Hamer Korina Vanguard

semi-hollow body, double-cutaway, carved top. all korina wood. 22 fret neck, rosewood fingerboard. Two P-90 pickups. Separate volume controls plus master tone control. Three-way switch.

clear/yellow stain that really shows off the grain and the beautiful Korina wood.


Hardtail tune-o-matic bridge.

fairly beefy neck profile. Thinner than my Les Paul Standard by a touch.


I agree with the previous reviewer that this is a simple guitar, not overly loaded with doodads. Because I consider this a plus (let's not get in the way of the aesthetics), and because the shape of the body and neck joint are so very functional, I give it a 9.

Also, because of the interaction of the P-90's, the volume controls are actually functional. Unlike many guitars, you don't just dime the knobs and blast. There are useful tones at every combination of knob position. That's worth a five-way switch and sixteen pickup configs in my book any time.

I play a wide variety of rootsish music - everything from Chicago blues to New Orleans funk to calypso to reggae to delta slide to classic rock to a touch of jazz and countryish.

This guitar handles all of it with aplomb. Really nice organic warm tone. I knew this from my first unamplified strum of a boring E chord - the sound just jumps out of that korina wood. Depth, clarity, note separation - it's all there.

I have played it through a Line6 POD (a variety of amp sims, but primarily the Blackface and VOX AC30 sims) and a Mesa Boogie Nomad. Sounds great across the board, but it really shines on the clean sounds. Neck pickup with volume and tone rolled off and you have a very obedient, balanced, humble rhythm sound. Start boosting the volume and the tone and you get an increasing degree of character in the tone (from jazz to bluesish to rock tones as it goes up). Thanks to the ever-lovin' P-90, you get distinct tonal variations at every number along the way. It's also much easier to adjust tone on the fly on your guitar rather than tweaking an amp mid-song or futzing with footpedals.


the bridge P90 gives brighter varieties of warm, silky, organic tones.

I haven't had it long enough to explore every tone: if you're looking for heavy metal shred, you should probably look elsewhere. Not that this guitar couldn't do it, but big distorted tones are a waste of this guitar's capabilities. Blues, rock, R&B, funk are the home ground. If you play a little bit of jazz it will handle that too. It's not a D'Angelico archtop, but it'll play one on TV.


I'd give this guitar a 20 if I could. Best electric I've ever put my hands on.

Wow. Flawless. Seriously. If there were anything about the construction of this guitar that isn't note perfect, I can't find it. No dead spots, no rough frets, nothing. Incredible. It looks and feels hand built.

I bought it on ebay two years old, so I can't really comment on factory setup. The action was just right for me - low, but not TOO low. .010-.046 strings. I tend to like heavier strings, so I might go up to .011s next time around.


It is one incredibly beautiful guitar. If you're into AAAAA flamed maple tops and flash green lacquer finishes, you might not be impressed, but the subtle tastefulness of the finish and the graceful curves of the top just about make me weep.


Nice compact case too.

Right now I'm playing rhythm in a Grateful Dead jam band, and this is my main guitar. I've never had a problem and don't anticipate any, but I always have a backup guitar.

ebay - never dealt with the company. I've heard very good things, though.

I've been playing for twenty years. I've played a Les Paul Standard and an all-koa Peavey Impact II neck-through superstrat. I love both of those guitars, but I think they're going to rack up increasing amounts of closet time while I play this beauty.

If it got stolen, I would cry. Then I would dry my tears and go right out, do not pass go, and buy another one. Or two.


It's just a really well-rounded, tasteful, simple guitar that fits how I play to a T. I can do rhythm for anything, and get lead voices from Jerry Garcia to Carlos Santana to Eric Clapton to Leo Nocentelli to Snooks Eaglin to BB King.

I'm not sure how to compare it to other guitars. The shape reminds me of a double-cutaway Les Paul Special, the semi-hollow sound has overtones of ES-335 meets Tele meets Les Paul, but with the Korina wood it really has a voice all its own. Words fail me.

This guitar is made of a blonde Korina in a semi- hollow contruction, double cut away with only one "F" hole. It has two Duncon P-90 pickups and a neck that has a profile similar what you would find on a '59 Gibson Historic LP; it has a bit of beef to it which I love. Rosewood fretboard with medium frets. The fit and finihs on this guitar is excellent and certainly on par with what is being produced by the boutique guitar makers. I must say that I went into the music store and just p[ick this guitar up to try it and fell in love with it. I had no intention of buying a guitar that day at all!
I'm giving it an 8 only because it is not loaded with a ton of bells and whistles but is a solid guitar

I play blues and country and this guitar really fits the bill. The Korina gives the guitar some bright snap that works well for new country. It does sound like a tele but adds the flavor and cuts through without the "ice pick in the ear" problems that some teles are know for.
With blues this thing really shines. The Duncan p90's are fat yet distinct in voice. The neck picku[p with a Fulltone Fulldrive is the ultimate " woman tone" Clapaton had in his Cream Bluesbreakers day. It's Killer!!
I'm using this guitar with either two Fender Deluxe reverb reissue amps or a single '65 Fender Pro Reverb with a pedal board that consists of a Boss compressor, Fulltone Fulldrive II, VooDoo Labs Overdrive, (great clean boost pedalwith the od set to 0), Boss Chorus, Boss digital pitch shifter. I'm really happy with my tone now after alot of screwing around with various things.

This thing has incredible fit and finish. I could find no finish flaws on the intrument. The Duncan P90's are a great match to the Korina body and it was setup exactly how I like my guitars setup. The stock strings that came on the intruments were .046 - .010. It was great to see Hamer had got away from using .009's on thier instruments like most of the other manufacturers. Seeing how well made this guitar is, I don't understand why Hamer is not as popular as the PRS, Anderson, Melancon etc.. Having owend those makes of guitars, certainly the quality of the Hamer is as good or better in some cases. And that type of qualuity can be had at a much lower price.

It is a well made instrument that will hold up. I always gig with backup instrument mostly out of habit or to add another tonal flair toa gig.

I have not used the customer support at Hamer but have been told that they are great.

I've been playing guitar over 30 years and presently own 17 guitars several of which are "classics" and boutique models. This guitar has been what I've been gigging with in addition to a Melancon Custom Artist "T". If it were stolen I would hunt down another one. this is great guitar!