Hamer Mirage

This guitar seems to get muddy when bearing down on rythm strums. I can't figure out if it's the guitar, the amp ( Marshall AVT150 Half Stack ) or the Boss GT6 processor, and it's driving me nuts. Anyone got some advice I'd love to hear it! Love the 2/4 pick up position.

The action is fine for me. I don't like it too low because I have a tendency to be a little rough with the strumming and lead. The finish is beautiful. It fits me really good standing up, I don't play sitting but I'm sure i wouldn't like it due to the position of the input jack.

I haven't had it very long but it seems it will be extremely durable and reliable as well.

I have been playing for about 10 years now and the only guitar Iv'e liked more has been a 73' Strat I never should have gotten rid of.

Just wanted to edit my last post. The switch is not a mid-boost switch or a rail splitter or coil tapper or whatever. It is a "switch to the HOT bridge p/u with all knobs turned to ten" switch. In other words, there are two settings for this switch, in one position all the other controls work the way they're supposed to - volume, tone, and p/u selector controls do their jobs respectively. In the other position, only the bridge p/u works and regardless of how you set the knobs, they'll all act like they're set to 10.

Now that I've been playing the Mirage for a while, I can better comment on some of the nuances about this guitar. For one thing, the rail pickups will probably never sound like a good set of single coils. Switching back to the tube amp helped me pick up some dynamics that were missing when I spent all my time playing through the POD, but there still seems to be a sort of "sparkle" missing from the guitar compared to my s/c equipped Strat. 99% of the music listening public probably wouldn't know the difference, but a lot of the people reading these reviews probably know what I'm talking about. Another thing is the shape of the guitar, esp. when sitting down and playing. Like I mentioned in my last post, the jack position really bugs me when I'm playing on the sofa. So I found a better chair to play on. Also, the position of the body's waist forces the guitar to sit further to my right (strumming hand side) than I'm usually comfortable playing. In order to strum where I would on any of my other guitars, I find myself strumming over the neck. Hence, the top edge of the neck (close to the neck pickup) is starting to get worn down. Not a real problem, just more of an annoyance. Guess the real solution is to strap this baby on your back and get off your butt when you're rocking!!!

Besides those two issues, I still love the guitar. If I were to do it over again, I might build myself a nice strat knockoff with s/s/h configuration out of nice wood. I like the look of rear routed guitars which allow you to mount the p/u's without the pick guard. Warmoth has some nice bodies that I'd like to use some day to build the next guitar, but alas, the wife thinks I already have way too many guitars and it'll be a while before I get another one.

Cheers,
Kepano

1994 Hamer Mirage Made in the US. Les Paul Junior style (double cut-away) where the top horn is only a little longer than the bottom one. Strat scale neck and about the same feel as the American Standard Strat that I traded in to buy the Mirage. It's a Mahogany body and neck with a solid, curly (flamed) Koa top. Glossy finish, which is cool on the body, but not as cool on the back of the neck (nothing a little sandpaper couldn't cure). Interesting thing about the neck: although it's a set neck, the shape of the neck where it meets the body is like that of a neck-through design. There's no heel to speak of. It's just a smooth contour from the neck the the back side of the body. Real cool, esp. after reading Ed Roman's complaints about PRS guitars growing fat heels. The Mirage simply doesn't have one!

The pickups are S.Duncan Vintage Rails in the Neck and Mid position and an S.Duncan HotRail in the bridge. Volume and Tone knobs only seem to work when the rails are running in split mode (coil-tapped?). Don't know if this is a feature or if there's something wrong with my guitar. There's a mini-toggle to split the rails. I believe the pickups are passive, but you can probably get more info elsewhere on H.C. The pickup selector switch works like a 5-way Strat switch, which is really cool, 'cause you can get that warm middle position sound (positions 2 and 4).

The guitar comes with Sprezel locking tuners. At first I had no idea what they were. When I got the thing home and tried to change the strings, I couldn't figure out why the strings wouldn't come out. When I heard of locking tuners, I thought that the tuners locked so the strings wouldn't go out of tune (like with a locking nut). Guess I was the "nut." The locking mechanism is to hold the string tight in the tuning peg so you don't have to worry about the string slipping as you start turning the tuning machine. But you all probably already knew that. Been playing for about 10 years and never came across locking tuners before. Where have these things been all my life? I think I'm going to put these things on all my guitars!

