Hamer Monaco Elite

This is a 2004, Hamer Monaco Elite..Maple top..To me, a highly refined, and retuned Les Paul...If Gibson really knew what they were doing, which they don't, this guitar is what would be their next generation LP...It also stays in tune better, and the guitar always plays more in tune than the LP and SG I still own...The neck is better, and has a nicer feel...Finish work is 2nd to none..I've seen many high end custom guitars that don't have the finish work down as well as Hamer...These guitars are a bargain....

I play full time in 2 Bands..One is old and new Blues,,the other is Rock/Blues/R&B...I'm the soloist ..Use a 2 Rock amp,no FX...the tone and vibe, and touch are just unbelievable...I changed out the Duncan Custom/ Custom and Custom pickups for a set of Wagner Goodwoods I had in my 58 LP...!!!!!!! whew.....unbelievable..They sounded really good in the LP, but they are remarkable in the Hamer...better balance...No more muddy low end

As I said above...you could spend $5000 to $8000, and not really get a guitar that would be as toneful, or as good..I owned about 7 PRS's and they don't hold a candle to this off the shelf Hamer guitar

Hamer is now owned and run by the good folks at Kaman, which is also Ovation...These New England Craftsmen are building unbelievable instruments....way way better than the Hamers' built in the 70's, 80's and 90's

been a professional electric guitarist for over 40 years....jeez...Best guitar i have ever owned, and have owned to many..I wish it had a 5 way switch for more pickup coil split sounds,,,other than that,,,it's perfect

2004 Hamer Monaco Elite.
All-Black Finish w/ binding up to wazoo.
22 frets, 24 3/4 in. scale.
1 Seymour Duncan Custom Pickup, 1 Custom Custom p/u
Some kind of customized potentionmeters.
I don't really know all the specs exactly, but whatever. The action's ridiculously low (i'll admit i've seen lower, but i like the way it is on this one) and there's no buzzing. Looks gorgeous and the creme binding was put on superbly. Everything feels smooth. My only criticism of the features is that finding a dealer with any variety of features in the Monaco is impossible.

Fantastic sound. This is the second Hamer i've owned, the first being their standard USA double-cut thing. The Monaco has a slightly hotter sound to it, with tons of character. Bridge p/u is great, you can hear a lot of tone through the distortion, and nothing gets too muddy. Neck p/u is smooth and rich, kinda like Allman Bros. Love the p/us, wouldn't change them. THey're suited to the guitar.
Tons of sustain too, if you've never owned a Hamer, these guys just keep going and going with the sustain.

Hmm, kinda already went over that in the features, but again, it was just to my taste and i haven't messed with it. I might be able to get teh action a bit lower, but it's just right for me now and i really don't have any desire to do so. i feel that messing with it might make something sound worse. i'm superstitious like that though.

It's still a new guitar to me relatively, i've only had it for a few months. I've done some light gigging, and everything holds up fine. Hardwares in tip-top shape, fretware is zero. It's a black finish too, so i don't feel the excruciating need to baby it all that much. I think it'll last until something truly awful happens to it (ie-thrown from a moving vehicle onto pavement)

Ebay. Sorry, haven't dealt w/ Hamer yet, but i hear they're great

I've been playing three years, ive gone through a USA Dean, a gibson studio les paul, a tele, a strat, and my two hamers. Byt far teh Hamers have treated me the best thus far.
As far as amplification, i run my stuff through a vintage club 40 crate, whic his an all-tube amp i've had for a few years now. I run minimal effects, a compressor at most usually but occasionaly i mess around with a wah-wah.

2002 Hamer USA Model with mahogany body and flame maple cap. Has custom options including sound chambers in the body and a special color called Vintage Darkburst. It's like their sunburst color, but with a layer of slightly darker transparent paint (called cognac) over it at the end of the painting process.

Two humbuckers, Seymour Duncan Custom and Custom Custom. Ivoroid binding everywhere- the body, neck, headstock... look fabulous! Also, their are 'victory inlays' that use 3 pieces of abalone for each fret when used! Even the back of the body, neck and headstock are painted suberbly, so you can see the grain. Has the standard Tune-O-Matic to Stop Tailpiece setup, although I may try to put in a Wilkinson Wraparound for shits and giggles. Sperzel tuners do their job well, and the guitar case is also very nice.

I should mention that there is all chrome hardware, and I think gold should be an option.. which it may be I dunno... Three knobs- two for pickup volume and one for tone. With the pickup selector in the middle position, the wiring in 'phase.' The neck isn't too thick, but it's pretty damn wide.

Jesus! Let me start off by saying I'm playing through a vintage Vox wah, new Valvetronix Tonelab, Phase 90, and modded Tubescreamer into an rediculously modded 4-10 Fender Hot Rod Deville. I also use a Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier Half Stack when I need to rock that shit out...

This guitar is the shit! I was in the market for my first 'really nice' guitar, so naturally I was trying shit like PRS and Gibson. Gibsons seemed to heavy, the tone too muddy and saturated, and the price was rediculous. 'The Harley Davinson of Guitar.' PRSes were better, but still very pricey.

