How can I determine the age of my guitar



How can I determine the age of my guitar?

Hamer USA Guitars: Serial Numbering System

From 1974 through 1981 Hamer USA employed two separate serial numbering systems, one for custom instruments and one for production models:

Custom Instruments: These instruments are easily recognized by the use of a four digit number stamped into the wood on the back of the peghead. The numbers ran from #0000 through #0680. All of the early Hamer USA Standards and 12-String basses as well as a number of prototype instruments were included in this serial numbering system.

Production Models: Production models are stamped (initially with ink, later into the wood, on the back of the peghead) with either a five or six digit serial number. The first digit indicates the year that the instrument was built. The next four or five digits are sequentially stamped in order of production. For example, serial number 7 0001 was built in 1977 and was the first production model guitar built. Similarly, 0 1964 was built in 1980 and was the 1,964th production guitar built. The serial numbering sequence by decade is indicated below:

|1970s: |7 0001 - 9 1450 |

|1980s: |0 1451 - 9 24192 |

|1990s: |0 24193 - 9 50155 |

|2000s: |0 50156 - present |

~~~Hamer~~~

[pic]

I just found your site. I am not a rep of Hamer guitars, but you can easily confirm any of the below info with Kim Keller at Hamer USA. I am compiling a registry of Hamer guitars from 1974-1987 and custom instruments after that, so the info below is pretty accurate.

Hamer guitars initially followed a four digit (stamped on headstock) code from #0000 on up to approximately #0750. Beginning in 1977 with the introduction of "production" guitars (if you can call the '77's that), a separate numbering scheme was initiated. "production" guitars starting in 1977 began with inked on codes (ie "7 0001"), with the first digit being the second # of the production year and the remaining #'s the number of that guitar. So in the example "7 0001", this is the first guitar produced using this sceme and was made in 1977.

The stamped four digit serial #'s continued to be used for the top of the line Standard models and multistring basses as well as some other custom instruments, until 1985, when all instruments began receiving inked on numbers. It is much more difficult to date these as there is no year code in the serial #. In 1987, the inked on #s gave way to stamped numbers using the same numbering sceme which continues today. Again, the first number is the last number of the production year. It is easy to tell a 1987 guitar from a 1997 as the numbers are much higher for the latter (#717207, being a 1987 and #750342, being a 1997 guitar).

For additional information on Hamer Guitars ... you can e-mail infomc@

|Forum URL: | |

|Forum Name: |Hamer Fan Club Messageboard |

|Topic ID: |2195 |

|#0, Norway calling |

|Posted by rex on 11-04-02 at 02:00 PM |

|I've been offered to buy an old Hamer guitar,"HAMER USA SUNBURST". |

|It has been confirmed by Kaman Music Corp(by mail today)to be a 1978 guitar (the first digit being 8, and the last four being 0157). It |

|still looks nice with its flame maple, apart from some scratches on the back. Fretboard with crown inlays. And playing it is wonderful. |

|Mic's have been renewed recently. So, as I'm quite new on this stuff, I just wonder which price would make sense? Can anybody 'out there'|

|give me an idea of a reasoable price spread for this item ? |

|Kind regards, Roald Ellingsen, Norway. |

|[pic] |

|#1, RE: Norway calling |

|Posted by impact on 11-04-02 at 02:59 PM |

|In response to message #0 |

|Welcome Rex. |

|Our resident expert on this would be Serial Steve. Hey Steve, any ideas ? |

|Brian |

|[pic] |

|#2, I will take a shot, |

|Posted by BTMN on 11-04-02 at 07:33 PM |

|In response to message #0 |

|I say $800-$1100 depending on how original it is but I bet you might pay less depending on how much the current owner knows about it |

|[pic]I would LOVE to find a Sunburst in that low of a number. Transparent Red, Yellow or Reddish '59 Burst If you please! Oh dear, I may |

|have a case of G.A.S. [pic] |

|[pic] |

|#3, RE: I will take a shot, |

|Posted by serial on 11-04-02 at 07:47 PM |

|In response to message #2 |

|That's right in the ballpark where that one should be. These have chunkier necks (typically) than the later ones and will have the |

|shallow shimmed bridge, not the heavy duty sustain block. I've got one from around this era and it's a great guitar. Hard to find too. |

|[pic] |

[pic]

GUITARS AND BASSES OF HAMER U.S.A. 1975 -1996

The guitars and basses described in these pages are those which have been produced by Hamer U.S.A. over the past twenty-two years. Obviously Hamer also makes many one-of-a-kind custom instruments and the hardware and style of "production" instruments may be different on Special Order instruments. It also does not include specially ordered very limited production instruments that were not generally available. Therefore the list is not exhaustive. The dates are also approximate and several models do not appear in catalogues. It should be remembered that Hamer will build instruments to order so any model is in practice still available.

