Hamer Club?!

[diablo_man]

Might as well bump this thread now that I have a Hamer bass project going! If I remember I will be posting updates.

Been after a 30" bass for a while, found a Slammer SB4F-CS for 190$ canadian that I really enjoyed the sound/playability on. Way cheaper than most of my guitars/basses(Kiesel, Carvins, Japanese Ibanez, etc), but this has a dead straight neck, good fretwork, really good tuning stability and great tone. And since its cheap, I wont feel too bad making some major changes!

Ok, as for what I have planned: I'll be adding a arm cut/bent Laurel burl veneer top, probably a belly cut and burl veneer back as well. Will be doing a [PRS style lower horn bevel so I can reach a few of the higher frets. Likely using leftover burl veneer and removing/replacing the black painted headstock/slammer logo. Unsure if I will do an oil finish on the body afterwards or try a gloss.

Really like how it plays, but with a tendonitis issue in my right arm going on 2 years recovering, the slab sided body is really uncomfortable. This was the first thing that made me want to modify it at all, that and I find having 3-4 of the high frets being nearly unusable to be annoying. While it will change the look significantly, the photoflame top is something I dont mind losing, and I tend to prefer less thick/opaque translucent finishes, or just the plain wood look.

Here is a picture of the veneer tops I have ordered. 15"x28"x1/42", big enough to do a single piece over the body without bookmatching, I got 4 pieces coming. One for top and bottom and two leftover for practicing the veneering method and testing finishes.

So far I intend to leave the electronics as is, though I may swap down the road if I find a good set that fits the same routes. the Chrome bridge is pretty chintzy, so Im open to suggestions for upgrades to that, preferably that use the same mount holes. the plastic nut is kind of beat up, may have a luthier friend replace that with something better.

the PRS style cutaway ( https://www.12fret.com/wp-content/uploads/ngg_featured/PRS-Custom-24-25th-cutaway-1.jpg ) should also get rid of a really visible finish defect in that area. looks like a spot of wood filler maybe 2cm across visible through the gloss.

Thoughts?

 

[diablo_man]

I was inspired to do the veneer top/back by these pics from the talkbass user Rhomco's post here. HAMER SLAMMER BASS

He definitely went above and beyond what Im doing with the set neck conversion, though the tummy bevel, cutaway bevel and bent top forearm bevel should be pretty significant.

 

[Nocturnal]

Will be interesting to see how it turns out. I picked up one of these (black finish) for $55 about 5 years ago. Great little bass to noodle around on or to travel with.

 

[Bartrinsic]

I was inspired to do the veneer top/back by these pics from the talkbass user Rhomco's post here. HAMER SLAMMER BASS

I like the two piece bridge--I'll bet that sounds great. But I also like the flamed maple on the original. I might consider just a refinish and cutaway adaptation as you suggest.

 

[diablo_man]

Im thinking the burl top and back should be a nice upgrade. Im personally not that big a fan of flame to begin with, especially weak and even-spaced "flame" like in the photoflame it has.

Also, veneering both should cover up any garbage in the "hardwood" mystery body.

 

[Dadagoboi]

Mine...

Great bass for $125 with a TKL HSC, the main reason I bought it. Needed the case for my $40 EB0

Unfortunately the Slammer wide pickups make it impossible to retrofit normal size ones without a lot of work.

 

[diablo_man]

Just got my veneer pieces in. Look pretty nice!

I'll probably start a separate thread when I get around to really working on it.

 

[diablo_man]

finished my rough in on the body mod bevels. Used a Flapper wheel on a angle grinder, had some masking tape to help with layout, but ended up mostly free handing.

Already a major improvement in ergos with the belly cut and the arm bevel, and the cutaway bevel now allows me to get at the top frets relatively easily, which was essentially impossible beforehand.

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[12bass]

finished my rough in on the body mod bevels. Used a Flapper wheel on a angle grinder, had some masking tape to help with layout, but ended up mostly free handing.

Already a major improvement in ergos with the belly cut and the arm bevel, and the cutaway bevel now allows me to get at the top frets relatively easily, which was essentially impossible beforehand.

Had a Hamer B12S years ago with the same body shape and definitely ran into the same issues with ergonomics.

 

[diablo_man]

Had a Hamer B12S years ago with the same body shape and definitely ran into the same issues with ergonomics.

Oh yeah, same shape eh. The lack of forearm bevel or bend was really killing me, I've been slowly trying to recover from some tendon issues in my wrist for almost 2 years and some guitar bodies like this one were awful to play. the Belly cut wasn't a big deal, but now that its there it makes a huge difference. And the total lack of access to the top 4 frets was such an annoyance in design for me, especially since im used to 24 fret instruments.

 

[diablo_man]

Just made the project thread with more pics(and a video!), and more to come.

here
Major body mod/refinishing my Hamer SB4f - Project Thread

 

[Bagelish]

I really miss my Hamer 2 Tek Cruise basses, I've had 4 fretted, one fretless (best fretless I ever had) and one 80's Cruise bass. Hope to get another one within a year or two, ideally mbluto's semi hollow will become available around the time I'm looking again.

 

[PhatBottomBass1]

Which one? The one at the bottom is one of the original 12vers ever made by Hamer called a Quadbass 12 because it had that mini mixer in the body and a breakout box that allowed you to send each string to a separate channel.
Tom Petersson had the first one on the Live At Budokan LP. Hamer made less than 10 of these. Mine is only one of 2 or 3 remaining with the Quad electronics intact...and I also have the breakout box that others are missing!

