ajoso

Tom Waits. Maybe David Gilmour if he did another 2006 type of show (RIP Richard Wright.) Keith Richards if he ever reformed the X-Pensive Winos. Come to think of it, another Led Zeppelin Reunion. I haven't seen U2 yet, but I hear that they put on a heck of a show - not that I've been able to afford the tickets.

Dumb question: what is a "Zandard?" How is it different from a Standard?

Well I'd disagree with this. I got burned by a bad Hamer. It was just a harsh sounding piece of wood. Having said that, every other Hamer that I've bought or played has been great. Having said that, I'd never buy the 80's Specials with the mega thin necks - so I guess those weren't great. I definitely agree that Hamers are a tremendous bang for the buck guitar. But if you were sucessful at this, it's likely that your name would be Jimmy Page.

Nonsense. It's a close relative to this guitar (played by a man who KNOWS rock and roll!) http://cache4.asset-cache.net/xc/85001602....30A760B0D811297

The height of production was in the mid 90's- not the 80's. Back then I imagine they were selling a lot of Specials, Special FM's & Studios. Great Gibsonesque guitars that sold for half the cost of a Gibby. AS I recall, the Special P90 was $800 when (re)introduced in '92, and then went up to $900 in '93. Special FM's were about $1100 and Studios (sans binding) were $1500. That's a far cry from a $4000 list.

They get rave reviews from Guitar Player magazine every year. Besides - what about all those boutique pedal makers that survive with limited advertising? I agree with others - the headstock does (entirely) not fit the guitars. The worst offender is the Taladega. They should have come up with a completely new design for that (maybe 6 on a side?) No, scratch that - the worst offender is those flying V's with the standard headstock. Consider that Gibson and PRS have modified their headstocks to suit different models (mostly hollowbody jazz boxes).

Put me in the camp that doesn't appreciate the headstock. All the guitar players I know say it looks clunky. The culprit to me is the straight edges along the long ends of the headstock. If they could put a curve in there you'd have something that would be more 50's looking. It's a subtle difference, but I think it would work; it would have a bit more style and frankly it would match the guitar better. All the great (and expensive) guitars have great headstocks. Only the cheap-o's have clunkers. Digression: I think that PRS' Starla has the reverse problem: a high-end headsock on what it supposed to be a funky, fun low-fi guitar. PRS should have come up with something else.

See that's what I don't like about mine - it does a really bright Tele/Strat thing, but it's nowhere near a Les Paul (which is why I bought it). I can't comment about how it sits in a band mix.

I was toying with the idea of selling my 90's Phantom Custom - but then I read somewhere that they only made 70 or so. Does anyone think that these could become moderately collectable some day?

Grat price - I wouldn't think twice about this one. Also, we don't see that many Hamers up in Canada (at least not around these parts) - so it's not like you'll find another one locally any time soon. FWIW I got my '93 USA Studio P-90 with (crappy) case for $500 cdn - and that was in '96 or '97!

They're Duncan HS-1 pickups (I think it stands for 'Hamer Single'). I wasn't able to find anything about them online. What's the skinny on them? Output? Magnet type? etc.

What pickups came standard on the Hamer Phantom Custom? I've heard a JB in the Bridge, but what about the single coils?

Honestly I wouldn't get a vintage amp to learn on - a beginner couldn't get the nuances out of the amp. I'd get a digital amp or some kind of POD set-up (I used to run mine through good computer speakers - it sounded surprisingly good at bedroom volumes. Yes, digital does actually sound good.) The main advantage to digital is that gives you a very wide variety of vintage amp models so that you can find your own tone. It's like having a mini amp shop at your fingers. After playing through a digital box for a year or so you'll probably find yourself gravitating towards certain sounds - you might begin to realize that yes, I am a Fender kinda guy, or I really like that mid-range Marshally sound, etc. Then you can go shopping for a vintage amp and actually hear the nuances between the different models. Also, a vintage amps are generally loud. Face it - if you're a beginner, loud is not a good thing. Period. Digital allows you to get your tone at any volume. I think I read some interview where Carlos Santana said that 5-10% of tone comes from one's equipment. So we should all start practicing! P.S. Digital is cheap right now! You can get a good used POD for $150-350. Add a pair of decent pc speakers and you're under budget.

I'm curious - how thick were the maple tops on those early '80's specials? I've seen a couple and it looks like a very thin veneer to me. How did it compare with the Special FM series? Any tonal differences between the two?