haMer recLaiMer
I’m positive it was Guitarist who featured a two-/three-page review in 2000/2001 of the then-newly-released Korean-made Hamer Standard. It was a stunning Explorer-style set-neck Cherry Sunburst and flamed top ‘rawk’ guitar, and my jaw dropped the moment I turned the page. As soon as I read the review, I knew I had to have one. When I called the listed distributor, I was told there was presently only one in the UK. In fact, it was the very guitar used in the review. To my amazement, they agreed to sell me that one, which was a fantastic twist to think that I’d now be able to own that actual instrument pictured in your publication!
As time moved on, I was keen to purchase my first USA-made Les Paul and had to sell some of my arsenal to fund bigger, hopefully better equipment. Alas, that Hamer was among those guitars earmarked for the slaughterhouse. Fast forward to this year, and I now have some choice guitars collected over those interim years. However, I started to hanker back to that stunningly gorgeous Hamer Standard. So I began tracking internet auction sites to see what would appear. A month in, one of those Korean Hamer Standards came up… but guess what? It had a little disclaimer from the seller that a previous owner had moved the rear strap button to the top shoulder… Ye Gods! I had done that! Could this be my actual guitar? The seller also stated an odd cut across the 9th fret – guilty as charged! It was the exact same guitar I had sold some 14 years ago. I snapped it up.
It’s here with me now, pimped up with better pickups (Gibson in the neck; tasty Seymour Duncan CC at the bridge) and a set of smooth vintage Schaller tuners, but still with all the glorious beauty I remembered so vividly. Will I sell it again? Never. The moral? Be very careful about what you sell. I had an Antoria set-neck double-cut Junior copy about the same time that I cheekily dropped a ‘Fibson’ logo into. What are the chances of finding that one, too? Daniel Davie, via email Great tale of lost and found! Nice collection, too. It’s amazing how instruments cast adrift on the sea of fate can get carried back to us by the invisible currents of karma. What are other readers’ stories of being reunited with a much cherished guitar?