Leaderboard

Jim made reference to a lack of bench reports around here lately from the handful of us who are fortunate enough to work on/with guitars for a living. I shared this unusual fix on a Hamer on my shop's Facebook page a couple weeks ago so a few have seen this, but here's a recap for the non-social media crowd. You may recall about a month ago me picking up a '93 Archtop GT Standard with its share of age- and wear-related issues. One issue was binding separating (gaps) at the body waist. Bindings tend to shrink with age. Binding adhesives tend to fail with age. The two happenings linked cause separation and gaps. Martin acoustics are notorious for this type of binding separation. The gap(s) will continue to spread and eventually the binding will either break off in pieces or potentially come off in one big hoop. More often than not, it's going to create finish issues too, either during the separations or during the fix. Easier to nip it in the bud early in the game. Here's the Archtop GT's waist gaps ... Treble side ... Martins that do this have thin, narrow binding that is usually easy to stretch back into place and reglue. This Hamer binding, however, is thicker, taller and stiffer in addition to slightly shrunken. Squeezing as hard as I could with my fingers, I could barely get it to close the gap. No way binding tape was going to hold it in place while glue set. We were going to have to gently soften the binding. Key word being "gently," because we don't want to deform or discolor the binding, or melt or discolor the urelac clearcoat on the binding. Or ESPECIALLY mess up the original goldtop paint -- for all practical purposes, you can't invisibly touch up bullion gold. I need gentle heat. Heat gun, not the best tool. Hairdryer, better choice, but I'm either going to rush it and get a heat gun effect, or sit there forever as it slow heats, like a crock pot. Wait, that's it ... I need a heated pot with a diameter roughly matching the circumference of the waist cuts. A pot that will apply gentle, even heat. I went through our extensive collection of scented candles and lo and behold, what do we have here ... The candle glass did the gentle, patient work as I did other stuff in the shop. After about 30 or so minutes on each side, the binding had just enough elasticity to go where I wanted it without distoring it. A modern binding-specific adhesive and a good tacky tape, and we're in business. And the next day ... Added bonus: My shop smelt like patchouli and sandalwood for the rest of the day, quite refreshing.

Felt like posting some guitar porn...my 1979 Sunburst. Ain't she purty?

Clean enough to eat off... great shape apart from a ding in the headstock. Neck isn't small. Case is different from later Hamers: different shape and handle. And the cutaway on the bass side is in a straight line to the one on the treble side (though the horn is still longer). Interesting to see how the guitars evolved, as this is the oldest Hamer I've ever touched. Can't wait to plug it in!

Well here is my "NEW" guitar day....................1998 Jeff Beck in the Midnight Purple finish. I had a Beck just like this one back in the day....................same year finish etc.,etc. but I sold it to finance another guitar and amp. Mistake! should have kept it like many others that pass through your life. I saw this one for sale and it was local so..................I knew I had to take a run at it to see if I could score it and as luck would have it I did. The guitar IS like new [Case also] its in stunning original condition and has the huge "BASE BALL BAT" neck these early Fender Jeff Beck Strats are known for. Gold Lace Sensors,Schaller locking tuners,LSR Roller nut,TBX,[Treble/Bass Expander] and all the case candy as well finish out the package The original owner was not a Strat guy as it turned out,and neither was the guy he sold it to and I got it from so this guitar spent much of it time in the case and it certainly shows. Its not a "New" guitar per say.....................but new to me and in the best condition you could want a guitar to be in. Have a look its purple and I'm from MINNESOTA, but it was NOT owned by PRINCE!

2000 Newport pro. Spruce top, Seth Lovers ... shipped from Denmark and arrived in Santa Barbara IN TUNE

Ventured down to Akron this afternoon after my church gig for a guitar show. Saw someone wearing a Hamer shirt . I walked up and casually asked if he was a member of the HFC. His reply was," yes, I'm DeVai on the board." Turns out we live about 15 mins. from each other. Nice to meet you, Wayne. Of note. A guy had a '90 Chaparral Elite in pink granite. Showed it's age. But not completely abused. He was asking $1500.00. I passed but took his info just in case. -Bobby

https://reverb.com/item/23177783-hamer-t-62-1992-white Expensive, yes 😗, but I have been looking for one of these in this color and in condition since.... forever! Less than 7 lbs, excellent frets... this makes it my first Hamer in more than ten years, and the second T-62 in my position. Life IS good!

