Slammer XP-1 Standard Review

It's built around the shape that has been a favorite of pros for over 25 years! Why so popular? Perfect balance. Easy access to all 22 frets. And just plain amazing sound.

Features:	7.5
Sound:	6.7
Action:	7.7
Reliability:	7.8
Impression:	8.2
Overall rating:	7.6
Users rating:	8.2
Comments:	7

overall: 8.8

Featured review by: antichristevan6, on august 31, 2005

Price paid: $ 158

Purchased from: eBay

Features: My model was 2004 model built in Indonesia. It has 22 frets and a thin neck so I can move around it fairly fast. I'm lovin' the Explorer style body (fits my metal style) and the red finish is really good. It has a Tune-O-Matic bridge and twin pickups. I got a gig bag with it, and a wammy bar (but there wasnt a place to put it). // 8

Sound: This guitar is great for '80s metal. I play thrash metal and british-heavy metal and this guitar is a good one for that. It can give off a bright sound or a dark bossy sound so it has some good variety. It buzzes alot if you let it be and feedback is enevitable when at high volume even when it's on clean. Also, when you tap on the high E-string the sound kind of fades sometimes so you have to tap really hard. This guitar gives off some pretty extreme screams and the bends you can do on this guitar are pretty impressive. // 8

Action, Fit & Finish: When I first got this guitar it was my first so I had not alot to compare it to next to my acoustic. But now that I've played a few other guitars (mostly ones like Squire and stuff). I can say that this guitar handles better than most of the other ones I've tried out. Mostly I like the neck size and the shape the most. When I got it the guitar had no flaws except there was a few scratches on the body because I got it used but they buffed right out. // 10

Reliability & Durability: This guitar could definately withstand live playing. The only setback for it is that the strap comes off every now and again. But it's not enough to worry just get a strap block. I can depend on this guitar, but I would bring a backup in case I broke a string. // 8

Impression: I play thrash metal and heavy metal and this guitar is a good match. I've been playing for 4 years and this guitar is my favourite of all of them. I wish this guitar had a wammy bar but I'll install that later. If it were stolen or lost I would die! And then I would buy a new one. My favourite feature of this guitar is how easy it is to play. I don't love the fact that the tapping fades on the high E string but it's all good. // 10

overall: 1.8

Reviewed by: halfstepdown88, on november 07, 2005

Price paid: $ 200

Purchased from: Discount Music

Features: This guitar has 21 frets. The neck feels really crappy compared to my friend's guitar. The guitar I bought is candy red, but you can also get black and sunburst. This guitar pretty much sucks. I got ripped off badly from Discount Music, the guy who works there is a total jerk. Once my friend went in there to get his strings changed (when he was a newbie and didn't know how to do it himself) and it took the guy 1 hour. So with that said, this guitar purchased somewhere else may be better, because it is possible the guy mingled with it. Besides that, this guitar sucks pretty badly, and its components suck. // 2

Sound: I don't even know that it has a style, "beginning guitarist who didn't know he was getting ripped off" style. It gets a lot of feedback and times too, especially when you have it set on bride pickups. I can only get harmonics on half the pickup settings, I thought that was normal until I played my friend's guitar. // 1

Action, Fit & Finish: The pickups suck and the guitar comes out of tune a ton. Every time I pick it up I basically have to tune it. 3 of my friends, on their guitars, don't nearly have to tune their guitar as much as me. If you buy this guitar you are going to regret it. // 2

Reliability & Durability: This guitar will definitely not withstand live playing. The hardware seems pretty low quality. The strap buttons suck as well. I would never use this guitar at a gig. Never. Once I was playing and this washer and nut just popped off and it took me 20 minutes to get it back in and tightened. // 3

Impression: I play from blues to hardcore rock, this guitar isn't good for anything. I've been playing for almost a year, I use a $300 dollar amp and a grunge pedal. I have also used this guitar with other equipment though, and was still dissapointed. I wished I wasn't so dumb when I bought this guitar, if I was smart, I would have gotten anything else. If this guitar was stolen/lost, I would not buy it again, I would get something else. Come to think about it, I hope this guitar gets stolen. // 1

overall: 9.6

Reviewed by: Speedabob, on october 27, 2005

Price paid: $ 274.5

Purchased from: Some Place In Poland ,cost 850PLN

Features: Made In America 2004, 22 medium jumbo frets, maple neck and rosewood fretboard, not sure what body it is but it says solid wood, finished in black, 1 cutaway, Tune-O-Matic bridge, stock passive electronics, 2 volume and 1 tone controls, stock pickups, H/H config, not sure what tuners they are. // 9

Sound: This guitar is really good for heavy metal and such, the pick ups give out a bassy sound like Slipknot or Metallica, I use it on a Fender 30 DSP and Boss DS-1, the clean sounds good too. // 9

Action, Fit & Finish: The setup was really good till I changed the strings and ruined it, the pickups weren't adjusted too well so I did them myself, everything was made perfectly except it is very heavy, not bad for a £150 guitar huh? // 10

Reliability & Durability: This guitar will withstand live playing and the hardware will last very long, strap buttons are solid, the guitar only almost fell 2 times 'cause of the strap, I would use this guitar on stage and wouldnt need a backup, the finish will last forever, I have hit it in many places and nothing has happend, not even a scratch. // 10

Impression: The guitar really matches my music (metal), I've been playing 1 year and couple of months, if it were stolen I would buy it again but thats if only I wouldn't find another guitar that would replace this one, I compared it to my cusins Flame Les Paul and I found my guitar better, I just wish it had different pickups and jumbo frets. // 10

overall: 10

Reviewed by: breadfan82, on september 01, 2005

Features: // 10

Sound: I play mostly Metallica, and I dabble in a few other styles of rock and metal. This guitar is pretty versatile when it comes to what you can play with it. I have a GNX4 guitar processor and I run a Peavy Bandit 112 and a Marshall MG50DFX into the GNX4's stereo inputs. The Explorer is pretty suiting for what I play. // 10

