zenmindbeginner

Arlington Heights native and Hamer owner since age 13 here. You have influenced the lives of countless people through your amazing instruments Paul. I would be someone completely different if it wasn't for you. Thanx for creating the best guitars in the world!!!!

I have been showing this thread to everyone that I know that is involved in woodworking and they have ALL been absolutely BLOWN AWAY! Holy flippin' CRAP! Tim is gonna be soooooo happy when he gets this one back... This repair is absolutely EPIC!!!!!! Any luthier anywhere in the would be completely shook by Greg's masterful work. There is no repair that Greg can't handle.

Me too man! I'm jonesin' BIG TIME! I feel yur impatianz T. We must wait for the wizard...

Listen to the man. You will slap yourself silly if you don't. Pics or it didn't happen right? You'll kill it bro, just be in the moment... not many people get to have that moment.

I would say: Brown Eyed Girl - Van Morrison Crazy On You - Heart We Will Rock You - Queen Sheep - Pink Floyd Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath FOPP - Ohio Players Black Dog - Led Zepplin Voodoo Chile - Jimi Hendrix That Girl Could Sing - Jackson Brown Give Me The Night - George Benson Hot Blooded - Foreigner Slow Ride - Foghat Love Gun - KISS Never Goin' Back Again - Fleetwood Mac September - Earth Wind and Fire Life In The Fast Lane - Eagles China Grove - Doobie Brothers Lay it Down - RATT Looks That Kill - Motley Crue Crazy Train - Ozzy Suite Judy Blue Eyes - CS&N 25 or 6 to 4 - Chicago Roundabout - Yes Feelin' Satisfied - Boston Strut - Bob Seeger Walk This Way - Aerosmith Sober - Tool Evenflow - Pearljam Plush - Stone Temple Pilots Would - Alice and Chains 1979 - Smashing Pumpkins Fell on Black Days - Soundgarden Turn it On - Genesis March of the S.O.D. - S.O.D. Angel of Death - Slayer Holy Wars - Megadeath I could go on and on and on... these just stand out a bit more than other songs. It is usually a matter of the riff giving me a super strong chemical reaction when I heard it or just really liking it. These riffs changed my brain waves when I heard them for the first time. I literally got goosebumps... Great choice, one of the best riffs of all time.

That's a simple 3 ply (b/w/:huh: two hole bell cover, you should be able to get something like that just about anywhere.

I have dealt with fretsonthenet before and had a fantastic experience. The dude made me a dark blue anodized brushed metal rear cavity cover that is absolutely PERFECT for only $40. his turnaround time was less than a week. www.fretsonthenet.com Of course, you could just measure the hole distances and search the 'Bay for one that lines up, but give that dude an email, he'll make you one real cheap. He absolutely nailed my 1982 Special rear cavity cover, so he could probably make a simple 2 or 3 ply truss rod cover made of plastic in his sleep. You just need to measure the distances between the holes, it's a simple three hole bell cover right? pickguardian can make you a custom cover from a scan and some measurements, they do it all of the time...

Fookin' BLOODEY 'ELL!!!!! Thank god that it's now in the hands of the miracle worker,

I was raised in Arlington Heights and went to Rolling Meadows high school. The Hamer brand was a local brand to me as a teenager. I got to sit in the office for a bit and admired all of the posters that plastered the walls (I was almost hypnotized by the Runaways' poster) when I picked up my Scarab that had a new neck put on it after it plum broke in two. Can you guys believe that I only paid $350 for a new neck and paint touch up? Those were the days! lol! God, I wish my Mom had the presence of mind to ask them to let me see inside the factory a bit... I was just soooo excited to get my guitar and was a bit stupefied by the whole scene that it didn't even occur to me. Arlington Heights was a great place to make guitars and was a cool place to grow up even though the town and the surrounding Northwest suburbs were really working class and weren't very "artsy". I ended up moving away the following year (1989) and I guess Hamer was gone several years after that. My metal band "Minotaur" used to practice just a short ten minute drive away from the factory. I was the best 14 year old guitar player in school district 214 (entire Northwest Suburbs) and I played the baddest brand guitar around. Ahhhh those were the dayz... Do you have any pics of the front office with all of the posters?

Awesome opportunity Greg! I'm glad you turned it down.

Mini Moog Roland TB-303 Bassline Roland TR-909, and 808 Taurus Pedals Tychobrahe wah Jupiter-8 Space Echo ARP Avatar Mu Tron Bi-Phase Lovetone Brown Source, Doppleganger and Meatball Blackface Vibro Champ (I'll def have one of these within a year or two) 1973 Fender Strat with maple fretboard and reverse headstock. ocean blue Ludwig Vistalite 6 piece set And now for the absolutely unatainable: a 1960's Gibson L5

Welcome to the board! That guitar sure is a beauty, and I see that you have some other really nice guitars as well. It's always nice to see a PRS player come over to the dark side! lol! Let me also add that those are some fine pix as well

Happy Birthday guys!

