ac15

A lot of it probably has to do with resale value, or just the ability to resell at all . A few years ago I wanted to trade a couple of my guitars to a music store to get a Gretsch White Falcon. One guitar was a Monaco III and the other was a 1985 Made in Japan pink paisley Tele. They said they'd take the Tele but had no interest in the Hamer. As great as they are, they're niche guitars that would probably remain unsold for longer than they were comfortable with.

For those of you who think the relic thing is ridiculous, you may appreciate this: http://www.themusiczoo.com/preowned/Fender...g_CF674_PO.html

The article was mostly about his awesome vintage guitar collection, so the fact that they didn't mention Hamer was no big deal to me. His guitar collection is incredible. However, the other article in the same issue about Dean guitars was negligent in not mentioning Hamer. The article was about how Dean was an upstart company capitalizing on the declining quality of Gibsons of the time. It went on to mention other upstart "new" guitar comnpanies of the mid 70's such as Kramer and one or two others. There was no mention of Hamer at all which I thought was odd in that context.

Best of luck to you, pal. I'm sending good vibes your way as best I can. Hoping for good news.

I like Jimi's solo on "Stone Free."

His wholesome image made him an easy target for scoffing, but he had huge talent for sure.

"Mesa Blue Angel 4x10. Just sold this 5 months ago. Great amp. Very un-boogie. Made sense once I read up on the mid control" The Mid control on the Blue Angel acts like a standard mid control (increases mids as you turn it clockwise)until about 11 or 12 o'clock on the dial. After that point, it acts as a type of gain knob. I don't go for a super high gain sound, and my mid setting on this amp (4 X 10 combo) is never past 9 or 10 o'clock. Cool amp.

I shied away from Mesa/Boogie for some reason until recently when I picked up a used Blue Angel. I think it's an excellent amp, more "old school" than many Mesa amps, but with a couple very usable "modern" features. It's sort of Mesas take on a Super Reverb.

I used to scoff at relics until I played the Fender 51 Nocaster thinline relic, masterbuilt by Chris Fleming. Awesome guitar in every way I could think of. I dunno if it felt so great because of the relic treatment or if that's just the way all of the Fender Masterbuilt stuff is. http://www.privatereserveguitars.com/Fende...1149494.guitars

I almost bought one a couple years ago, but bought my first Hamer instead....a tobacco sunburst Monaco III. I'm quite happy with it but still dig the 54 Goldtops.

My first "real" guitar when I was a teenager was an SG. I eventually sold it after I got a Tele because the neck was too skinny (which I initially liked) and I could never keep the guitar in tune. I felt like I couldn't really pick or strum hard or it would go out of tune. Lately though, I've sort of regained an interest in SG's.

Every guitar I've owned has come stock with pickups that were inferior to what I ended up putting in the guitar. Once I find something that's really great I stick with it though.

I bought a Monaco III that had a couple custom features (ebony fretboard, 1 extra fret marker, ebony tuning keys). I didn't ask for those features, that's just what the one I bought had and I liked the guitar. As I stated, I got the guitar for $2,200 and the lowest I saw the Monaco III anywhere else (at the time) was $2,800 or so. I got it from Willcutt in Kentucky just from seeing it on their site. I don't live in Kentucky either, so I didn't have to pay sales tax. I took a chance that I'd like it and as it turns out I did and still do.

When I bought my Hamer, it listed at $3700 and I paid $2200 brand new. That seemed like a decent discount from list to me but I dunno if that's standard markdown or not.

Complete waste of money. Just one more sign that the whole vintage instrument/amp situation has gotten out of hand.

I didn't have a hot rails pickup in a Strat, but I had one in a Tele for a few years when I was playing some pretty heavy music. It's loud, fat and rude, especially for power chords and was louder than just about any pickupo I'd heard. I really liked it for a while, but eventually got away from overwound, super hot pickups in favor of more traditional (and also more versatile) types of pickups. But if you're looking for a thick heavy sound the hot rails will deliver.

I seem to recall you mentioning having issues with the custom wiring on the MonacoIII but that thing sure looked cool.

When I saw the title of this thread "It's back," I fully expected to see that Monaco III gold top that's been on Ebay like 3 times already (formerly owned by a fellow Hamer Fan Clubber as I recall).

I've got the Lollars in my Monaco III and I agree they're awesome as described above. That being said, they also have a stellar, crystal clear, big, clean sound. Steve

Just curious...I had a JCM 800 (channel switching) head and a Marshall 4 X 10 cabinet that I sold to my girlfriend's 14 year old nephew, along with an Epiphone Gold Top Les Paul for $1200 for the whole package. I did it to help finance the purchase of a Monaco III. I figured that seemed kind of cheap, but I also knew his mom would cut me a check right then and there and I wouldn't have to find a seller. Think I gave him a good price? Did I give it up too cheaply? I hadn't been playing the Marshall recently and regretted selling it as soon as I fired it up to show the kid how it sounded. But I got over it.

"Light My Fire" by the Doors (Still don't mind hearing Jose Feliciano do it though) "All Along the Watchtower" by Hendrix (if all you ever listened to was the radio, you'd think Hendrix only had one song) "Old Time Rock and Roll" by Bob Seger

Minor 6/9 chords especially as ending chords.

Lollar P-90's all the way. I put a set specifically designed for guitars with 3 p-90's into my Monaco III. His are reverse wound so that they don't hum in the "inbetween" positions. The Duncan P-90's that come stock in the Monaco III sounded bad to me. I've also used Lollars in a gold top Les Paul before. If you're using mega doses of distortion, I think you can expect any P-90 (including Lollars) to be noisy. But it seems to be the general consensus that noiseless P-90's just don't have the "mojo" that comes with the standard ones.

Roxie fan, Too bad it didn't work out for you with the Monaco III. Your custom goldtop design is still one of the coolest Monaco III's I've seen so it was a great idea. This guitar has changed hands a lot. Where does the saga end? Is Ebayer happy with it or is it still on the move? This axe has a lot of history so far in its young life.

Roxie Fan, I saw your custom Monaco III on Ebay (had to be yours from the description) and briefly considered buying it since I had decided I wanted one (I never did bid though). It looked awesome and it was a tasteful design idea on your part but I really wanted the 5-way switch. I ended up getting one from Willcutt guitars (you can see it on their site under "recently sold merchandise). It's a tobacco sunburst with black pickups and ebony fretboard and tuning pegs. Like you, I was unhappy with the sound. I found out from Hamer that they use the Duncan custom P-90 in the bridge position and Duncan "Hot" P-90 in the middle and neck positions. I have had those same pickups on a guitar I bought used and I didn't like them at all. I decided to order a set of Lollars before I even got the guitar, as I have used his pickups before and like them. I contacted him and it turns out he makes a set specifically for guitars with 3 pickups. The pickup swap completely brought that guitar to life. It's a night and day difference. Prior to the change I found the "inbetween" sounds not to my liking and it was tough to get a great clean sound out of the guitar. Not anymore. I recommend that anyone with doubts about the sound of that guitar take a hard look at those pickups. They are the only weak link on that guitar. I love the guitar now. Here's a link to the one I bought: http://www.willcuttguitars.com/details.asp?stock_id=3533 Steve