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Any Hamer love out there?


NancyJohnson

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I'm curious.  For a company that was synonymous with production of high quality instruments out of their Chicago shop (and some decent far-east made guitars), there's barely a whisper on here or Talkbass.

I still have one and am still trying to track down a series one Cruisebass.  I've owned three...they all played great.

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On 18/02/2018 at 09:23, Treb said:

What's the difference between the different cruise basses? The 2Tek bridge?

The series one Cruise was as different as a mk1 Precision to the Precision bass we know now.  They had different body/headstock shapes, the series one had pointier horns, a P/J pickup configuration and a Hamer badged Schaller high-mass bridge.  There was also two headstock variants.  US made.

Designwise, the series two was just softer all round...the 2Tek bridge involved a major body rout to accomodate it.  Generally J/J pickup config.  Produced in the US and Korea (the Korean one had a BBOT bridge).

I'd take a solid colour series one any day of the week.  It's uber-cool and they don't go for much either...sub 500 English pounds.  I post up in the Wanted section for on every so often.  No joy yet.

 

IMG_9982.thumb.JPG.0101550142f70e7d48f34

Edited by NancyJohnson
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10 minutes ago, Treb said:

Thank for clarifying the Mk1/Mk2 differences. Not a fan of the pointy Mk1 Cruise. That LPB one above, would love to own one of those. Either one like that or a CAR one. 

Think they did it candy red/candy blue and candy green - have seen Sunburst too.

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I' m a Hamer lover

In the late 90's I have read this Bass Player review of the Hamer Cruise Bass 2tek and so I dream to get one of these (impossible to find locally at this time...)

Now I have 3 USA Hamer Cruise Bass. One fretted with the Gotoh bridge, one fretted with the second version of the 2tek bridge, and one fretless with also the second version of the 2tek bridge

The second version of the 2tek is cool because it is not too heavy

They are really well made. Schaller small tuner (though they feel good and are precise), multipiece maple neck with part of quartersawn and some of flatsawn, the 2tek add some clarity and sustain, the Seymour Duncan pickups gives you some warm lows that match perfectly with the clarity of the bass. With the small tuner, the bass is well balanced and the neck is solid

It' s a passive super jazz bass. I also really like the fender bass with vintage specs but the Hamer have something so easy in comparaison. The cut through highend, massive jazz bass sound that is strong and easy to dial with

Bass Player gives this bass a rave review with the maximum notation at every level for the first time to an instrument (and I think it was the only one) and they finished the article with something like "It kills !"... I understand why

 

Edited by epoxyjazzbass
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Here's the Scarab I bought at The Bass Centre, Wapping some time in the 1990s.  It sounded great, piano like tone, beautiful neck, it balanced quite nicely.  The only thing I'd criticise was the finish...for such a new bass, there was a ton of crackage. 

At one point, I considered having the body worked to make it a little more contemporary, but finally just moved it on.  What a stack that Laney was as well.

28276721_10215553104162647_3462472528735

 

 

Edited by NancyJohnson
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Here's the FBIV; a fortuitous early Sunday morning eBay purchase.  I just think I was very lucky to bag it for less than £400.00. 

I remember seeing it, doing a panicky double take and thinking, 'No, it can't be. Noooooo, it can't be.'  There was scant information online, so I eventually trawled through Ross Halfin's Motley Crue book and found some mid-80s pictures of Nikki Sixx playing one and did a Buy It Now about five minutes after first seeing it.

It plays beautifully and the only maintenance required is a periodic truss rod tweak.  I've no idea what the pickups are, but concensus appears to be they're unbranded DiMarzio.  Irrespective, they do sound great.  I was considering swapping them out for a set of those large-pole Delano sets, but there's no point really; it would only have been for aesthetic reasons.

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Edited by NancyJohnson
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I have had a non US Hamer Cruise Bass (from Korea I think). It looks similar to the USA wvith Gotoh bridge (though it' s not a gotoh bridge). And it was different in every aspect. I would not say it was too bad but really nothing to do with the USA versions that are totally different beasts

Here are some photos (note the 2tek second version=small plate)

 

hamer1.jpg

hamer2.jpg

Edited by epoxyjazzbass
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