BadgerDave

Thanks to all. I was celebrating in Charleston, SC at the beach without internet access. Life gets bettter every year.

A few more photos. Trades (full, + or - $ depending on value) considered for PRS Santana III, McCarty, CU22, Single cut, possibly others, Gibson SGs, LP Standards or Customs, Korina Hamers, boutique tube amps under 20 watts, or other interesting items.

Bump for lower price Having recently picked up a vintage Gibson 160E, I no longer have time for this one. It is a beauty and sounds as good as it looks. 9.9/10 condition, OHSC, no wear, marks or issues. I used it for fingerpicking and it excels at that. The few time I strummed chords with a pick, I was impressed with the volume and balance. It's a great all-around acoustic. Asking $1,500.00 shipped (U.S.) Actual cost to ship elsewhere. Add 3% for Paypal. These are big photos to show detail - hopefully they will work here. I have several additional photos - PM if you are interested.

Wecome, Paul. It's really a thrill to see you joining the discussion here. You've been missed! Since we're jumping on the memory train, I thought I'd post photos of my early Sunburst and Standard. I bought the Sunburst, if I recall correctly, in 1978 from Mick Faulhaber at Ward Brodt Music in Madison, WI. A few months later, I was working behind the counter of the "combo department" at Ward Brodt. The Sunburst was one of the very early ones with the one piece neck that developed a twist. I remember talking to someone in Palatine (or possibly Arlington Heights) who was extremely helpful. He said, "Send it back. We'll give you full credit an build you whatever you want!" I opted for the black Standard in the second photo. I believe it was the first black one made. I recall Frank (not sure if it was Untermyer or Rindone) calling me to say the guitar was finished. He mentioned that Paul Stanley had just come by the plant and tried to buy it. I ended up using and abusing that Standard for years. It suffered a broken headstock, several pickup mods and an ill-advised conversion from a 1/4" to cannon output jack. It may still be out there somewhere helping someone earn a living. It was a great guitar. My other great memories of Hamer's early days center around Regenberg Music in Middleton, WI. Dick and Dave Regenberg (who now run US Masters Guitars) had a small shop that was stocked with some of the coolest custom color Specials I've ever seen. I remember an orange day glo sunbust and a camoflauge in particular.

I like this idea! One slight modification though - to make it more universally appealing, I'd do it with a humbucker sized pickup route. Those that prefer P-90s have a lot of great options for humbucker sized P-90s (HD, Fralin, Rio, Duncan, etc.). Options for P-90 sized humbuckers are far more limited. And why not a sustainblock?

I've overcome my infatuation with Calis, but, when I was "in deep" this would have been the 2nd most desireable configuration for me, down to the color. The only model I would have gotten more excited over would have been a set-neck. I had trans red and sunburst flame maple bodied bolt-on Calis and they were both fantastic guitars. I'm not really concerned with the 0 feedback, though I agree it could impact the price. I am concerned about the fact that the guitar shows evidence of neglect. The photos of the bridge and pickups appear to show rust and a lot of wear. The shots of the neck look like there's an excess of nasty gunk built up on and around the frets. My guess is that this guitar was played hard, exposed to a lot of sweat and rarely wiped down. Perhaps most of the issues are cosmetic and could be (literally) cleaned up. If the bridge is as trashed as it looks, it's going to cost another $200.00 for a repalcement Schaller. A NOS Hamer model is pure unobtainium. I'm always skeptical of sellers who don't even bother to clean up the guitars they're selling. To me that indicates a lack of diligence that will likely reappear when it's time to pack and ship. Looks like a $1,500.00 guitar to me.

Les Paul Signature Goldtop Matching Les Paul Signature Bass Fender Bass VI Rick 4001 Bass Leslie Cabinet

Interested in a Tele? Fender USA body, Warmoth Fatback Neck, Rio Muy Grande bridge pickup with push/pull coil split on the tone knob, Rio Tallboy Strat middle pickup and 5 way switch, big frets, compound radius, 9+/10 condition.

I volunteer! I Just ordered two stoptails and a "Tone-Lock" stud set. If my experience with these things is consistant, I should be threatening a lawsuit for non-delivery in about 45 days! I'll post when (and if) the parts arrive.

I like the Gibson style toggle switch. I don't believe I've seen that on a Tele control plate before. Cool guitar!

Didn't see this mentioned in a quick scan of the previous posts: One potentially stealthy shortcoming of the PS3 is it's incompatibility with virtually any universal remote. The PS3 remote functions are bluetooth only with no interconnectivity with infared controllers. I found this out when trying to program my Harmony One remote to control my set-up. The PS3 is the only device it can't control.

