Dana_V

No Hamers acquired in 2025. In fact, I haven't bought a guitar since October, 2024 (2019 Gibson SG Junior). Instead, in 2025 I spent money on other exciting things like a sewer line repair, the deductibles on a new roof and my daughter's dental work, car repairs (it turns out catalytic converter replacement is expensive), tires...and of course the University of North Texas got a big chunk. Fun! 😆 My Hamer count remains 21.

I just played one - the Ranger in the photo below - unplugged, but it felt great. The neck was ever so slightly fatter than my '99 American Strat, but still very Fender-like. No rough edges and the frets we nice and even. Although it's basically Stratocaster-shaped, the body of a Ranger is thinner than a Strat, so it weighs a little less than your average Strat. I thought the fit and finish looked great - but of course any builder is going to put their best-looking stuff on display at a show like this. But I didn't see any blemishes, uneven binding or any evidence of sloppy workmanship. At the risk of sounding like a paid endorser (which I am definitely not), the guys there seemed truly interested in building Robin back up as a maker of high-quality guitars. I mentioned how I don't own one but I've kept Robin in the back of my mind since living in Houston in the 80s, and they said, "Just let us know when you're ready and we'll build you one" and gave me a blank build sheet. (I think that's called "being a salesman," but I guess it worked because I'm still thinking about it - and I know exactly what I would order. So we'll see.)

It was great to meet you at the show! Really enjoying the book!

It was a good show! I didn't buy any guitars (I didn't think I would), but I bought a copy of @Willie G. Moseley's Robin Guitars book and got to talk to him for a few minutes. I also got to meet @currypowder which was cool. It's always great to meet fellow HFCers in person. And not only did I meet up with @Hamerica at the show, I got to hang out with him and swap guitar stories for a little while on Sunday afternoon. Thanks, Brian! When I asked the guy at Spacetone about the salmon blush Sunburst @Bennyboy-UK was asking about, he said, "Yeah, like three other people have asked me about that guitar today." But as reported by Greg, it wasn't there; it was back in Spacetone's shop in San Antonio. He did assure me though, that it looks better in person than the pictures on Reverb show. I only actually saw two Hamers, although I heard there were others there - I guess I just missed them. I DID manage to sell one of the three guitars I brought with me: the Ibanez S770PB. As had been discussed here (I really appreciate the advice - thanks!), I made signs with descriptions, prices and pictures, taped them to cardboard and then attached them to my rolling cart (visible from every angle). Several passers-by asked about them, and I even had a bit of interest from a couple of booths. One dealer asked to see the Epi LP, gave it a thorough visual inspection, then said, "Eh, I don't like the color. Gonna have to pass." Another dealer asked if I wanted to trade the ESP for a Kramer Baretta. But I wasn't really expecting much interest from dealers anyway - this show is much more about vintage guitars than Ibanez, ESP and import Epiphones. Then, just when I was beginning to think none of them were going to sell, a guy passing by saw the sign and said, "Hey, can I see your Ibanez?" I said sure and got it out of the case. While he was looking it over and playing it (unplugged) a little bit, his wife was digging money out of her purse. He said, "$500?" I said, "Yep." She handed me five $100 bills and the deal was done. The whole thing probably took less than five minutes. So that was pretty exciting. Speaking of the aforementioned Robin Guitars, talking to those guys reawakened that little voice inside my head that says "You need a Robin" - specifically a Ranger Slabtop Supreme, custom ordered with a skinny neck. I used to have this thought all the time when I lived in Houston in the 80s but never did anything about it. I may have to investigate further. James "Dusty" Gregg of Gregg Guitars (Fort Worth, TX) was there again, with his light-as-a-feather sparkly guitars. But I managed to resist. I was also intrigued by another Texas-based independent builder, 1836 Guitars. Some really interesting designs, but again I resisted. Finally, the award for the most expensive guitar I saw that day is a tie between these two, both at the same booth:

I’ll keep an eye out for it!

Yes, that's my plan - the cart and the large-print signs. I HAD debated about whether or not to put prices on the signs, though, wondering if it's better to advertise the prices or let people ask me. But now that you mention it, it probably IS better to have prices in plain sight. It also occurred to me that, since the guitars will be in cases, I can include a picture of the guitar on the sign. And yeah, the trade thing crossed my mind, but anything I would be interested in (like, say, a '69-'71 Fender Mustang in competition red) would definitely involve me adding cash to the deal. So I probably won't be doing that.