Action, Fit & Finish: It was set up very well indeed. My guitar tech and I both tried pretty damn hard to find something wrong with this guitar, and neither of us could. Way to go, Hamer. // 10

Reliability & Durability: // 10

Impression: This guitar is a perfect match to my style. I've been playing for seven years, and I have too much crap to list it all. If it were stolen, I'd kill whomever stole it. I love the balance the guitar has. I like the pickups and the skulls and the body style. I compared it to the Jackson 'Kelly', and Gibson, Epiphone, and ESP Explorers, but this was the most playable and affordable of them all. I wish it had 24 frets, but I'm not in dire need of that. This is one guitar that proves quality isn't about what name is on the guitar. // 10

Reviewed by: unregistered, on may 09, 2005

Purchased from: eBay

Features: My guitar was made in 2004 in Indonesia. It has 22 frets and a thin neck for fast action. I'm not sure what kind of wood it's made of but the body is solid wood and I can guess that the neck is rosewood. It is an Explorer style - very sexy looking and it has a Tune-O-Matic bridge. You get 2 volume controls, a tone control and a treble Switch and it has 2 sets of 2 humbucking pickups. I didn't expect much from the company because its a cheaper Hamer but its very good. // 8

Sound: The guitar sounds awesome with my Marshall MG15DFX amp and Boss OS-2 Overdrive/Distortion pedal. I can play anything from thrash metal, glam metal, '70s arena rock and anything in between. It has a dark full sound. // 6

Action, Fit & Finish: The guitar was set up great at the factory and the pickups worked awesome. The guitar came with no flaws and the red finish on mine looks awesome. I can see my self in it. // 10

Reliability & Durability: This guitar can definitly withstand live playing. the only problems is that the strap button nearest to the neck lets go of the strap ocasionally but I have yet to drop the guitar. The finish seems pretty good - I hit my guitar up against a door by accendent and it scratched the finish but it isnt really noticible. Be carefull! // 6

Impression: I play mainly '80s metal and '70s rock and its a great for it. I've been playing for about 3 months now and if I lost or had this guitar stolen I'd probably first push for a Gibson or Epiphone Explorer but would easily go back to this after those didn't work out. // 10

Reviewed by: unregistered, on august 08, 2005

Price paid: $ 150

Purchased from: eBay

Features: My guitar is a 2004 model made in Indonesia. 22 frets, 3/4 scale, with a thin neck for fast action. The guitar is solid body wood, probably whatever Hamer had left lying around although it looks and feels nice and the neck is maple with a rosewood fingerboard, your standard set up. The finish is a red flamed top Explorer body, looks very nice and it has a Tune-O-Matic bridge. You're given 2 volume controls, a treble control and a tone Switch. My guitar has 2 humbuckers although I have no idea who makes them, I can only assume Hamer makes them and its the same deal with the chrome tuner pegs. // 8

Sound: This guitar suits my musical style (Guns N'Roses, The Scorpions, Black Sabbath, Led Zepplin, AC/DC etc.) pretty much perfectly with me Marshall MG15DFX amp and Boss OS-2 overdrive/distortion pedal. The sound is very bright and it can make a sweet variety of sounds. // 6

Action, Fit & Finish: The guitar was set up pretty well at the factory, my only problem was a missing truss rod cover but that doesnt really affect much at all. The pickups work fine although I do notice while tapping on the high e string the sound fades out. My only other problem other then broken strings (my own fault) was that the nut where u plug the cable into my guitar came off and I almost lost the whoel thing inside my guitar, I was lucky I had pliers handy. // 4

Reliability & Durability: This guitar would without a doubt survive live playing. Everything seems like its built to last, the only problem here is the strap comes off the strap buttons occasionally (although not too often) so I would recomend locking buttons. I'd play a gig without a backup because I trust my guitar, the worst case scenario while playing this guitar in a gig is a string breaks, a normal risk. Excelent relability and durability. // 10

Impression: I play mainly '70s rock and '80s metal, a very good match for this guitar. I've been playing for about 5 months now and the only things I've bought for this guitar other then my Marshall amp and boss pedal is a Hamer XP-1 standard hard shell case which is a b--ch to lug around but it's bulletproof. If I lost or had this guitar stolen I would probably try to upgrade to a Les Paul, SG or Gibson Explorer but that's just becase I always want the best and for the money I spent on this guitar, it's hella good. I chose this this over Sqiuers and Fenders because of how it looked mainly. It's so much more bad ass then any other Strat out there. The only thing I wish this had was a whammy bar but that could be attached later. // 8

Comments

[fenderdude0071]

blows urs mom

[fenderdude0071]

jk but me no like guitar

[kfong03]

complete rip from gibson explorer

[true_bacon22]

its a rip but it kicks so much ass

[1201ZJ]

It looks exactly the same as an explorer, and from what these guys are saying, it might be pretty vlose in quality.

[Bob_Sagget]

I like ho all of these ppl except one that are writing reviews havn't played more than a year. I've been playing for about three years and they're alright if your going for the explorer style but I mean seriously there is a lot better guitars for about the same price. (Xavier)

[motleysixx666]

this guitar kicks ass for the price. i got one on ebay for 180 bucks and its a screamer. you might want to change the pick ups and tuners but it would be worth the extra money to make it sound like a gibson for a fraction of the price

1201ZJ wrote:

It looks exactly the same as an explorer, and from what these guys are saying, it might be pretty vlose in quality.