Jeff R

The Floyd-is-a-tone-robber theory is BS IMHO, after owning countless guitars with and without. I've had relatively cheap-cost Floyd'ed guitars that were tone and sustain monsters and high-dollar hardtails/other trem-style guitars that sounded or sustained nothing like the price tag/perceived value should indicate. I also think the thing about butting a Floyd down against the body to enhance tone and sustain is BS too. Then again, I'm a full-floating Floyd advocate. I've "enhanced" the sustain of my Floyd-equipped guitars with Tremol-No units but they didn't have crap sustain to begin with. If you are die-hard to get a Floyd but still want some of the benefits of a hard-tail, I STRONGLY recommend the addition of a Tremol-No unit. In summary, consider the guitar in question for its own tone and sustain, regardless of the bridge, electronics, etc.

Guitar Honey is GREAT for rosewood boards. I keep a bottle of that around too.

For routine cleaning, the Dunlop 65 stuff is great, affordable and readily available. To really clean a guitar finish, I use a polish that's distributed by GHS. It's in a black bottle with a red label. It hardens a little like a light wax and it takes off stuff the 65 can't touch. I stay away from that milky crap sold by Gibson and Martin. Over time, it leaves a film on the finish. That's how I learned about the GHS stuff - trying to remove old Gibson and Martin polish residue.

For the poll, I went with "fear of disease." It's amazing how two chest x-rays two weeks ago and a doctor's "early stages of emphysema" diagnosis can make a guy in his late 30s finally realize he's not immortal and really needs to start taking care of himself if he expects to see all of his kids grow up. I'm on my seventh day of quitting smoking. Haven't gone this long without in the 23 years I've smoked. On top of that, over two weeks without my daily dousing of Miller Lite or any other adult beverages, thanks to the meds Doc put me on. It's a really weird transitional period for me right now, but overall it's all good.

I think I peed a little just now. The laughter is even more fun the second time around.

Did you rosin the bow? Edited to turn down the Echoplex's "repeats" knob.

http://www.vintagecheckout.com/index.htm I'm scared to click around that site too much, might end up costing me a coupla grand just to look around out of curiousity.

Duncan JB Jr. in the bridge position of my G&L Legacy. I haven't lifted the pickguard in five years it sounds so good. Fatter and hotter than a stock single but it doesn't blow the other two singles away in volume.

It's a shame because it's apparent that there is a market for them in all price ranges. Go check out the Custom Shop Jacksons and new SD Charvels photo pages at Jackson Guitars' Web site if you don't believe me.

I've stripped down plenty over the past couple of years. At one point, my effects were housed in a PRS-sized hardshell converted into a pedalboard, and it took two power supplies and a couple of power strips to run everything on it. It was a miracle any signal actually reached my amp It weighed close to 50 pounds and there was so much crap underneath me I always looked like I was trying to put out little fires I was stomping so much. Now I use a wah (Tech 21 Killer Wail) and an old lime green MIJ Boss Phaser that I can tweak a half-assed flanger out of when need be. I have an old Boss compressor and a Voodoo Labs Proctavia I pull out occasionally but they rarely leave the cable bag now. My new Randall combo has some wicked and very touch-sensitive tones in it, so I've found I'm rarely hitting the wah or the phaser, usually only because I'm bored or feeling sorry for their loneliness

I have no idea why Clapton chose the Strat/Tweed Twin combo for playing Cream. I'd say his longtime Fender endorsement and the $$$$$ associated with it had something to do with the choice

HBD both of ya

Have a great one!

The absence of traditional mounting rings really makes that one jump out to me visually, in a very cool way. Awesome!

Instead of doing the wraparound job (the strings divot and chip the chrome plating BTW), I'd get brass washers from my local hardware store for the studs. I forget the dimensions of the washers, but the inside hole was about the size of the threaded part of the stud and the outside circumference was small enough so that the washer was concealed from view from the top of the bar. By using the washers, I could raise the bar to decrease the angle over the TOM and get that slinkier field Peso's talking accurately about (in addition to reducing string breakage). But at the same time, I could still "tighten" the studs inside the sleeves which I think enhances sustain and tone. I recently sold my Special FM to Frankie II and it has my little washer mod. Maybe Frank will take a photo or two for us and get the measurements on the brass washers when the guitar gets to his house next week.

