Hamer Echotone Upgrades

[hey_day]

Just go a standard old Hamer echotone and i really want to fix it up to be pretty sweet. what are some upgrades i should do, i want new pickups for sure. any overall ideas?

[K-man]

WCR pickups, maybe an RS upgrade kit.

[arniez]

I would say do as little as you need to to make you happy. Maybe a pickup upgrade to Duncans or DiMarzzio's and new tuners. You don't want to end up with as much into it as you would have spent on a used Usa Hamer. They are very nice guitars for the money, but I think that is the key!
ArnieZ

[Gas-man]

I thought about fiddling with mine but decided to just enjoy it for what it is--a great sounding $400 335.

I love that guitar.

[hey_day]

planning on doing the pickup change and already have tuners. any good recommendations for pickups?

[KRosser]

planning on doing the pickup change and already have tuners. any good recommendations for pickups?
Basically, any pickups that work well with 335's - Duncan Antiquities, Duncan Seth Lovers, Fralin PAF's, Harmonic Design Vintage + Humbuckers, Lollar Imperials. If I were in your shoes, I'd try those Fralin P-92's. I'm dying to hear what they sound like in a semi-hollow guitar.Those Hamer Echotones are really cool guitars, vastly underrated IMHO

[CitizenCain]

hey_day, measure the scale length on your Echotone. I heard that Korean models have a 25 1/4" scale length. That will make it a little snappier than most 335 clones.

If you have one of the new China versions, it should be the std 24 3/4" scale. vbmenu_register("postmenu_1354177", true);

[hey_day]

are the fralin p 92s a remake of the old fender widerange pickups, the original ones not the new remake? that could sound cool. i was considering putting in phat cats but might stay with a humbucker tone.

[straightblues]

I would say do as little as you need to to make you happy. Maybe a pickup upgrade to Duncans or DiMarzzio's and new tuners. You don't want to end up with as much into it as you would have spent on a used Usa Hamer. They are very nice guitars for the money, but I think that is the key!
ArnieZListen to Arnie!!!!

I had an Korean Echotone. It was a very good guitar in stock condition. However, I decided to do lots of mods to it. I replaced the pickups with (Duncan 59's, then Duncan Antiquites and finally with Lollar Dog Eared P90's.) I put on Grover Imperial Tuners, a bone nut, CTS pots, a Nashville brige, and lightweight alluminum tail piece. Each of these mods made it a better guitar. After all of these mods, it was a very very good guitar. I liked it so much I decieded to buy a used Hamer USA Newport. I paid $850 for the Newport. The USA Newport just killed the upgraded Echotone so I ended up selling the Echotone. With all of the upgrades, I spent about $650. In the end, I wish I would have just left it alone and played it for what it was. A good stock guitar for a low price. The Korean Echotones are better than any of the low cost 335 out there. Enjoy it.:RoCkIn