G UITARTRASHORTREASURE
B LUE BOOK PUBLICATIONS
Hamer DuoTone
Dear Guitar Trash or Treasure,
The lead guitarist in our band has
played this Hamer guitar for years,
but he doesn’t know much about
Hamer or the guitar itself. We play a
lot of alternative music, and it seems
to work really well for that. The gui-
tar doesn’t have any markings on it
besides the Hamer logo, and it has
strange, small soundholes on the left
side of the guitar. Can you give us a
little information on Hamer and pos-
sibly identify the model and put a
price on the guitar?
Freddie
Milwaukee, WI
Hi Freddie,
Your guitarist has a unique guitar from
a unique company! After reading this,
I think you and your band will agree
that the history of Hamer, and this guitar in particular, is pretty cool. Hamer
started building guitars in the early
seventies in the Chicago area, and
it’s safe to say they sprang from the
tradition of local companies that came
before them, such as Kay, Harmony
and VALCO. Chicago had once been
a hotbed of guitar manufacturing
but by the early seventies most were gone.
As American guitar production was moving
overseas and very few guitars were being
produced in the Chicago area, Paul Hamer
and Jol Dantzig were just beginning as partners at a used instrument and repair shop in
Chicago called Northern Prairie Music. The
guys ordered and repaired so many Gibson
products that they were invited to tour the
facilities in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Shortly
thereafter, their shop became Gibson’s first
authorized warranty repair facility.
Both Hamer and Dantzig were Gibson enthusiasts, which led to Hamer building a Flying
V-style bass; soon, Northern Prairie began
taking custom orders that were designed
around Gibson’s Flying V and Explorer models for a few professional musicians. Once
the values of used Gibson and Fender guitars began rising in the mid-seventies, Hamer
and Dantzig saw an opportunity in the guitar
industry. In 1975, they began producing
the Standard model, which was based on
the Explorer. In 1978, they introduced the
Sunburst model that featured a familiar Les
Paul Junior body shape. By the early eighties, Hamer had become very successful at
offering vintage-style guitars with non-vin-tage prices.
Paul Hamer left the company in 1987, and
in 1988, the Kaman Music Corporation,
owners of Ovation and Takamine, bought
Hamer. In 1997, they moved from Chicago
to Connecticut, which is closer to the Kaman
headquarters. On a side note, Kaman Music
was recently purchased by Fender, but don’t
expect any changes for either company.
Dantzig is still with Hamer and is very active
in the company. In 2004, a DVD documentary entitled Hamer: Building an American
Legend was released. It is very interesting
and I suggest getting your hands on a copy
if you would like more in-depth information
about Hamer.
Your bandmate’s guitar is a 1996
Duo Tone P- 90 model. The Duo Tone
was introduced in 1994 as an acoustic/
electric stereo hybrid guitar. It features
a semi-hollow mahogany body with a
spruce top, a piezo pickup mounted
in the bridge and three functionally
tuned circular soundholes. The standard
model came with two humbuckers, but
in 1996 only, Hamer offered this model
with P- 90 pickups. The guitar sounds
good in your band since P-90s are typically brighter than humbuckers, but not
as crisp or tinny as Fender single coils.
It also has acoustic capabilities with the
piezo pickup, which is extremely useful when switching between acoustic
and electric tones in the middle of a
song. This guitar was introduced at the
height of the alternative scene in the
mid-nineties and several noted artists
played the Duo Tone including Stone
Gossard of Pearl Jam, Chris Cornell of
Soundgarden and Dweezil Zappa. For
using this guitar regularly in a band it
appears to be in good shape, meaning
your guitarist takes care of it. The guitar
had an original retail price of $2099 and
since it is in excellent condition, today it
is worth between $1000 and $1200.
There are several things I like about Hamer
guitars. First, they aren’t afraid to try something new (think Scarab model and their
12-string basses). Second, their guitars
are affordable, including the used models.
Finally, besides their XT and Slammer Series,
their guitars are still built in the U.S. In
today’s heavily Chinese-influenced marketplace that is a treasure in itself!
Zachary R. Fjestad
is the author of the Blue Book of Acoustic Guitars, Blue
Book of Electric Guitars, and the Blue Book of Guitar
Amplifiers.
Questions can be submitted to:
Blue Book Publications
Attn: Guitar Trash or Treasure
8009 34th Ave. S. Ste #175
Minneapolis, MN 55425
800-877-4867
bluebookinc.com
guitars@bluebookinc.com
