HamerHamburg

Hi, I was looking for a case for the guitar and took it to No.1 in Hamburg. The guy there - Thomas Weilbier - is a world renown expert of vintage guitars and one of the leading dealers. When he saw the guitar he asked me which year it was and we and checked the serial. I was told it is Brazilian. Who am I to dispute this ? Especially if I can have it certified and legalized. I'm a player and not a wood expert. I walked out with a case and a CITES certificate ! In 2010/2011 (can't remember exactly which year), there was a huge crash in Germany with regard to Brazilian rosewood that led to many guitars being actually confiscated and destroyed by the government. The crash and subsequent hype surfaced, when apparently Gibson was raided in the USA and when asked where they buy there "illegal" Brazilian rosewood they told the officials "Nagel" in Hamburg Germany ! So, German officials were contacted and the whole thing blew up here in Germany. Nagel (a large local wood and timber dealer) was dealing with illegally cut Brazilian rosewood - big time. That's when everybody went crazy and the customs started checking guitars for Brazilian rosewood. Anyway, I think the hype is over. But I wouldn't take the risk. Poeple have had complete guitar collections confiscated and destroyed by the government in Germany. That is a fact. Since then No.1 have been closely working with the government in establishing if guitars are built with Brazilian rosewood or not and will act as an agent for certifying such guitars built with the wood. The CITES certificate stated that the fretboard was Brazilian rosewood and that the guitar was built in 1981, which was long before the ban in 1992. The particulars of the guitar were listed (body shape, manufacturer, serial no., and which parts of the guitar were Brazilan) on the certificate and it was directly linked to the guitar via the serial number. In the end ... if it looks like a bulldog it probably is a bulldog. But you can only be 100% certain if you do a DNA test ... or whatever professional testing is required. Cheers, Todde

Moin Moin , Ja, nervig. Ich habe dem jungen Mann schon Bescheid gegeben, dass er die Reparatur bezahlen muss. Mal sehen was er sagt. Lässt sich wohl ausbohren, dübeln und neu setzen - wird schon. Gebe ich Boris oder Alex. Das Teil ist aber einfach wirklich GEIL !!! German mode off ... sorry ! Yep, I held the seller responsible and told him that I expect him to settle the repair costs. I reckon the sheared off screw can be drilled out, dowelled and reset. Shouldn't be a problem. I'll post a detailed review with pics and so on over in my "Why it had to be a Hamer" thread. http://www.hamerfanclub.com/forums/topic/67202-why-it-had-to-be-a-hamer-sunburst/ Have a nice evening y'all ! Cheers, Todde

Folks, the Sunburst arrived in one piece ! Tadaaah ! Drum roll, cheers etc. etc . ... She sounds rich, bright and full and plays well with kind of a "light C" neck. A very fast neck, indeed ! A little less bottom end than a Strat on the dry sound played without an amp. The board looks Brazilian to me. It has a nice reddish dark grain on it. No cracks, no repairs that I can see, neck is straight and true. Very well played but well kept, although it has the usual dings and signs of wear, but not abused. Frets really worn, but levelled and crowned. Will have to be refretted for my taste. I still have to check if the truss rod turns properly. Electronics totally screwed ! I gues whoever did it had no clue. I did not open up the cavity yet, but took the ugly brass knobs off. Both volume pots apparently changed. One is a push/push for coil split. The brass knob obviously did not fit on the still original tone knob and was jammed on with force, which caused the shaft to totaly distort. How stupid can you be ... ? I did not play through an amp yet. I tried, but there was a lot of buzz from the pickups. There is something completely wrong with the wiring. I think the bridge and/or pickups are not properly grounded. I have very good replacement pots here (I use bourns on these types of guitars) and also some nice Hovland guitar caps. I'll have a look at it and re-wire it to original specs this evening or tomorrow morning. (I build turret board hand wired effects and rack wahs, so I know what i'm doing... and I have speed knobs that actually are designed for the shafts and fit properly ...) Pickups are supposed to be Rio Grande. They are not staying. Either Amber or Dommenget PAFs. Nothing overwound, just standard. I'll have the chosen winder decide, when he sees and plays the guitar. They know about their stuff better than me ... :-) What pisses me off is, that the seller never mentioned that the front strap pin broke off. The old screw is in the wood and a new screw is sort of screwed in over/next to it. The strap pin is not flush and it looks kinda weird. Structurally I think it's ok though. I'll need to talk to the seller about this defect. He should have mentioned it. Summary: A great guitar with stunning looks, not to heavy and absolutely great sounding. Has issues and needs some attention. But nothing I was not aware of before I pulled the trigger (except the sheared off strap pin screw and the lousy wiring, for which the seller will take a heavy complaint). This will be a great rocker after some loving care ! :-) I'll keep you posted with pics and further experience asap. Cheers, Todde

Oops, wrong thread ... sorry.

