cmatthes

You think these are ugly, Kiz?

Happy B'Day Squared! Enjoy, guys.

Ditto - there are other guitars I'll play, depending on what I feel like or what is called for at the time, but I've owned Hamers since the early/mid 80s with no gaps in continuity. I've owned the same Les Paul since then and have been through a bunch of those over the years, but there will always be at least 3 Hamers in the stable that I'll never get rid of - they're getting passed down to my kids.

1. Lose Control - Ash 2. Star Sign - TeenageFanclub 3. Love Explosion - Weezer 4. Nowhere Man - Marky Ramone 5. I've Got the Rock And Rolls Again - Joe Perry Project 6. Start! - The Jam 7. Leave The Biker - Fountains of Wayne 8. You Only Live Once - The Strokes 9. Save It For Later (Live) - School Of Fish 10. Jerry Was a Race Car Driver - Primus

As always, very cool and interesting use of your 12'vers!

That's kind of a hassle.

Koa Mockingbird copy I know these are nice, and they're rare as hen's teeth too, but original Mockingbirds were going for less than this the last time I checked!

If I'M pouring, the answer is YES. I can still cut a clover in the head of a pint of Guinness that'll last all the way to the bottom of the glass from my bartending days years ago...

Sorry Chris...the goalie's still in the game. I didn't approve that one - I believe he went to somebody else for that! I'm kind of puzzled, since the only complaint or request ever posted was that he couldn't get pictures to upload. That, and he asked questions about his '82 Special and maybe didn't get an immediate response or something? Help me here, I'm lost...

Well put, Jon! All the same to all of ya. Enjoy and enjoy safely!

Ignore. Deal completed. Unless the guitar was somehow misrepresented, sounds like the buyer is trying to dick you out of some $$. I go out of my way to make sure that any buyer is happy with something I'm selling BEFORE the sale is completed, but if there is something I somehow overlooked, I'd make that right. I've had situations where either Buyer's Remorse or Angry Spouse kicks in. THAT is not my problem!

What's up with the fingerboard at the 1st-3rd frets? Looks like a BS patch job. Did they repair that one THROUGH the fingerboard with screws or something? Take a close look at the two circular plugs and the suspicious 1st fret crown inlay... There's more going on there than Bondo. Damned shame though - that's a killah 'Bird!

Looks like Korina to me too!

That's it right there! When a band starts taking themselves too seriously, they begin to SUCK. Give me somebody like Dave Grohl who takes the music seriously, but not himself. Ya still have to have fun with it, right?

Sorry - I never got those guys. I recognize talent in what they do, but it's all too pretentious for me. Not slamming 'em, just my opinion. Stuff like that and Dream Theater bore me. They would be better with no goofy lyrics - all that Dungeons and "deep" metaphysical crap that sounds like it was lifted off the doodles out of a 9th grader's notebook totally cracks me up. At least with bands like Dio, I enjoy the whole comedy aspect of it all and "get " the song! I'm sure I could think of a few not mentioned yet, but I'm just too damned tired right now.

That was a '91 that I custom-ordered in 1990. I bought a '95 Standard in '59 Burst new from a dealer (Dave's Guitars) in '95 for under $1,300. Believe it or not, I have sold two '95 Standards in '59 Burst - one for $1,200 and one for slightly more. I don't think that even the '59 Burst mid-90s Standards are $1,000 guitars any more - the price on the '90s Hamers are definitely inching up. I'm not surprised to see one go for $1,500 these days, but it is more than I'd pay right now for one of those (For many people though, it's far better than waiting 4-6 months and paying another $1,000 for a new one). Sadly, I don't think I'll be able to find a Mahogany '90s Standard for less than $900 any more! Still - I agree that the auction dood is a complete tool.

i saw the twin during my last visit there... stunning brian does a great job stocking a variety of top shelf guitars I think it's actually the same guitar (not a twin)! Really a beauty, and cool that you saw it in person!

Gorgeous! That is classy. I think I've seen that one (or its twin?) before...

Ionel - I'd definitely listen to what he has to say. Even if it isn't what you want to hear, the fact that he is willing to call a Hamer player to give a personal explanation speaks volumes to me. I'm sure you'd come away from that conversation feeling better about things in general, and it is probably a very rational explanation that all the message board hypotheses haven't touched on. Remember, nobody can TRULY speak for Hamer outside of the factory, and Jol's about as good as it gets!

Oddly enough, I'm also going back to a lot of Beatles stuff and really listening to the parts - nice deep listening - and then relearning some of the things I've been playing correctly/incorrectly for almost 30 years... Spending more time on listening to the McCartney lines especially.

Testing... *and bump

Exactly WHY they aren't going to do something that is going to cost them production time like that. They are extremely busy, and because of the demand, they are backlogged. There are dozens of customers who have already put deposits on custom orders now underway, dozens of stores waiting on stock items and they are not going to sacrifice their reputation to either churn out a few more guitars a day or stop the presses to build a jig/prototype of a headstock that one customer is asking about for a custom order. You can hate that all you like, but the demand is there and as long as they keep the quality and options up where they are now, that's a good thing. They are not in business to please one or two people, although they do a good job of at least considering these requests. If they lose one or two customers who are frustrated by their custom order policies, well, that's very unfortunate, and not likely their intent. If they turn off hundreds or thousands of potential customers because of one bad review, that would be far worse. I've said it before and I'll say it again... I'm no Hamer apologist - I've been trying to get what in my mind is a simple order done for many years. I understand that they need to judge each case on its merits in light of their goal looking forward. I appreciate that, and I'm not going to run off crying every time they won't build me exactly what I want. The custom orders I have placed have all exceeded my expectations by such a significant degree that I have NO complaints nor will I bitch about not being able to get my ultimate dream Hamer made. Think about this. If you want a Santana Headstock on a PRS 24, be prepared to pony up an extra $5-$7k JUST for that change. They literally have the necks stacked floor to ceiling these days, so could easily pull one out of any rack and put it into place - no muss, no fuss. That, however will not happen. You need to go Private Stock and pony up the big bucks for something that minor. Rickenbacker will all but tell you to F-yourself (I'm not sure they haven't told people that already!), and their wait time for a standard production model of decent, but not Hamer, quality is over 18months currently. Want a different headstock or option on a Gibson? Try it and see how far you get. Is all this fair? I don't know. It's not always about an individual consumer in a business. Instead of getting mad at a company for not agreeing to your particular wish, either look to another builder or be a little patient and sleuth out the used market. There are HUNDREDS of those Vectors out there - they are not that rare, despite their limited production cycle. Not as common as a Special, but they turn up on a regular basis and have consistently for the last 10 years easily. Sorry for the long post, guys. Maybe this should be somehow morphed into a FAQ, because it comes up about 10 times a year about something or other!

My thoughts exactly.

When 80s Vectors are still widely available in the Sub-$1,000 category, chances are, you're simply not going to get one out of Hamer. If you're looking for that exact headstock, they won't build that for anybody, it's not just you. Understand that it is nothing personal, and that the company is actually pretty accommodating overall. They are simply at a point in their business where they need to weigh the pros of taking time to retool for an essential one-off v. getting 20-30 guitars out the door to customers. It is far more cost-effective and makes perfect business sense for them to do the latter. If they green-lighted every customer request that came through the door, you'd never see a new Hamer hanging in the shops. That is no good for ANY brand.

They NEVER made one of those!