain, but I think the upgrade to better humbuckers will overcome that obstacle. I think this upgrade adventure is the only way to go. I had a les paul made in '68 & this is now ever bit as good as my old anvil.

My guitar is a Korean ES-335 knockoff. I have no idea when it was made (I got it by way of a trade from Music-Go-Round). It has solid maple top and back and a maple neck with a rosewood fingerboard that has dot inlays (that appear to be plastic). The neck and body are bound with creme colored binding which is perfectly applied. It has a transparent cherry finish. It has Kluson knockoff "keystone" tuners, 2 Duncan designed humbucking pickups (2 volume, 2 tone and a 3-way), and a tune-o-matic bridge with a stop tailpiece (all hardware is chrome). I got a very good Canadian tolex covered, form fitting, plush lined hard shell case in the deal, too. This is a basic guitar; I rated it "10" because I got what I wanted and expected.

I am a blues guy...strictly blues, mostly traditional Chicago and West-Coast jump. I love the sound this guitar has...it is very lively unplugged and extremely FAT plugged in. I have an old Peavey 2 X 12 Music Man clone amp. I am actually a bass player and use the guitar for song writing and I play it at open-stage jams quite often. It sounds so sweet that I am almost always approached by other players at the jams asking about it. I notice that a lot of folks have negative opinions about the Duncan designed humbuckers, but I am very pleased. I think it is damned near impossible to get a bad tone from this guitar (and if anybody could, it would be me). It is quiet in every setting and has a very rich sound.

As it came from the shop, it needed quite a bit of set-up work; it was playable but needed some fine tuning. I had it done at my local shop. The string slots were not large enough to accomodate 10's, the action was way too high and the intonation was terrible. This was nothing that $30 couldn't cure, so I can't complain too much. The finish is excellent and the binding is perfectly applied. The fretwork is fine and the pick-ups were adjusted well. To be honest, I'm not sure if the guitar was new or used; I assume it was used but certainly not used too much because the truss rod cover and the pickguard still had the plastic covering. I don't think it is a factory second.

This is a well made, quality instrument. All the hardware seems very sturdy and the finish seems durable, too. The strap buttons are solid and seem larger than most although, if I were a gigging guitar player, they would be replaced with strap-locks. I think I would be able to trust the guitar. I think anybody who plays anything on a gig without a back-up is just looking for trouble...trust me...I'm old enough to be yo' daddy and this is the voice of experience speaking!

Search me...I don't know and don't care. I have heard nothing but positive things about Hamer but I doubt it will be an issue.

I have been playing since the mid-60's and have owned lots of guitars over the years...from my first Silvertone/Danelectro amp-in-case to Les Pauls, Strats, ESP's, etc. I am a bass player on the gig but I use the guitar to write songs, figure out chord voicings and I love to play the guitar at open jams. I've had the guitar for a couple of months and have given it a pretty good work out and I'm happier than I thought I would be. I consider it to be a professional quality instrument and I would have no qualms about recommending it to anybody. Just for fun, I may add a Bigsby and am thinking about a set of Rio Grande Bastard P-90's (not because there's anything wrong with the Duncan designed humbuckers but because I love the sound of P-90's). As it is, this guitar has the sound I've been looking for. I traded even-up for a 1969 EB-0, the ultimate one-trick pony of the electric bass world (that I almost never used any more), and I'd do it again in a heartbeat! I would be extremely bummed if it ever got stolen and I'd replace ASAP. I am not the kind of guy who develops a sentimental attachment to instruments, I consider them to be tools. If I can find one that will do the job better or do the same job cheaper, I have no hesitancy to make a move. Before I pulled the trigger on this deal, I played comparably priced instruments like the Epi Dot, Washburns, Samicks, Deans, etc. and I feel this is head and shoulders above them. I expect I'll keep this guitar for a while!

The model I have is a bit different from the one featured on Hamer's web page. The regular model has a stop-bar tailpiece, chrome hardware, keystone tuners and dot inlays. Mine came with gold hardware, a trapeze tailpiece, Srat-style tuners, and trapezoid mother-of-pearl inlays. Other features:
ES-335-style Semi-hollow body, made in Korea, 22 frets, solid maple top and back, individual volume and tone controls, 3-way toggle switch, two Duncan Designed closed humbuckers, rosewood fingerboard, thin neck, Transparent cherry finish and cream binding, tune-o-matic bridge with trapeze tailpiece. It came with a padded gig bag, and D'angelico .11 flatwound strings.

I really like the sound on this baby. I play it through a Digitech RP200 multi-effects processor and a 30-watt amp. Implayed it at the store through a Marshall AVT. Great clean sounds, good taper on the vloume and tone knobs. I found it very easy to avoid feedback, always a good sign with a hollow or semi-hollow. I paly a bunch of different stuff: Punk, Alternative, blues, classic rock, and a bit of jazz. This guitar was just fine for all of them. I got a nice fat sound from the humbuckers, good jazz sound form the neck pickup with the tone turned down. Plenty of sounds available by mixing pickups at different tone and volume settings.

The setup was fine by me. Nice low action, no buzzing, great playability. The neck was smooth and thin, great feel. the pickups were set pretty close to the strings. There were some imperfections, after alli this IS an import model. The tuners didn't turn very smoothly, this made tuning a bit frustrating. The bridge pickup's tone knob was a bit crooked, and the numbers were'nt aligned with the others--however, as I've said, all the knobs had good taper. The transparent cherry finish is gorgeous. Silky smooth all over, nice even binding on the body. There were some imperfections if the wood under the finish, but they were hardly noticeable. The tuners and the tailpiece had sort of grainy plating, but the pickup covers and the bridge were fine. The pickup selector was sturdy, the neck joint was nice and tight, and the wires inside were neatly bundled. The binding around the f-holes was a tad sloppy.

This guitar seems pretty sturdy. The toggle switch is ready for abuse, and the finish is just fine. I imagine it will be fine in live conditions. Strap buttons are solid and quite big--I have a planet-lok strap that won't fit on them! I'd never do a gig without a backup, but i'm not too worried about this one.

Haven't had any dealings with the company. They have a nice website, though.

I've been playing for five years, and I decided it was time to upgrade from my Strat-copy. I wanted an all-humbucker istrument, with better action and more control. The Echotone is one badass six-string. I really like the sound, it's sturdy, and it looks super classy. I only bought it a few days ago, but i'm really enjoying playing it. Plenty of bang for your buck!