Folks, the Sunburst arrived in one piece ! Tadaaah ! Drum roll, cheers etc. etc . ... She sounds rich, bright and full and plays well with kind of a "light C" neck. A very fast neck, indeed ! A little less bottom end on the dry sound played without an amp. The board looks Brazilian to me. It has a nice reddish dark grain on it. No cracks, no repairs that I can see, neck is straight and true. Very well played but well kept, although it has the usual dings and signs of wear, but not abused. Frets really worn, but levelled and crowned. Will have to be refretted for my taste. I still have to check if the truss rod turns properly. Electronics totally screwed ! I gues whoever did it had no clue. I did not open up the cavity yet, but took the ugly brass knobs off. Both volume pots apparantly changed. One is a push/push for coil split. The brass knob obviously did not fit on the still original tone knob and was jammed on with force, which caused the shaft to totaly distort. How stupid can you be ... ? I did not play through an amp yet. I tried, but there was a lot of buzz from the pickups. There is something completely wrong with the wiring. I think the bridge and/or pickups are not properly grounded. I have very good replacement pots here (I use bourns on these types of guitars) and also some nice Hovland guitar caps. I'll have a look at it and re-wire it to original specs this evening or tomorrow morning. (I build turret board hand wired effects and rack wahs, so I know what i'm doing... and I have speed knobs that actually are designed for the shafts and fit properly ...) Pickups are supposed to be Rio Grande. They are not staying. Either Amber or Dommenget PAFs. Nothing overwound, just standard. I'll have the chosen winder decide, when he sees and plays the guitar. They know about their stuff better than me ... :-) Summary: A great guitar with stunning looks, not to heavy and good sounding. Has issues and needs some attention. But nothing I was not aware of before I pulled the trigger (except the lousy wiring, for which the seller will take a heavy complaint). This will be a great rocker after some loving care ! :-) I'll keep you posted with pics asap. Cheers, Todde

I had the expert at No.1 Guitars check it. They are gov't appointed experts when it comes to Brazilian rosewood.

Aaaaaaaahhhhh ! Tracking status changed. Estimated delivery today !!!! Count down guys.

Tracking states delivery expected monday !

A very nice Special sold for €1300 in Holland just recently (Max Guitars). Are the early Specials not about the same as the Sunbursts regarding wood, build, hardware ? I think it's just the binding on the body that is missing. I have a feeling that there are more Specials around in Europe than Sunbursts. Early Sunbursts are really rare. I had to pay the price for a low serial number ... I don't really believe that there is a big difference in sound, albeit every guitar sounds a little bit different, even if the model/make/year are the same. Cheers, Todde

Let's hope the price doesn't skyrocket after my Evilbay record breaking deal ...

A buddy of mine did. He said no.

Moin Frank, Eine absolute Schönheit, die Decke ist der Brüller ! Sieht edel aus ! For you guys ... An absolute beauty, the top is stunning ! Looks very precious ! Update on the purchase: The seller just confirmed receipt of the case and will pack her up tonite and send her on her journey to Hamburg tomorrow morning. Looks like I will be able to put my hands on it on Monday. I have to work and wait all day, crap ! :-) Fingers crossed ... ! Cheers Todde

Hi Frank, seen that one already and have been through it aleady. But I'm going over it again tonite with the iPad under the sheets ... laugh ! I'll post mine when I'm ready. Cheers, Todde