I finally played a Hamer, and everything just clicked. Great sounding guitar, great quality, mind-boggling value! I played lots of styles, I guess mostly alternative rock like Incubus, Deftones, Pearl Jam, Smashing Pumpkins.... blah blah blah you get the idea.. And this guitar does all that shit fine. Very responsive to your playing style and picking attack, and the tone confused me for a bit. It's wired to let the regular amount of 'highs' through at 5. So at 10, it's double the highs, and at 0 it's half of them. Very usable... I can get a jazzy, clean sound, and great, smoothy distortion. Very usable tones all around. Sounds fucking heavenly through the Mesa, the Fender is more of a blues rig for my Strat or Tele.

Hamer owners swear by their company because they continue to churn out hand-made, quality guitars at a fraction of the cost of the big guys like Gibson or PRS. Everything is meticulously done in the factory, the only CNC work is done on the basic shape of the guitar- everything else is by hand (!) The action was perfect, and my only complaint is the top. Hamer and PRS use different methods of bringing out the flame of their woods, I don't know any specifics but if you A/B them you'll know what I mean. With Hamers you can see more grain and texture, but less falming and 3-D shit. PRSes are famous IMHO because their tops look like the shit. (Their PR and quality isn't bad either..) But if your #1 priority is a kick-ass top, check out a PRS McCarty or Singlecut. Just know that everythign except that top is better (and cheaper) here with Hamer.

This guitar will (and has) done great live. The chrome hardware tarnsihes over time, but so would gold or anything else I guess... The finish is great, I think I read somewhere Hamer puts 14 layers of Nitrocellulose on this shit. Also, Hamers come standard with strap locks, so it's not gonna fall when you're standing. I can depend on it on gigs, this is my #1 guitar for sure, but it's never a bad idea to have a back up. Just Uncle Ari's advice, but why get stuck when you don't have to?!?

Haven't had any direct experience with Hamer yet, but they seem great. Check out Hamerguitars(dot)com and hamerfanclub(dot)com for some great advice. The eBay transaction worked great, which is good beacuse I didn't lose out on my $1500!

I've been playing for about 7 years now, and I'm only 16... I bought this specific guitar without ever playing it on eBay, and it's the best purchase I've ever made. I spent more on this guitar than I will on my first car, and dammit, and glad it works out that way! If it were stolen or lost, and I could start up the POS care I had to buy, and run their sorry ass over. I compared this guitar to others like the Hamer Artist, PRS McCarty Model (not McCarty Standard...) and PRS Singlecut. The bottom line is, for the price I paid, you can't get a better guitar. The quality, tone, and versatility beat everything else. If I had the money, I'd get a Hollowbody PRS, but until then, this will be more than fine for me, thank you!

2003 USA model, tobacco sunburst (I think the best finish?), singlecut body, 22 frets, SD humbuckers. Flame top, enough coats to keep you warm!! ? for all of the other features see other reviews. Simple and straight forward but classy with a capital C.

I play a mixture of music, jazz, blues, rock, funk and even pop!! (yes it pays the bill). I use Fender amps ? Twins, Pro Juniors, Blues De Villes etc (Mesa Boogies are overrated in my opinion and too expensive) and just a Tube Screamer pedal. This guitar just delivers with enough clarity and superb sustain. The bridge pick up is awesome and the neck is out of this world. It is very easy to ?dial in? the tone that you want when switching between the pickups and far easier and quicker than Les Paul?s, where you are forever fiddling ? this can be quite annoying on stage. Clean sounds are not this guitar?s forte but then if you want that sound play a strat or something similar. To get the best out of this guitar (sorry if this sounds like a lesson) you need to make sure that your amps have enough gain and then dial in the requisite master volume on the amp (you may find scooping some of the mid and treble could help but not to much), then use the guitar?s volumes pots to suit taste, back off for rhythm and then full on for that growl and singing sustain.

If it was possible to give this a mark of 11 then I would have. Of all the guitars that I have looked at or owned this has the best action, fit and finish. Everything is perfect and usually I would have to have the set up looked at and changed to suit me. The finish is far better than I have seen on some PRS, Gibsons and others. This is a properly hand built guitar not a conveyor belt type operation - PRS, Gibsons please note. Nothing is amiss and you could take a magnifying glass to it and would be hard pressed to find anything wrong

So why no marks? Good question I bought this guitar about a month ago and although I have gigged with it a couple of times the real proof in the pudding is what is it going to be like in 10-12 months time? Having said that the times that I have gigged with it, I found that I kept returning to the guitar because I just wanted to play it. OK it was difficult trying to play any SRV stuff with this guitar (Strat lovers will groan!!) but the more you play the better it gets. I?ll come back a bit further down the line and update this section in due course

Not had to contact them as yet but if their customer support is as good as their guitars then you have one hell of a combination.