[pic]

A Note on Hamer Serial Numbers

In 1974 Hamer used a four digit number stamped into the wood starting with guitar #0000 and until the launch of the Sunburst this system was used on all guitars. The Sunbursts were numbered using a different system : the first digit represents the year of production and the following four (or later five digit number) is the total number of guitars made by Hamer and numbered using this system. So for example guitar #8 0196 was made in 1978 and was the 196th guitar to be numbered using this system. Similarly # 8 21416 was made in 1988 and was the 21416th guitar to be numbered. These numbers are printed using ink or paint (black on most but yellow on black and dark coloured instruments). By 1980 most guitars made were numbered using this later system but some custom instruments (notably Standards and Eight-string basses) were numbered using the older four digit numbering system, a very few were still numbered using this system up until 1985 (e.g Standard #0722 was completed in May 1984); in total about 750 instruments were numbered using these four digit numbers. Late in 1987 the serial numbers were stamped into the wood rather than printed. Just to complicate matters many one-of-a-kind and prototype instruments have numbers that do not relate to either of the above systems.

|Visit the following Pages |

|Information on all models of Hamer Guitar A to M |

|Information on all models of Hamer Guitar N to Z |

|Information on all models of Hamer Bass |

Back to Hamer Fan Club index[pic]

Standard (1974 - 1985 and 1995 - date) - Explorer-style bound body with flame maple top (also unbound bodied guitars and opaque finishes), glued-in neck with 22-frets (24.75 inch scale), steeply angled peghead (scimitar) and either unbound neck with dot inlays or bound neck with crown inlays. The guitar has a tune-o-matic type bridge, stop tailpiece and two humbuckers.

-----Opprinnelig melding-----

Fra: Schlosser, Andy [mailto:aschloss-kmc@]

Sendt: 4. november 2002 15:08

Til: 'roalell@online.no'

Emne: RE: HAMER USA SUNBURST 1978 ?? [Redirected]

Dear Roald:

Thank you for your e-mail message to Hamer/Kaman MUsic.

It appears to be a 1978 guitar, as you indicate. If you look at the

following website, you can see that the serial number "fits":

If you DO purchase the guitar,

you might want to let that website know more about your guitar so that they

could also list it.

We cannot inform you about the price, sorry. We post the folliowing under

"FAQ" on the Hamer website ():

"How much is my guitar worth?

Neither Kaman Music or Hamer Guitars deal in used instruments, therefore we

cannot answer questions about the value of your instrument. Your best source

is your local authorized Hamer dealer who is knowledgeable about our

products and your local market area. Please use the Dealer Search on our

website to find your local authorized Hamer dealer."

We do not have an authorized distributor in Sweden right now, so you might

also want to check the Hamer Fan Club website () and you

might post a question on the "Bulletin Board" since perhaps someone there

could tell you the approximate value.

Good luck and thank you for your interest in Hamer!

Cordially,

KAMAN MUSIC CORP.

INTERNATIONAL DIVISION

Andy Schlosser

Sales Director

-----Original Message-----

From: roalell@online.no [mailto:roalell@online.no]

Sent: Monday, November 04, 2002 8:11 AM

To: aschloss-kmc@

Subject: HAMER USA SUNBURST 1978 ?? [Redirected]

I'm just about to buy an old " HAMER USA SUNBURST " with the digits " 8

0157 " printed ("inked") onto (not into) the back of the peghead.

Can you confirm whether this is a 1978-model, as the information* on the

Hamer website indicates ?

And which price (USD) would make sense, provided good condition ? (mic's are

informed to have been renewed)

Thank you in advance and

best regards,

Roald Ellingsen

Haugesund

NORWAY

* Production Models: Production models are stamped (initially with ink,

later into the wood, on the back of the peghead) with either a five or six

digit serial number. The first digit indicates the year that the instrument

was built. The next four or five digits are sequentially stamped in order of

production. For example, serial number 7 0001 was built in 1977 and was the

first production model guitar built. Similarly, 0 1964 was built in 1980 and

was the 1,964th production guitar built. The serial numbering sequence by

decade is indicated below:

1970s:

7 0001 - 9 1450

1980s:

0 1451 - 9 24192

1990s:

0 24193 - 9 50155

2000s:

0 50156 - present

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download