Re: Hamer '335' worth parts upgrade?
It's the amber burst and is Korean made. Pickups are o.k. but could use a new nut, pots, bridge and tailpiece.
The amburst Echotones were only made in Korea & have been out of production for a long time, maybe almost 10 years, and there were never very many made. It's a nice-looking guitar and one the of better import 335's. You don't see them for sale often, and they are going up in value.
I've rewired a number of Echotones. The Duncan Designed PU's gotta go. Like all Asian PU's they're muddy and lack definition. Put in a pair of American-made SD's, DiMarzios, Gibsons, Schallers, or Carvins and you'll sound as good as Gibson. The PU's will have a much bigger impact on the sound than anything else, but upgrade the rest of the electronics & hardware if you want. Funny about the nut on yours, my current amber Echotone has one edge of the nut broken off (the only guitar I've ever seen that on). That batch of nuts must have slipped thru their quality control.
Another rare Echotone, also from Korea & long out of production, is the Custom, which was red with gold hardware, block inlays & a trapeze tailpiece. Haven't seen one for sale in a couple years. Too bad, it was a nice guitar.
Chinese Echotones are just offered in red or two tone brown sunburst (kind of drab). They should expand the colors (black would be nice), and offer Custom & flame maple models again. That would help sales. Email Hamer & let them know what you think.
o