Wow, a quad bass! Cool stuff. What did they actually call those little LP Jr. style basses? I mean the regular 4 string ones.
Yeah...Here is the details for any Hamer fans:
They made less than 10 of those 12-knob Quads and mine is one of, I believe, the only two remaining with the original wiring still intact...and maybe the only one that also has the required Quad breakout box interface. I think they only did two in Sunburst. Got it from the original owner who produced Eric Johnson's early stuff and owns the largest recording studio down in TX.
Those 4 string LP Jr-bodied Hamers are B4S models -- hard to find the 4-string ones. That one and the 8-string B8S version are both in the SN#100-200 range...same with the Quadbass. The Standard (Explorer) is in the SN#050 range and is the one I got from Herman Brood's bassist, Freddie Cavalli, teh original owner.
But probably even rarer is the TLE (Tele) Bass...never a catalog model and custom made for the top Hamer bass salesmen in the mid-80s. Also the one on the far left is listed as a "Three-Coil Bass" and was never a catalog model. Sort of a prototype based on the Hamer 6-string model actually called a Prototype. The guitar had a triple-coil humbucker at the bridge, si I'm guessing that's why the bass is called a "Three-Coil" in th factory logs, even though it doesn't have a three-coil PUP in it. Both of those basses have very Gibson-ish TBird long-scale necks on them.
The blue sparkle 90s Cruisebass is actually one of the few custom-made for Jeff Ament with his larger "Bigfoot" headstock design.
The TBird is the best of the half-dozen Hamer ones I've had and was made for the guy in Molly Hatchet and later owned by the guy in L.A. Guns. Great bass with a thinner neck profile than most of them and an ebony 'board...finish is also bursted on the back and neck.
The flying V 8-string is the only one ever made and sort of based on the very first Hamer ever made...which actually WAS A FLYING V 4-string BASS!! Yeah, Hamer started with a BASS built for Jol Dantzig -- which he still owns!!
The Monaco 12-string Bass on the right is one of only two ever made (the other was semi-gloss black) and custom-made for Mesa Boogie in Hollywood, CA. Crazy figured top on it and creme binding. I've owned maybe 25 Hamer 12-strings and this is the best playing long-scale one of the bunch and 3 or 4 pounds lighter than the B12A ones because it is chambered. They also set it up with the octaves close together, so it plays more like an 8-string than a 12.
I own a lot of Hamers...VERY under-rated basses and every bit as good (many say better) than any bass Gibson has churned out, even in its Custom Shop.
