Toadroller

I do not have the money to buy a Flying V... I do not have the money to buy a Flying V... I do not have the money to buy a Flying V... I do not have the money to buy a Flying V... I do not have the money to buy a Flying V... I do not have the money to buy a Flying V...

Looks more like a US Open. One winner at or under par.

I've spent quite a few hours practicing this spring. Usually just an hour a day, but sometimes two. I have to admit, it's opened my mind to improvement possibilities as well as helped me focus on certain areas where I was negligent. Playing has really exposed those. All this practice has paid off. I'm hitting the ball both longer and more consistently than ever before, and in my last three rounds I've shot 88, 87, 85- that last round with 6 lip-outs. It's time to focus on my putting and chipping if I want to achieve my goal to break 80. Seriously, though, the same principles apply to anything you practice. Focus and attention come and go, and you have to remember to invest, then capitalize on the return and enjoy it.

Yeah I know. The whole reason for this thread was for all of us to enjoy works in progress past. Anyone who has pics, please contribute. I've always felt that a public display of custom projects in process would be great marketing for smaller shops, and not just in the guitar world. Bicycles, furniture/cabinet making, gun-smiths, amplifiers, motorcycles. Half of the love someone invests in owning something unique is watching it come to life in the hands of the craftsmen/women who are creating it. The internet has made that very easy to do.

My economic theory is that the closing of the Hamer brand brought out those looking to cash in; those high asking (don't know about getting- askin' ain't gettin') prices sent signals and pulled more onto the market. If the gettin' ain't the askin' some will go back into the closets, some will sell for lower. There will always be a ton of Strats and LPs for sale; they've made a ton of them.

As they taught us to say in French class, "Formidable!" I love it.

I got nuthin'

Most expensive is a Taylor 514 that was, actually, a gift from a salesman I helped close a huge deal. Very thoughtful and much appreciated. He bought himself a 911 turbo something or other. My favorite is still my very well loved Daytona, complete with surprise honeycomb-style drill-pressed swimming pool route under the pickguard. $250 and love it, love it, love it.

Ah, I was a year in the wrong direction, both cases. I'm almost 45 myself. '88 was my sophomore year. Funny how you can see things like a haircut, a car, or a way of wearing a piece of clothing from decades past and nail the year pretty closely.

That there is a fun guitar. Enjoy, Cynic!

I'm gonna gander that as '89, your sophomore year, making you 43 today. Just a wild guess. How close?

Dale Bozzio. Where do you think Madonna, Gwen Stefani, Lady Gaga got their inspiration?

That does hurt!

You must snipe. Go big in the last few seconds.

Well, it's Aimee Mann... Just puts forth solid album after solid album every three to four years. Kinda like Knopfler. Been a fan since Voices Carry. I've got her live DVD, though I haven't watched it in a while, but the I recall the guitarist swinging a Hamer. My guess is a Newport. I'll have to take a look this weekend.

Lots of faves mentioned here. I've got a soft spot for quirky ladies in the music. My wife, on the other hand, simply ridicules me for listening to depressing songs. She's got a point there with.... Aimee Mann and Alanis Morisette; Lucinda Williams. But then there's Kate Bush, Margot Timmons from the Cowboy Junkies, Emylou, Fiona Apple, Grace Potter, Guilty-Pleasure Gweni-Gwen-Gwen Stefani, Kirsty MacColl, Maria McKee, Michelle Branch, Martha Davis (Motels), Norah, Ricky Lee Jones, Patty Griffin (A Mainiac, I do believe), Sade, Sarah McLachlan, Shawn Colvin, yes, Sheryl Crowe, Susan Tedeschi, and someone at the end of my library, Various Artist. Got a lot of her work.

Not that I was ever in, but I'm officially out when the Epi Les Paul I snagged from savethematches (apparently to make room for his XT Studio) arrives. +/- for the year: = 1 +/- for savethematches = 0

HNSD! Specials are just that. I plugged in my TV Yellow, who I call "Puddy," in tribute. Just rock and roll machines, aren't they?

Not for me- new guitar day's are too much fun and I've still never had an ES335 variant. When the final list of competitors is posted, I'll be keen to watch for their names on the For Sale board. How about an "End the year with fewer guitars than you started" challenge?

Is there brand equity? Hard to say Is there brand loyalty? Yes. Once in, you're in. Did the brand ever damage itself from a quality-of-product perspective? No, for the USA prods. Not really, for the imports... unless the "Slammer" brand is considered. Ugh. Can the brand be revived? FMIC has determined that Guild has more brand equity, which it probably does. Brand revivals can fail or thrive- think Kramer (Music-Yo, Y'all?) and Electar as failures. Think Mini-Cooper, Star-Trek as successful brands (franchises?). Question Fiat. How could it be revived? Diluting the brand (Slammer. XT); Boutiquification; Re-Opening business as usual (but with product innovation); Wait and return in a wave of nostalgia- if pointy-guitars had a resurgence, but they'd have to take a number behind Kramer, Charvel, etc. Modern-Vintage played out. Vintage is owned by Gibson & Fender, Ricks and Gretsch. Smaller unique's by G&L, MusicMan; the 13-year-olds by Ibanez, Schecter, Epiphone (??) How does Peavey fit into all of this? It hurts to see a brand, a company, die. Brands are fashion statements. To me, Hamer says discerning, off the beaten path, and man-in-the-know; alternative. But die they do, from TWA to Pan-Am. Be glad the losses were absorbed by the risk-takers (Yes, FMIC). Be glad of the 50,000 some-odd well put together hunks of straight-necked, vibrant wood and steel were assembled, sanded, polished and wired up. Be glad for HFC, Craigslist, eBay, PayPal, and Google for helping us find them, play them, store them, trade them, show pictures of them, and bring them out on occasion in Chicago or wherever gatherings may happen. I'm at 6 Hamer USAs and I still don't have a Standard, a Vector, a Cali, a Chappy, a Monaco, an A5, a Newport, or a Tally. Many lands yet to explore. I'm going to go plug in my Daytona, relic'd as it is from over-playing, and enjoy its neck and its soul. My boy Henry does.

I finally learned to appreciate the strat from two fronts: 1) Visiting my highschool buddy and being blown away by his Hughes & Kettner with his American strat on the middle pup. 2) Robin Trower. Something gave me an insight that he was playing the bridge with the tone down; I plugged in my Daytona and did the same and the sonic signature was clear to me.

Short and sweet: http://youtu.be/OMTPQVOWCiU

You sandbagger! Nice work. Very nice.

That is a beautiful interpretation of the art of the possible. Luv it, especially the two knob conversion to match the single hum.

Root cause is very likely to be wheat: Gluten. All the creams and lanolins and aloes of the world are treating the symptoms. The basic premise is that your body doesn't process the gluten protein and it escapes your digestive track into your bloodstream, causing myriad symptoms- Psoriasis, eczema, irritable bowel, diabetes 2- on and on, over 200 cataloged symptoms from the simple root cause. What sucks is that gluten is in wheat, barley, malts, the tasty stuff in pizza, bear, donuts, pasta, most processed foods, etc. And so the cure is simple, but not a lot of fun- cut the gluten from the diet. My wife self diagnosed this almost a decade ago; two years later I had some blood tests done on me (which are pretty unreliable, both false negatives and false positives) and came in at a screaming positive. It's genetic; we took the kids off the wheat. They all sprouted up as fast as the food bill. Good news? Bourbon is gluten free.