Yes, this is actually one of the more entertaining threads I've seen here lately.

Just got an e-mail from Hamer. It shows in the logbooks as a Centaura in black/blue built 12/19/95 for Guitar Works.

Sorry for the quality from my digital point 'n' shoot, but I'm eager to share (I'm sure Cajun Boy and I will shoot some nicer ones very soon). Here's the "Centablo" I recently picked up from the Admiral Ballsy collection. Many freaky things going on here. 1. Serial number is '95, the last production year for Centauras. There is only one other Centaura listed in the published HFC database, and this one is after it number-wise. Serial is doing a trace on the number to see if this is the last documented Centaura to leave the factory. 2. Centaura body has the rare 2HB configuration. 3. Custom color - transparent blue 'bursting to an almost solid purple (wood grain on edges only visible under florescent lights.) These photos do not do the color justice. 4. Diablo neck. Thick Diablo profile, reverse head (Centauras phased out inverted heads in '92) and small Hamer logo like a Diablo. 5. Fingerboard, however, is Centaura (offset dots). Also, the fingerboard is rosewood, not pau ferro. 6. The body is light swamp ash and a ONE-PIECE. Neither Ballsy or I have been able to detect any seam in it. It's currently loaded with a Dimarzio Humbucker from Hell in the neck and a Dimarzio Fred in the bridge, with an added five-way Megaswitch. I can get five cool sounds with tapped but combined 'buckers in the 2 and 4 position, and I can use the factory mid-boost toggle to make all five sound somewhat shittier. I'll probably end up changing to Duncans (my preference) and converting the midboost toggle to a phase switch to get that hollowfunky sound in position 3. Oh yeah, excellent-plus condition at least. No dings, nicks, fretware or anything, just some polishing scratches here and there that could be buffed out easily. I hounded Ballsy for this one for over a year, and it stole my heart straight from the case. This is pretty much "the" Hamer custom order I would file if they would make it - the Centaura 2HB is my favorite they've ever made, I'm very fond of ash/rosewood bolt-ons, this one has a meatier neck, and the blue/purple burst is gorgeous. I'm in guitar heaven. Just wanted to share!

Here's me Cali... Hated to sell this eyecatcher ... "Bonehead" I want to do a rattlecan partsocaster replica of this rarebird - the Hamer Centaurachapifornian hybridwhatchamacallit custom built for Vernon Reid (this resides with a fellow HFC'er)...

Agreed, Steve. I love watching the prices on '70s strats on eBay now - you know, the POS CBS-era ones everyone ragged for ages. LOL

That's legit. When me and bunch of friends were first starting to play guitar, the "rich" one of us (LOL) got one of those jack-on-the-pickguard strats in black while we were all pounding on import fodder. I played one of those strats for the first time since back in the 80s not too long ago and the stock pickups sounded on the hot side and actually quite good. The trem system held tune pretty well and felt good under the hand. Good luck finding a replacement bar, however, if the original one is missing. It was one made just for that bridge.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/SHOWBIZ/Music/01/3...reut/index.html Congrats, Pam!

This setup is simple and puts some past rigs I had a HELLUVA lot more money in to absolute shame. I have under $650 in the amp and the two pedals (now granted, I know how to shop good ) Considering the Twin is somewhere between 80 or 100 all-tube watts (four 6L6s) and designed to produce clean headroom to forever volumes, the rest of the tones are forever in volume as well should I need it.

+1 on both of Rob's suggestions. My choice of phaser is the Boss PH-2 because it has a second mode that I can cop a half-assed flanger sound out of if need be. Plus it's a sick ass green instead of sick ass orange. My amp is one channel and ultra clean (Fender Twin Reverb). I cascade a Fulldrive 2 followed by a Vintage Rat Reissue. The FD2 by itself gives me pushed Fender, the Rat alone is set to cop a singing Marshall (gain is at 10 o'clock, and both together gives it Marshall pushed to howl and sustain more.

Picked up a '90 black sparkle 2HB Centaura in January that currently resides with HFC'er gwayne. Great guitar for a great fella. Picked up a '90 black/pink granite Cali Elite in September that's sitting in my den. I have a '95 Gretch orange quilt top Special FM arriving in the swamp next week. Since I paid for it earlier this week, we'll call it a 2005 AND a 2006 guitar.