I just got a new Monaco with Custom neck and Custom Custom bridge pups. My initial impressions are, Wow this sounds good. I had to adjust the bridge upwards a little to give me a little more output. Otherwise they sound great, I hate to use the term, but very vintage sounding. I find this an interesting choice, who would guess a 13.4K ceramic would be a good choice for the neck position. And mating it with a 13.8k Alnico 2 in the bridge. I guess that's what happens when you listen to your ears. Hats off to Hamer.
Hamer Monaco Pickups
- Thread starter pgambon
- Start date
Norman_T
New member
Re: Hamer Monaco Pickups
Which Monaco are we talking here? the Elite or the Superpro as I have got both and whilst I find that on the Elite they are well balanced and are great sounding. On the Superpro they are not so well balanced. I find that there is a real difference in the output from the neck and the bridge. It causes problems for me in being able to switch from say the neck to the middle position as I then have to compensate quite a bit. I don't think Hamer have got it right with this set in the Superpro but maybe I'll get someone to look more closely at the this in the new year.
Thanks for the info and welcome to the forum.
Which Monaco are we talking here? the Elite or the Superpro as I have got both and whilst I find that on the Elite they are well balanced and are great sounding. On the Superpro they are not so well balanced. I find that there is a real difference in the output from the neck and the bridge. It causes problems for me in being able to switch from say the neck to the middle position as I then have to compensate quite a bit. I don't think Hamer have got it right with this set in the Superpro but maybe I'll get someone to look more closely at the this in the new year.
Thanks for the info and welcome to the forum.
L
Lewguitar
Guest
Re: Hamer Monaco Pickups
They were not balanced on MY Super Pro..though at first I thought they sounded good together. At low volumes at home the neck Custom was OK...but at stage volumes it turned to mud. I replaced it with a Seth Lover. Much better. Also, both pickups on my guitar were over 14K. Just to hot for a neck humbucker, IMO.
YMMV but I didn't get Hamer's thinking on this pickup combo at all!
Lew
They were not balanced on MY Super Pro..though at first I thought they sounded good together. At low volumes at home the neck Custom was OK...but at stage volumes it turned to mud. I replaced it with a Seth Lover. Much better. Also, both pickups on my guitar were over 14K. Just to hot for a neck humbucker, IMO.
YMMV but I didn't get Hamer's thinking on this pickup combo at all!
Lew
Re: Hamer Monaco Pickups
Norman: Nice guitar collection! I have an Elite that looks almost exactly like yours.
Several years ago, I was given a couple of Rio Grande pickups. I thought they were the Texas HB (PAF type) and a BBQ. I loved what they did for my Les Paul. Later I checked out the ohmage and realized that they were both BBQ's (I think in the 13-14k range). I don't remember the rational for swapping them out, but I don't think I've ever found a better match for that guitar. Two thoughts: it could be that high output humbackers are underrated for the neck position (more mids?) and having two identical humbackers and balancing them with height adjustments is still hard to beat.
Norman: Nice guitar collection! I have an Elite that looks almost exactly like yours.
Several years ago, I was given a couple of Rio Grande pickups. I thought they were the Texas HB (PAF type) and a BBQ. I loved what they did for my Les Paul. Later I checked out the ohmage and realized that they were both BBQ's (I think in the 13-14k range). I don't remember the rational for swapping them out, but I don't think I've ever found a better match for that guitar. Two thoughts: it could be that high output humbackers are underrated for the neck position (more mids?) and having two identical humbackers and balancing them with height adjustments is still hard to beat.
revolution
New member
Re: Hamer Monaco Pickups
The Les Paul Classic aka "1960" uses Hot ceramic in the bridge & the neck. That thing sound righteous.
The Les Paul Classic aka "1960" uses Hot ceramic in the bridge & the neck. That thing sound righteous.