diablo175

1. Jim Voorhees- diablo175 2. Philly suburbs (Exton, PA) 3. Will NOT be attending the Cliffdwellers event with Paul Hamer on Friday, 10/14 4. Yes I'm attending the Jam on Saturday, 10/15 5. I will be bringing a guest (wife)

++++1 I am able and would like to contribute to the following: Living After Midnight- rhythm & lead (R & L) War Pigs, R & L Paranoid, R & L Detroit Rock City, R Rock And roll All Nite - R & L Green Manalishi, R & L Cat Scratch Fever, R & L Rock You Like A Hurricane - Scorpions R & L ( I actually do a half decent rendition of Matthias' leads and harmony leads ) Hair Of The Dog - Nazareth R & L? ( Not much in the way of a lead in that tune- ) If anyone can confirm that I'm welcome on any of the above, I'll be ready.

I'm still available to sit in any of the above tunes or anything rockin'. I'm no Clapton or SRV but my blues riffing ain't too shabby either. Anyone needing a little fiery lead or tasty fills to go with some solid rhythm capabilities, gimme a shout. Last but not least here's a great idea for a jam tune- a rocked out version of Play That Funky Music White Boy I found in Guitar for the Practicing Musicians Recordings years ago. It featured Hamer player Jeff Watson and Alan Holdsworth. It's a band fave and great for several (3, 4) guitarists to step out and ham it up.

Ahh. Much better. Thanks!!!

Holy Sh*t! If'n anyone wants to do Rock 'n Roll All Nite, Hair of the Dog, Rock You like a Hurricane, or lIving After Midnight, I'm trekking out to Chicago to join in. Be happy to lend some lead and rhythm guitar as well as some backing vocals..... uhh, that is if I'm, well, ya know... welcome and all.

Not too successful doing a search for Hamer dealers either thru the board or thru Hamer's website so, humor a lazy and apparently technologically incompetent potential customer and sound off if you're a dealer or even better, if there's a list of dealers here on the board.

yup, I can...

+1. Dude is talented for sure. Hey Austin, we did toy with throwing a hot chick (not quite nekkid) in there, screaming at the sight of the monster. In the end, something like that really needs an entire "canvas" to itself...

Guy out in Colorado- Mike Learn. He's got a website here http://www.mikelearn.com/

S'allright. We get requests (mostly to turn it down...) but doesn't mean we gotta play it. Still, not a bad song to perform...

Umm, nekkid wimmens wouldn't go over too well with the spousal unit. I gotta be content with the fact that she tolerates my guitar obsession. Don't wanna push my luck. The p'ups are sealed just like the guitar body. Not sure how bulletproof but I'm like you- what's the point of having them done if they sit in your tackle box o' spare gear?

Okay, so technically, I have been in possession of this for months but it's finally back from the painter and my luthier guru and I gotta say, it RAWKS! Gonna be one of my main stage guitars fer sure. Over the top, uber hot, SD Blackout Metal in the bridge makes this a formidable monster to tame but well worth it.

Having played both now for several years I can say with 99.9% certainty that... ...it's a tie. Seriously, there are pro and cons to both- volume knob placement for the Soloist is a MAJOR drag, single coil pup & strat- style 3 way selector drag down the Cali for me. The bolt on aspect of the Cali doesn't bother me though the neck thru of the Soloist is kinda nice. Ideally, the perfect amalgamation would be a true neck thru Cali with reverse headstock, 2 H, 3 way toggle config, SD Blackouts (or pup of your choice) & snazzy paint scheme or finish. Mmmmm. * Note that I've owned 6 Calis in my lifetime as compared to 2 Soloists. You may draw your own conclusions.

I have to admit, I've acquired a number of shreddy, metal-esque Hamers over the years- Blitzes, Vectors, Scarabs, Diablos, & Cali's. I find I forgo my amazing sounding/playing Cali's to play the pointy, graphic shredders from Jackson, BC Rich etc. because they look as impressive as they sound. So, rather than wait for Hamer to start producing similar guitars, I just hot rod mod older Cali's. IMO, the best of all worlds.

