Leaderboard

I smell something cookin’...

Meeting location is mysterious Dr. Fung's secret lair. Knock three times. You will be asked, "Tree fiddy?" You will respond, "No, a shitload of Joe's cash."

So I just bought Marty Friedman’s four digit standard on Reverb. This was tricky because the guitar has lots of issues but at the price they had it listed I knew I had to act fast or it’s gone. So the good it’s Marty’s, a bit or rock star juice maybe, he bought it around 1990, it’s exactly how he bought it he says. He did no mods since he had it. He says it plays and sounds great. Has its case too. The bad, it looks like it’s been routed for a Floyd Rose and then a Kaler was then put on and there’s no locking nut but you can see the screws for two different locking nuts. Really bad probably spray paint over where the bridge and the nut were changed out. Obviously non original pickups. There’s a crack that runs down the center of the front of the guitar, I’m told it’s cosmetic and nothing is structurally loose but it’s a doozy. Anyway if it’s stable and plays and sounds great I’m a happy camper, I can return it no questions asked so that’s really cool too. Anyway what do you guys think, would you have done the same thing? Or is this just too many issues?

It's staying in the family... 🤩 Thanks Ken!

I got a call from a friend asking if I could/would fill in for him in 1 show in the Jerry Jeff Walker tribute trio where he plays backup guitar. I said NO! I haven' played out in too many years and my left hand doesn't always work well. And. And. And. "Not a prob." He said. "It's just cowboy chords. You'll do fine." "And you have a couple of weeks to practice. We have 3 rehearsals between now & then. You'll do fine." So I dug out my David Bromberg albums and searched YouTube for JJ's songs and went to work. 1st rehearsal- cancelled. 2nd rehearsal- I show up, drummer and my buddy are there, singer calls and cancel's. They give me a copy of their DVD and tell me to be prepared to play everything in G. "You'll do fine." 3rd rehearsal. We don't need no f'n rehearsal. You'll do fine. So Sunday comes. I tucked my hair up under my borrowed 10 gallon hat, grabbed my twangiest Telecaster, and headed to the American Legion. Everything was provided. All I needed was the Tele and a cord. Uh huh. Ever played with a Fender G-Dec 30? Me neither. Supposedly all I needed to do was use his pre-sets. Uh huh. The 1st set was horrible!!! I couldn't hear, keep time, or make the chord changes. What a mess. J.J. (yeah that's what he goes by) just kept looking back at me. Glaring. Talked a bit between 1 & 2. "Relax buddy. It's just a bunch of drunks. They know the songs. All you got to do is strum." So I strummed. 2nd set went a little better. By the 3rd it wasn't half bad. The crowd was going pretty good by then and, as I had been told, all I had to do was strum. 20 minutes into 3rd set JJ gets off his stool and yells in my ear. "Play or sing something. I gotta go to the can." Talk about dumbfounded! NO CLUE what I was doing. He'd already used up Bojangles and Stoney. 2 JJW songs I used to do. So I cheated. I picked up his acoustic, sat on his stool, drug out my most gravelly voice, and did my best rendition of Someday I'll Get Out Of These Bars. Best I can say is that they didn't throw beer bottles at me. All in all it was fun. JJ even said he thought I did fine. "But don't EVER play my guitar again without asking!"

