hamiltone Custom

After playing my Hamiltone Custom for over a year, I think it is a good idea to correct a few parts of my original review.
In my time playing this guitar I became very dissatisfied with the original pickups. They were Kent Armstrong Texas Vintage single coils. I found out later from my guy at my repair shop that Kent Armstrong pickups are made in Korea. Hmmm???
The original vintage style bridge assembly seemed cheap and when I broke my trem arm off in the block, I knew it was a piece of junk. However, I do beat up on my tremolo. The Schaller locking tuners (which I requested) have begun to slip on the B and E strings.

So??? I replaced the Kent Armstrong PUs with a set of Lindy Fralin Vintage Hots. I took the cheap bridge assembly out and replaced it with a Callaham Vintage Bridge Assembly.

So after making the necessary adjustments and replacements, I am glad to say that this guitar is now performing to its full potential.
The Fralin pickups are delivering clarity and detail I didn???t even know I was missing from the Kent Armstrongs. Instead of just mimicking an SRV tone, I can now get a wide range of vintage strat tones which has really helped me define my own unique tone. The sparkle and bounce from the solid maple body coupled with the new pickups has really fattened up my sound.
The new bridge assembly is solid. I???d say it is a bit brighter sounding than the original, because Callaham Bridges use stainless steel throughout, including the arm, which is nice.

Before I upgraded the pickups and bridge, the guitar was built like a tank. I've never had a problem and I never will.

After I received the guitar, I corresponded frequently with Jim Hamilton. However, lately I haven???t been able to contact him. All the emails I send him are returned to me saying the address doesn???t exist. Damn.

Alright, at the end of all this, I am still overjoyed with this guitar. Its sound is fantastic and it plays like a dream. The finish is perfect- it lets the wood breathe.
The whole guitar is deeply resonant and it still snarls and spits strung with .013s. This guitar has reached a whole new level after the appropriate modifications.
To any one out there who is considering a Hamiltone Custom: 1 Don???t let him use those Kent Armstorngs pickups. 2. If you wail on your tremolo, like I do, you may want to consider a better bridge system. 3. If you???re plan on getting locking tuners, go with the SPERZELS not Schallers.
This is a whole lot of guitar. Do your homework before ordering and make sure you are prepared to play this one guitar for the rest of your life.

This is a custom Strat style guitar made by Jim Hamilton. It is finished with an amber sunburst and has a vintage style six-screw tremolo system and Schaller locking tuners. The 26??-inch scale vintage rosewood fret board has the tightest graining I have ever seen of any species of rosewood. 21 JUMBO frets and a bone nut. The neck profile is a huge D shape. The construction is neck-through-body design made of solid, flamed, curly maple. The figuring is deep and covers the guitar and neck. It weighs about 10 lbs. The pickups are Kent Armstrong Texas Vintage single coils with a five-way selector, a volume and two tone controls. It came with a Fender deluxe hard-shell case.

I play blues through a super reverb clone. With .013 gauge strings this thing sings. The tone is smooth yet crisp. Even un-amplified, the guitar is loud. The entire body resonates deeply and sustains for days. The maple body produces a bright and articulate sound. The pickups add a little extra bite to the sound resulting in an SRV-like tone and response. This guitar is capable of producing sounds from spanky funk tones to balls to the wall Texas blues. I???ve played it through some high gain pedals and it performed well??? not my bag.
The controls are incredibly responsive. The pickup selector produces an impressive variation in sound. The neck/middle and middle/bridge produce great ???quack??? while the neck position is smooth and fat. The middle pick up gives a good throaty growl. This guitar is also abnormally quiet while not being played. Even standing next to my amp at full volume, the guitar produces very little 60-cycle hum. I???ve never come across a guitar that sounds like this.

The set up was spectacular. Every option was considered and attended to. The action was adjusted as I requested, as were the pickups. There were no loose ends and I honestly don???t expect to find any. This is as close to a perfectly set up guitar as I???ve ever played.

Everything on this guitar screams reliability. Considering the build quality, I can???t imagine this thing is going to crap out on me, with the exception of trem arms and nut. (Obvious) The finish is not super thick. Good! Fender coats their guitars in so much gunk which doesn???t let the wood breathe. The finish on this is just right.

Jim Hamilton is a stand up guy. He puts his all into every aspect of each guitar he creates. He responded to all my emails politely and with useful feedback. After the sale, his attentiveness did not change a bit. He still answers my questions and offers me advice on maintaining my guitar. Considering he builds guitars for some huge names, I was surprised how personable a guy he was.

I???ve been playing for about fifteen years solid and owned a bunch of crappy guitars. Before I got this, my main was a ???98 American Strat. Switching between the two guitars is like night and day. I played a bunch of vintage Fenders and new custom shops and they failed to deliver like my Hamiltone. The price of this guitar was substantial but was $2,000 less than a Fender with similar features.
I like everything about this guitar, but I love the neck. The thick D carve fills my hand (I got BIG hands) much better than the thin C on my Strat. As a result, my hand does not get tired as quickly. The jumbo frets help too. This guitar has everything I want and nothing I don???t. It???s pretty and plays like a dream. If you have the means and the patience to get one of these guitars, do it. It took a long time to build but it was worth it.