1984 Hamer Rocks Hard pamphlet
In September 1984 KISS dropped their new album Animalize and the first single was a nice little ditty called "Heaven's on Fire". For the video to that song Paul showed up with a new Hamer. The Scarab was introduced by Hamer in 1984 in the Hamer Rocks Hard series of pamphlets which featured such luminaries as Judas Priest, Krokus and Def Leppard. The guitar was described as "definitely not for the timid". For all intents and purposes one can consider the Scarab a slimmed-down Standard (the Hamer take on the Explorer shape) with a wave-like cutout at the lower end of the body. It had a dove-tailed set neck with either rosewood or ebony fretboard and inlays were either dot, "crown", or LED. There were two models: the I with a single humbucker or the II with—you guessed it—two humbuckers. Pickups were Hamer Slammers and the bridge was a Kahler Top Mount but being true to their custom shop beginnings Hamer offered various bridge and pickup alternatives.
Paul's Scarab wasn't just the result of a few choices of standard options, it was a true custom-built one-of-a-kind guitar. Paul's Scarab had a slightly different body shape with both the lower horn and the upper "bout" having more mass and a more angular appearance; it had a set bridge which appears similar to the Schaller 455; the pickups were EMG 1981; the control layout was completely changed, at least partially to allow for the electronics for the active pickups; and the output jack was in another position. Even the strap button in the lower bout had been moved a bit. Basically, only the headstock and the LED inlays were part of the standard package of options that Hamer offered.
As for the "finish" it can only be described as a mylar-like sheet that covers the top. When the guitar moves the top reflects and refracts the light which makes it looks a bit like a rainbow at times or simply like a mirror or a sheet of silver at other times. The effect is very apparent if you watch the "Heaven's on Fire" video but the photos do a decent job of conveying it.
The Hamer Scarab was used exclusively for the song "Heaven's on Fire" during both the European and the US part of the tour. The reason it was used for that particular song was because it was the only song in the set that featured an open-G tuning. (Bruce played his parts in standard tuning and didn't need to change guitars.) The photos below show the guitar in use during this period.
Once the tour in support of Asylum began the open-G duties had been taken over by the cracked mirror B.C. Rich Warlock and later in the tour the hockey stick headstock B.C. Rich Eagle took over. But even though it doesn't appear to have ever gotten on stage during this tour the Hamer Scarab was still part of the arsenal. The backstage photo from Hammond, Indiana was taken during soundcheck by one of the crew members, and at one of the last shows of the tour William Hames photographed all the band's guitar backstage for Japanese magazine Young Guitar. (Hames also photographed the band's guitars at the beginning of the tour, photos that were also published in one of the Japanese magazines, but I have been unable to get my hands on that article.)
Some time over the course of 1985-86 the finish of the Hamer Scarab suffered from sun exposure which left it with a milky look that wasn't reflective like it used to be. Paul eventually sold the guitar to a fan several years before the Butterfields Auction.