Thanks to Jamie, Bubs and everybody else who took such good care of this 3M Sock Monkey before it came to its final resting place with me and Sishkov #0066.

I was doing my normal rounds, when I noticed this on a guitar stand in front of the racks. I saw the $100 price, but I thought for sure it was an MIM. Couldn't believe they were asking $100 for it. Took it to the counter and wanted to haggle because of the scratches and dents around the body. They said it just came out and they wouldn't budge on the price. I asked for the case and they said it didn't come with one. I said it should have one, and I wanted a case. They looked but couldn't find one. I told them they owed me one, and I be checking back later for one. They were OK with that. I haven't had a chance yet to put is through it's paces, but the neck feels great and it doesn't weight a ton. I don't normally post a pic of the receipt, but I didn't want anyone to cal BS on me.

Hello HFCers, I haven't been here much in a long time. Was a regular for several years. Did some trading. I think my last deal was the sale of a 5 string gen 1 cruise (should have kept it). I had some fun with the wyldbil event (https://www.hamerfanclub.com/forums/topic/64105-wyldbil-pirate-special-5/page/17/). I was able to stay away while my band was active. Well, that window has past and I'm back to being bandless. So, I guess my forum activity has to pick up again. Anyway, hi. I see many of the regulars are still here. I'll be posting stupid shit as it suites the moment. bcsride

So I must’ve done a decent job this Mother’s Day....Diane says when I am asking her help on my Next Shishkov’s color....”Your Shishkov collection”...I say “well, it’s only my second, and final one.”...She says “It takes 3 for a collection”....I say “say it again”...she does and and adds “Once we get everything paid for, you should get a third.” I love my wife.

Shredfest! Whitesnake in concert is as much about the pop metal hits as it is the shredding! The opening act was unknown to me and my friends. A three piece band from Arizona called The Black Moods opened the show. They us a simple Strat/P-Bass/drums set up with a few pedals to enhance some parts. They did not step out of the 70's, but they keep close to the basics. The guitar player has a more jam style of playing than a controlled, perfect approach. I liked them and bought a CD from them after the show which they signed. The Black Moods setlist The last time I saw Whitesnake was in 1988 when the lineup was David Coverdale, Tommy Aldridge, Adrian Vandenberg, Steve Vai, Don Airey, and Rudy Sarzo. This tour has Coverdale, Aldridge, Reb Beach, Joel Hoekstra, Michael Devin on bass, and Michele Luppi on keyboards. David Coverdale is the reason Whitesnake exists. He made excellent choices for band members to back him up, and cover for him. Coverdale's voice has changed over time as with many singers. Concert videos over the past decade show him letting the audience sing some of the lyrics which is what he was doing at times. Michele Luppi has been a vocal teacher/coach at the Musicians Institute. He doubled the vocals on many choruses and verse parts. Those high notes came from somewhere. Everyone but Tommy Aldridge sang back up at some point. At one point Coverdale referred to Reb Beach as the band director or leader. Coverdale must have told Beach to make the show a guitar player showcase because both guitar players had plenty of opportunities to show off. The guitar solo section of the show had both guys trading off while Tommy Aldridge played when the guitar players switched in and out of the spotlight. Beach and Hoekstra have two different approaches to shred. Beach does a lot of tapping, but also makes the most of his whammy bar. Hoekstra has a fixed bridge, and his tapped parts are played very differently from what Beach does. You see distinctions in each guitar player's style. Joel Hoekstra played Les Pauls with custom paint jobs: white with black graphics, black with gold graphics, and a purple sparkle with a gold WS logo. Reb Beach played Suhr superstrats. Michael Devin played a black Rickenbacker 4001/4003. Tommy Aldridge looks like he has for nearly 50 years, at least from where I was. He has all his hair. He is still skinny. He still does the drum solo with his hands, too. The only complaint was the one we had before the show. The setlist could be longer. Whitesnake's part of the show started at 9:00 PM and was over at 10:20 PM. Somehow, no one was complaining about the short setlist after the show. We were rock and rolled quite well. Whitesnake setlist

Just a few pics of what's been underway in April... More than meets the eye with these, for sure!