The Thunderbolt is the stuff of Hamer (and vintage guitar) legend. I first came across one in Guitar Magazine (UK) back in the early 1990s (still have that issue). It was the "April Fool's" issue, but the joke about unearthing a mythical and thentofore previously unknown late 50s Gibson prototype was so well done, that many people fell for it - it even ended up in the Andre Duchoissoir book. It was basically a new build, using vintage parts and antiqued to look like a 40 year old abused relic in glorious SG Cherry. By the mid-1990s, Rick Nielsen had gotten hold of the "original" somehow, and I think there was some partial belief that it may have been a legit build. Paul Trynka, from Guitar Mag, later debunked that and told the whole tale of how he and a couple other guys created the whole thing, but pre-widespread internet access, it was definitely being talked about at guitar shows and in vintage/collector circles. Nielsen sent the one he had (on loan?) to Hamer to copy, and they apparently built it for him in 1995 (it has a 1995 serial number, but that line is mysteriously empty in the log books, IIRC). I saw him play the Hamer extensively on tour from early '96-'02, and got to examine it "in hand" several times. He lists it on the 1996 S/T (RedAnt) album and played it prominently on several tracks and TV appearances around that time. When asked about that guitar MANY times from 1997-2004, mostly at HFC events, Jol denied its existence - not sure if that's a deal he had with Rick, if he was concerned that Gibson (who built 2 of their own for the 1999 NAMM show) would come knocking, or if he just wanted to keep it shrouded in an air of mystery. I'll have to get the story from somebody I know who was there and who actually built them. Towards the late years of Hamer, a member here placed an order for one and his dealer managed to get a Korina one actually built...kind of a reissue of a guitar that supposedly didn't exist! They look very strange, admittedly, but the way they hang, make them very comfortable to play (standing, of course), and they're like a perfectly balanced Flying V. I'm not sure if the ones pictured above actually exist or not though... Regarding the Whirlpool Blue "HFC" Artist, when the Hamer Fan Club had the annual factory events in New Hartford, typically, Hamer would offer a small, very limited run of guitars that participants could order that day only. The first year, there were 5 Korina Standards, then there were a few Sustainblock "SB-77" Sunburst reissues, and the Korina Artist with 3 P-90s. Out of the 5 or 6 of those that were built after that October event, all but one were done in Antique Natural Korina finish with black P-90s and an "HFC #" imprinted on the back of the headstock. My brother ("Serial") ordered his in a custom "Whirlpool Blue" with white covers and his new son's name on the headstock. I'm pretty sure that was from October, 2000, but it could have been 2001. Probably more than you wanted/needed to know, but hope that helps!

Amateurs, the whole bunch of you. No need to change pickups, just buy ANOTHER guitar.

As a friend of mine is a huge Glenn Hughes fan I often tag along when he’s playing in London last night being the latest. He was received by a packed crowd in Camden Town and played material almost exclusively from his Deep Purple era albums. Whilst not the classic Purple era this material has a cult following with Hughes fans and the maturing crowd were quite excitable. Hughes was his extravagant self, full of screams and diva Vocal tricks. The band was excellent and oozed a 70’s vibe from not only their tone but the way they looked. It was like being in a time warp. All the classics were played - Stormbringer, Gettin’ Tighter, You keep Moving, Burn etc to real appreciation and we got a real treat for the encore when Hughes introduced his “brother Joseph” for a few songs whilst a crew member hurried on a Fender combo. Brother Joseph being Joe Bonamassa. Joe was in his green jacket with Union Jack flags, GB patch and baseball cap and played an old Strat. He absolutely nailed Mistreated with some awesome soloing and jammed along merrily to Highway Star before the show completed. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mt6amsdhlGs

Sauvage Guitars One-Piece Master III $60,000

I am sorry, but I am taking the Korina Artist off the market. I put fresh strings on and buffed it up with a microfiber polish cloth for photos; then I plugged it in for a while. It is just worth more to me than a fair asking price; I will find something else to sell and keep this beauty. I know I would not find another like it if I tried to replace it after the sale. Thank you for the interest and comments, and sorry for pulling it off the market after posting the listing.

Oh boy oh boy oh boy! Incoming new Gravelin p'ups! The slow but insistent move to change out most of the pickups in my harem continues! The latest batch of Gravelin goodies includes a rewound/repurposed red Dimarzio D-Activator, now more closely resembling his amazing Mongoose, a straight up new Mongoose and a special double slug prototype we knocked around discussing p'ups one afternoon. Josh, on top of being a highly competent musician and an amazing boo-teek pick up builder, is a first rate human being. Truly, it can be said his attention to detail and willingness to work with no-talent hacks like me along with his uncanny ability to take the highly subjective, garbled, word salad description of what I want from a p'up and make it happen are what set him apart. Tone reports when these get installed!

Stopped at the shop with my daughter and snapped a few pics. He said he would ship and find a case for it.

https://reverb.com/item/15725772-hamer-studio-1996-gloss-natural-sunburst I think this is going to be good

I can tell you with 100% certainty that I carved the neck on Rick’s red one and it was built at Hamer. It has a thinner neck profile. If I remember correctly it ended up in New Hartford a few years later with a cracked headstock.

I'd have to wear this. While sitting on this.