I'm surprised that Bill Kaman kept him on as long as he did. Oh well, you can't expect to stay on when you sell the company, he's lucky that he lasted as long as he did.

Bloody incredible video, I've never seen one in person let alone have the history of how it started explained to me! WOW!

Fuck YEAH! "Look Sharp" has a ROCKIN' fuckin' bass line. I could listen to the Night and Day album all night and day everyday. Though I always thought that the Steppin' Out part was a sequenced bassline from a TB-303...

The 6V6 tubes sound COMPLETELY different from 6L6 tubes. I grew up with my Dad's blackface Princeton in the house and I am really familiar with it's sound. Those 6V6 tubes don't have the glassy and shimmery sound of 6L6 tubes and don't get nearly as loud. But, they have this slightly spongy or squishy type of overdrive that allows one to crank the amp up to ten without waking up the neighborhood and or splitting your ear drums. The Princetons also sound extremely detailed without the glassy sheen that the 6L6 tubes provide. The result is probably the most natural sounding amp that I have ever heard. The vibrato uses the bias, so if you haven't gotten this thing blueprinted the vibrato may not be as intense as it should be, but anyone's tech would LOVE to work on this amp and would probably charge very little because it is such a joy to be able to blueprint these babies. Alas, I am not crazy how the Princetons have risen in value like mad the last ten years. $1500 is the going rate for Super Reverbs and Twins... I have seen Deluxes go for that much. To pay $1500 for a 12 inch combo when you can get 4 x 10s and 2 x 12s for the same price seems a bit much. The Princetons recent appreciation bump is not the sellers fault, so he is selling it for fair market value. You'll just have to wait for some tone hound that is looking for one of the most detailed and natural sounding amp in the world and is willing to pay the high price for it... they've nearly doubled in value the past ten years. Most blackfaces have appreciated at around 20% in that same time frame. I would hang on to the amp for another ten years unless civilization will end in 2012, if it does, then you might as well sell it now. lol! This amp has TONE for DAYS!!!!!! Here's Spock having an eargasm while listening to a Princeton Reverb on ten for the first time.

I used to be a bouncer and they always plead with you to get your knee off of their chest. Grind it in deeper until he coughs up the dough. DO NOT drop the dispute, Gorch and all of the others guys are right!

I hear ya man... back in the eighties and early nineties a MIDDLE CLASS individual could afford to own a Hamer without absolutely KILLING his bank account or racking up his credit card. Somewhere along the way, the corporate assholes that run the music gear industry decided that MIDDLE CLASS people were no longer welcome to buy their American made products. What kind of an asshat company decides to only make guitars for the upper class? I am middle class and would have to make a LOT more money to afford a $4000 guitar. I mean, if I drove a $40,000 car and had a half million dollar home, I could afford one right? How many fucking Americans can afford to drive a $40,000 car and have half million dollar homes? I certainly don't... I drive an economic Mazda and RENT my home. In 1986 I managed to scrape up the money to buy my first USA Hamer when I was 13 years old. What fucking 13 year old can afford a $4000 guitar delivering newspapers today? Absolutely none. Hamer's elitist attitude that they will only allow the wealthiest of Americans to purchase their guitars is downright WRONG! If they continue down this road, then they will have nobody to blame besides themselves. Hamer's import line was an outright deplorable decision... I don't want a fucking Korean or Chinese guitar, I am an American and we have this AMAZING history of making the world's finest electric guitars HERE in our own country. It's sooooo fucking sad that Hamer has decided that only the wealthiest of people will be able to own their American made products. Out and out elitism along with TONS of hubris = tragedy

What was the price difference between the two?

That is some downright heartbreaking shit right thurr... it's actually too sad to even wrap my mind around what I just saw.

You could get the file size MUCH smaller than 12MB with more compression... is the song really long?

Buster is attracted to the sound and tonal benefits of active pickups and is gonna put a pair of EMGs in place of the Dimarzios.

I just bought one like this in similar condition on Craigslist last week. I traded my old Vestax hard disc recorder for it. I made out like a bandit on that one... Are you the original owner?

I had no idea how hard it was to find a Hamer dealer! I grew up in the Arlington Heights area of Illinois where the original Hamer factory was and Hamer guitars were in just about every music store around. We were definitely Hamer spoiled in the Northwest burbs. Hell, the store that I bought my first Hamer had several Scarabs, Scepters, and Blitz guitars on the wall. The Sound Post had a few Specials and a Standard or two at all times on the floor... they were definitely part of my youth. The 90's were kind of rough for Hamer with the new factory and Jol's departure I guess... I have no idea what was going on between the Hamer and Kaman management, maybe there was some conflicts creatively. The decision to make imports was a HORRIBLE one in my opinion.