Hamer Basses-Need Info

I almost bought a US Cruise 4 2tek a couple of times. A local store is a Hamer dealer and had one for a while. It was a nice bass and even when I was starting out and looking for my "first good bass" I could tell the difference between sitting down with the US Cruise and an import Cruise. My hands and ears weren't experienced enough at the time to have a good handle on how it sounded. Thinking back I actually bought one and then returned it to Elderly (used) back then.

Some people like what the 2tek does (increased sustain, better balance) but some people think it makes the bass sound "metallic" instead of "woody". It's also a relatively heavy chunk of metal to have on a bass.

There were US Cruise basses made with another bridge, maybe a Gotoh, that I've seen offered as well.

 

If you can get a Hamer Cruise 2Tek (1999 or
before, year) Just buy it!

 

I did!
Hamer is going through what a lot of companies are going through (and what Fender & Gibson did eons ago) by trying to expand their current "professional/amateur" knowledgeable player market into the student/learner arena by coming up with lower cost models. You need to treat the individual models from any given manufacturer as different animals. The Slammer series might be ok for a beginner, but I wouldn't judge the Hamer reputation on that. As everyone else has said, their American-made products are quality items. Even some of their older basses are extremely good. The problem with Hamer is that there have been so many different incarnations of the Cruise bass - first as a set-neck P-J bass, then as a J-J with the 2Tek, and I believe now that it's a Gotoh bridge. Nonetheless, my Cruise 2Tek (and the current Cruise 2T does NOT have a 2Tek) is a mighty fine bass. Going prices are around $400, which is a steal considering the cost of finding and installing a 2Tek bridge can nearly equal that.

 

I have a USA made Hamer Blitz, the Explorer shaped model. I bought it new. I a/b-ed it with a Gibson Explorer, I could have gotten either for the same price. I chose the Hamer. It played better and sounded better to me than the Gibson. The USA made Hamers are good quality instruments.

 

guitarist in my band has a hamer which is semi hollow into a marshall valvestate and it sounds amazingly good and it plays fantastic...all for 800 bucks. theyre a steal no doubt.