Author Topic: Anyone have experience with the Hamer eight strings? (Read 140 times)

bsee · « **on:** March 22, 2008, 08:48:11 AM »

As much as I haven't looked at a non-Alembic bass in the past five years, I have always wanted to try an eight. Alembics just don't show up on the market all that often and I couldn't justify a new one without knowing that I would give it a lot of use. That one on eBay a month or so ago that was converted to a four would have been my best chance and the sniper got me by $100 at the close of the action. I doubt we'll see a sub-$2500 Alembic eight anytime soon.

So, a local shop has a 20-ish year old B8s in stock and I am going to take a drive to give it a look this afternoon. The fact that it is a 30.5 scale is promising in terms of playability. As far as I can tell from the description, it doesn't have stock pickups, but I don't think that will kill it. Supposedly it has OBL humbuckers. Does anyone have experience with these? This could be a great candidate for Alembic guts if it is otherwise solid, we'll have to see.

Thanks!
-bob

tbrannon · « **Reply #1 on:** March 22, 2008, 09:15:23 AM »

Bob-
I don't have any personal experience with the Hamer 8's-

The only thing I have to offer is the thread by Brian- he just picked up a cheap 8 stringer and has linked some audio files. It sounds nice to me.

http://club.alembic.com/Images/449/49565.html?1206150393

Toby

dannobasso · « **Reply #2 on:** March 22, 2008, 12:19:24 PM »

I have a Hamer 12 I like and a Ravenwest 8 thats also fun. I would recommend getting one, it really opens the mind to new techniques and playing styles.

briant · « **Reply #3 on:** March 22, 2008, 12:57:56 PM »

The only 8-string Hamer I've played was a part of a short run they did for BassNW. It was the 12-string Chapparal bass with only 8 strings. Same neck, same body, blah blah, just had an 8-string bridge and nut. It was 34 scale and played/sounded great!

For cheap 8-string gratification I can't recommend that Rogue 8-string that Toby linked to above enough. It's a far cry from an Alembic, in fact I feel dirty for even drawing any sort of comparison, but it is a very very inexpensive option.

benson_murrensun · « **Reply #4 on:** March 22, 2008, 01:33:32 PM »

I have a Schecter Stiletto Studio 8-string. It is no Alembic, but it is a great value. It plays well and has good construction and components. I think you can get them for about $700.

keith_h · « **Reply #5 on:** March 22, 2008, 03:38:00 PM »

I don't own a Hamer but do own a 68' Hagstrom 8 that I bought in 1972. It is also a short scale. I agree with Danno it is worth having one just for the expansion to your playing that it can bring. It also works very well in power trio's as it really helps fill out the sound.

Keith

bsee · « **Reply #6 on:** March 22, 2008, 09:14:33 PM »

Well, I went and picked it up. The strings are a bit rusty at the bridge, but the instrument is in very good shape. A couple dings, but nothing I would call severe on a 15-20 year old bass. I made a little tweak to the relief and bridge height that has it playing very well. For a bass with old, dead strings it sounds great. It wants to run with the tone most of the way up or wide open, the bridge volume dimed, and maybe halfway up on the neck pickup for a little meat. Maybe with new steel on it, it will have more of a vocal range without pushing the limits of the electronics. The OBLs sound quite clear for humbuckers, very well defined.

I will put it through the paces tomorrow and compare it against my SC run through a POG. When I first heard the POG, I thought it sounded really cool, but had never actually played a real eight to compare it. Now that I hear a true eight, I'm not sure there's that much difference in the tone available. Since my SC is a custom neck dimension that's a bit tighter than standard, I'm finding it a bit spaced out to play the Hamer eight. Also, it's set up with the octave strings above the bass strings. This favors pick playing and I'm really a fingerstyle guy 90% of the time or more. There are some songs that sound *really* cool with it though. I am definitely getting ideas already from noodling on this thing.

In short, I'm on the fence about whether or not to keep the bass. I have 15 days to return it, but I'd hope to make a quicker decision so as not to take unfair advantage of the store policy. If I decide not to keep it, I will make it available here if I can do so at a price that is a good value for someone and is at or above what I have into it. Since I'll be looking to make a quick decision, please email me if you might be interested or know what the street value of one of these things is.