You're such an asshole! 😆

Start a different kind of band.

English names: Doohickey Thingamabob Gizmo Whatchamacallit Thingamajig Whatsis

Met Charlie Hunter last night, and watched as he recorded a new Petr Cancura album (tenor sax, w/ Geoff Clapp on drums). Great guys, really great melodic grooving jazz music. I have been a fan of Charlies since the mid 1990s. Thx to my pal Benjy Johnson w/ Earthtones Recording Studio for the invite, the recording sounds amazing and should be released later this year. Here's a vid I shot; PS - Charlie got excited when I pulled out that 8x10 for him to sign - "THAT'S MY CAR!!!! I bought that '66 Mustang w/ the leftover advance money from my record deal w/ Blue Note".

I know we all like Hamers here, but I think the more important question is why is Greg watching Shalimar videos??????????

Last night, Elduave and I headed out for one of our concert buddy excursions. It’d been a crap week, so I was more than ready to get out for a bit. ‘70s superband STARZ was opening for other ‘70s act and wearers of white leather, Angel (featuring DC local, Punky Meadows) in a Baltimore suburb. Sign me up! Fairly small club that gets a ton of great acts somehow, and the opener for the opener even closed their set with Ace Frehley’s Solo classic, “Snowblind”! STARZ was extremely solid, despite Michael Lee Smith’s recent major medical issues...not to mention that he’s been battling a severe cold and is 67. Joe X Dube held down the kit with a master’s touch and surprising power; the twin guitar tour de force of Alex Kane and Ritchie Ranno kept things rockin’ with some Lizzy-esque harmony leads and heavy riffing; new(ish) bass guy, George DiAna pumped out a powerful, Entwistle-like tone the whole set on an early ‘80s Black & White Checkerboard Hamer Cruisebass. Michael’s vocals started off a bit rough, but he definitely warmed up by mid-set, despite the cold and sore throat - none of that slowed him down, as he stalked the stage in his kilt like a guy half his age. We got to hang with the band for a bit afterwards and Alex was especially willing to talk touring, Chicago bands/Cheap Trick and gear geekery with El n’ me. He’s wrapping up the STARZ shows in early May and then out with E’Nuff-Z-Nuff for a bit. He definitely wanted to check out the Hamer book, and talked about some of the cool Hamers he had when he was an endorsee in the ‘80s and ‘90s. As an added treat, we got to catch up with HFC’er Len and his lovely wife. A great night all around. Angel was also there.

Ok.. so in the Newport thread someone asked for clips. I put some big Rumpel singles in my Newport and I like them. A lot. So where does Bub’s new Celestion fit in? Well, he sent it to me to try out cause like him I am a speaker guy. The clip link below takes you to Dropbox. I recorded some random classic rock stuff and just noodled around trying to show what each pickup position sounds like clean and dirty while also showing you all what this awesome new Celestion sounds like. The old two birds with one stone thing. For anyone who cares I plugged into my Mesa TA15 Vox mode for the cleans and the Marshall Hi1 side for the dirty tones. I went straight in except for a Lovepedal Reverb SE3 to add some ambience. On the recording end of things I close mic’d the closed-back cab with an Audix i5 and I put my new Stam SA67 (U67 clone!) about 2 feet back to catch some room air. Both mics into a Stam 1073 Neve preamp clone and the Audix hit an 1176 compressor set very mild. Then into my Roland Octa-capture interface into my DAW. The speaker is exactly as Bubs described it...some kind of a crosss between a Greenback and a G12h30. Much tighter and punchier than my Greenbacks, but not in a bad way. It’s not overly punchy like a Tone Tubby 40/40. The speaker has stronger mids than a g12h30, good highs and lows that are just right. This speaker will sit in a mix just right. I do like it, but it will not replace my Greenbacks for THAT sound. ‘It sounds like classic Celestion goodness. If you don’t like how GBs can get mushy or too saggy, but you want that core sound, then this is your speaker. The speaker is very well made with a big magnet. ‘Great Rock And Roll speaker. When it is fully broken it it will sound awesome! Strangely enough, my JMP didn’t like it....it sounded like it needed more break in in that amp. In the Mesa it just killed. I really like how jangly and chimey it sounded clean on the Vox side of my Mesa. A Greenback will not do that. This is a very interesting speaker. Enjoy the clip..,I just plugged and played trying to show the Newport tones and the speaker tones. https://www.dropbox.com/s/t8ic19lly1llgjg/Celestion G12-35XH test-001.mp3?dl=0

