Teh Posted October 14, 2006 Posted October 14, 2006 Well, 8 months after I found out I had won on the WorkshopLive.com sweepstakes, I received the grand prize yesterday at the Hamer factory in Connecticut. What a day!!! The guys at the factory really rolled out the red carpet -- To the point where I was beginning to feel embarrassed by all the attention. WorkshopLive had a camera crew following us around as we toured the facilities, and I got the chance to meet everybody who was involved in the building of the guitar. Very cool! When the tour was finished, Jol stopped all work in the plant and invited all the workers over for the presentation of the guitar. They opened the case, pulled out the guitar, and everyone started applauding. I gotta tell you, I was totally humbled and at a complete loss of words at that moment -- The beauty of the instrument, everybody clapping for a guy who was just lucky enough to have his name drawn out of a pool of 16,000 other names. What an experience!!!! The camera crew is feeding me lines -- "Thanks to WorkshopLive and Hamer..." "Uhh.. Thanks to Hamer..." Anyway, enough of the yappin'... Here are a couple pics: the factory floor... Talking with Dave, the binding guru... The wood stash... An Improv body at the carving station... Chris working some inlay and assembly magic... The paint booth. Gary shot a gorgeous TobaccoBurst while we watched. This was absolute artistry in action... The sanding station doing final prep on a cherryburst Standard before buffing Wide shot of finishing room with view of buffers and hardware table... Jol explaining a special finish process used on Keb Mo's new "Old" guitar on the bench... Jeremy hand carving a neck. That is some major skill involved here! Next comes the presentation... EDIT - Fixed Gary's name. Thanks Greg!
BCR Greg Posted October 14, 2006 Posted October 14, 2006 The painter is Gary Pirro, the best one ever.
Teh Posted October 14, 2006 Author Posted October 14, 2006 The formal presentation with everyone there and me trying to say something... Jol describing the guitar for the camera... It's amazing how every piece of music you've ever played suddenly disappears from your mind when your asked to play on the spot... Next, the guitar....
ctrixie Posted October 14, 2006 Posted October 14, 2006 Congratulations! Wow those factory shots bring me back to the last tour. Great pictures, and I love all the curly & quilted maple blocks they've got on hand now. Your "prize" is beautiful!
Teh Posted October 14, 2006 Author Posted October 14, 2006 And here she is -- Newport Pro, vintage LyleBurst, Ultimate Quilt Top, Carved back and backplate, Quilt Maple Peghead face, Ebony fretboard, Bone Nut, 3-Ply Ivoroid binding, Seth Lover p'ups with split coil control on the Tone Pot...
Guest pirateflynn Posted October 14, 2006 Posted October 14, 2006 Absolutely Gorgeous!Thanks for the tour.
cordroad Posted October 14, 2006 Posted October 14, 2006 Man, that's a fantastic guitar! Great pics, too. So when do we get a tone report?
mfreyer Posted October 14, 2006 Posted October 14, 2006 Thanks for the excellent pictures of the workshop. I have seen lots of tour photos on this board, but they are never wide-angle views of the whole shop. That guitar is beautiful. Congrats.Matt
Submariner85 Posted October 14, 2006 Posted October 14, 2006 What a prize!! You must be thrilled to pieces.
Teh Posted October 14, 2006 Author Posted October 14, 2006 The painter is Gary Pirro, the best one ever. Thanks Greg! Gary -- That's it!!! The man has something like 26 years experience with paint and finishes in a variety of different environments. What was amazing was the touch he has with the sprayer. He's laying it on so thin and subtley while he's painting, it's like the burst just suddenly appears!Frankly, everyone in the facility is a master of their crafts. When they say custom and hand-made, they aren't kidding!
ArnieZ Posted October 14, 2006 Posted October 14, 2006 Congrats again! That is a gorgeous guitar, the figure on the top reminds me a lot of one of mine. Is the conrol cavity a new thing on Newports or special to your special guitar?ArnieZ
Teh Posted October 14, 2006 Author Posted October 14, 2006 Congrats again! That is a gorgeous guitar, the figure on the top reminds me a lot of one of mine. Is the conrol cavity a new thing on Newports or special to your special guitar?ArnieZ The carved backplate is a custom option that actually matched the grain of the plate to the back. Beautiful work!
Teh Posted October 14, 2006 Author Posted October 14, 2006 Man, that's a fantastic guitar! Great pics, too. So when do we get a tone report? Tone Report -- To paraphrase, one of the most versatile guitars I have ever played. It has a fair amount of spunk and spank thanks to the Maple top, but the tone control is very nice and even allowing you to dial in just what you want. I tend play more on the clean side, and you can easily dial in a perfect ES-175 jazz box tone or something a little brighter that plays well with a touch of chorus. The bridge p'up is not to hot but will certainly break up nicely if that's what you want. The killer part of the guitar is acheived by splitting the coils. By pulling up on the Tone pot, I get sone killer single coil tone very reminiscent of Strat and Tele worlds. Set the switch in the middle position and you get a classic Strat out of phase middle position. This thing is killer!!!! I sold my Les Paul off a couple months ago in anticipation of the Newport, and my expectations have been far exceeded. I am afraid that my GAS is cured -- DAMMIT!!!
Guest pirateflynn Posted October 14, 2006 Posted October 14, 2006 It's amazing how every piece of music you've ever played suddenly disappears from your mind when your asked to play on the spot... Ain't it the truth...........that's funny!
Beergoblin Posted October 14, 2006 Posted October 14, 2006 That looks like it was an awesome experience on all fronts! Congrats on the guitar, she's gorgeous and I'm sure sounds like a million bucks.
Monacosis Posted October 14, 2006 Posted October 14, 2006 congrats on the beautiful guitar and thanks for the GREAT pics!! everytime i see factory pics i realize how special these guitars are!mike
cmatthes Posted October 14, 2006 Posted October 14, 2006 Wow! Fantastic pics, great captions.Thanks so much for sharing - that is a KILLER guitar, and an even better story!Enjoy it.You're now officially hooked.
Stevieconlon Posted October 14, 2006 Posted October 14, 2006 congrats! and thanks for the tour and pix!
kizanski Posted October 14, 2006 Posted October 14, 2006 ...and bound F-holes!As Ted would say, "Fan-tas-tic!"
atquinn Posted October 14, 2006 Posted October 14, 2006 That's one heck of a good-looking guitar! The back-plate is a bit strange though. Usually Newports don't have one (which make it a PITA to do any fiddling with the electronics). Play the hell out of it and let us know when you get another Hamer (they're like Lays, you can't have just one ). -Austin
Sitamoia50 Posted October 14, 2006 Posted October 14, 2006 Thanks so much for the post. Absolutely fascinating. Makes me appreciate my Hamers that much more if that's possible
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