Anyway, the guitar was bought used and came with the original but beat up hardshell case which is still serviceable.

No binding on the body, which might have been a nice touch to protect the edges. Cover plates on the back are aluminum. Pretty solid compared to my former Strat.

For a nice picture of one, go to:

http://www.alexandriamusic.com/mirage.html

Given the price of this guitar, I'd say it's got everything you need to make great music. Aside from the Koa top, there are no frills. Binding and some fancy inlay work on the neck (a la the PRS Dragon) are the only things that I can think of which would put this guitar over the top. Still, I think it deserves a 10. This is no trophy case guitar. It's gonna get played a lot!

I've been playing the guitar for a little less than a month, so I'm still getting used to the durn thing. Like I said, I've been playing for a while now, but it was all on acoustic. I bought myself a real Fender Strat a little while ago to get into the world of electric and while I found the Strat awesome for bluesy stuff, it was a little thin for skull crushing, Creed-like stuff.

I don't want to turn this into a review of the Strat, my amp or the Line6 POD, but I think it'll be helpful to see where I'm coming from in my review of the Mirage.

I was playing the Strat through a Peavey Classic 30 which is a great tube amp, no matter what the detractors say (tons of reviews on that one) and I loved it on clean and dirty blues settings with the Strat. Full on distortion left a lot to be desired. SRV and KWS I could get close to, but Creed, fogetaboutit! I got a Line6 POD for the amp modeling figuring that the Peavey will never be a triple rectifier or marshal stack. I'm no expert on what these amps really sound like, but HOLY COW! The POD rocks! The Strat then became the weak point. Still kind of airy under heavy distortion.

So, after stumbling across some reviews of Hamer guitars, I saw some mention of a Koa topped model. Being from the Big Island of Hawaii, Koa has a lot of sentimental value to me, so that was a plus. Through the great debate between Les Pauls and Strats, I began seeing a lot of really cool features in the Mirage: Set neck for Les Paul Sustain; Mahogony for Les Paul warmth (and sustain, I guess); Strat-like neck (which I have grown accustomed to); three single-coil sized pickups and a 5-way switch for versatility; tremelo bar for note bending;

Now, with the proper tweaking of my POD and splitting the neck and bridge rails, I can get pretty close to the single coil sound that Strat lovers need. At first, I was pretty sad about trading in the Strat, but the Mirage sound is warming up to me (pun unintended). The sound is just that, very warm. I can get some really clear sounds out of it, but overall, it's really ballsy. Compared to my buddy's Texas Special equipped Strat, this baby's got back!

I really like the sound of the single coils in my old Strat, so I may experiment with some good single coils in the Mirage. The cool this about this guitar is that you can do it! Single coils on a PRS would look plain stupid!

The neck and bridge pickups are very smooth and rich sounding. Highs are clean and crispy, not the crystal or bell like ring of single coils, but tight and clean. I guess the best word to describe how the Strat sounded compared to this guitar is "jangley."

When the coil tap switch is thrown to combine the rails, the pickups get plain raunchy. Really hot! Volume goes up quite a bit, too. The Hot Rail in the bridge position is always pretty hot, so the mini-toggle simply makes it louder. I can't really tell the difference between any of the pickups when they are in "hot mode."

Setting my POD to Rectifier and playing the neck pickup in split (not hot) mode, I can get some real bone crushing, shake the fillings from your head sound! The Mirage sound awesome playing bluesy stuff, too. Takes a little tweaking, but some great blues sounds are in there, esp. with the POD. The pickups are super quite, no hum.

I haven't played the Mirage through my amp much since I have the POD. But when I do, the guitar just honks through the amp! Very ballsy. I may have to run the Mirage through the POD into the amp to get back some of the sparkle, but I'm pretty sure it's there somewhere...

For some sound clips and another picure of the Mirage, check out this guy's site:

http://www.nashville.net/~bobc2it/hamer.html

Bottom line: If you can play it, this guitar can dish it out. It may take some work to get the sound you're looking for, but this is one helluva guitar!