Honestly, I'm not crazy about it. The carve and shape is kinda gross. But, I decided to subscribe to the "ears and hands" theory @polara mentioned above. That, and there are many photos on the Dantzig instagram that nearly make it look cool. Worst case scenario is I make the seventy mile round trip to GC to return it.

ok.....no ohsc available......i dont scary but my baby needs a confortably bed, im going to buy a new and standard hard case where the blackie can dance ( move) when sleep,(no less than $200 in my country) here i go.......no way😎 i will make it one , if i have two hand for now ,lets do it. so then 2 weeks ,here was my best i like the 90s color peluche. lightweight? no like tkl, strong? ho yes. fits well? like my socks in my feets im so happy with the results and my baby sleeps like a queen best regards hfc boys

My ‘78, which I did not buy new in ‘78 because I, too, was new in ‘78... can’t believe I’ll be 41 this year...

Seems to work.....

Resonance and sustain: Lighter is better. Heavier is better. Steel is better. Cold rolled steel is even better. Aluminum is better. Aircraft-grade aluminum is even better. Brass is better. Bell brass is even better. Titanium is so much better that it usually doesn't even get vividly descriptive adjectives, "titanium" is plenty good enough. Not to be taken as a bash of the OP product, that brass lip may truly be a godsend to tone for some guitarists ... I'm just loving the power of marketing as it relates to guitar stuff and products in general, particularly to items in the marketplace that are solutions in search of a legitimate problem to successfully address. On that note, I'm currently working on a Fret Shack proprietary design cavity cover screw set that is a complex blend of melted meteorite and moonrock chips and dust balls removed from inside Jimi Hendrix's Woodstock wah. I make the screws by hand in a smoke-free home and my screws were never gigged, only tested in a home studio environment. I only have enough material to make a limited run of the screws, and a five-screw set is $2.3 million. Please share with your friends on The Gear Page.

When something like this pops up for $900, need doesn't enter into the equation.

What happened was I bought a blingier Newport and really liked it but the victory inlays etc. arent exactly my cup of tea. I hung it up on my wall and stood there looking at it, I honestly said out loud "I love this guitar, too bad its not black with dots.". The very next day I saw this one on Reverb. Black with dots. I didnt know they even made Newports in black. So I had to have it, that being a sign n all. Fortunately I'm not married so I can get away with this shit.

The bulk of the candle doesn't get really warm even ... but the lip of the candle jar that is not insulated by the wax does get warm to hot. Look closely at this photo again, I failed to point this out earlier. The guitar body is sitting on a 2x4 wedge and the candle on a thin piece of laminate. It's intentional ... look at the "height" of the binding as it related to the upper lip of the jar, the part of the jar not insulated by the wax, just an inch or so from the open flame. It's not hot hot, but hot enough for the task if you give it that half-hour or so.

The amp is fixed! The amp tech said something was wrong in the heater circuit (I can't remember exactly; I think maybe a shorted resistor?) which caused one of the power tubes to red plate. He had it repaired in 30 minutes! He had about 5 other DSLs in his shop with problems as well. Very nice guy to talk to. I told him I was a Marshall fan for years, then switched to Orange. It turns out he owns a couple Oranges, too, and said they were better built than Marshalls, though Orange has some shortcomings as well. Shout out: He builds amps as well as modifies therm. His company is Armored Amplification. He is/was a C-130 engine mechanic.