Thanks, everyone, for all your thoughts!
-bob

bassman10096 · « **Reply #7 on:** March 23, 2008, 04:59:41 AM »

Hagstrom has introduced a new take on its short scale 8: http://www.hagstromguitars.com/news_hb8.html. Looks like they've also brought out short scale 4s and a couple long scale basses too.

hieronymous · « **Reply #8 on:** March 23, 2008, 07:40:53 AM »

I've got a couple of Rickenbacker 8-strings. I usually play 8-string with a pick, so I prefer the octave on top arrangement like you described. In fact, I am having my 4003S/8 restrung like that. Just in case you are interested in sound-clips, here is that bass, played with a pick and delay: 8 Echo Dr.
And here's a picture:

The only recording I have of my 4008 is with distortion: taurus VIII
And a picture of that one:

I too have wanted an Alembic 8-string for a long time. One of the ideas I have in the back of my head is to get a set of Alembic Activators for the black Ric, but I like the sound of the Ric as-is, so I have that idea on the back-burner for the time being.

I also wouldn't mind trying out a short scale Hamer like you've got, but it seems like they usually have EMGs, which in my mind I don't like, but I've never actually played an EMG-equipped bass. But in general I don't like active pickups, except Alembic of course!

Are the pickups in your Hamer active?

bsee · « **Reply #9 on:** March 23, 2008, 08:26:28 AM »

I don't think so, Harry, but I'm not sure. I'll know in a few hours when I take things apart. I did a little research and it appears the OBL pickups might be original. I saw references that said Hamer used Bill Lawrence pickups in some of their instruments in the late 80s. The serial number on this one places it in 1989.

Previously, my first experiences seeing OBL pickups were in the early boutique strats of the late 80s. They were original equipment in the Bill Lawrence strats and popped up in Valley Arts on occasion. You saw them in everything in those days when so many people were gutting their instruments all too regularly. None of those were active, so I suspect this bass is passive all the way.

-bob

briant · « **Reply #10 on:** March 23, 2008, 11:36:48 AM »

Harry - I am officially in love with that none-more-black Rick 8-string. Oh my!!

Another comment on Hamer 8 and 12-strings that I've owned and/or played: I've noticed the electronics leave something to be desired. The volume, pan, bass, treble just barely gets by giving you tonal options. The flat sound of the bass wide open and both pickups on full is severely lacking in the low end department. I found that I usually had to have the bass knob turned up significantly before I started to get pleased with the tone; which left very little for adjustment while playing. This could have been the EMG pickups. It could have been the pre-amp that is on the Chaparral style instruments. I'm really not sure.

hieronymous · « **Reply #11 on:** March 23, 2008, 12:37:15 PM »

Harry - I am officially in love with that none-more-black Rick 8-string. Oh my!!

It'll be that much more none-more-black if I put vintage knobs and Alembic Activators in it!

Bob - waiting for your report on the innards! I actually might be interested if it's passive - I'll be in Boston area in June...

bsee · « **Reply #12 on:** March 23, 2008, 01:09:27 PM »

This one is just vol-vol-tone. I am really impressed with the sound of the pickups and the best tone control seems to come from balancing the pickups. I would say it's mostly like running an Alembic with the filter open and doing any serious tone shaping in the preamp. It definitely has enough bottom natively, though.

bsee · « **Reply #13 on:** March 23, 2008, 06:06:06 PM »

I opened the cavity - it doesn't get more passive than this. Looks all original with just three Hamer-stamped pots and a cap across the tone pot. The cap is labeled WMF1S15K which I believe is a .015 micro-Farad capacitor. For my ears, I can hear the difference clearly between wide open, half open and fully closed. It's hard to hear the impact of spinning the dial while a note sustains, though. It's not a filter with Q switch...

After playing it a little today, it sounds more real live than my POG on the SC. When I plugged it into my Yamaha AW1600, though, the difference was less. Additionally, technique problems that didn't stand out through an amp were more apparent. I'm leaning strongly toward not keeping this one and giving up any further thoughts of playing an eight. There are other new tricks this old dog would rather spend his time working on this one. I'll still keep my eye out for an Alembic eight on the used market just because, but that's as far as I'm going.

rami · « **Reply #14 on:** March 23, 2008, 06:51:02 PM »

Schecter make a decent 8 string: the Studio-8. Neck-thru, active electronics (EMG pickups) for around $1000 or less. I've seen it at my local dealer for $850. I'm not really into 8 strings but if I were looking to buy one, that would be it. It actually sounds great. I honestly can't find anything wrong with it.