cmatthes

Gentlemen (and ladies)...START YOUR ENGINES! http://cgi.ebay.com/Hamer-Californian-Elit...=item45f1601245

I'd welcome a Rick 4003; Hamer Monaco Bass; Hamer Electraglide; Rick 330 for a project

If this isn't gone by the end of the day I will give all of you stern looks. Seriously! I was even starting to think irresponsible thoughts over that one.

Nice welcoming post, Mike A.!!

I think that cane was so's he could administer a whoopin' to Al Dunbar and his brother Bruno who coerced Rerun, Raj and Dwayne (Hay Hey Hay!) into bootlegging that show. Boy, did those kids fix those bad dudes' wagon when all you could hear on the tape was Rerun eating popcorn... Somehow, they got led out of the Soda Shoppe in cuffs anyway.

"But Rerun - I thought you guys were our friends ... how could you do this to us?" I saw them on their first "Farewell Tour" in '82. There were no flashpots, but there sure was a LOT of smoke in the Spectrum.

Totally fake, but still funny! I see a lot of typical band issues/personalities in there. Wonder if the poster is picking on somebody in particular?

We'll have to get these together for the Xmas card shot...

My thoughts exactly. I play .10s at a minimum, so if .009s are causing problems, there's more afoot there in my opinion.

Hmmm. I'm over there all the time - guess I missed that one!

You can get a M3 anytime. Just place an order for it. What forum was that, out of curiousity?

Thanks so much! You all rock. Yeah, ya do!

Never heard that one, and I've owned several '79 Standards myself that were perfect. Could you be thinking about the earlier neck twisting on some of the pre-3pc neck Sunbursts or issues with the early 8 and 12 string (single truss rod) basses?

Sure! The check's in the mail!

He doesn't mention the refret, does he?

Ted owns the "Hamer Fan Club" name. I own the the HFC Logo and artwork. I created it, and it has been in open use for over 12 years. It has never been used for profit, so there is no angle there. Actually a KMC thing, not Kaman, and it would be FMIC, not Fender. Subtle distinctions, but people are bashing the home of the Stratocaster for this, and that isn't appropriate.

Yes, there are people here in personal contact with Jol. I would assume that unless he personally chooses to make some sort of public statement, he is entitled to every bit of his privacy in the matter and that should be respected. Jol is highly regarded in the industry, and will do extremely well no matter what he chooses to do going forward - even if it doesn't involve directly building guitars. The incredibly talented guys in the shop will continue to work on Hamer and Guild stuff. This is a KMC thing, not Fender. There IS a distinction!

I agree, Mike. In fact, I mentioned the Jackson/Charvel thing to somebody earlier this afternoon. I'm sure some version of the facts that surrounded all this will trickle out in time, but hopefully, it was an amicable split and promising things will come out of all this. In the meantime, I'm really thankful to all the gang in New Hartford for the absolute BEST guitars I've owned (and I've owned way more than anybody should over the years!).

Pretty sure Ed Roman can do one of those for you...

I rounded up('80 to '88)! I'd have to pull some old Hamer price lists out of the archives, but list price for an Explorer 2 or Vee 2 (which is what Gibson was making back in the early '80s) was $1,099 to $1,199, IIRC. I think the Blitz and Vectors (rough equivalent in body style only) listed for a little less than that. The Special, Blitz and Vector models had more "production-friendly" neck joints, no binding and basic appointments relative to the Sunbursts, Standards and other 4-digit models of the time. Those were always great values in my opinion, and I know a lot of people (myself included) who had one of these as a "gateway drug" Hamer. Mine was a Ferrari Red Special - great guitar, and it laid the path for many more over the last 25+ years!

I'm thinking that should be more like 22.75 Hamers...

The exceptions would be the aforementioned "Production" lines, like the Special, Blitz, original Vector, etc. Those started in 1980 as more of a budget-oriented Hamer, as opposed to the 4-digits (Standards, other custom guitars and basses) and Sunbursts. Those were out nearly a decade before Kaman took over.

The original idea was definitely to be better, but certainly not cheaper than the then current Gibson/Fender stuff. I am actually old enough to remember the early years of Hamer - they really shook things up, but they were almost always more expensive guitars back then. The "production" guitars, like the Special, Blitz, etc. were a different story, but those came later on in the line.

Not a big deal, but it's a '79, not a '78. (I owned #0137 and #0150, both were from 1979.)