Hamer necks?

[rspst14]

Hey guys, I have a question for those of you who own or have played Hamer guitars, and more specifically, the Studio models. As soon as I see the right one pop up on Ebay, I'm going to buy it. How are the necks on these guitars? Are they fat/thin/somewhere in between? I know these guitars have a 1 11/16 nut width, and a 24 3/4 inch scale. I'm used to the neck on my Wolfgang, which is thick, but not baseball bat thick. It's somewhere in between the thin Ibanez necks and the thick 50's Les Paul necks. I can't stand thin necks, so I definitely want to avoid any models that have them. I seem to recall reading that Hamer changed some things in '95, and that the earlier models have thinner necks than the newer ones. Also, how fast does the neck feel? I'm used to unfinished necks, which are about as fast as you can get. I realize that a finished mahogany neck won't feel the same, but I'd like something with a neck that isn't going to be slow and cumbersome to play on. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

Ryan

 

[Curly]

Re: Hamer necks?

my '99 Studio has a very comfortable neck - neither as large as a 50's profile Gibson, or as small as the neck on my '94 Hamer GoldTop ... the neck and finish suit me more than my LP, although I should add I have small hands

you're right - they changed profiles sometime in the mid 90's

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Hamer necks?

Personally, I think the neck on my '02 Hamer Monoco is darn near perfect! I prefer it to most Gibson and PRS guitars. The radius is 12"...a little flatter than most Gibsons, which makes string bending easier. Generally, I think Hamers are super comfortable to play. Hamers started out copying the '59 Les Paul neck shape in '78, then went to a wider flatter design in the 80's, then after '95 went back to a more Gibson-ish shape but retained the flatter 12" fingerboard radius. I've owned '78, '79, '92, '95, '96 and '02 & '03 Hamers and loved every one of them. Lew

 

[Norman_T]

Re: Hamer necks?

Ryan,

I suppose I know about these guitars as I have 4 of them, including the Studio (Custom).

On the neck issue they are not your '50s baseball bat dimensions but more fat thin, definetly not thin. If you have tried any of the PRS with their neck dimensions you'll know what I mean. You will be able to dig into them very easily and will not have that uncomfortable feeling with a thin neck. I think you will be able to get along just fine with them. The necks are fast but they are finished, so if you are used to unfinished necks then you may well find that it will slow you down, until such time as you get used to it. Of course you could have the neck unfinished but, in my opinion you are likely to have severe problems with it in the long run - warping and twisting and you could very well fine that the guitar will be firewood.

Norman

 

[rspst14]

Re: Hamer necks?

Thanks guys, that definitely helps. I have no plans to remove the finish, as long as it's fairly fast for a finished neck, I'll adjust with no problem. I played a PRS with the wide/fat neck the other day, and it was pretty comfortable. Maybe a little too fat, but it was much more comfortable to play rhythm on due to the wider neck. That's the one thing I don't like about my Wolfgang, the neck is a bit too narrow, and I find it difficult to play chords close to the nut.

Ryan