Description
Roadhouse USA location:
1983 Hamer USA Phantom A5 Guitar in black.
Non-trem model (called the Sustain-Block string through bridge) which is cool and somewhat rare compared to the Phantoms with a trem.
Typical made in the USA Hamer quality, this guitar is in very good vintage condition.
It shows some scratches of course and a couple of very minor dings have been touched up, but overall extremely clean for its age.
All original, it still plays great with a killer Hamer neck on it and plenty of life left in the frets. Of course you get the Triple-Coil humbucker in the bridge which is the signature of the Hamer Phantom.
Comes as pictured with original Hamer hard case.
It was good enough for Glen Tipton at one point, grab it while you can!
A little bit of Hamer History on the Phantom:
The Phantom
By around ’82, Hamer had turned the corner on the road to success. In celebration, it got bolder and introduced three new guitars and three new basses, all more consonant with the “glam image” of the emerging heavy metal scene, though still not straying far from the Gibson model.
First was the Phantom A5 guitar. This was similar to the Prototype II except for a more dramatically extended upper-cutaway horn and a contoured body with offset waists. Otherwise, the mahogany neck and electronics were very similar, with the three-coil/single-coil combination. By ’84, Hamer pickups were called Slammers, still produced by DiMarzio. New were three-and-three Hamerlock tuners, which allowed the guitarist to lock down the strings at the tuner, similar to the Sperzel concept. The Phantom A5 was available with Sustain Block string-through bridge or a new Sustain Block Tremolo vibrato, which basically transformed the fixed bridge into a non-locking Fender-style vibrato. By ’84, the Phantom A5 was available with a Kahler top-mounted double-locking vibrato system. However, this first version did not survive through ’84.
In ’84, the Phantom A5 changed to a second version basically the same as the earlier one, except it featured a six-in-line headstock and Kahler Flat-Mount vibrato system was standard. Pickup control changed to a five-way select on the pickguard. In ’85, the neck was changed to maple.
This second version of the Phantom was now also offered as the Phantom A7 Synthesizer Controller. This was the same as the new ’84 Phantom A5, with the addition of a Roland hex MIDI pickup in front of the vibrato, with a three-way toggle (MIDI/regular/both) and two other parameter control knobs. Outputs included 1/4″ and synth DIN plugs.
A streamlined version, the Phantom GT, was also offered beginning in ’84. This was identical except for having a single Hamer Slammer humbucker at the bridge and one volume control, available in custom colors and graphic finishes.
The Phantom guitar series lasted through ’86.