Mine came from the original owner around a decade ago....guitarist Eric Johnson's producer on his early work. The guy sold it to me trying to raise cash to build the biggest recording studio in TX.

All the Quadbasses were this body shape, except one Explorer shape made for John Entwistle....a couple SN digits from mine and also a sunburst. I think he used in on the Quadrophenia LP (how appropriate for the Quadbass!) Hamer also made a couple of 8-knob Quads, with simplified electronics, after the original 12-knob ones.

The late electronics wizzard Rex Bogue made some of the electronics for the Quads.

...just FYI...

I used to work for Mark Erlewine in Austin from '89-'94 and worked on a Hamer Quad 12 Bass like that.

It would be hard to imagine that there were two flouting around town...??

 

[PhatBottomBass1]

I guess I will also share my Hamer experience of the 3 I have/have owned...

My first was a '95 2 Tek 5 string in vintage trans-white. Changed the Pickguard to a .060 faux black anodized, put a set of original Lane Poor J hum-cancelling pickups with a East J-Retro with black knobs and matching Hipshot HB-6 Y tuners and 4 string retainer. VERY NICE!


The second was an early 90's B12S double cutaway in Hot Pink, Ebony with boomerang markers and EMG electronics. Oscar @ Hipshot made me a set of their "Industrial" tuner keys for the 4 Bass HB-6 tuners and then the guitar tuners for the unision octaves. I had to hand fit each of the guitar keys to fit into the mounting area. Also, the bridge and knobs were plated black to match the Hipshot tuners. NO NECK DIVE!!

Finally, I have just acquired this '94 Hamer Chaparral 5 stock with EMG pickups and Schaller hardware. I am doing a "Best-oration" on this by re-buffing the pretty good Black finish, putting a set of Hipshot HB-6 Y tuners on it, with a bit of a "Warwick forward sweep" with the tuners and replacing the pickups with a custom set of the NEW Fishman Fluence pickups. Was able to grab a Hamer logo OHSC. BAD ASS B STRING!!!

...this one IS a keeper!

 

[mbluto]

Hope to get another one within a year or two, ideally mbluto's semi hollow will become available around the time I'm looking again.

Will keep you in mind Bagelish, if I do... highly unlikely I will sell, but never say never.

 

[Bartrinsic]

Will keep you in mind Bagelish, if I do... highly unlikely I will sell, but never say never.

Don't ever sell that bass!

 

[diablo_man]

I posted in here a while ago with my pawn shop Hamer slammer SB4f, might as well show what it looks like now after some extensive modding.

Before: Ugly burst over photoflame, no arm bevel, zero 17-20fret access, no belly cut, chintzy bridge. Loved the short scale, how it played and the sound.

No arm cutaway was killing my injured wrist, so of course I continued to mess with my wrists for countless hours sanding, laminate gluing, sanding, finishing, sanding and more sanding for months.

And now:

Burl laminates are "Laurel Burl" scored off ebay for 60$ for a set of 4 sheets.
Hipshot badass bridge is... badass. allowed 19-20mm spacing from the original set 18mm, still fiddling with that. Arm/belly and upper fret cutaways made all the effort worth it.

Still needs a few little bits of hardware(screws, jack plate, etc) in the right colour to match, but basically done(For now).

Here is the build thread for more pics, list of changes, description of techniques involved, etc. Major body mod/refinishing my Hamer SB4f - Project Thread

 

[diablo_man]

 

[diablo_man]

Damn, didnt realize that video had super loud construction noise in the background. Reuploaded it with the sound muted, since I cant edit/delete posts here I'll just repost the new link since the old one is dead.

 

[GlassToMouth]

I posted in here a while ago with my pawn shop Hamer slammer SB4f, might as well show what it looks like now after some extensive modding.

Before: Ugly burst over photoflame, no arm bevel, zero 17-20fret access, no belly cut, chintzy bridge. Loved the short scale, how it played and the sound.
View attachment 3662214 View attachment 3662215

No arm cutaway was killing my injured wrist, so of course I continued to mess with my wrists for countless hours sanding, laminate gluing, sanding, finishing, sanding and more sanding for months.

And now:
View attachment 3662216 View attachment 3662217 View attachment 3662218 View attachment 3662219 View attachment 3662220 View attachment 3662221 View attachment 3662222 View attachment 3662223
Burl laminates are "Laurel Burl" scored off ebay for 60$ for a set of 4 sheets.
Hipshot badass bridge is... badass. allowed 19-20mm spacing from the original set 18mm, still fiddling with that. Arm/belly and upper fret cutaways made all the effort worth it.

Still needs a few little bits of hardware(screws, jack plate, etc) in the right colour to match, but basically done(For now).

Here is the build thread for more pics, list of changes, description of techniques involved, etc. Major body mod/refinishing my Hamer SB4f - Project Thread

This is so cool! I used to own a SB4F myself, but parted ways with it due to its lack of comfort. From someone who owns a beveled Kiesel (Vanquish multiscale bass) I can imagine your beautiful refinish and body modifications make this feel like a MUCH more comfortable bass. I really like the way it looks now. Great job on a beautiful end result!