diablo175

F--- the top ten; it's a badass book. Mine arrived today and I've already been reading it on the shitter ( much more prestigious than some top ten list on Amazon) and discreetly paging thru it during dinner as the spouse blathered on about her day. Goddamn, that book rocks! Maybe it's me but after reading what little I have so far, I really feel like I'm a part of Hamer's history in having had the unfathomable good fortune to order one of the last 10 or so Customs to come outta New Hartford.

YMMV- DEFINITELY But I agree with G Man's assessment- sometimes you wanna run with that sadness, as strange as that sounds. Maybe let it run it's course is a better analogy. Times like that, especially when they were brought on by relationship issues, Type O Negative's Too Late: Frozen came in handy. When I wanna be free of the sad shit, it's either nostalgic and upbeat goodies that recall good times/places or defiant, unrelenting rockers. As in, I will NOT let this/you beat me down. Again, Too Late: Frozen comes to mind

Just ordered mine.

Yeah, Henry says it best:

LOL One of my faves from the mid-late 80's!!! Classic. And then there's this: Technically extends beyond the 30 sec mark but still one of the best intros to a song.

Ratt- Lay it Down- Hendrix- Ezy Rider- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bbh0F-90N-M

Same thought had occurred to me...

Meh. Sounds like Greg Howe and Tony MacAlpline. Mind you, I love both of those players but the dude shredding Ludwig was pretty true to his source.

Dayummmm. That was off-the-charts impressive.

Must be dolla' beer night in the Crown and Hammer Pub....

Wow Zen! Very impressive shit there, young man!

Feynman, my vocabulary or bag o' tricks on guitar has definitely improved. I have more phrases, if you will, to use when the occasion calls for it but I find my physical ability to execute them has diminished just a wee bit. Just not as speedy these days. The trade off is perhaps I'm a tad more tasty. But I doubt it.

Aw hell, Zorrow, almost any guitar's gonna look classy in black with white binding, gold hardware and blocks. Frankly, it's the Lester ass-end that looks classy. But don't misinterpret my post: I love me some Z/ML/whatever front part. Just not on a LP bottom.

I woulda withheld her pay for dropping the guitar in the pool... until she offered to drop the bathing suit for some exclusive, private photos... heh heh heh

I'm sorry but I just don't get the Cadillac design. I mean, I get the concept but I just don't like it. Butt ugly. Like someone did an unspeakable amalgam of a Lester ass and a ML head. Like Willie Mays Hayes Rolls Royce grill on a Beetle body.

Have owned two Dean guitars- a Dean Dime Razorback Slimebee ML and a Matt Heafy Sig Rising Star ML. My impressions were such: Both were Korean made IIRC and the Dime, after several mods, played really well- fast neck; good profile for me, and the Dimebucker in the bridge sounded really good. I swapped out the shit lic'd Floyd for an OFR and had it installed & set up professionally by Kim Coffey who used to work for Kramer on the EVH guitars. My only gripe was the 22 frets. Despite the fact that the Matt Heafy came cheap- that line was slated to be discontinued and dealers were blowing them out at half the usual price- it never really hit it off for me. Damned shame too, because I loved the features & the Rising Sun graphic. The MH sig p'ups didn't really bowl me over. Kinda meh and uninspiring. The trem was an OFR but was set up for shit and despite several attempts to correct, couldn't get it to my standards. The killing stroke was the Trivium shit all over it- I am not really a fan of the band and even if I was, I really didn't feel like being a walking promotional for the band. I might suck ass as a player but I still have enough pride to avoid being a shill for the band. Flipped that one in a big hurry.

Yes, as mentioned at the very beginning of the thread, Stike did the radioactive paint work and assembly. Hats off to both Jay and Stike for a kick-ass transformation. Just got a photo of Stike's work on my Cali. Two words: Holy. Shit. That is all.

neon Chartreuse

To be sure, Jay had a major hand in this: swapping guts and p'ups , dressing frets, eradicating evidence of someone else' custom specs, etc.

Thanks, Analog! IMO, it doesn't get much more 80's hair metal/shred than this. Am strongly considering making it my drop D tuned shredder for goodies like Ratt's Lay It Down and others.

Here she is, in all her retina-searing glory!

This will likely complete the herd of Cali's. In all honesty, I can't see adding any others and certainly not without cutting an equal number loose; as I discovered last weekend at my gig, I can't choose from the herd without agonizing over the decision. Bringing 6 to a gig is both idiotic and over the top unnecessary for band of our status and a guitar mangler of my caliber. And when you factor in that I actually own several non-Cali's/Hamer's that work exceptionally well in a live situation, this compounds the problem. I know, we should ALL be so unfortunate, right?

Hot DAMN! It's on it's way. T- minus 5 hours and counting 'til NGD. The custom Cali formerly known as Fung's has a new look courtesy of Stike and will be in my mitts this afternoon. Tone report and pics to follow. That is all.

After a copious amount of quality brewskis, I'll be a sex-anywhere-she'll-consent-to-kinda guy. But yeah, my numero uno imbibing solution is tequila. Start with shots and wash down with a quality margarita.

He only makes it down to FL a few times a year. I can make myself a vapor pretty easily. Thorn, unlike the tropical storm and tornadoes that just tore thru Fl., you won't know when I hit. 'Til it's too late Better keep some brewskis on ice, bro