stonge

Thin Lizzy - Jailbreak This was the first rock record that I owned - my best friend gave me his copy. Still sounds cool to me.

From your experience(s), what is the diff between the 609 and the 906? I have a NIB 609 that I've never used (one of those impulse buys just in case I need it) but am wondering if I can justify yet another box on the shelf lol.

I haven't played any personally but there are Cavalier tone reports all over TDPRI http://www.tdpri.com/threads/cavalier-lioness-and-fat-lioness-soundbytes.886981/ Rob DiStefano is the builder, and his pickups are highly regarded over there. That sounds like a really interesting partscaster. I don't know that those components will need any upgrades - checks most of the wish list for me as far as teles go. Looking forward to a tone report when it lands. Enjoy!

a couple of years ago I accompanied a friend to GC when he was on the hunt for a new Epiphone SG; he wanted an SG but his budget couldn't justify a Gibson. He played through several Epiphones and settled on one of the ones with the coil-tap (I don't recall that ever being a desired feature, but ah ok). I played his choice, but also tried a used black Epi SG that has a chunky neck and played well for half the price ($199). Played great sounded good even with the stock pickups, so I grabbed it figuring I could always upgrade the pickups and electronics if I needed to. For as much as I 'need' an SG it's more than good enough. Guitars are all one-offs in terms of the wood, components, fit and finish. I've played great cheap guitars and lousy expensive guitars - I think higher end generally buys you a higher likelihood of a 'better' instrument but it's still a bit of a crapshoot imho due to other variables (especially when 'better' is subjective by what you want/like/can deal with in a guitar). It's like shoes; some fit you right and some just don't work for you (but Butcher always has the coolest ones of all lol).

At least it was good pricey beer lol - that was a good time, but I've got other commitments (the Octoberfest event for our Greyhound placement group is Sunday, and I'm helping mrs stonge with that). The Spring Greyhound event is always the same week as the Dallas Guitar Show so I miss that one too. Enjoy and lift one of those overpriced beers for me lol.

Price on Reverb dropped to $4200 - I've had two generous offers already but $2700 is just a little too low lol...

I thought the haircut was the gimmick...

Kinda looks like a weird Photoshopped image. Maybe it's Joe Pass's Mr Horsepower mach 1.

Found a few more things in the basement of misfit toys lol... 1996 Hamer USA Eclipse in dark tobacco burst, 8 lbs with OHSC - very good overall condition with a couple of small finish impressions. Plays and sounds great with original pickups (I also have the original bridge and possibly another fixed bridge cast for an unwound G string somewhere in my parts pile if I can find them lol). $800 local pickup in Hartford, CT or $850 shipped UPS Ground. 1993 Hamer USA Diablo in emerald green with ebony fingerboard, 7 1/2 lbs with OHSC - good overall condition with one dent through the finish on the bottom side that I always forget about, and minor rivet rash etc. Currently set up with .012s and tuned down to D with unknown pickups (Duncan parallel axis something-or-other with I-don't-recall in the neck position). Plays and sounds great - just not in the rotation anytime soon. $750 local pickup in Hartford, CT or $800 shipped UPS Ground. also have a 1997(ish) Phantom in black with the white pearloid pickguard and aftermarket checkerboard pickguard with a Kramer hardshell for $850 local/$900 shipped and a 1998(ish) Phantom Custom in orange flame maple with OHSC for $1250 local/$1300 shipped. Photos after I excavate them from the basement lol. No trades please - continental US shipping only (I'm not set up for CITES docs). Please email to stongemonataoldotcom. Trying to re-balance the ledger after too many nights on Reverb... Thanks, stonge

I may have overestimated the overall count on the Virtuoso's - IIRC there were 10 sustainblock korina Virts in the original batch and I've played two of those. This is my second Virt - my first was the natural quilt maple Virt that I bought for Darc. There have been a few others up here including the infamous clown puke lefty Virt but I guessed high because I didn't want to be that guy with the 'ONLY ONE EVAH WITH EXTRA MOJO' ad copy. The playability is great particularly with .010s - the guys at the factory set it up when they last borrowed it (and while they were installing the EMG - iirc they said there was no ground channel drilled in the guitar which made them wonder if the Hot Rails was actually original or not). The scalloping is very shallow compared to the Fender Yngwie Malmsteen Strat and the string tension on the YM is quite a bit more 'rubber band-ish' and floppy. I also had a Gary Kramer F1 that has 36 frets and 7 strings but it was nothing like the Virt in quality or tone. I feel a bit guilty to be keeping this on a shelf when it needs to be played - I don't shred and it's kinda like taking a Ferrari to the grocery store when I play it lol. Once upon a time in a west coast motel, a mysterious figure in black arrived at my door bearing a plethora of Hamer exotica that he pulled from the boot of his BMW - a green Duotone, a 7-string, a green korina Virt, Whitford's mini-standard, and several other Hamer 'unicorns'. Perhaps it was just an enchilada-fuled dream but I recall there was much merriment and laughter as we swapped stories late into the night...

Gtrdaddy recently hipped me to Chuck D'Alioa and I was checking out some of his videos on youtube. He also has a great deal on a ton of lessons that he put together on his website https://chuckdaloiamusic.com/ It's an amazing amount of material for $25 from a guy who is an incredible player. Well worth the money imho. Back on topic - that looks like a great rig. GLWTS.

Greetings. I have listed my 1988 Hamer Virtuoso in Ice Pearl Metallic up on Reverb for $4500 shipped: https://reverb.com/item/15490903-hamer-virtuoso-1988-ice-pearl It's been the crown jewel of my Hamer collection, but it's time to let it go to someone who can put all those frets to good use (I barely need half of them lol). Thanks, stonge

those dimensions only give you the thickness of the neck at those two points, and don't tell you anything really about the profile or shape of the neck. A sharp 'V' neck with those dimensions would feel totally different than a 'U' neck. The thickness is only part of the characteristic of a neck. Please see these for more info: http://www.warmoth.com/Guitar/Necks/BackContours.aspx https://musikraft.com/cmspage.php?page_id=33

"All my signature series gear must be defective; my Fender SRV doesn't sound like Stevie Ray my PRS DTG doesn't sound like David Grissom and my Ibanez JEMs certainly don't sound anything like Vai. All that supposedly great gear just sounds like me when I play it. It must all be broken or something..."

mathman nailed it - even with crusty crusty strings it sounds great (reminder go check on a tetanus booster lol). lots of cool tones in there.