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Need some info on Hamer Cruise basses...
- Thread starter Topspin
- Start date
I had one. They are great! The 2 Tek bridge and the EMG pickups made it sound like I always had new strings on it. Hamer made some great basses. I still have a 20 year old Chapparal 5 string that I bought new in 94.
Great USA made bass. I think Hamer's build quality was excellent. I never had any issues with the neck, hardware, tuners, controls, anything ever. If you dig the sound and the price is right go for it.
Great USA made bass. I think Hamer's build quality was excellent. I never had any issues with the neck, hardware, tuners, controls, anything ever. If you dig the sound and the price is right go for it.
Thanks! It's $600, pretty much minty looking except the current owner had goldish looking pearl blocks professionally installed. Looks pretty flashy. Can you describe the tone? I've looked on youtube, there's only one video with decent sound quality. I'm hoping it has some growl to it. 
The Cruise with 2Tek sounds like a very good Jazz Bass...for half the price of a USA Fender.
godofthunder59
Life is short, buy the bass.
- Feb 19, 2006
- 9,060
- 38,448
- Disclosures
- Endorsing Cataldo Basses, Whirlwind products, Thunderbucker pickups
Hamer is the one of the best bargains out there! The Cruise is probably one of the best P/J basses going. I have two Hamer Blitz's. One I paid $500 for the other $350. Major steals! Hamer USA build quality is top notch
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Check out the asymmetrical neck as well. That's something we "borrowed" from Mike Tobias when we designed the 5'r.
They're great basses, very high quality. I had a 4 string a few years ago that was on the heavier side but other than that it was killer. I wish I hung onto it.
I don't know if I would say mine had a growl to it like a Geddy sort of tone I would say mine reminded me of the Marcus tone. More of a refined hi fi Jazz bass sound.
I own three Hamer 2Teks (two fours and a fiver). They are all fantastic but slightly different. My 5-er is my favorite of every bass I've ever played. It has EMGs and can sound modern but has a good amount of growl as well (best of both IMO). One of the 4's sound more modern (Bart actives) and the other sounds more vintage with great midrange growl (DiMarzio passives).
So IMO, you can't go wrong. You're going to get a great bass, it's just a matter of which way it tilts. And $600 is a good deal for a 5-er in that shape.
So IMO, you can't go wrong. You're going to get a great bass, it's just a matter of which way it tilts. And $600 is a good deal for a 5-er in that shape.
Hi Topspin -
Yes, I was part of the (2nd generation) Cruisebass design team back in the early 90's. As far as I remember, my biggest contributions were designing the pickguard and suggesting the asymmetrical neck for the 5 string. We sold a lot of Tobias basses when I was at The Bass Centre in L.A., so I thought the boutique neck shape for such and affordable bass would be a great differentiator, and ultimately much more comfortable to play. The guys at Hamer nailed it.
That's beyond cool. Guess it's your fault I'll most likely be spending $600 on a bass that I do not need.
I'd never heard of the bass before, I just thought the pickguard was different and cool. And I usually hate modified jazz pickguards. Excellent work, good sir.Aaaaand I'm even more excited now. It has passive EMGs. I was hoping the Cruise would be a good partner for my Warwick Corvette. The 'wick is incredible for fingerstyle, but too gnarly for picking, generally. The Cruise sounds like it should fit the bill nicely.
That's beyond cool. Guess it's your fault I'll most likely be spending $600 on a bass that I do not need.
Aaaaand I'm even more excited now. It has passive EMGs. I was hoping the Cruise would be a good partner for my Warwick Corvette. The 'wick is incredible for fingerstyle, but too gnarly for picking, generally. The Cruise sounds like it should fit the bill nicely.
Thanks! They are very cool basses indeed. I hope it all works out.
Thanks! I can't decide if I like the blocks the seller had installed. Pre-warwick me loves them, post-warwick thinks they're way too over the top. I like a clean fretboard, but I also like some bling...
