MPR

Lex V2 has both a volume knob and a "dry" knob to blend dry signal with the rotary effect, so it should address both your issues. I used to have the Neo Mini Vent II, which sounded great but didn't have any control over the intensity or wet/dry mix, so I sold it and got a Keeley Rotary. I like the Keeley on slow speed with the blend knob set very low for a subtle chorus effect, or on fast with the blend set a bit higher for more of the Hammond organ thing. The knobs are big enough to turn with your toe mid-song. It doesn't have a volume control, though, and depending on how your rig is EQ'd you may perceive a slight change from your bypassed volume; I compensate by engaging a boost as needed. I've never tried the Lex, and while I know I checked out online demos of both before I bought the Keeley, I forget now what made me choose it over the Strymon.

He shows it in the video at the top of this tread, starting at 7m43s, mentions that he hasn't been using it enough because it's mint condition and he already had the Vanguard he plays a lot when he received it.. That's what prompted me to reach out to him and say I was interested if he wanted to sell. I'm planning to replace the rotary with a Free-Way switch (6-way toggle), so I can make changes more quickly live and have the option of middle pickup or neck + bridge.

Thanks for the tip. My current, two-pickup Artist Korina P90 came with the Grovers but with ebony buttons, which shave some weight, and I haven't noticed balance issues. I actually did have a local luthier replace the tuners on it this past summer (while also fitting a new nut and doing a setup), because the old ones were having some mechanical issues, but he just put another set of Grovers on it, because wasn't aware of another option that would fit the same holes. It's good to know now that the Gotohs are a drop-in replacement, as I imagine they're not only lighter weight but also better quality tuners. Assuming I get on well with the new 3-P90 guitar, the 2-P90 may be going up for sale soon.

I bought Shane's Artist Korina 3 P90. He shipped it on Tuesday, and now I'm just waiting for it to make its way from L.A. to Connecticut. As I told Shane (and posted a comment on his video), he's actually the one who turned me onto Hamers, and it's a fun story. It was the summer after my sophomore year of high school. I had been playing for five years and had saved up to replace my starter guitar with something really good. I was planning to buy a used PRS McCarty, which at the time went for about $1300 on eBay. Meanwhile, I played in a Frisbee golf tournament in a park just off my neighborhood, and by making the longest putt in the novice division on some particular hole, I won two tickets to see the Neville Brothers at the county fairgrounds. (How random is that?!) I didn't know any Neville Brothers stuff at the time, but my older brother was hip to the Meters, so I took him and saw the show. Well, Shane was on that gig, playing his Artist and/or Vanguard, and his guitar tone sounded really good to me. I recognized that he was playing Hamers, having seen the cheaper import models in the shop where I bought my first guitar and took my first lessons, though I didn't know anything about them. So, after the concert, I went back to that shop to see what I could find, and as it happened, while they normally only stocked the imports, they had two used USA-made Hamers hanging on the back wall, on consignment. One was a Newport Pro Custom (ruby red with the harp tailpiece), and the other was an Artist Custom in transparent. I thought both guitars sounded great, though I could only afford one. I liked the versatility of the Artist, preferred its three knobs and semi-hollow construction to the two-knob, solid-body McCarty I'd been planning to buy, and that was it. That Artist (in my avatar) was the only electric I played from 2001 to 2022, when I picked up a second Hamer—the Mirage II now for sale—and more recently, an Artist Korina P90 and a Newport. Shane's guitar will be the first time I've had three pickups since the Peavey Strat-knockoff I started on way back when, and I'm looking forward to having some of that neck/middle combo but with semi-hollow goodness and the fatness of P90s.

Bump. I just listed this on Reverb for a couple hundred more, but I'd be happy to sell here.