All's well that ends well. The bridge arrived today. It is a work of art. I wish John well and hope that he can continue to manufacture and deliver these truly superior products. A very special thnk you to Thundernotes who lubricated the transaction just when it seemed to be grinding to a halt.

Good idea, Johnny, except if I do as you suggest, he gets the money for my first order plus the money for my second order in advance, without shipping anything. If he never ships, I'm out the first payment because I dropped the dispute. I can dispute the second payment, but it will take another 45-60 days to resolve. My main issue now is trust. I don't beleive he has any product to ship and he's just trying to to keep as much money as he can before PayPal shuts the door on his ability to bill. This was the Snake Oil endgame. In the meantime, I've ordered one of these for 1/3 the price of the Mann bridge:

On the other hand, this demonstrates that PayPal does not always suck.

As those of you who have been following the progress of the sparkley Stike-o-caster thread are aware, I've been having difficulty receiving a bridge I ordered from John Mann at MannMade USA. I ordered one of these: from this website: MannMade Website in October, paying via PayPal. Within a couple of days after ordering I received an e-mail from John promising to ship within 10 days. After a few weeks, I hadn't received the bridge and I sent a few e-mails. I then politely informed John that I was going to open a dispute with PayPal. I received a response, promising to ship if I didn't open the dispute. I waited until the last possible day before I would lose the right to open a dispute before initiating it. John's position now is that he will ship if I drop the dispute. My response is that I will drop the dispute the moment I have the bridge in my hands. Here's his last communication: Dave As stated previously, I would be happy to ship the bridge this week and will confirm with a USPS tracking #. I will pack the bridge, prepare it for shipment, give you the tracking #. Once you have the tracking #, I need you drop the dispute as resolved and re-instate payment. Regards, John Mann Why do you suppose he wants me to drop the dispute before I have the bridge?

It's better than John Mayer.

I apologize for quoting myself, but this works. Try it - if you don't get the strings you will at least get your money back.

He is aware. The way to get strings from SOS is to pay via paypal. Then wait until the 45 day time limit for disputes is nearly over and file a dispute. I did this and Dean called me personally asking me to withdraw the dispute. He was all, "Hey dude, that was uncool". I told him I would withdraw the dispute the moment my strings arrived. I got them the next day by express mail. I think I can live with being uncool.

No. My credit card was charged in November. I've inquired many times, nver got a response, no strings.

Alice Cooper! One of the best shows I've seen in years.

Believe me, if there was a local shop or a dealer here who could provide this product, I'd buy a lifetime supply today. Very interesting comments about other string choices. I used Fender Super Bullets for a decade and thought they were the schnizit. I stopped using them when I was playing Hamer Specials exclusively because the bullet ends stuck out of the string ferrules on the back of the guitar. I'll pick up another set and reaquaint myself. I have used Thomastik-Infeld Power Brights, DR Blues and Pyramid strings. I liked all of them, had issues with DRs - the wrappings on the wound strings were defective on about 25% of the sets I bought, and have a bit of sticker shock at the current price of the others. I may end up ordering a few sets of Pyramids and hoping for an eventual shipment from Dean.

They really are excellent strings. I don't know technically what the difference is, but they feel more elastic than other brands, without any looseness or sloppiness. Hard to explain, but there's a real and easily discernable "trampoline effect" that's very positive. Far more subjective, but IMO, also present, is a very harmonically full and pleasing tone. I don't want to insult anyone's string of choice, but, for example, D'Addario strings sound and feel "cheap" to me. The tone is kind of "clangy" and the wound strings don't feel completely polished out. The SOS strings definitely feel more refined. I also believe that they sound better, but I can't completely dismiss the halo or placebo effect if I'm being completely honest.

This probably is old news, but I'm finally irritated enough to post about it. I placed an order for 10 sets of Snake Oil strings through the SOS online store in November. I knew the wait would be significant, but I assumed I would get the strings within a few months. Nope. Dean processed my credit card payment immediately and I still haven't gotten the strings nor a response to any of my e-mail inquiries. Now it's far too late to dispute the charge and, unless I want to file a criminal complaint I'll just have to live with the fact that this massingillsack stole $100 from me. Stay away. As good as the strings are, they've become vaporware. SOS is the new Vintique.

ALoft for me as well. I need to be at the airport stupidly early on Sunday, so the proximity to the light rail line sealed the deal. Reasonably priced, too.