I got it used, so there was some wear and oxidation on some of the metal parts. Other than that it was in great shape. The book matching was right on! The curls of the Koa line up perfectly. I'm giving it a 9 only because it wasn't new.

Something that struck me about the Mirage was how clean all of the work was. The American Fender Strat that I traded in had some kind of putty at the end of the frets. I've read people complain about Fender and Bondo, but didn't really notice it until I got the Mirage. Every fret was installed and dressed to perfection. The attention to quality on this guitar was just mind blowing.

As for fit, it doesn't sit as nicely as a Strat against the body, esp when sitting down. The cord comes out the botton like on a Les Paul, so you may want to get a 90-degree adapter. I'm always catching myself resting the weight of the guitar on the cable coming out of the jack: not good! I'd say the Strat wins here in the comfort and fit category. The angled jack coming out of the face of the guitar is a great feature.

This thing is solid! I don't know what I'd do if the neck broke, though (see previous comments). It's built to last.

I understand the importance of having a backup, but this thing is solid. However, if I gigged, I'd have a standby in case I broke a string of something. At this point in time I would rather get me an electric bass, since I'm starting to record stuff on my computer.

Don't know. Bought it second hand

As for the price, I traded in my Strat, so I actualy have about $1000 in the guitar. I gave the seller $350 and the Strat for the Mirage. So, based on how quickly the damn Strat depreciates, if the trade in value of the Strat was about $500-$600, I'd say I paid about $850-$950. Lesson learned, never buy a new guitar again. Fortunately this Mirage is a keeper. Hope to hand it down to my kids some day. If I saw another one in similar condition I'd be very tempted to snatch it up; wouldn't want to pay as much, though, but only cause I'm broke now.

Ed Roman doesn't seem to care for the Mirage, but I think he's only refering to the dual HB model on his web site. I cannot imagine anyone not liking this guitar. I'll put this thing up against any PRS costing three times as much.

This guitar was purchased from a guitar teacher in LN condition for $500 of the list price. 1995, USA, and was worth every penny. 24 medium Frets, rosewood fingerboard, strat like neck feel, PRS stlye double cutaway body, stunning Koa top with a natural finish. Wilkinson tremolo with Sperzel locking tuners. It is not a neck through design, but the set neck joint is so well executed and ergonomic that it feels and plays like one. Originally it had three Duncan Cool Rails, very quiet and classy sounding pickups, but the guitar was overall a litle tame, so I substituted the bridge position with a Duncan mini-JB Humbucker. The guitar was jazzier before the pickup swap, but it has the lower midrange oomph to push the JB in a heavier fashion. It has volume and tone knobs, 5 way pickup selector, and a lead bypass switch, which provides maximum bridge pickup ouptut and bypassed volume/tone knobs. Straplocks.

With the original pickups, this guitar was a jazz/funk wet dream. Now with a mini JB, it can cover rock duties as well, but has lost it's unique voice. Focusing on the middle and neck positions, the guitar yields some very sweet and clear tones, not ballsy, but light and refined. The koa top makes this guitar have quite a pronounced high end sparkle, which sounds phenomenal through the proper Fender with a wah. The guitar is very quiet, and the tremolo plays well and the strings stay in tune. It would of course sound even better without the tremolo, but the spring ringing is negligible. Very funky and jazzy sound, with a neck suitable for shredding or chord strumming. As it came, it was not a rock beast, but can be converted to one with a Duncan mini JB.

Easy to set up and adjust the neck and string tees, pickups, etc. Stunning Koa top. Excellent fret work.

Played the hell out of this thing for 5 years and it still sounds great, but the bridge and pickups are rusted beyond adjustment, and will need to be replaced. I abuse it though, flicking the lead bypass switch relentlessly, it has started to die as well. But the neck and fretboard, the essentials, are holding up amazingly considering my treatment of them.

Don't Know.

I have been playing for 10 years, and I play this guitar mainly through a Mesa Dual Rectifier, with a crybaby way. The Mesa's clean channel does not do this guitar justice, in short, but the lead channel can make magic happen in the neck position with a wah or in the bridge position with just the JB and evrything else bypassed. This guitar was a good value for 900 in LN condition, considering it's unique looking Koa top, its excellent playability, and its excellent sound. Like a single coil PRS for half the price, with the mysterious sound and look of Koa. A great all around guitar.