For the fifth year in a row Guitar Player Magazine has bestowed the prestigious 'Editor’s Pick' award on a Hamer instrument. The Monaco III joins the previous winners from Hamer with a stunning review in the magazine’s September issue.

Citing the Monaco’s 'A+ construction and finish,' its 'flawlessly applied” celluloid binding and 'mirror-smooth' fretwork, the review fawns over every aspect of this new Hamer offering. Furthermore, the magazine editors feel that this guitar is the most sonically versatile Hamer yet, making it one of the 'vibiest new guitars around for blues, jazz, rock or any other style'. Pretty heady stuff!

The best part of the article is that the reviewing editor picked up on the exact purpose and philosophy that was designed into the Monaco III, showing how “on target” our latest offerings are. We’ve long been champions of the idea that each new guitar should be an answer to a need rather than just a styling exercise, and the Monaco III delivers on that promise.

You’d think that after five of these top awards in a row we’d be getting a little jaded, but that’s not the case at all. We return to our work with renewed vigor, to continue and perpetuate the legacy. When asked which of our award winning models was his favorite, Hamer guitar 'Guru' Jol Dantzig stated simply 'our next one.'

Fans of de-tuned rock welcomed last year’s release of the Monaco SubTone, which was optimized for lowered tunings. Guitarists loved the SubTone’s tight sound, created by the use of a 26.5inch scale, which allows tunings of B or lower without losing clarity.

With the race on to tune lower and lower, some of the sparkle and shimmer has left modern rock. As fans of treble as well as bass, we wondered how to put some of that crispness back without losing the power of the lows. To this end, we have built a twelve-string “B” guitar. The obvious solution, and an opportunity to combine classic Hamer concepts—we knew that it aligned perfectly with our philosophy.

Custom modifications are not anything new to us at Hamer; we’ve been having our way with the status quo since our first instruments in 1974. Many of Hamer’s most noteworthy contributions to the guitar world have been hybrid customs. The DuoTone, electric Mandocello and 12 String Bass come to mind as landmark Hamer hybrid concepts. Over twenty years ago we built a ten-string bass (5 string with octaves) for Aerosmith’s Joe Perry in another forward-looking design. Over the years we have delighted in solving problems or advancing the art by skillfully meshing different ingredients to create a whole new recipe.

In this new exercise, we’ve drawn from our experience with twelve and eight-string basses and applied it to the SubTone. The results were astonishing. The SubTone 12’s full sound (derived from the same tuning as the original six string version) is retained. The addition of shimmering highs supplied by the octave strings brings a whole new dimension to this unique instrument.

The SubTone 12 breaks new sonic ground, bridging the gaps between bass and conventionally tuned guitars without sacrificing highs or the awesome growl and power of the lowered tuning. The best part is that it is played exactly like a regular guitar!

Not considered a stock model, the SubTone 12 is a variation on a theme that can be custom ordered by adventurous players now. What are you waiting for?