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Convo with Hamer rep


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I had an interesting conversation with a customer service rep at the Hamer factory in Con. I was asking about dead spots and what they suggested as a possible remedy.

After talking about the usual things, tuners, fat finger etc. he asked me the year of the guitar. I told him it was an '96, He told me that prior to 97 there were incidences of dead spots but after they moved in 97 they dont enounter them anymore. I asked if he had any idea and he didnt know. I find that interesting, just thought I would pass it on to fellow HFCers.

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I'll bet you spoke with that "asshole" Ken.

Ya thats him. Why is he an asshole?

You actually spoke with Kim. Awesome guy, even if he has a penchant for fishnets.

The "Ken" thing has a long story behind it.

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I know of 2 Newports with dead spots.

So, it's not a pre-97 thing.

I played 1 of the Newports at a session I had with another guitarist. He had a bunch of cool hollow bod's. It was the standard Bigs/PC in that Orange sparkle finish. He mentioned the dead spot and it was there when I played it too.

I also recall reading on another forum or maybe here of another cat w/the same problem.

For the record I've had a shit load of Hamers from all era's. I've never had a dead spot on any.

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I can see how this would make Kim uncomfortable, but the dead spots persist on a few guitars. I have the good fortune to play the Phoenix collection on a weekly basis, they are perfect or as close to it as possible, but my personal guitar (2003) has several finish flaws that really get under my skin , white under the clearcoat on the bass of the neck joint, exactly where you see it everytime you have it in playing position ( fantastic! ) and the tort binding came w/ some Hameritis and is developing more ( ongoing I suppose ) and now the binding is sinking on the headstock , a crease has developed that runs halfway up ( the worst look possible w/ this problem, all or nothing please ). I guess I should have posted this and not let wild rumors start but who really cares. I stopped using Hamer for a period cause this just pissed me off so bad and combined w/ the stress of being a mod for this board at a very stressfull time just pushed me over the edge. I have since just beat the shit out of this guitar and no longer consider it a problem, but trust me when I tell you that problem happen w/ every company. This was my first new guitar in 15 years ( don't cry for me, I buy used very effeciently ) and now I remember why I don't do that LOL , so there's my big story revealed :blink:

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hmmm, it went back to have the truss rod reset, I mad mention of the finish flaws but they were just ignored, I did'nt raise a big stink as I got it under an endorsement deal ( a limited thing called a keyman deal ) the whole thing was a dual edge sword for me, and to be fair to Poe, I did answer one of his emails and state that I did not like the military connection, he caught me in mid rant mode LOL. One interesting fact I found in my investigations about the helicopter/Ovation connection, spruce is the only thing that they could use for copter blades until they developed the "bowl" material, even aluminum degrades at the tip of a rotating copter blade, so at least I chose the right wood

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I know of 2 Newports with dead spots.

So, it's not a pre-97 thing.

...

For the record I've had a shit load of Hamers from all era's. I've never had a dead spot on any.

Yup, much as I love my 2000 Newp, it's a bit dead on the G-string at the 12th fret. Using a wound G helps, which improves up-the-fretboard intonation but kills string bends. Maybe this is a good case for getting locking Grovers, as the change in head mass might make the dead spot go away.

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There must be degrees of "deadness" to dead spots. On further review if my guitars issue I would say its weak and not totally dead. Its only really noticeable when I hold the note with high gain. It lasts a about 3 secs and warbles away to feedback sustain if the amp is loud enough. If I apply some finger vibrato I can coax a bit more out of it. Its interesting to note that if I tune down a half step it moves to the fret where that particular note it so I know its a resonance cancellation. With all the probs I have had with Gibsons lately Im blessed if thats all the problem I have from my Hamers.

