cynic

This is why I was recently trying to figure out the differences between the hollow portions of the Artist and Duotone Custom. The former was most often called semi-solid, the latter semi-hollow.

There's no denying HOA's suck. I moved to MS after 30 years in/around San Diego (the last 20 as a home owner). No HOA but home owners insurance is $2800 more ($3550) and property taxes are nearly $3300 for a < $300,000 house (about 50% higher than what I paid in SD for a house with nearly twice as much). I also just spent nearly $1000 to register a 2006 Toyota, 2015 Ram, and 2019 Honda. Edited to add: ... and it's freaking MISSISSIPPI!

You've clearly never had the misfortune of paying taxes in MS.

Bad knees (and joints in general) cause a world of other problems that just lead to misery. I'd get the new knee. Oddly, I've got a plate and 12 screws (1989) in my left ankle as well. Most every ache and pain I have today is a result of the initial injury and the complete lack of physical therapy that followed.

A Hamer with Rio Grandes? This one used to be family for sure.

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I sold my Spark within days. ALL the dirt effects are annoyingly loud. If you play clean or get the dirt from the amp it’s better, but not great. For me, the hardware really got in the way too. If I’m practicing I’m usually near my computer, so the lack of computer software interface (phone/tablet only) and the physical size of the amp itself were distractions. I didn’t bother with any of the jam-along features which I get is the draw for some. I’m a sucker for “new” tech but it turns out I’m happier plugging into a USB interface and wearing headphones. I think I’ve finally decided anything more is unnecessarily complicated.

I doubt I'd pursue it further as I'm feeling pretty convinced already, but I wonder if it might be worthwhile to reach out to Guitar Player to see if getting a copy of the original photo might be an option.

I disagree that it's not the same guitar. Jol states they were hand masked and varied in pattern. If you look at the five bits of yellow, they appear to be identical in shape and placement. I believe the brown has faded considerably and it's the same guitar.

That’s Bub’s former Standard, isn’t it?

I'd wager your original post contains as much info as anyone here knows.

I saw Brad Gillis with Night Ranger at Blaisdell Arena 11/23/88. Great show but I'd agree the stage was relatively bare.

After a few changes, here's the Duotone Custom I bought here several months back. All the gold hardware was swapped for nickel and all the Lollar minis were swapped for Fralin hum-canceling P90s (much of that work done by @Jeff R at The Fret Shack). Super cool guitar that I've admired from afar for many years and it will be with me for a good long while. Not a perfect photo, but you get the gist.