Lil Ol Vector from Texas...

[BTMN]

Edited to add comments:

Nice Aged pantina to front of Headstock. The yellow scuff marks on the edge of the facing you see on the front there appears to be Gold metallic under the Black facing finish.

Back of the 'stock reveals first signs of refin. The font is not right. No reply from NotChris as to true number.

Interesting Sustain Block. Saddles appear correct. Block is differant. It has similarities to a Sustain Block Trem. I would like to see an '84 Sustain Block to know if the design on them changed. In addition there is a shim under this AND..... I hear spring vibration noise when I knock on it.

BTW, did I mentioned it has had the trem cavity filled. BARELY seen Mahogany matching too. I dont think the HFCer that sold it to me knew this. I also think I paid a bit more than I would have knowing this info. Live and learn eh? I cant see where it ever had a neck pickup but in a glare you can see the tenon lines. If it had a pointy headstock, I would think it was a KK Vector but it has what it does. Hate to think it was a Gold Metallic Vector with Sustain Block trem at one time. The Pickup is a typical Hamer branded Dimarzio. Sounds great with new strings.

The edge color actually is a slighty metallic dark Cranberry in a direct light.

Hey how did that Dean get in there?

[BCR Greg]

Cool. Elegant and simple.

[JohnnyB]

Cool.   Elegant and simple.

Too simple. It's missing a pickup and a couple of knobs.

Actually, I love those early sustain block Vees. Saw a 2-pickup one in a local shop a few years ago in camo. Didn't buy cuz I didn't need and price was on the high side.

[SirDouglas]

I think the laundry basket makes the color of the Vector stand out more vividly

Sir Douglas

Randy

[cmatthes]

I think ya did just fine, Gene!

Very cool, and really sets off that P-90 "Z" nicely!

[kizanski]

Damn good fil job, that's for sure.

[marcnorth]

Nice one, even if it is a refin.

Cool score.

[BTMN]

Thanks for the G.A.S. support.

I like this guitar for it's wierd vibe. Cool tones from it with my JCM 800 with some low guitar volume settings. I used the Bill Lawrence Nickel setup to set te pickup height.

"3. The distance between pickup and string is a very important factor for output and sound.

As a general rule for a starting point:

For the bridge pickup - put a nickel on top of the pickup under the high E string and play the highest note on that string. Adjust the height on that side of the pickup till the string touches the nickel. Repeat the same with the low E string, but use two nickels on top of each other. If this gives you too much output, you can reduce the height slightly. Don't forget that twice the distance will reduce the output by about 60%, and the sound will lose some lows. NOW, you can adjust the neck pickup to match the output of the bridge pickup. For the sound test, use stage volume." From......

http://www.billlawrence.com/Pages/Pickupology/Contents.htm

[442w30]

Wow!

I never noticed the fill block in the back, guess I was standing too close.

Someone else on the forum mentioned that the font for the serial # font was wrong and was probably changed during refin, but I didn't notice the gold, for whatever reason I just thought it was a primer or something.

Great detective work, hope to hear something about the serial # mapping back to something close to what we are looking at.

Oh, and if it does turn out to be a huge disappointment, I am still open to returns

Hey, see those filled holes on the outside of the humbucker? Could it have had a p90 at one time? Looks to me like it wasn't a pickguard after all, but a p90 to humbucker conversion.

[HamStd]

Gene: Put the guitar under a black light and you can tell really easy if it has had a filled trem cavity. The "Shrinkage of the wood" over time is easy to see with the black light and is a tell tale sign for neck breaks/cracks and body fillings.

Nice score as it is a cool looking guitar. You should restore it back to the gold sparkle to match your SS!!!!!

Peter.

[serial]

Sorry Gene-been away from the computer (quit one job and started another-the HFC emails went to the old addy for a while apparently). I don't have anything on this one, unfortunately.

Damn, you sure that thing's been filled in?! Incredible job from the pics.

[BTMN]

I took the pickup off to see the underside. It is a correct pickup for an '84 Hamer Vector. I think it has had a dawg ear P90 in it at one time and might again. It is routed just a lil in the pickup area. Looks like the one knob setup is original though from the inside of the control cavity.

Cant say I'm disappointed with the guitar but you can't ask for more than 442w30 has offered if I wasn't happy. That alone tells me he is an upstanding guy. I like Austin Vug so far, so you cant have it back.

[BCR Greg]

I wanna hire THAT guy.