bluehugh2 Posted July 3, 2005 Posted July 3, 2005 Anyone have experience with the Hamer V vs the Gibson Historic (the expensive one). I've never tried either, but I've heard the Hamer has a smaller neck and a flatter fingerboard. Another comparison... the 72 Hamer V's from 1997 vs the more recent ones??? Are the Hamers dead on reissues???I am considering buying a Korina V - very traditional 1958/59 type - and am curious about the pros and cons of each V.Comments???
shankyboy Posted July 5, 2005 Posted July 5, 2005 I have one of the Korina Vectors made in '97 and I got it because it looks exactly like the '58 V that Albert King is holding on one of his album covers. (He's my hero) I have never played any other Vs, so I couldn't give you any neck comparisons, but I will say that it is an incredible guitar and it definitely gets that Albert King tone.
kizanski Posted July 5, 2005 Posted July 5, 2005 The most obvious difference is the body thickness.The body of the Hamer is much thicker than that of the Gibson.They still manage to make them feather-weights in spite of this, however.
Disturber Posted July 5, 2005 Posted July 5, 2005 The most obvious difference is the body thickness.The body of the Hamer is much thicker than that of the Gibson. They still manage to make them feather-weights in spite of this, however. Hamer has a thicker body than the gibs*n V? And Korina is expensie and hard to find in nice big pieces right? And yet the Gibs*n cost more than twice as much. Go figure I think I smell a rat. This is why I love Hamer so much. They truly make the best instruments out there.
kizanski Posted July 5, 2005 Posted July 5, 2005 Hamer has a thicker body than the gibs*n V?And Korina is expensie and hard to find in nice big pieces right? And yet the Gibs*n cost more than twice as much. Go figure I think I smell a rat. This is why I love Hamer so much. They truly make the best instruments out there. ...and it isn't just a little bit thicker - it's A LOT thicker. I think it's a half inch thicker than the Gibson. It's LP Junior thickness, vs. "SG" thickness (which the Gibson V is). What makes the whole "korina is hard to come by" argument even more lob-sided is that Hamer's up charge for korina is very reasonable, when compared to Gibson’s entry level Korina Historic V's and Explorers. The prices that Gibson charges for these guitars is nothing short of obscene, but I guess they know what they're doing, becasue they sell every one of them. I've played a few Gibson Korina V's. Are they great guitars? Yes. Are they better than the Hamers? No - not the ones that I have played. I have criticized Hamer for many things, their up charges for the most part, but in the case of their Korina Standards and Vectors, these guitars are bargains at twice the price.
bluehugh2 Posted July 7, 2005 Author Posted July 7, 2005 I was not aware that the Gibson 58 style Historic Korina V's are thinner than the Hamer Korina Vector. My understanding is that they are the same and that they are both exact knock offs of the original V. I know from the spec sheets that the Gibson V is 1-1/2 inches thick. I guess someone out there with a Vector can just measure it...
kizanski Posted July 7, 2005 Posted July 7, 2005 My Vector is 1.75".It's only a 1/4" difference, but it's a lot when you compare the two.
serial Posted July 7, 2005 Posted July 7, 2005 My Hamer Vector is probably the finest guitar I've ever owned out of the almost one hundred that have passed through my hands in the past 25 years. HUGE thanks to JeffR on this one.
Guest galejt Posted July 7, 2005 Posted July 7, 2005 My Hamer Vector is probably the finest guitar I've ever owned out of the almost one hundred that have passed through my hands in the past 25 years. I don't get it. Why?Not being unkind, just curious.
kizanski Posted July 7, 2005 Posted July 7, 2005 My Hamer Vector is probably the finest guitar I've ever owned out of the almost one hundred that have passed through my hands in the past 25 years. HUGE thanks to JeffR on this one. LOL! 100 guitars in 25 years?!I think you left off a zero.
serial Posted July 7, 2005 Posted July 7, 2005 Nah, I'm not that old yet. That's like Methusela old.That Vector has unbelievable playability and the one thing that gets me is that no matter what amp or setting I'm playing through, harmonics jump off everywhere with little or no effort (when I want them) in places I didn't know they existed. I don't think that the pickups are stock (I think that Poe knows what these are) as they don't have the gold polepiece screws that this would have issued with, but I'm not changing a thing on this one. The pickups are apparently the standard Hamer issue '59s. The guitar feels great too, extremely light and it just hangs in the right place for me playing wise. I've seen much nicer grain on korinas before (this is really subtle), but I could care less about that too. All around a big winner.