While burning a little time before I had to head to the airport for my flight home, I came across this used Ibanez AS153 in a Sam Ash store for a very nice price. I have an AS180 that I have owned since the late nineties and it is a fantastically built guitar so I knew that the Art Star series of guitars are the cream of the crop. After the obligatory swap of the saddles to Graphtech saddles, a neck adjustment, intonation setting and addition of Straplock buttons, this guitar plays wonderfully. Compared to my AS180, it is a little brighter sounding due to the Maple but it has it's own unique sound. Overall, I am quite pleased with this score. Enjoy!

So I'm about to put out a home-brew album, and nearly the entire thing was done with my two Hamers ~ Mirage I Koa and Studio. Just wanted to share a sample with y'all, if that's cool. If not, just let me know and I'll delete. So this song mostly features the Mirage, using the neck Vintage Rail for the first couple of leads. Then the Studio, using the neck '59, kicks in for the second solo. Back to the Mirage for the outro. For rhythms, the Mirage is panned left and the Studio panned right. Trigger warning: my buddy who's a hip hop artist added a rap verse at the very end, so just know that that's coming and don't let it throw you. 😛

I think it's cool, but I don't have the baggage against Jol that most of this board does. Bottom line: It's NGD and I hope you dig it!

For years, I've been interested in learning more about tube amps by building one. I finally got off my duff and ordered a Mojotone 5E3 kit. Perhaps because it was so easy to put together, it felt more like I "assembled" it, rather than "built" it. While it was less of a sense of accomplishment than I expected, I'm happy to have completed it, and the 5E3 is a nice amp/circuit to own. I haven't yet come to fully understand the Fender 4-input circuit, and the idiosyncracies of the 5E3. Since I live in an apartment, I'm waiting on an attenuator to fully appreciate how the circuit affects tone. Here are my take-aways: It was a relatively easy project, and I recommend the 5E3 for anyone considering a first amp build. More than any other resource, I learned far more about tube amps, in general, and the 5E3, in particular, from Rob Robinette's great site. I learned more from his site, than I did from assembling the amp. Assembly was not particularly edifying to me, since it's assembled in a very different order than the electron flow. Mojotone's eyelet board did not come pre-drilled for the screwholes necessary to attach it to the chasis. The instructions did not specify when to drill it. As a result, I had to drill it, after all the components were already installed. It was a minor PITA. I'd recommend doing that as step 1 and it would be helpful to make a crude template to lay across the eyelet board prior to drilling. Mojotone's assembly instructions were quite poor and unhelpful. In contrast, their colored layout diagram was great. Regardless of whether one chooses a Mojotone kit, I'd recommend using their layout diagram. I aimed to have a neat and tight assembly, by tailoring the leads to be no longer than necessary. This made fixing my mistakes difficult, and in some cases impossible without ordering replacement parts. I believe this poor decision will also make further modding the amp more difficult and destructive than I want it to be. I'd recommend leaving the leads longer than one sees in a picture of a beautiful and tidy completed chasis. I believe that the ground switch is, basically, a hat-tip to the vintage design rather than of any practical use. I wish I had used the space on the chasis for a master volume. On the other hand, I'm not confident that I'd have easily figured out how to do that.

Black Newports rawk...

Cinnamon Girl is pretty great. I'm still practicing and hopefully one day I'll get it right. 😎

Hello. I just bought this Destroyer. Obviously it `ll need some TLC but according to the seller, it`s structurally good and the neck and frets are in good shape. One pickup is replaced and some earlier owner has done some "customization" with a marker pen. I assume this is a 1984 DT380. I`ll do some touch ups and lightly restore it back to as original as possible without destroying the patina. It`ll be a fun project. (Sellers pic.)

There's no way they sound good enough to excuse the way they look.

Hey fellow Hamerheads! I just released my latest EP, Better Left Unsaid, and thought some of you might want to hear #78 in action. My Shishkov provided a lot of inspiration for these new songs. It’s the main electric guitar used on those tracks. I just love how versatile that instrument is! I also used my Hamer Echotone for the guitar solo on “Third Thing Unsaid”. I wrote, produced, performed, recorded, mixed, and mastered all of the music under my artist name “My Wildest Dream” (except for the harmonica on “First Thing Unsaid” played by Trent Williamson). Listen here on YouTube and streaming services.