Switzerland is not in the EC. If you want to import a pre 1992 built guitar with a Brazilian board into the EC you need the CITES export documents from the exporting country and the CITES import documents from the importing country. Otherwise no go. Guitars built after 1992 are totally and completely illegal in the EC, period, absolutely no exceptions. If you own a guitar built before 1992 that has been in the EC already before the ban in 1992, the German authorities will give you the benefit of doubt that this is true, because no owner will be able to prove it anyway. BUT you will need to prove that the guitar was built before 1992 (serial numbers are a good way to do so). You can then have the guitar CITES certified by the authorities so that you are allowed to present it in public and sell it. But ONLY within the EC. That is for Germany, but it should be the same for all EC countries. Been there, done that and talked to the leading German experts at No. 1 Guitars in Hamburg and the nice lady at the governing German authority. I had a CITES certified Special with a Brazilian Board. The certificate made the guitar so much more valuable ... ! Cheers, Todde

Careful if you want to import this one into the EC, especially Germany. Customs are on their heels and like to check vintage guitars for brazilian boards. It might end up impounded in customs with the buyer having to prove it is not a brazilian board... Todde

On second glance you could be right about the bridge pickup. It wasn't even a bound and crowned for that price. But - who knows. The guy is a vintage dealer (Bonamassa likes to shop there) and it may have gone cheaper on an offer.

Thanks to all for the very nice welcome. I'll post my story, "why it had to be a Hamer Sunburst" this evening, something to read ... Frank - I read the thread on the German forum. It was a real sale. I'll find out if it wasn't if I don't get the guitar ... The guitar apparently showed up on another sales platform, but that was an attempted fraud. I too think the price is ok, but I indeed was hoping that it would be lower. There was discussion on that forum about the seller possibly pushing the price himself. I had contact during the selling process and the way he responded I think he's an older guy who was happy, that he made so much money with it. He said that he actually lost track of when he bought it, how much he paid, pickups etc. and apologized. But I knew what I was in for, so it was ok with me. emptypockets - Moin moin ! About 3-4 years ago I also had a Special from 1981. A nice guitar, but I just did not bond with it for some reason. I think it was because I really wanted a Sunburst. I bought that one for €800,00 and sold 6 months later for €1200,00. So it was a good deal for me. I won't be fitting the Dimarzios, but I'll put it back to original with regard to the wiring and also the appearance. I might go to see Amber or Dommenget to have some Pickups custom made for me. Dommenget wins all the comparative reviews with his pickups in Germany and I also have one of his hand built Strats (a 1985 Salmon-Strat that was actually once owned by Roland Grapow of Helloween fame...). Let's see where it goes. RichRS6 - Yep, I know. I did ask the seller to make sure the guitar is secured also inside the case. BTW: I wouldn't touch a '78 Les Paul with a ten foot pole ... Think I paid too much ? Check this link ... http://shop.guitarpoint.de/de/Diverse/1979-Hamer-Sunburst-Flametop - albeit it was 100% original and with its OHSC. As already announced, a little story this evening and more info once the guitar is with me. Cheers, Todde

Good morning everybody ! I'm new to the forum AND ... I am the buyer of the Guitar ! My name is Thorsten, I am 49, and I live in Hamburg, Germany. I was born and raised in Arlington Heights, Illinois and my parents when they first came to the States in 1958 lived in Palatine, Illinois, before they moved to Arlington Heights a little later. A pure coincidence, but true !! The Sunburst is not here yet, still in transit. The seller does not have the original case and wanted to package and ship it without a case, so I offered to buy a generic Les Paul type case for him. That should be arriving today. I hope to have the guitar here early next week, all going well. There was a discussion on the price ... well indeed € 1710,00 is a lot of money. BUT very early Sunbursts are extremely rare in Germany. This is about the 4th and the earliest that I have seen. I always wanted a very early one, so I pulled the trigger. It was worth it to me. What do I get for my money ?: - One piece Honduras mahogany body - One piece Honduras mahogany neck - A killer one piece curly/flamey maple cap, that is so well selected it actually looks book matched - Most likely a brazilian board (will have to be certified in Germany, if it is brazilian) - A mostly hand built instrument with selected woods and excellent craftsmanship - AND ... 36 years of vintage understatement mojo. I'll be smiling at my session friends who turn up with their R8, R9, Custom Shop, VOS, Murphy ... whatever, who think I'm playing a no name guitar made in Korea . And what do you get from from any other manufacturer ... unless you shell out 3 times or much more than I paid ... ? Nothing as good as an old Sunburst, that's for sure. I do have questions, but I would like to wait untl the guitar gets here, so I know what I'm talking about. I'll keep you updated. Cheers for now, Todde