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Double-D Seymour Duncan pickups designed to Jol Dantzig's specifications

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• Review
• Manufacturer's Description

Because Hamer has spent time both in and out of the limelight since it was formed back in 1973, it's sometimes seen as a relative newcomer in the high-end US guitar circus. The reality, of course, is something else entirely.

Jol Dantzig and Paul Hamer virtually spawned the entire 'boutique' business when they realised that disastrous decision-making at Gibson had laid the field open to anyone prepared to put quality before bottom line.

Twenty-five years on and, with Hamer himself long gone, Dantzig's song remains the same. He sees his guitars and their players as "a club, a lifestyle" and "more Coltrane than Limp Bizkit".

The official Talladega blurb states: "The idea was to balance a warm-toned chambered mahogany body with a maple neck as a way of getting both an airy snap and a rich fundamental." To this end Dantzig spent 18 months designing and refining the Talladega (named after the city in Alabama best known for its NASCAR circuit), enlisting long-time friend Seymour Duncan's help to come up with a set of pickups tailored to his vision.

As ever, the finest tonewoods and hardware have been used. These include an ivoroid-bound South American mahogany body with book-matched curly maple cap, and a dark rosewood fingerboard topping a 'V'-shaped maple neck. Hamer's own chrome-plated brass Sustain Block bridge, TonePros' classic Kluson-style Keystone tuners and an anodised aluminium control cavity plate complete the picture.

Close scrutiny of almost everything from the glorious amberburst lacquer finish to the fitting of binding, neck, nut and frets - even the choice of a conical jack receptacle that allows the plug to glide in unimpeded - reveals unbeatable attention to detail.

Some may feel the headstock is a little large (or might look better unbound), or view the 12th-fret 'victory' inlay as a touch unnecessary, but these are personal preferences. If we must be picky, the cream surrounds don't allow Seymour's pickups (named Double-D after Duncan/ Dantzig) to sit 100 percent parallel to the strings, but if this almost insignificant flaw is all we can uncover then we'll choose to look the other way.

We've played several Hamers recently and the experience has never been less than exhilarating. Although the Talladega's elegant body is almost identical in depth to a Tele, its dropped edge and cream binding make it appear less wieldy.

A chamfered cutaway and Telecaster thumb-crook where the shoulder meets the neck make top-end playing more pleasing than on a Les Paul, and the neck's marked 'V' profile finds an instant friend in most players' palms.

The Talladega's fingerboard is perfectly finished and flawlessly fretted. Hamer calls these frets "wide oval" - the same term applied by Gibson to its post '58-style wires. On the 'board's flat 356mm (14-inch) radius they're the perfect playground for any bluesy rocker - the Talladega player surely envisaged by Dantzig. Those vital requirements of smooth bends and effortless vibrato are met with ease, so much so that any player could gig it straight out of its form-fit, plush-lined case.