REQUEST FOR URGENT BUSINESS RELATIONSHIP FIRST, I MUST SOLICIT YOUR STRICTEST CONFIDENCE IN THIS TRANSACTION. THIS IS BY VIRTUE OF ITS NATURE AS BEING UTTERLY CONFIDENTIAL AND ‘TOP SECRET’. I AM SURE AND HAVE CONFIDENCE OF YOUR ABILITY AND RELIABILITY TO PROSECUTE A TRANSACTION OF THIS GREAT MAGNITUDE INVOLVING A PENDING TRANSACTION REQUIRING MAXIIMUM CONFIDENCE. OFFICIALS OF THE FEDERAL AND SOUTH CAROLINA GOVERNMENTS CONTRACT WITH LOTTERY INVESTMENT FIRMS THAT ARE CURRENTLY ARE PRESENTLY LOCATED IN NIGERIA. IN ORDER TO AVOID THE DIRECT TRANSFER OF LOTTERY FUNDS AND HAVE THEM SUBJECT TO OBSCENE TAXES WE SOLICIT YOUR ASSISTANCE TO ENABLE US TRANSFER INTO YOUR ACCOUNT DIRECTLY FROM THE CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIA THE SAID TRAPPED FUNDS. HOWEVER, BY VIRTUE OF OUR POSITION AS CIVIL SERVANTS AND MEMBERS OF THIS PANEL, WE CANNOT ACQUIRE THIS MONEY IN OUR NAMES. I HAVE THEREFORE, BEEN DELEGATED AS A MATTER OF TRUST BY MY COLLEAGUES OF THE PANEL TO LOOK FOR AN OVERSEAS PARTNER INTO WHOSE ACCOUNT WE WOULD TRANSFER THE SUM OF US$1,537,,000.00(ONE BILLION, FIVE HUNDRED THIRTY SEVEN MILLION U.S DOLLARS). HENCE WE ARE WRITING YOU THIS LETTER. WE HAVE AGREED TO SHARE THE MONEY THUS; 1.2% FOR THE ACCOUNT OWNER 2.7% FOR US (THE OFFICIALS) 3. 10% TO BE USED IN AVOIDING TAXATION AND ALL LOCAL AND FOREIGN EXPENSES. PLEASE,NOTE THAT THIS TRANSACTION IS 100% SAFE AND WE HOPE TO COMMENCE THE TRANSFER LATEST SEVEN (7) BANKING DAYS FROM THE DATE OF THE RECEIPT OF THE FOLLOWING INFORMATIOM BY TEL/FAX; 234-1-7740449, YOUR COMPANY’S SIGNED, AND STAMPED LETTERHEAD PAPER THE ABOVE INFORMATION WILL ENABLE US WRITE LETTERS OF CLAIM AND JOB DESCRIPTION RESPECTIVELY. THIS WAY WE WILL USE YOUR COMPANY’S NAME TO APPLY FOR PAYMENT AND RE-AWARD THE CONTRACT IN YOUR COMPANY’S NAME. WE ARE LOOKING FORWARD TO DOING THIS BUSINESS WITH YOU AND SOLICIT YOUR CONFIDENTIALITY IN THIS TRANSATION. PLEASE ACKNOWLEDGE THE RECEIPT OF THIS LETTER USING THE ABOVE TEL/FAX NUMBERS. I WILL SEND YOU DETAILED INFORMATION OF THIS PENDING PROJECT WHEN I HAVE HEARD FROM YOU. YOURS FAITHFULLY, DR N'OKON HAYNIE NOTE; PLEASE QUOTE THIS REFERENCE NUMBER (VE/S/09/99) IN ALL YOUR RESPONSES.

Neck angle time!

I was going to balk at the $50K ask, given the the bass is "100% original," except for a headstock repair, changed tuning machines and "the addition of a clear scratch guard." However, at the end of the ad it says, "Price is very fair," so I must be wrong.

I'm gonna leave this right here...

To be fair to the troll, most of us here are dicks, so I can understand the confusion.

Nah...I just did a quick bit of sleuthing and thought I'd bust your balls a little

Steve, I've always been your friend. If you've won the 1.6 billion, please remember me and then change your name.

Meh... Needs a matching headstock. And a serial number that makes you think of Rush. And to have been previously owned by a famous author.

Totally agree. My wife doesn't have a problem with my purchases, but I still joke about it. And it's not just the guitar community that does this; it's cars, guns, motorcycles, and yeah, purses, shoes, clothing, etc... Like someone said, he can do what he wants on his page, but honestly, if anyone is that easily offended by silly memes or age old jokes, I'm not sure how they function in life without a continuous case of the vapors. It must be absolutely exhausting spending your entire day looking for reasons to be offended.