Mine has double meanings- before I discovered my addiction to Cali's I was addicted to Diablo's. Diablo also happened to be the name of the parachute canopy I was flying a while back and the 175 was the square footage of that canopy.

Oh hell YEAH! The Sweet was one of my all-time fave bands as a kid. The potent combination of pop and edginess to fuel a young kid's musical appetites and drive home the importance of melody and the almighty song "hook". To this day Action and Ballroom Blitz still stand as top 10 faves. Still, I really got hooked on the B sides to their 45 singles- tunes like Medusa, Burn on the Flame, & Restless. IMO, the singles version of Action was MUCH preferred over the LP version. Wicked cool intro and break in the middle. I didn't care so much for Krokus' cover of Ballroom Blitz but kinda liked Steve Steven's version of Action. Def Leppard also did a cover of Action in '93 that's not too bad. ACTION

Kev, KICK ass material, man. Lockstep tight and solid production. Imagery and lyrics are certainly provocative which is what this vein of music as all about. My hats off to ya for keeping it alive and thriving! One item: your singer kept reminding me of another I had heard and I puzzled and puzzed trying to remember who, when it finally came to me: Mike Howe of Metal Church ( who replaced David Wayne) Check it out:

Thanks! It's something of a holy grail quest to find a guitar that embodies everything you're looking for and this comes as close as I can get. Looks, feel, ergonomics, tone, features, etc. The only thing I'd have changed on this (other than the stock EMG's to SD Blackouts) would have been the blade-style 3-way pup switch to a 3-way toggle and made the head stock reversed. But this Cali sounds just incredible in the tracks, especially when paired with my buddy's custom made ax.

LOL!!! Rock player credibility? How'd I get that?

So my band was in the studio late last night cutting a demo and this is a shot of yerz trooly playing my Cali Elite Custom. She has the most amazing tone and the initial reaction to the rough tracks was, "wow!"

Old news but I got an '89 Cali Elite that was a project for another member here. I'm putting a reverse head stock- ed neck from another Cali on it, it's gonna get a Mike Learn airbrush finish (including headstock and pups), SD Blackout Metal & AS-1, new Schaller Floyd, 3 way toggle in place of the blade switch & Schaller strap locks.

Uhh, anyone know why this thread got bumped up to the front? The last post here (prior to this one) was dated Oct. 8th... ghosts in the machine again?

+1. I found a brand new BC Rich at Amazon for dirt cheap- cheaper than several used one's on the Bay.

I mostly agreed with you. But there are clearly cases where a saavy buyer can "win" something on eBay. A "Hammer Guitar" that just happens to be a Watson listed at a BIN of $550 for example. Or in cases where the auction doesn't get the attention it otherwise would if the pictures were better or not enough information was given, or it ended at a strange time, or wasn't listed for very many days. So, yes, the whole "winning" thing is a bit silly and the competitive angle is certainly a part of eBay's (and auctions in general) success, but there are ways you can get an item below "market value" on eBay. -Austin Jeez, I hate myself when I fall into that trap. I've been sucked in to competitive bidding on several occasions in the past. Like Austin, I have scored some great deals (a near mint Diablo with active pup's pro installed for 300 bucks.) which only served to perpetuate the competitive bidding from me. Until I just said, "no more." That was one mean monkey to get off the back.

I might not be the best respondent given the recent lambasting I brought on for my rant against PayPal, but I can't resist. I should also qualify this (lest I incur the wrath of business people) that I do not make a living selling goods or services thru the internet. That being said, I've been to both ends of the spectrum re: eBay. Loved it for some great deals I've scored on there and loathed it for some questionable policies and personally annoying characteristics. It is most definitely a love/hate thing, depending on the time and the nature of the latest transaction made on it. But I heartily agree that eBay's luster has been long fading and I have found myself frustrated that there are few other options to replace it. Forums are a decent alternative if you know and are known by the members. Craig'sList doesn't have nearly the success rate because of the limited area of coverage. Fact is, eBay has established a stranglehold on the market because it was arguably the first, now the biggest and best at what it does. We as consumers (or part-time business people) have the option to go other routes. But until there are other equally successful venues available to us, we will be at the mercy of eBay and all it's policies.