Leaderboard

All three of us in my blues band, SUIT, work for the same company – High End Systems – which is owned by ETC (Electronic Theatre Controls). Every year ETC has a company picnic at their headquarters in Middleton, Wisconsin (about 1,200 miles from where we live in Austin, Texas), and this year they invited us to play. 2025 is ETC's 50th anniversary year, so they really went all out this time. It was an all-day event, with about 1,000 people in attendance. Lots of food and drink (including alcohol for those of-age), activities for kids, door-prize drawings, etc. Throughout the day there were solo and duo performers on stage (all ETC employees), including a guy that did a tuba-based comedy set. We played from 6:00 - 7:15, followed by the headliner, The Grass Roots*. The whole thing culminated in a fifteen-minute fireworks show. *There are NO original members in the 2025 version of the Grass Roots, but this incarnation has been together since 2008 and they sounded great. Due to space constraints of making the trip, we brought a somewhat reduced setup. I used my Mesa Nomad 55 combo and my "B" pedalboard rather than my usual Mesa Mark V/Magnatone and "A" pedalboard rig; bass player Sean brought a small bass amp instead of his 1971 Kustom tuck-n-roll cab. I also limited myself (😆) to five guitars and one lap steel. Our drummer couldn’t make it, so we tapped another co-worker to fill in on drums. He’s a good drummer and used to play a lot but hadn’t picked up a pair of sticks in about a decade – so he was a little rusty. Through a whirlwind series of rehearsals we got him up to speed and he did a great job, although – full disclosure – his tempos tended to rush a bit. Here’s the setlist and what guitars I used: 08/02/25 – ETC Company Picnic – Setlist #S200 1-1 – Give Me Back My Wig (Hound Dog Taylor) – Tele 1-2 – Diggin’ My Potatoes (Washboard Sam) – Tele 1-3 – Bad to the Bone (George Thorogood) – Lappie 1-4 – License Plate Stomp (SUIT) – LPG-5 1-5 – Shake Your Money Maker (Elmore James) – Smokey 1-6 – She Put the Whammy on Me (Freddie King) – Smokey 1-7 – When the Levee Breaks (Kansas Joe McCoy & Memphis Minnie/Led Zeppelin) – Dan-O 1-8 – Down the Road a Piece (Will Bradley Trio) / Jesus Just Left Chicago (ZZ Top) – Smokey 1-9 – Money Collection (SUIT) – Smokey 1-10 – Let’s Work Together (Canned Heat) – Lappie 1-11 – Night Train (Tab Benoit) – Blackie Tele – 2009 Fender American Vintage 1952 Telecaster Reissue LPG-5 – 2013 Texas Box Guitars LPG-5 (open-G tuning) Lappie – 1955 Supro Student DeLuxe lap steel (open-G tuning) Smokey – 2020 Shishkov DC Custom Dan-O – 2000 Danelectro DC-12 (open-G tuning) Blackie – 1981 Hamer Special Nice big stage, great PA. The lighting was awesome, too (hey, it IS a lighting company), although most of our set was in bright daylight. The covered gear, tweed guitar amps and SWR cabs belong to The Grass Roots. During Freddie King's "She Put the Whammy on Me." Texas Box Guitars LPG-5, custom made for me using an old license plate from my 1986 Mustang. Another gratuitous shot of Shishkov 0092. 1955 Supro lap steel. On a walkabout with Blackie during Tab Benoit's "Night Train." The Grass Roots. No original members, but they sounded great. Fireworks.

Today's "Sale Case of the Day" ($99.00 plus free shipping): https://www.plushcustomcases.com/products/plushcaster-tele®-strat®-custom-guitar-case-black-white-checkerboard-with-black-fur?fbclid=IwRlRTSAMcGDtleHRuA2FlbQExAAEeIvNW0gib7QzLEwSxFQVzkYYiCjZh-HRuxdh3IiYkVC8G0iD-qvzp0K-a6cY_aem_mukcBqRJxgRqvDP5AAxdsA

There was a thread a couple of years back about Grissom using Hamers. It's archived now, but I came across this little piece of Hamer history and thought I'd share :)

What a great set list!

I had that thing on once and it's gotta weigh about 30-35 pounds. He has lighter guitars, but changing them every song is part of his shtick. If he didn't run around for at least part of a song with a 5-neck the fans would be disappointed. Maybe he should just stick it in a stand onstage as a static display lol.

We're up to about 25 countries stopping at least some shipments to the US over the tariffs and the end of de minimis. I got an email from one UK company - apparently things like CDs are exempt, but they're adding an additional shipping charge to items that aren't exempt. So guess who's paying for this? As usual...

Don’t know when thus was shot but he didn’t have the 5 neck in May when I saw them. I was disappointed but then I wasn’t.

Tampa was the first night of the tour. I had a great time but I am biased and enjoyed the show for what it was, raw and gritty.

#54159X -- No modifications -- Comes with original Hamer case -- Located in Madison, WI Thinning the herd. It deserves to be played. Posting here before Reverb. Hoping to get it into the hands of someone who loves Hamers as much as I have. $2K

I have a '95 wraptail Studio with a belly cut. Love the mid '90s Hamers. 😍 GLWTS

Cheers buddy: that's the one for me

"*WHILE SUPPLY LASTS *ONLY THREE AVAILABLE AT THIS PRICE *ONE CASE PER CUSTOMER" 😆

I'd take in a show if it was nearby. I saw a version of the JP project 40 yrs ago. They are still rockin and that's cool. But who is buying the 10K show package where Joe gives you a signed and played 2K Les Paul. They are actually selling... https://guitaroffmyback.joeperry.com/

Those five covered the bases very well, but by "limiting myself" I was referring to how, with this band, I usually bring a dozen or more guitars to a three-to-four hour gig. Some for practical reasons - different tunings, 12 strings, etc. - but others just because it's ridiculous, over-the-top and fun. Bringing a bunch of guitars has become my shtick with this band; if I were to show up to a SUIT gig with only one or two guitars everyone would ask me, "Are you okay?" 😆 Of course, if we were touring, or if we were playing out seven nights a week I would approach it differently, but since we only do about one gig a month - usually pretty close to home - it's fine. It's a little extra work, but I enjoy it. This was my first time seeing TGR, but yes, they sounded fantastic. Plus they seemed confident, relaxed, and happy to be there.