Amigo Guitar Show - Mesquite (formerly Guitarlington), Saturday, October 18, Mesquite, Texas. Anyone else going? I'll be there with my daughter again. And this time I'm gonna be doing something I've never attempted before: bringing guitars to (try to) sell. 2013 Epiphone Les Paul Traditional Pro, Goldtop 2013 Ibanez S770PB, Poplar Burl Natural Flat 2013 ESP LTD EC1000 Deluxe, Goldburst They're all in excellent condition with hardly any wear at all. Here's my plan: All three are in hard cases, so I'm going to put them on a small cart and attach a sign to the front of the cart with year, make/model and color. I'm thinking I WON'T put prices on the sign, thereby leaving it open to negotiation. I checked Reverb and eBay for SOLD prices (not asking prices) over the last twelve months and came up with asking prices I think are pretty reasonable: Epi LP - $350 Ibanez S770PB - $500 ESP LTD EC1000 - $600 I'm not trying to get rich, but I also don't want to just give them away. I'm still relatively new to going to guitar shows - and selling guitars is something I've NEVER done - so any advice is appreciated. Full disclosure: other than new strings, my financial investment in these guitars is $0.00. In 2016, a friend/longtime follower of the band started having some serious health issues. Knowing he was going to be in long-term health care facilities for an indefinite amount of time, he distributed the majority of his music gear to one of my bandmates and me for safekeeping. As he went into further decline and it became clear he was never going to recover, he said, "After I'm gone y'all do whatever you want with that stuff: keep it, sell it, whatever. I can't use it anymore! <big hearty biker-dude laugh>" He passed away on March 8, 2024. I spoke with his daughter and she reiterated the same thing: he wanted us to have that stuff so do whatever we wanted with it. There are several items I kept, of course, but there are a few - including these guitars - that are just gathering dust with me.

Thanks! Yes, it was a lot of fun - including the Texas-Wisconsin road trip to get there. And yes, ETC seems to be one of the rare companies that still values its employees; they bought High End Systems in 2017, and it's been great ever since.

Yes, we did get some video. The camera was kind of in a dead spot so the mix isn't all that great, but otherwise it came out okay. The YouTube playlist is here: ETC has been great - both as a company to work for and a host to events like this. Everyone there was SO accommodating and nice to us.

Those five covered the bases very well, but by "limiting myself" I was referring to how, with this band, I usually bring a dozen or more guitars to a three-to-four hour gig. Some for practical reasons - different tunings, 12 strings, etc. - but others just because it's ridiculous, over-the-top and fun. Bringing a bunch of guitars has become my shtick with this band; if I were to show up to a SUIT gig with only one or two guitars everyone would ask me, "Are you okay?" 😆 Of course, if we were touring, or if we were playing out seven nights a week I would approach it differently, but since we only do about one gig a month - usually pretty close to home - it's fine. It's a little extra work, but I enjoy it. This was my first time seeing TGR, but yes, they sounded fantastic. Plus they seemed confident, relaxed, and happy to be there.