So why did I buy this guitar and why am I bothering to even give a review of it? I have been playing for a number of years and like so many guitarists always searching for the ultimate guitar and have gone through endless days and sleepless nights trying to find it. My present stock includes Strat?s, LP?s, SG?s and I am fortunate that I have these to choose and play, whilst all great in their own right there was always something missing. I went in search of the holy grail and this took me to all of the usual places and to say that I was disappointed was putting it mildly. One of the problems that I face is that I live in the UK where guitars and nearly everything else is more expensive. It got to the point that I was going to have a guitar hand built for me with my specifications etc. However a couple of months ago I come across a studio musician from New York (Matt Smith ? very good guitarist) and he plays Hamer guitars. He brought the latest Monaco Elite (3 pick up version ? P90?s) to the UK and that is what started me on the Hamer trail. So have I found the ultimate guitar - the answer is probably yes and I think with some ?age? on the guitar it will start to get better and start to ?breathe and open up?. Would I buy another guitar from Hamer? Yes I would - the quality and workmanship is second to none, once you have played something that is classy like this you get spoilt and want more. In fact I am hoping to acquire another Hamer shortly (for certain reasons I cannot tell you what it is but will let you know). So should you buy a Monaco Elite if it was offered to you/came across one? The answer should definitely be YES ? it?s a no-brainer - and if you don?t well please tell me or perhaps any of the other people who have written reviews as they would want it. You will forever have that contented smile/grin on your face!!

2003 hamer monaco. tobacco sunburst. singlecut body. 22 frets. 24.75 in scale. 2 seymour duncan humbuckers. flame top with some insane number of lacquer coats. 14?. Tune-o-matic. Neck is vintage wide. Case.
Like a Les paul in features. Simple. what is not to like about that?
different from gibson product in finish and quality control.

Driving this thing through a Fender hot rod deluxe with a Boss DS-1 distorsion produces an edgy, thick tone that i love. A strange combo maybe, but i like the combination of the clean Fender HRD with the DS-1 and this guitar. Like a combination of clean with dirt + double humbuckers gives a very thick yet clear, edgy, non-muddy tone. amazing string separation with the SD humbuckers. same can be said for driving a marshall DSL 401. A very thick tone. Great sustain.
the clean sounds with this guitar are not my fave, but that is what my American Deluxe strat and Hot Rod deluxe are for. the same can be said for my LP- i dont play it clean. I really love the monaco with the tone control down just a little and the volume dials to 10. the volume pots are very sensitive- just a touch induces a significant change.
this guitar sounds different from my LP- a bit less bottom end, but also less muddy than the LP.
i am giving a 9 only because of the clean. but then again, who uses a double hum set-up for clean or acoustic tones.

All i can say is this- I have 14 other guitars, including Ricks, Gibson Lp std and classic, Fender, etc.... The monaco has the best overall workmanship, fit, finish, and out of the box set-up of any guitar i have ever had. amazing attention to detail. not a single rough edge ANYWHERE. the ivroid binding is amazing. the frets are perfect. there is no extra glue, paint, or anything anywhere (i wish i could say the same for some of my previous gibson products). The nut is perfectly cut. The volume pots are Hamers own- very sensitive. i have had excellent luck with my Fenders and Ricks, but this thing is just over the top. wow.

this thing is SOLID. no rattles, loose stuff. quality hardware. i cannot find any problems. i usually bring three guitars to gig with, so the backup question is not applicable. however, i doubt this thing would fail.
by the way, wide, solid strap buttons.

never tried. i have heard they are very responsive from other owners who have contacted them.

this is the highest quality guitar i have ever owned, and i have had a lot of them. only rickenbacker comes close. fender does a great job with quality control, i will not comment on gibson. there are other guitars that may nail a particular sound better (how do you imitate a tele better than a tele?), but none with better finish, fit, and overall appearance than the hamer. even the case is beautiful.
if it were lost or stolen i would get another in a second. this thing is good-looking too. it looks like a very custom LP. my LP has a bit different low-end, but i can also tell you that my last LP had a nut that looks like it was cut by a 5 year old. there are paint smears at joints on the gibson. not on the Hamer. my only regret is that i am now spoiled as far as quality of workmanship goes.
by the way, if you think i am kidding about the quality issue, go to the hamer website at www.hamerguitars.com and take the online factory tour. those guys are obsessive!

Made in within the past year at the Conn. factory.
My understanding is that the American factory employs
ten luthiers who only produce 600 or so guitars a year.
Almost all of the operations are done by hand including
14 hand buffed coats of laquer.
Mahagony body and neck with highly figured maple top.
Two Duncan humbuckers with two volume and one tone
control. 59 burst finish which is similar to a Gibson tangerine
burst.. Singlecut , 22 frets, stopbar tailpiece with tuneamatic
bridge. Shaler tuners. Wide fat neck profile. Three way toggle
switch. Body, neck and headstock binding. MOP inlays
on fretboard and headstock.

The singlecut body with 22 fret wide fat neck produces a deep
mellow tone with excellent sustain. The upper registers
are sharp and clear.

Set up with 10-46 strings. Light action no buzz.
Flawlesss workmanship. A beautiful instrument.

Seems very solid and durable. Comes with limited lifetime
warranty.

Haven't had to contact them yet.

Beautiful well made instrument.