atquinn

Yup. To be truly safe, you need to transfer the money to an account PayPal can't get used to. I never do that though, probably because I've never had any eBay problems in the years I've been using it and because I usually only have a couple hundred bucks in the account that's linked to PayPal anyway. If they want to freeze it, it would only be a minor inconvenience for me. -Austin

Well, if you did get a new Carvin, you might be able to get Carvin to put in a couple 3-way switches for you. They used to charge $50 for that and make the guitar unreturnable (except for manufacturing defect issues). Don't know if they still do that though. -Austin

I can think of at least 3 people who ordered no-inlay Hamers before me: Silentman's Watson, Cajunboy's Sunburst/Special/Whatever it is (:angry:), and Pesocaster's "Pesopro". I only ever look at the side markers anyway and I prefer the clean look of an ebony board with no inlays, so when it came time to get a custom Hamer, that's what I got. Actually, I'm wild about boomerang inlays too, but I don't think they look good on a guitar with a 3x3 headstock, so they weren't an option for the Studio. I'm not all that handy with a soldering gun, but as long as I go slow, I usually do o.k. Plus, the first couple of times when I had a tech do the work it took forever and cost as much as a soldering iron, so I decided to take matters into my own hands! -Austin

Tone report, please. I'm very intrigued by this contraption. :angry: They're not out yet, but I'll be buying some as soon as they're available, so I'll let you guys know if I think they're any good or not. -Austin Atquinn, you are really into changing pickups. I'm getting the feeling it's kind of a obsession for you. Not that it's bad mind you! I admire your quest for the exact tone that you are hearing in your head. Does it get to be a pain in the butt in after a while, or do you enjoy the hunt? I'm hunting around for a new set of pickups for my SC. I'm not totally happy with the sound of the Seymour Duncun in the bridge position. I hope I don't have to go through a bunch of different sets before I find "the one". I'm actually very happy with the pickups in both my Studio Customs, but these pickups intrigue me and my Studios are the only guitars I have that I can try them out in. I could try them in my other Studio, but if they sounded good there, I'd be forced to put them into my 06 Studio anyway (it's my goto guitar), so I'll just start there. Plus buying and selling pickups is alot cheaper than buying and selling guitars! :angry: -Austin

Tone report, please. I'm very intrigued by this contraption. :angry: They're not out yet, but I'll be buying some as soon as they're available, so I'll let you guys know if I think they're any good or not. -Austin

From what I've heard, the single coil tones are the weakest aspect of the pickup, with the P90 and humbucker tones being the strengths. I'm going to set mine up for P90 and HB modes, so that doesn't bother me, but people wanting traditional single coil tones might want to be wary. I think the pickup look pretty ugly, but if they sound good, I'll be willing to put up with the looks. -Austin

Now there's something we agree on :angry:! -Austin

I'll be getting a set to try out in my '06 Studio (if I ever find some decent push-push pots to use them with). -Austin

I've seen plenty of raffles on other websites, I'm not sure what the big deal is. Unless we're assuming this place has more sue-happy @ssholes than those other sites? -Austin

I gotta agree with you, LOTT. A lot of this might have to do with all of us being so jaded that it's just hard to impress us anymore, but I also can't say that there's one thing in their display that I look at and think, "I'd like to have one of those." +1 But I'm picky so it's doubtful they could've shown anything that would've really got me drooling. On the plus side, at least they aren't showing a guitar with an upside-down tiger inlay on it ! -Austin

Thats the pic I was looking for! In real life it had just a bit more green in it. Thats my old Diablo, Virt, and Cali Deluxe. Should not have gotten rid of the Cali, that was a kick ass guitar. I think I might know where it is though, might have to chase it down and see if they want to get rid of it. You have good composition skills, that's an awesome pic! Sorry I couldn't credit you for it when I posted it. -Austin

My memory was failing me! Found this in my big folder o' guitar pics: Only one I can recall seeing. Looks nice; they should've made more. -Austin

I just sent you a PM. I have a couple gold buttons if you still want 'em. -Austin

It's possible my memory is failing, but I don't believe I've ever seen a blue Diablo. There's gotta be some out there though. Anyone got pics? -Austin

My condolences. Take care of yourself.

I'm not exactly getting a vintage vibe from that top, but I like it! -Austin

The big deal about John Mayer is He's an modern pop artist who: 1) Writes his own songs 2) Plays an instrument well 3) Gives a good live performance 4) Drives the ladies crazy 5) Isn't a sullen asshole Lowered standards perhaps, but is there anyone else playing pop that you can say that about? I like his pop stuff myself, but can't really understand why people get all in a lather about him either way. - Austin

I think you might be being a little harsh on your neighbors due to not liking them in the first place, but to each his own. Nice guitar! -Austin

Happy Holidays and don't eat too much (now if I could only take my own advice... )!

Went through a few Hamers this year. The 2004 Studio and Diablo are new (check the sig for pics). Given how ridiculously cheap it was, I'd say the Diablo was the best purchase. -Austin

Now, now don't let this turn you into MCChris; you're better than that! -Austin

That's what I'd do, considering he seems like a dick. Specifically what I'd do is: 1) Make sure you save the original auction text and his pictures. 2) Put your pictures up on a free picture hosting site. 3) Flame him with negative feedback and include a link to your pictures (Something like, "Condition worse than desribed; pix at www.blahblah.com) -Austin

I don't know what Elderly would grade it as, but I certainly wouldn't call it "excellent" if it was my auction, I would have said it was in good condition. I think he was o.k. in describing the little dings around the edge, but that description doesn't really mean much without pictures of each ding. Also, if the scratches on the back aren't through the finish, I wouldn't have described it as buckle rash, but I would have mentioned there were scratches. Seems like a fairly typical eBay auction in that, whenever damage is mentioned and they don't specifically show a picture of it, you should generally assume it's twice as bad as they say it is, ask for pictures to verify, and specifically ask about other areas (headstock, back of the neck, fretwear) just to make sure they aren't "forgetting" anything. I'd probably try to return it if it was me or at least ask for a partial refund, although I don't know how far you'll get with either option. -Austin

I didn't think so either, but it looks a lot "cheaper" than the rest of their USA line to me. Exactly! All the accounts I've read say it's a great guitar, but since only import PRS's have had pickguards up to now, it immediately makes me think of an import. -Austin

I think it's unfortunate that the current import line has cheapened unique Hamer features like boomerang inlays and body/headstock purfling. Hopefully someone will decide to sort that out. I think it would be better for Hamer if their import line was more like PRS's; reminiscent of the USA line, but clearly inferior. Of course, PRS just blurred that line with the Mira model they released... -Austin