serial

Cheap Trick for me. Not only did they crank out volumes of great guitar-based power pop, but Rick's guitar collecting introduced me to Hamers in the late 70s. I dig Weezer a lot and Green Day was quite good live. Never "got" Metallica (Iron Maiden even less). As for Tommy Tutone, I bought the Jenny 45 (still have all of my old 45s from the 70s/early 80s-some real gems in there, actually) and remember playing the flipside maybe once and not being overly impressed. I still like "Jenny" and BroChris sat in with my band at our last gig for a high school band reprise of that one. That was a lot of fun.

Actually, that one predates Mobbie's by at least two years. I saw that one being built at the factory at HFC 4 or 5. Got pix around somewhere. Mobbie's is a bit more wicked IMHO though!

They are VERY cool. Most seem a bit heavy, but sound and play great... Thanks to BCR/Greg and being in the right place at the right time, I ended up with this one-the last bass outta there.

That number checks out in the logs. June 1, 1979. Very cool-not many black '79s and even fewer bound and crown '79 Sunbursts!

Wow, a Mirage that Turdus could love!

All Virts had scalloped boards.

That was my pic-got it from a guy who used to work at the factory and worked on the Virts. Those two are NAMM ones, so they wouldn't have had the regular production numbers like Joe's did. Most of the early sustain block Virts were korina as I've been told.

Heyyyy-where'd THAT pic come from?!

There were ten numered like this one, the rest all had standard serial numbers. I have spoken with the guys who designed the Virt and the guys who built the early ones. They all had sustain blocks. The "regular production" ones (if any could be called that) pretty much all had trems.

This one should be black.

Great thread, great posts. Yeah my first post was a bit of a goof, but I would be remiss in not mentioning the greatest part of this place as Poe and a bunch of others here have already done. My wife thought I was insane early on when I would talk about these "invisible people" who I considered friends and eventually got to hang out with at the HFC events. She has since gotten to meet a number of them who we happen to run into from time to time and now "gets it". There is an amazing commonality that I haven't experienced elsewhere that makes most people here quickly bond. I get phone calls from HFCers almost daily and really enjoy the friendships that I've made here. If I tried to make a list thanking people for stuff, this post would take me all week and still not be close to complete. Thanks People!

I got crabs from Cary. Or did I give them to him? Hmmm, fuzzy memories, Good times... Kidding of course.

Depends on the direction of the taper.

I don't recall who did the photoshop, but that's an idea that has been kicking around here for years. Greg has tried several times since his two runs of mahogany double cuts came out to get a single cut Junior done and Hamer wasn't interested in doing the design. I was present at the shop when he was on the phone with the factory about trying to get these made.

Paul Hamer was with them for a while. His brother is still there and some of the limited run Gibson stuff is his area.

Have a great one!

I think only BroChris is on to anything here....

I used to view those "scarf joints" on the headstock as inferior as well, but a few higher end companies use them-I hear for strength as well (although I think that it is to save on lumber!). Taylors also use bolt on necks which I thought was odd for an acoustic, but they're pretty highly regarded, so I guess it's not like the crappy Fender acoustics I've played. Agreed on the Yamahas. I have a 20+ year old (FG 250?) low-end Yamaha acoustic and although it clearly doesn't play as well or is anywhere near as precise as my J-200, it sure as hell sounds great. Oddly enough when I first got it I didn't think it did, but it must have "opened up" with age or something-it's got a really nice tone to it now.

That one should be worth a good bit, I'd think. Not sure what the reserve is though-it was pretty silly last time from what I heard. There is also an issue about the pickups-at least one of the originals was a Gibson PAF. I got an email from the seller the last time that these were the original pickups and that they were both Dimarzios. The pickups (at least the neck pickup) in there now are not the same as in the old ads.

Wonder if he's on smack.

I'd probably want to have Rick Neilsen, Tom Petersson and either Shakira or Jennifer Love Hewitt over.

Wishing I WAS playing my Vector. I have to settle for posting.

This IS a good one. I remember when that one came in.

An original '78 for $1300? Smoking deal. I'll have to check the logs again to see what was in there-don't remember an "E", but there are some designations on a lot of the early ones where they were experimenting with the finishes. This one is from October 1978. Congrats on the engagement!

Funny, but I feel like I'VE been grinning all day long! THAT is perhaps the baddest-assed new custom Hamer I've seen. Dayum. I'm smitten.