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Now why in the hell did you have to go and stir up this "deadspot" issue? Here I was perfectly happy with my '00s Newport Pro Custom and my Duotone and my mid '90s Artist & Eclipse & Mirage. Now I find myself sitting here with all my guitars out and a scope, and I'm calculating the decay time of the all the notes on all the strings on all these guitars !!!! Lo & behold I find that there is an imperceptable difference in decay of the note at the 12th fret of my Newport. Don't get me wrong, on a statistical basis it is indeed mathematically identifiable. But not to my ear. OH !!!! Son of a buck.....the Eclipse has one also, just not quite as bad as the Newport.

So here I sit with what I use to believe was a superior instrument. Now as a result of your "deadspot inquisition" I am the proud owner of a seriously flawed, el cheapo six string. Equivalent to something I could have picked out of the Sears catalog. Dammit, I knew I should have saved the money and bought that Danelectro !

;-) ;-) ;-)

Ok, ok, ok.........my tongue is now removed from my cheek.

Great googly moogly guys, I don't see this as a fatal flaw. Isn't it just part of the natural characteristics of any guitar. From a pure physics standpoint the 6 string - 22 fret - 24 3/4" scale guitar is not perfect. Some notes may not produce the exact precise mathematically correct frequency when they are fretted. Isn't this the myth/theory that Earvana & Buzz Feiten & a bunch of others work off of? Furthermore the fretted note may produce frequencies that collide with the harmonics of the rest of the guitar structure. So some notes sound better, some worse.

Play the good ones. Play around the bad ones. Bend the note. Vibrato the note. Ease up on your finger pressure. Bear down on your finger pressure. Go a few frets up or down on a neighboring string. Trust your ears and move your fingers.

Sorry. I'll get back to mowing the 14th tee now.

Noonan

PS - Oh man this deadspot on my Newport is gonna keep me staring at the ceiling for a few nights, I just KNOW it !!! Its as if George Costanza just became a Hamer critic.

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PS - Oh man this deadspot on my Newport is gonna keep me staring at the ceiling for a few nights, I just KNOW it !!!      Its as if George Costanza just became a Hamer critic.

Sorry about that Caddie :blink:

I was just struck by the comment from Hamer that the issue was pre-97.

Kinda like the Hameritis thing being from the past. Fresh examples of it on newer models and the odd finish problem on my Subtone's neck (fixed by the factory) are real.

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Great googly moogly guys, I don't see this as a fatal flaw. Isn't it just part of the natural characteristics of any guitar. From a pure physics standpoint the 6 string - 22 fret - 24 3/4" scale guitar is not perfect. Some notes may not produce the exact precise mathematically correct frequency when they are fretted. Isn't this the myth/theory that Earvana & Buzz Feiten & a bunch of others work off of? Furthermore the fretted note may produce frequencies that collide with the harmonics of the rest of the guitar structure. So some notes sound better, some worse.

Play the good ones. Play around the bad ones. Bend the note. Vibrato the note. Ease up on your finger pressure. Bear down on your finger pressure. Go a few frets up or down on a neighboring string. Trust your ears and move your fingers.

Sorry. I'll get back to mowing the 14th tee now.

Noonan

PS - Oh man this deadspot on my Newport is gonna keep me staring at the ceiling for a few nights, I just KNOW it !!! Its as if George Costanza just became a Hamer critic.

It isn't that easy...

When we are referring to a dead spot, we aren't referring to some imperceptable change in tone. I had a Special with a dead spot at the 12th fret g string...it was *very* noticable...you didn't need a scope to tell. I am talking serious drop in volume and virtually *zero* sustain.

Thats a pretty big deal bro...

Luckily, when I changed strings to .11s, it went away...

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OK, so now this is grabbing my attention, and as a result I have several questions:

- Is this something that has been observed with both 24 3/4 scale and 25 1/2 scale guitars?

- Have you ever observed this on a bass?

- Have you ever observed this "deadspot issue" on a PRS, Gibson, Fender, Gretsch, McInturff, etc? or just Hamers?

- Is it more common on semi-hollow or hollowbody gutiars than on solid body guitars?

- Is it more common on setnecks, thru necks, or bolt ons?

Thanks guys.

Noonan

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