Hamer (USA) Vintage S 1992 - Aztec Gold

This is an incredible 1992 Hamer USA Vintage S. This is the only one I have ever seen with a SHH configuration. In the 33 years this one has been around it has been through various changes. When I got it, the preamp had been removed. Hamers' weak point was often their pickups, so I replaced the original Dimarzios and Duncans with a 50/60 Ron Ellis Strat pickup in the neck position, a TV Jones T Armond neck in the middle position, and a TV Jones T Armond bridge in the bridge position. This is a beautiful combination. It gives both Strat neck and Tele bridge sounds, is hum cancelling for neck middle and middle bridge, and has the greatest, full bodied Knopfler quack tone in the middle bridge position. The guitar has two inputs, a barrel (unconnected) and a Strat plug in on the bottom (the original Hamer input, connected). I left the two inputs and the three toggles even though they aren't all used because I thought a future user might want them. The only toggle connected is the furthest outside one. It activates the bridge pickup so you can do bridge neck, or all pickups. The ABM tremolo had lots of wear, stripped threads, and no arm, so I replaced it with a brand new ABM 5200. I placed felt strips in the springs to block spring resonance. Frets have just been leveled and crowned.

In terms of condition, there is evidence of use over the years including some buckle rash in the back, one small ding on the neck, and minor dings and wear here and there. Even so, the guitar is gorgeous. The solid maple body is stunning. Maple bodies are supposed to be bright but I find this one fairly warm rather than bright. Also, the low E Sperzel doesn't lock (the locking pin fell out at some point), but it doesn't need to (it can be strung with no wraps just because the gauge of the string is large).

This a super high end USA Hamer with original case, new trem, and with new pickups and wiring that exceed the original configuration, maybe not a pure original for a collector, but a truly great instrument ready to perform better than new.