cmatthes

Hamers shipped with .009s back then.

I played one and really liked it - was tempted, but never pulled the trigger at $2,499. It was a different time…

He had a few of those with the interchangeable face/flag plates, but they were Sunbursts, believe it or not.

That one is priced at about $500 more than I’d pay for it.

I’ve got an order in with Dave at FOTN right now, actually…

Brilliant!! 😂😂😂

The Korina with Boomers was sold through Elduave’s Rocketeria. Alan Day ran the Music & Arts nearby and rejected it, so Dave got dibs and as I recall, a local non-playing doctor in the Olney, MD area bought it. Seems like the same dude selling it now for more than twice what he bought it for new. Despite that, it was a lightweight, stellar-playing guitar.

Mike actually showed me how to play that correctly 20 years ago waiting backstage (Ron B. is a longtime family friend/sorta member) before the opener went on - with a little Supro guitar and amp. This was well before the proliferation of YouTube and still early MySpace days…he showed me that third triplet that every cover band Fs up, and it was somewhat life-changing! 😂

I know it’s polarizing, but I’m a fan of the reverse Strat. I gigged the chartreuse flake one and it was my main guitar in that band. I still have to wire up the second one I have in ye olde project pile…

I caught her with Jeff Beck on his last ever tour in October, 2022. Jeff has always been amazing live, but I left there a fan of hers too - monster talent!

He’s just coming off of an opening run for Puscifer, and is heading out for 26 more dates with them this fall. In addition to his comedy gig, he just released some new Valley Lodge, has a hard rock band with Chris Reiffert (Autopsy) and a mock black metal band called Witch Taint, and is wrapping up a solo album. He’s also recently released a 4-part comic book/graphic novel and continues to do his artwork on the side (he painted a cool axe for me last year). He’s the busiest guy in showbiz, for sure. As always, kudos to Kiz for the “SCHARTER” logo!

Who the hell just makes up these ridiculous finish names?

…does it count if I put it there? I had been chatting with Mr. Dave Hill (NOT the dude from Slade, the one from Cleveland) over the last year or two about various guitar geekery and Hamers have come up here and there. I sent him a copy of “The Book” a while back just so he could see what he’d been missing all of these years. He was intrigued by the purple Prince Studio Custom, and I offered to let him check it out and play it when he was passing through the area sometime. Dave, Stike, my son and I had gotten a chance to hang out for an afternoon back in April and he was raving about borrowing a new Veleno for the Charlotte show the previous evening and dug it (but had to give it back). I brought up the Prince guitar again and he said he’d be honored to play it sometime. I had tickets to see Dave opening for Bill Murray at The Warner here in town a few weeks ago, and had also picked up a house concert at a really cool venue in North Baltimore’s lovely Roland Park neighborhood (Club 603). Friends of ours had just been there to see Rhett Miller and couldn’t say enough good stuff about it and also let me know that tickets were going on sale the next day - they don’t advertise, really, and the 30-40 seats usually sell out right away. I scored two, and right after, Bill postponed his DC show for the second time. I wasn’t sure if Dave was going to take the train down for just the smaller show, but he’s a man of his word, and did. My son and I trucked the purple guitar up and handed it to Dave for a soundcheck. He totally wailed on it for a solid half hour with a giant smile, and he showed it off to the hosts and sound team, who totally dug it. Dave had just scored a new Dunable V, which was super cool, and similar to the ones he usually plays, but he opted to sling the Hamer instead. It sounded great for the first part of the show and unfortunately, during his EVH interlude, he hit something (mic stand) and the middle string lock at the nut somehow loosened and the guitar went hopelessly out of tune mid solo. He was in the middle of a bit, so started riffing about having broken the guitar, but it was all planned payback for Prince trashing Capt. Kirk Douglas’ treasured ‘61 Epiphone Crestwood Custom. The audience started an unprompted “Prince! Prince! Prince!” chant as he switched to the Dunable. He didn’t get to play the Hamer for the rest of the set, but felt awful that he had broken the guitar. After the finale, he headed to the merch area a few rooms away so I hopped up took a quick look and in about 5 seconds had the guitar perfectly back in tune. We chatted later and he felt awful about it all, but honestly, there was zero harm done. He definitely wants to play it next time he’s in the area, like at the Enormodome or something. He definitely did it justice while he was playing and clearly dug it.

The Country Westerns

They’ve always been a fantastic-sounding live band - it didn’t hurt that they were playing in the “Mini-9:30 Club” (The Atlantis, next door to the real 9:30, and a replica of the old one on F St, NW). I highly recommend catching them if they’re ever within a reasonable distance of you!

Good eye! It is indeed.

Went out with my wife and a whole bunch of bandmates, local musicians and legends to catch Del Amitri in a tiny club (Atlantis) on Sunday night. They’re always phenomenal live, but I really wanted to catch one of my favorite local acts, Dot Dash, who was the opener. As my wife and I were enjoying a cold beverage on the rooftop deck, Hunter Bennett from Dot Dash came over and said “Chris! My Hamer guru!”. We’ve chatted online for years about gear, specifically Hamers, and he has some incredible stuff (including Tom Petersson’s old 8 String FB, and a green flametop B-08M that was custom ordered by somebidy here years ago. Anyway, he let me know he was slinging his latest - a set neck mid-80s Cruisebass with an amburburst flame top. Hunter is an incredible player, and is a cool combination of Peter Hook, Bruce Foxton, Entwistle and the lead bassist from Ned’s Atomic Dustbin. 😉 Really a solid and talented guy, and always has the best tone live. Anyway, here’s a crappy pic or two for y’all, but seriously check out their stuff - great catalog

I had a pair of those that were my main gigging basses for a while.

Yes… I think that’s why I think it’s a refin though.

Ha! I played that bassline during soundcheck last night hoping somebody would pick up the hint…

This may have been the one I was thinking about from a year ago…

Atomic can take up to 30 days to post something in their inventory. They’re MASSIVE!

It’s just the Dark Metallic Gray finish (Gunmetal) that has a yellowed clearcoat. It looks green over time, but isn’t. I’ve had a Phantom in that color before, and the color under the pick guard was the original gunmetal finish.

Once again, A.I. regurgitates bullshit. The “genius” tech isn’t able to discern betweeen the headstocks on the set neck versions and the bolt-on versions.