If you were looking for an image that defined ‘80s hard-rock guitar, you would do well to find a better one than the cover of Guitar World’s May 1986 issue featuring Steve Stevens.
Shot by John Peden, it captures a beyond-bouffant Billy Idol guitarist with his new Hamer signature guitar. Some makeup has been used.
The hot pink accents of Stevens’ signature on the guitar and the Hamer headstock logo are reprised on the Guitar World masthead logo.
It is an image for the ages, and here, Stevens casts his mind back to talk Hamer, Les Pauls and what he needed for one of the highest-profile gigs in rock.
When and where did you buy this guitar?
“I got it from Hamer. By then, I had done the Rebel Yell solo with the ray gun [effect] on it, so we tried to add the ray gun into the guitar. That guitar might’ve been one of those. There are three buttons on it.”
What attracted you to Hamer?
“Paul Stanley actually got me my Hamer endorsement! I still own the very first Hamer guitar I got as an endorsement that was given to me before Billy Idol. I still have that [first] guitar, and I have the prototype, which was the guitar Andy Summers played.”
Paul Stanley actually got me my Hamer endorsement! I still own the very first Hamer guitar I got
Have you used this guitar on any notable recordings?
“Probably not. The first Billy Idol record [1982’s Billy Idol] was recorded with a Les Paul. When I met Billy, I didn’t really have an amazing guitar. He said, ‘Oh, you gotta have a Les Paul, mate.’
“We went down to 48th Street [New York City], and Billy got me a ’53 Les Paul that would have had the trapeze tailpiece on it but had been retrofitted for a Tune-O-Matic, and it had P-90s on it, but originally, it had the PAF pickups. It wasn’t a collectible; it was a workman and great-sounding. But on Rebel Yell, I had a Kramer Pacer, which I spent $650 on at Sam Ash.”
What did the Hamer bring to the party that the Gibson Les Paul didn’t?
“Roughly, they were similar to Les Paul Juniors or Les Paul Specials. They were all mahogany and definitely in the Gibson school. They were the first kind of hot-rodded guitars out of the box.
“They came with DiMarzio pickups and had great parts and paintjobs. It seemed like my heroes, like Rick Nielsen, were playing them. I was like any other kid; I was looking in the pages of magazines, seeing the ads, and I thought, ‘Oh, man, one day, I want to have one.’ It was a dream of mine to have a guitar endorsement and – eventually – my own model.”
Why did you choose the black Hamer for your GW cover shoot?
“I’m not sure. [Laughs] I think it was the most recent guitar Hamer had built for me, you know?”
Do you still own this guitar?
“I don’t. A lot of my ’80s guitars kind of fell by the wayside. I’ve gotten messages from people who claim to have had guitars I played – and some are legit.
“There’s one guy who practically has a freaking museum of Steve Stevens Hamer guitars. [Laughs] He’s got a couple of the guitars I played, but a lot of the guitars people have sent me photos of definitely weren’t mine.”
