My solemn vow was to stash cash for a genuine USA Hamer Studio. They can be found on Ebay or Craigslist or a few other guitar oreinted forums for under a grand and, at such prices, are well worth it.
But dang if this Hamer Stellar 1 didn't show up with a Buy it Now for $150 delivered.
This is the guitar from its crappy listing photo. It looks like at least a good polishing and a replacement knob are in order. Probably more. Notice, in comparisson to the photo below, the moire patters on the finish due to the low resolution.
Here's a much better photo I found of the same model. When I get mine, expect a review and better pics:
Courtesy of this flickr album.
It took five minutes of hard research and googling of this rather unique bird (which also yeilded the same guitar's previous listing at $250 Buy it Now) and the fact that I actually had $150 stashed away and, well... It's supposed to be here tomorrow from UPS. So that's a reset button on saving for the genuine Hamer USA Studio.
What has this thing got going for it? It's a Korean Hamer. That doesn't suck. More intriguing is its theoretical through-body maple neck and its oak/lacewood top, a transluscent red burst finish, a 24 fret, 25.5 inch scale length, and what will probably be decent if not great Duncan Designed humbuckers. I doubt that it's a through-body; it's probably a maple core body with a maple set-neck and oak/lacewood veneer. Many of the on-line reviews seem to be confused about this. I know what a through body neck actually is and promise to set the record straight.
So what? Well, its oak/lacewood finish caught my attention as that's exactly what is on Four, the custom guitar my good friend Birger is making for me. See the mini-slide show to the right. And Four has a maple (and mahogany core) through neck. And it's the same scale length.
Bottom line, if it's in any kind of decent condition, I've got the confidence to clean it up and get it playing great. I can experiment with pickups till the cows come home. Or resell it for a profit. I'll also probably throw the old Kramer Striker up for sale.
While the Striker is one of my first electric guitars and was what I first sought- humbuckers, pointy hockey stick neck, Kramer name- I've never really bonded with it. It plays great, it's light, looks cool, the pups scream "Ratt," and the Korean fit and finish is exemplary. But it sits in a case in the closet. To me, it's $200 or so back into the Hamer USA fund or whatever else sidetracks me.
Like building a small tube amp. Stay tuned...
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