My '78 Greco Destroyer ... came out of the same factory (Fujigen) as the Ibanez .... Great Guitar

Agreed. I've never tried any Musikraft stuff, but I'll have to check them out next time. And there's always a next time. These are all Warmoth.

Yeah, I've got the fever, the fever to have an amplifier that uses every type of major power tube, and the one that I don't have is a 6V6. I saw a Rivera Pubster 25 pop up locally a few weeks ago, but I was kinda 'meh' about it, because I hadn't actually researched it. Well, I did, and then I decided it was worth getting, especially at the price. It's a really simple amp setup, single channel with a "boost" mode, which is pretty much like a 2 channel amp with a shared EQ. It has master volume controls for both the regular and boost mode, reverb and also a presence control. The volume for the standard mode also effects the "boost" mode, so you can get some interesting sounds with both the regular and boost mode. It's got a standard T/R/S/ footswitch jack for the boost and reverb, though I rarely see these for sale with the FS-20 Rivera footswitch, which does actually have LEDs. Aftermarket ones are about 40-50 bucks. I have a bunch of carvin FS-22 switches around though, so I'll probably use those, as the amp also has LEDS on the faceplate indicating the mode it is in. Sound is surprisingly good. The amplifier came with an Eminence Legend 10 inch speaker, though I don't know what exact model it is. Haven't gotten a chance to get inside yet. Amp is solidly built. It does however only have 2 preamp tubes, one for the EQ/Dirt/Preamp and one for the Phase inverter. The reverb is solid state driven, which I know some people are down on, but it's a real spring unit, and sounds good. It came with Groove Tubes GT-6V6-C tubes, which are a Chinese design made only for Groove Tubes. Currently there's a Sovtek LPS in V1, and a JJ ECC83S in V2, which should change shortly. It's a bit dusty, so I'll post some pictures when I get it cleaned up. Also the speaker cable is some bad splice job onto the original jack. no idea why anyone would do that. It'll be replaced shortly. Until then here's a stand in picture:

Aesthetics aside, this Tulsa is badass. The German carve isn't nearly as pronounced as photos imply. It still ain't Nik Huber Orca carve sexy, but it's not hideous in person. Fit/finish is as it should be for the price. It plays great but has some intonation things going on that I'm sure are just a result of setup error. I really like P90s but I wish these cleaned up a little more than they do. I'm sure I can find a Joel Danzig fan that will give me top dollar for the "Grails" if I can't get them dialed in. The cutaway is as ugly as it appears in the photos but if I adjust the angle of the mirror in my "studio" just a hair I don't see it.

For Sale: 2001 Korina Standard. 2 piece body with straight face grain and a really cool edge grain pattern. Plays nicely with very light fret wear in the cowboy chord area. Pickups are SD Alnico 2 Pro Slash set. Nice condition with a few dings and holes from a different set of tuners. Ding on the neck is behind the 11th fret. I replaced a few rusty pickup ring screws and put the originals in the case. Also, the neck PU mounting ring has been replaced with a Dimarzio neck PU ring. Includes OHSC. $1900 PP gift, shipped, CONUS

Although it hasn’t come from straight from the Knopf’s mouth, that’s one hell of an endorsement, given his status as one of guitar’s most instantly recognizable players and tonesmiths. Yeahhhh, the rub. What's the point of using gear you don't know how to use? 6mos to, "duplicate Knopfler's iconic tones", all done by his tech? Fukk that noise.

Soft V neck. Its used but mint w tweed case and strap. There is some discussion as to year. Either 2010 13 or 16. Whatever. The production model is now blk, torino red, grey, olympic white. 9.5 radius w vintage frets. I like vintage frets finally figured this out. Heres a quick vid ( no make up bring it bitches 😆)

Meh, I still say this would have been a better scent

Don’t fukk with it, leave it stock. I went through the requisite, TonePros/Faber, hardware, “upgrades” phase years ago. I find the tonal benefits don’t warrant the cost and hassle. The stock hardware is fine. The above-mentioned companies make great products, but a lot of it is marketing.