Are you really "limited" to just five guitars with a selection like you brought with you? I have seen The Grass Roots a few times, including a show when Rob Grill was still alive. The present-day band plays the songs as if they wrote them.

Good to see at least one company still values its employees. Looks like a Whole Lotta Fun!

That's a solid deal. They look like quality cases, somewhere in between Gator and G&G.

F that crap Vic. Just go to a hardware store in Ottawa. A quick search shows a number of stores. I didn't see any Hakko in my search but Preston Hardware and Home Hardware both carry Weller. edit: Hakko in Canada: HiPi Industries Inc. DBA PiShop.ca 9-190 Colonnade Rd. Ottawa ON, K2E 7J5

Hum, how many times can I call you guys CHEAP BASTARDS!?! BUMP

Sorry, I probably already posted this at some point in the past.

Yep you’ve said all the stuff I was going to

He apparently had COVID in the above video. I would imagine some other mates caught it since they were sharing mics and shouting in each other's faces.

The guitar player is a buddy of mine. They are getting ready to head out on a pretty big tour..

2001 Korina Artist P90. I've been looking for one of these for a while at a reasonable price to go with my 25th Anniversary with humbuckers, and finally found one today at the Atlanta Vintage Guitar Show. All original, Except the tuners maybe. They are Schallers, but I thought these came with Grover's, really good original case, and it rocks. it just needed some good cleaning and a set-up. I have now added another keeper to the collection

Me too. Great doc, watched it a few days ago. I saw DEVO on the New Traditionalists tour (w/ the Elvis rubber hair) when I was in jr high ~81 and they were a lot more heavy & rockin' in concert compared to their albums. I really dig late 70s/early 80s mainstream new wave stuff like Devo/Cars/Pretenders/Talking Heads/Joe Jackson/Elvis Costello/etc. This stems from an older punk rocker pal, who introduced me back then to a great local DFW band called the Telefones. We covered one of their tunes at my 8th grade talent show, which led to me sitting in w/ them at some punk dive bar when I was in 9th grade. Good times. All these bands are represented in my new wave-ish spotify playlist (that's the Telefones b&w pic from their 2nd album);

Saw them ~94 in a medium sized club in Raleigh NC, kickarse! This band Flipp opened, they were fun and had a killer multi color Kustom tuck & roll backline;

Picked this GK stuff up off FB marketplace, super clean and very very affordable, got the head/cab and speaker cable for four fitty. GK MB Fusion 500 head, quite small/lightweight and three 12ax7s. Neo 212ii cabinet. It's so clean, I gave my moderately used 212 Neo (gen1) cab to a friend. I think the Neo212 ii is even lighter than the gen 1 neo212, I can't really carry it with one hand, but I can hold it with one hand while I open up the car hatch. Imo, these 212s sound every bit as good as my old Eden 410xlt at about half the weight (410xlt was 98 pounds iirc), and the tweeters don't blow when you turn the amp on like with the Edens. I ended up with most of the tone controls mostly straight up, sounds really good. I was going to run the FlyRig xlr to the house, but running it into the GK resulted in some extra noise, so I ran the GK xlr to the house and then the tuner out from the GK to the FlyRig, - only using the FlyRig as a tuner. The IYV bass is a winner, but I will need to replace the volume knob/switch, because there's still a 'whoosh/whump' when turning the volume knob up when 'active', but until then I'm quite happy with it passive for now, no volume knob noise on passive. I loaned it to a friend who plays in a couple of the casino cover bands, he was quite impressed, he might be ordering one for a travel bass. It looks like the stacked volume knob/switch is a common part, very cheap off ebay.

I look for MIJ Epi everytime I'm out shopping, never seen one, - rarer than Hamer around here

I have one of those. Came from 7 0124. Base plate appears to be pickguard material. Been in the drawer for years. If you are interested let me know and I'll dig it out and get measurements.

I recall reading something that he had used a Monaco Subtone on a record back in the 2000's as well.

Nice one. I have a '95 wraptail. Great model. Great year. GLWTS!

His name is Rick NELSON and he played them HAMMER gittars for a looooong time. I have never seen them. I just did a search and it seems they have not played a public show here in Stockholm since 1979. According to @crunchee's list above they did a tv broadcast here on october 22nd 1990 in support for the Busted album. I wish I had been there. 😞 They are a band that I still would love to see live.

I saw them in the early 80s with UFO opening up. KILLER show.

Sorry Mr. Fiend, you ain't getting mine back!!! Well, maybe for ONE MEELION DALLARS! Still my favorite guitar! Korina would sure be be nice, tho! Good luck with your search. PS- Mr Fiend is 100% good guy.

05 Studio Goldtop

X3… I have been using Weller 40 watters on my amps and guitars for years. Iron, holder, and a sponge. It just works well.

It was around $7K

Just fuk'n help an old man out for Christ's sakes... There are people half his age that whine and complain about playing a 10 lb Les Paul 🤣

I'd would love to be able to take this test. Please send me a five neck guitar in the next 5 years so once I reach 70 I can take the test.... If I fail I hope I prop it up and play the top guitar instead.... 😀

Pitiful. Time to hang it up, guys.

A sign they are not all alright...