All three of us in my blues band, SUIT, work for the same company – High End Systems – which is owned by ETC (Electronic Theatre Controls). Every year ETC has a company picnic at their headquarters in Middleton, Wisconsin (about 1,200 miles from where we live in Austin, Texas), and this year they invited us to play. 2025 is ETC's 50th anniversary year, so they really went all out this time. It was an all-day event, with about 1,000 people in attendance. Lots of food and drink (including alcohol for those of-age), activities for kids, door-prize drawings, etc. Throughout the day there were solo and duo performers on stage (all ETC employees), including a guy that did a tuba-based comedy set. We played from 6:00 - 7:15, followed by the headliner, The Grass Roots*. The whole thing culminated in a fifteen-minute fireworks show. *There are NO original members in the 2025 version of the Grass Roots, but this incarnation has been together since 2008 and they sounded great. Due to space constraints of making the trip, we brought a somewhat reduced setup. I used my Mesa Nomad 55 combo and my "B" pedalboard rather than my usual Mesa Mark V/Magnatone and "A" pedalboard rig; bass player Sean brought a small bass amp instead of his 1971 Kustom tuck-n-roll cab. I also limited myself (😆) to five guitars and one lap steel. Our drummer couldn’t make it, so we tapped another co-worker to fill in on drums. He’s a good drummer and used to play a lot but hadn’t picked up a pair of sticks in about a decade – so he was a little rusty. Through a whirlwind series of rehearsals we got him up to speed and he did a great job, although – full disclosure – his tempos tended to rush a bit. Here’s the setlist and what guitars I used: 08/02/25 – ETC Company Picnic – Setlist #S200 1-1 – Give Me Back My Wig (Hound Dog Taylor) – Tele 1-2 – Diggin’ My Potatoes (Washboard Sam) – Tele 1-3 – Bad to the Bone (George Thorogood) – Lappie 1-4 – License Plate Stomp (SUIT) – LPG-5 1-5 – Shake Your Money Maker (Elmore James) – Smokey 1-6 – She Put the Whammy on Me (Freddie King) – Smokey 1-7 – When the Levee Breaks (Kansas Joe McCoy & Memphis Minnie/Led Zeppelin) – Dan-O 1-8 – Down the Road a Piece (Will Bradley Trio) / Jesus Just Left Chicago (ZZ Top) – Smokey 1-9 – Money Collection (SUIT) – Smokey 1-10 – Let’s Work Together (Canned Heat) – Lappie 1-11 – Night Train (Tab Benoit) – Blackie Tele – 2009 Fender American Vintage 1952 Telecaster Reissue LPG-5 – 2013 Texas Box Guitars LPG-5 (open-G tuning) Lappie – 1955 Supro Student DeLuxe lap steel (open-G tuning) Smokey – 2020 Shishkov DC Custom Dan-O – 2000 Danelectro DC-12 (open-G tuning) Blackie – 1981 Hamer Special Nice big stage, great PA. The lighting was awesome, too (hey, it IS a lighting company), although most of our set was in bright daylight. The covered gear, tweed guitar amps and SWR cabs belong to The Grass Roots. During Freddie King's "She Put the Whammy on Me." Texas Box Guitars LPG-5, custom made for me using an old license plate from my 1986 Mustang. Another gratuitous shot of Shishkov 0092. 1955 Supro lap steel. On a walkabout with Blackie during Tab Benoit's "Night Train." The Grass Roots. No original members, but they sounded great. Fireworks.

I love my amps! I have a couple of friends who have gone the "silent stage" route and while I understand the reasoning behind it, it just seems...weird. Having said that, stage volume these days is MUCH lower than it used to be. Back in the 70s, I'd plug my 160-watt Peavey Mace head into a 412 cab (or, sometimes, TWO 412 cabs) and crank that baby UP! For the gig in the picture, my Mesa Mark V is set to the 10-watt mode; just out of frame is a 1953 Magnatone Melodier (about 18 watts). It's still plenty loud, but not the hearing-loss-inducing kind of volume we used to use. But even at today's somewhat reduced sound levels, there's nothing like feeling those vibrations and moving air coming off real speakers - or finding just the right spot to get controlled feedback.

Since things have been a bit quiet lately, here's a picture of 0092 and me from last Saturday night. ...and a fairly unflattering guitar face:

0063, 0092. When I ordered Ultimate 0063 in 2015, the serial numbers were in the 60s. I requested 0063 in honor of my wife’s birth year, 1963 (she passed away in 2014). Two years later, my daughter and I went on an epic Texas-Connecticut road trip to Shishkov HQ and picked it up in person on Monday, July 10, 2017. While we were there, I was able to select the wood for the top of DC 0092, which was delivered by FedEx on Sunday, July 5, 2020, at 9:07 AM.

Take care of yourself and do what you've gotta do - we can wait. Wishing you a full and speedy recovery! Dana 0063 0092 0139

LOVE the trans blue!

Be still my heart.

Yeah, but just think of it. A fully-assembled bicycle, same-day delivered by DRONES. I mean, come on, how awesome would that be?

...raises hand...<eyes drift toward upper right hand corner of picture>

Must. Remain. Calm.