kizanski Posted July 7, 2005 Posted July 7, 2005 Nah, I'm not that old yet. That's like Methusela old.That Vector has unbelievable playability and the one thing that gets me is that no matter what amp or setting I'm playing through, harmonics jump off everywhere with little or no effort (when I want them) in places I didn't know they existed. I don't think that the pickups are stock (I think that Poe knows what these are) as they don't have the gold polepiece screws that this would have issued with, but I'm not changing a thing on this one. The pickups are apparently the standard Hamer issue '59s. The guitar feels great too, extremely light and it just hangs in the right place for me playing wise. I've seen much nicer grain on korinas before (this is really subtle), but I could care less about that too. All around a big winner. No, you're not that old, but 100 guitars is probably a conservative figure. Add a zero and we might be close.You're kidding no one Matthis!The pickups in your Vector came out of the Vector that is now Jersey Drew's (the one with Victory inlays). The pickups don't have gold pole pieces because I changed them.Mystery solved.
hardheartedbill Posted July 7, 2005 Posted July 7, 2005 Steve's right, must be the shape adding something, but they resonate like nobodys business. I played one for several sets and loved it, even gave it a glowing review on the board. Oddly enough I think it sounds fatter and more robust than my old Newport or current Monaco , these things just flat out smoke, but I can't do that shape as my main guitar ( not yet anyway ). IMO the Korina Vector is the best sounding Hamer I've tried and I've tried alot of em courtesy the Phoenix collection combined w/ my forays w/ the brand
kizanski Posted July 7, 2005 Posted July 7, 2005 Mystery solved. Ahh. Shablotniks then? Poe doesn't leave the Shlabotnik's in the guitars that he sells.That would be foolish, since they are so hard to get.
Jeff R Posted July 7, 2005 Posted July 7, 2005 Yup, serial, that's one special V and I'm glad you're putting it to good use. Your assessment of it is dead on the money.I don't know what type of pickups it has, but I probably spilled a beer or two on them.Funny...I received that guitar from Poe exactly one year ago today. July 7, 2004, the day my daughter Ally was born.
serial Posted July 7, 2005 Posted July 7, 2005 Must've been some good beer then! (PBR or Natty Boh? ) Kiz-you greatly overestimate me! If I had anywhere close to that number, I'd have an office at the UPS depot. Part of the fun is the horse-trading, so some stuff gets rotated pretty quickly. This Vector ain't going anywhere though! Happy Birthday to Ally!
kizanski Posted July 7, 2005 Posted July 7, 2005 Yup, serial, that's one special V and I'm glad you're putting it to good use. Your assessment of it is dead on the money.I don't know what type of pickups it has, but I probably spilled a beer or two on them.Funny...I received that guitar from Poe exactly one year ago today. July 7, 2004, the day my daughter Ally was born. A year already! Damn the years have been flying by lately!As for the pickups, they're regular ol' Duncan '59's.Tone IS in the fingers after all, eh, Serial?
ET_KenW Posted July 7, 2005 Posted July 7, 2005 Is that the guitar that Poe was honing his Great White Pyrotechnic techniques on?
bluehugh2 Posted July 7, 2005 Author Posted July 7, 2005 OK, so anyone compared the 1st run Vectors to the newer ones??? From all the pics I've seen, the grain seems to be more prominent in the 1997 run of 72. More like "black Korina" than the "furniture grade" white Korina. I had a Gibson 1982 Heritage V - although it was pretty good, the pickups sucked and the woodgrain ran parralell to the neck instead of the vintage chevron pattern. So I thought I'd take a chance on a Hamer - I bought #008 of the 1st run... I am going to restore it from the P94s that are in there and put some 1997 Seth Lovers in (just bought em on ebay in gold) ... and expect the FEDEX truck next week ;-)
cmatthes Posted July 8, 2005 Posted July 8, 2005 That's on my short list. I'm jonesin' for one after playing Serial's SFG and Korina Vectors: Maybe THIS?!:
Hamerica Posted July 8, 2005 Posted July 8, 2005 "So I thought I'd take a chance on a Hamer - I bought #008 of the 1st run... I am going to restore it from the P94s that are in there and put some 1997 Seth Lovers in (just bought em on ebay in gold) ... and expect the FEDEX truck next week ;-)" Bluehugh2,#008 other than the changes really ought to be a nice score. Congrats. I think you might have come up with a steal for what you paid.I am still looking for #009 Korina Vector from the limited run. Looking forward to your Tone report. Best wishes,Hamerica
serial Posted July 8, 2005 Posted July 8, 2005 As I understand it, korina is korina, there isn't really such a beast as "black korina", that's just korina (African limba) with heavier mineral staining and a clever marketing scheme to make unsaleable wood stock desirable. It is all from the same trees. As for the difference in the 97 run and subsequent (current) offerings, I've seen new ones with spectacular grain and some originals with little grain and vice versa. The finish tint is different on the first run of 72 than on mine (an 02). Many people seem to prefer the older finish, but I dig 'em both.
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