Best volume pedal for me is the Sonuus Voluum. Bigger footprint, and not cheap, but it does more. With digital brains controlling analog audio curcuit (voltage controlled amplifier) you can have different presets for full swells, subtle cut or boost, and do other volume-based effects—I stumbled across it while searching for a tremolo pedal that can sync to MIDI clock, which the Voluum does beautifully, and I also use it for a bit of compression on clean/low-gain sounds. Here's the demo that turned me onto it:

Lol, it basically means afford. As in, not dipping into savings when I need to have some work done on the house.

I'm tempted, but I need someone to buy my Mirage before I can justify buying another guitar.

It does rip pretty hard. And it sustains like Nigel Tufnel's '59 Les Paul would (you know, if it were playing…)

Now you made me curious to weigh it. Scale reads just under 9.5 lbs (9 lbs 7.7 oz, to be precise).

Confirmed: 59 in the neck, JB in the bridge.

I assume so. I haven't touched the pickups, can take them out to confirm when I get home tonight (unless @beezerboy can tell us).

Made in '97, purchased from @beezerboy a few years ago. I swapped the bridge for a MannMade and had it professionally set up for E-flat standard with .011s (including some fretwork) and added a Tremol-No. The guitar plays great. Plenty of light knicks/blemishes in the finish, nothing major. Alongside my old Artist Custom, I played this guitar regularly at church for a couple of years (Artist in standard, Mirage down a 1/2 step) until I found a couple other Hamers that fit my taste a bit better (Artist Korina P90 & Newport). Time to let this one go to someone who will put it to work. EDIT: Sold on Reverb. More images at full resolution here.

It's been way too long for me to remember the details, but I distinctly remember loving how it felt and hating how it sounded. And then I plugged a Gibson Howard Roberts Fusion III into the same amp at the shop and it sounded fabulous (neck pickup, at least). Obviously, people will have different tonal preferences, but the Fly will sound distinct by virtue of its construction—the extremely thin/light body, and carbon & glass in the neck, make the instrument resonate differently than a more traditionally constructed guitar.

Thanks! I actually bought a set of TV Jones Classics a little while ago thinking I'd put them in another guitar, but I think I'm going to sell that guitar instead (a Mirage II, likely to be here on the HFC soon). And I figured if I wasn't happy with the Firebird pickups, the 'trons would go in the Newport. So far, though, I'm happy with the pickups that came in it.

I tried a Parker Fly once at a shop back in high school when I was first looking to upgrade from my cheap starter guitar. It felt unbelievable—light as a feather, and the neck somehow made fast lines just effortless. As in, I literally played faster than I ever had before. However, shred isn't my thing, and I hated the way that guitar sounded.

Thanks! I'd wanted a Newport since playing one at a shop in high school. They had two USA Hamers at the time, a Newport Pro Custom and the Artist Custom in my avatar. I could only afford one at the time, and the Artist went home with me (and was my only electric guitar for many years). But now here we are. I actually like this one much better than the Newport Pro Custom—I've been wanting something with a Bigsby, I'm digging the transparent orange finish (a nice nod to Gretsch), and my first impression of the Firebird pickups is very positive. I look forward to putting it to proper use with the full band at church tomorrow.

I just picked this up off the 'verb (made 'em an offer for a bit less than asking, and they took it). https://reverb.com/item/83265427-used-hamer-usa-newport-pro-electric-guitar-with-hard-case

Have you looked at the Kingsley Constable? It's a proper JTM45 preamp in pedal format, which you can run into the effects return of your Friedman to bypass the amp's front end and drive the power amp directly. For full-on Plexi overdrive at lower volumes, put a Kingsley Hatchet after the Constable. The Hatchet is basically a phase inverter tube in a pedal, so you can slam it with a high output volume from the Constable and get overdrive the way a Plexi does by pushing the power section, and then drop the Hatchet's output volume for whatever you actually want coming out of your amp (or to feed other pedals you might want post-distortion, such as delay and reverb). I haven't personally tried these, but I use the Kingsley Juggler (Dumble ODS preamp) and Page TS in my main rig, and they are killer. Here's a demo from Simon, the guy who makes all these (and a fantastic guitar player):