Nestled amongst the corn fields and family farms of Iowa comes a talented and unique guitar luthier. Jon Kammerer Guitars in Keokuk, IA introduces a line of acoustic, solid bodied and semi hollow bodied guitars that offer unique designs and ingenuity. This month's product review is of the new solid body series. The 11-3SGB offers traditional values with some impressive design techniques. Musicians Hotline is proud to introduce you to these new line of guitars as well as a man with a vision. So without further ado, let's get to it, shall we?

First Look:
Stunning maple top with acrylic black sunburst finish is absolutely
beautiful. The entire guitar is made out of hard rock maple. The neck is inlaid with abalone fret markers. The guitar has jet black hardware, volume and tone knobs are "tele" style, five way switch and a recessed "strat" style input cavity, black Tune-O-Matic string through bridge, three on a side Gotoh tuners, black control cavity plates and last but not least, a black acrylic nut really adds a nice touch to the cosmetic make up of the Kammerer. Pickups are three black single coil Duncan APS-1, (Nice choice! More about them later.) The body style is very unique. Double cut, but not just a knock off of other popular double cut body styles. Original designed headstock in hard rock maple compliments the body style well. Relatively thin body style, but still weighs in just under seven pounds, it's definitely packing some wood. Cosmetically, the Kammerer can stand on its own amongst the competition with its own look, and its own feel.

First Chord:
After tuning up and striking the notorious A, G E9 chord progression, I immediately feel comfortable with the shape of the neck and the rock solid stability that hard rock maple provides in a neck. The Kammerer rings clear acoustically and the action of the guitar for me personally is "balls on"! Not too high and not too low. Intonation is very close. Undoubtedly, time and effort has been attributed to the set up of this guitar, evidenced by its more then comfortable feel, and solid acoustical ring.

The Neck:
Upon further inspection of the neck and speaking with Jon Kammerer about the construction of the 11-3SGB, there are a few points worthy of dedicating a section of how the neck is constructed and most importantly how the neck adheres to the body! This hard rock maple neck sports a 25" scale with a 6-8 lb. compound radius, and is a standard C-shaped bolt on with a not so standard attachment. Instead of standard thin wood screws holding the neck on, the Kammerer used threaded brass inserts set into the neck. 1/4 x 20 stainless steel machine screws bolt through the body connecting with the inserts. There is also an aircraft grade aluminum plate on the body side that acts to spread the load evenly that is generated by the screws. Furthermore there are two hardened steel dowel pins set in place by a computer. This allows for the neck to be aligned perfectly straight and set in place. The neck simply can not shift. The frets are nicely dressed and in fact are somewhat undercut so the tangs of the frets do not stick out. The fret board is lemon oil and the neck finish is tung oil. The entire guitar is designed utilizing high end CAD-CAM software ensuring and extremely accurate fit. The bridge is recessed into the body cavity to aid in a lower profile design and to help ensure low string action, not to mention adding to the sustain of the guitar by mounting the bridge into the body cavity. Now that we've discussed the technical aspects, let's grab a couple of beers and...

Plug It In:
First of all here's where it gets serious. I'm utilizing two different amp set ups for my testing purposes. My 80's JCM 800 Model 2204 Marshall half stack, and a Line6 Pod running through a Marshall Solid State power amp out to a Marshall 2x12 closed back cab. My first is through the Pod utilizing a "Modern Class A" model (one of my favorites). Keep in mind, we are working with a triple single standard strat configuration. The pickups of choice are Duncan APS-1's. The middle pickup is wired to a reverse wound, reverse polarity set up. With a relatively clean setting and the Kammerer in the bridge position, this axe is clean, spanky and brite! Strat players will love it. Spank me, I'm a Danish! The tone sparkles no doubt due to the hard rock maple body and neck. I bust out with "Play That Funky Music" with utmost enthusiasm. Plenty of high end, but not brittle, but plenty of single coil spank! An impressive array of clean tones are available with the standard five way selector. Each position in the five way selector impressively produces five very different distinguishable tones. With the wiring configuration and the middle pickup reverse wound, this opens up a variety of tones in the middle position. My next step is to switch to my Marshall for over driven tones. Once again in the bridge position, the Kammerer cuts through without a whimper. Low end stays tight and the mids are well rounded. For single coil pickups, the tone is surprisingly ballsy but does not waffle. In the neck position the tone is warm and bluesy with tons of sustain. A variety of pickup configurations are available based upon your particular taste. Rather clean or over driven, the Kammerer has the tone.

Final Mojo:
With a list price starting at just $975 up to the AAAA curly maple top of $2900, the Kammerer offers splendid features to fit your price range. This model with a plain maple top, a translucent black sunburst, Duncans, and a hardshell, sports a list price of $1650. Very competitively priced for an instrument that utilizes this quality of woods. Most excellent tone and playability are the name of the game and the Kammerer offers both. Even for a pre-production model I was impressed by the quality and detail of this guitar. I have a feeling you will be hearing more and more about Jon Kammerer Guitars in the near future. Offering a complete line of unique acoustic, solid body and semi hollow bodied instruments, Jon Kammerer guitars in Keokuk, IA is on the way.

Information:
Jon Kammerer Guitars
222 Timea St.
Keokuk, IA 52632
319-526-7651
Email: jon@jonkammererguitars.com
www.jonkammererguitars.com