MTM105

Not my photo. maybe 10-15 years ago. I have the small purple 8W Lockard. About 100 made in dude’s home. I own two thinking the amp could skyrocket in price. JEL preferred Stratocasters and had a pro shave headstock to make it look like a Charvel so as to be status quo on LA scene.. I am not familiar with amps on the right.

$1.1 K. Peter Florence VooDoo 59 pickups worth 1/2 the guitar’s value. 1984. I saw a long-haired 16 year old kid from Bayonne, recent HS drop-out hanging out at local park. He was friendly & gregarious. He invited me over to his basement where he was staying and introduced me to his gear. A Les Paul and a full Marshall 100 W stack. We exchanged Sabbath and Skynyrd licks. His Aunt begged him, “Jeffrey not now.” A month later, I decided to join the Army to upgrade and purchase quality gear. 1986 I bought a 81 Hamer special cherry red. $600 I think. 20 years later after doing a Wiki search Zakk Wylde. His tone has haunted me for decades.

My 21 year old college kid was recently interested in his own first guitar. I suggested this, but he is his own man. He decided to purchase $1,100. I then did an impulse buy and bought ‘a 93 standard. I had my guitar up & running before he did. The neck plays beautifully. One minor truss adjustment. I am waiting for the day to discover what pups there are. I am not aware if this is stock, or custom pups. Tune-o-matic bridge. Life does not get any sweeter. Nothing beats a Hamer original IMO. And it’s his first guitar. There is local venue here. The Stanhope House. We moved here 7 years ago. My son joined HS Jazz band. Trumpet. He ended up on stage before me. (Which I have yet to do.) SRV. BB King. No shit.

1960s Harmony Holiday. aka Rosebud. I had during HS. Others had their Les Pauls. Central NJ high per capita income. It didn’t bother me. It should have. But I felt that this was MY tone. Pearl Inlays? 4 knobs? I ended up trading it for a bag of weed. MXR+ Distortion plugged into living room Sears stereo. I felt that I was rather advanced. That MXR+ was going to RULE THE WORLD! And Maxon Phaser. 1970s MXR+ was considered boutique. And exclusive. SKYNYRD ALL DAY LONG!!

Age old question. Is it not? I’m not sold on BOSS CE-1. Seems soft & transparent. I have a Budda Chorus I can retry… 3-4 decades searching tone. I don’t know if there is a good Chorus. Minus spending thousands $$ on a rack. I have TC Electronics Nether I prefer. It does Octaver, but sounds closer to a Chorus.

She said, "What the hell are you doing in here.?" I said, "Shut up, I'm not paying you to talk.” Jesus, take the wheel. Carlos, you take the stereo and I'll take lookout. You're telling me, a chicken fried this rice? Cologne - because people shouldn't have a choice whether or not they want to smell you. Remember to look both ways before crossing a woman. Are you smarter than a 5th grader? Wait... Regular or Asian? My wife said, "I've noticed that your new secretary is very pretty and wears a short skirt." I said, "Sorry dear - she's not into women." I was wondering. Do women shake the nozzle on the gas hose when they're done filling, or is that just a guy thing? Just formed a new band called "Deaf". We've just been signed. I do not have an obsession with tidiness. Just wanted to clear that up. My father brought me up single-handedly. It wasn't easy being the son of a pirate. Accidently cut a guy off on the freeway. He was pretty good about it though. He pulled up alongside me and gave me half a peace sign. I'm at a point in my life where enjoying lots of bars just means I have a fully charged cell phone. My girl caught me blowing my dick with the air dryer, and asked what I was doing? Apparently "heating your dinner" wasn't a good answer. All my dance moves look like I'm trying to tell the guy on first base to steal second. Step aside coffee, this is a job for alcohol. I probably should've said, "Congrats on your 4th child!" instead of "Halfway there, OctoMom". My wife's got a great personality! It's her other 6 personalities that I'm worried about. If you love something, set it free. If it returns, it probably can't pay its student loans. Your first mistake was wearing heels in this dodgeball tournament, junk. The second was thinking that they went with that dress. I admire women with the restraint to draw on their eyebrows. I wouldn't be able to stop until I'd added glasses and a mustache. I love how Simba acts upset when Mufasa dies, as if he didn't just do a choreographed musical number called "I Just Can't Wait To Be King". Wrestling is obviously fake. Why would two people fight over a belt when neither of them are wearing pants? He died doing what he loved: being alive. Is it wrong, to put people on your bucket list?

I don’t see a whole lot of love & appreciation for what is considered to be an iconic pedal. Tone snobs bore me with their Tube Scream and Fulldrive obsessiveness. Not a fan. i kinda like the Rat. It plays dirty like a little slut.

This pedal has eluded me for decades. I got one free at guitar store $$ lottery. Music Go Round Wilkes Barre, PA. i have Tonebone HotBrit. My go to tone. The Rat is a very fine alternative. Very Gilmourish. i like dialing in historic tones. What are some?? I’ve always yearned for Big Muff. I had the mini. Digital version on ME-50. I am unable to bond with it. Fuzz is like Solid State. Sounds interesting at first, but gets mundane. The ProCo has some fuzz, but it’s combined with Distortion.

If it’s of any value, the guitar sits in dining room. Above is a gigantic ductless AC. Temp in room constantly fluctuates. Keith Richards likes Fenders. He says it’s because, “They stay in tune.” I have two Tele builds. No truss rod issues. At all.

It’s likely a 98. I argued this point with seller. He told me likely that I had bad info. I didn’t care. I just wanted the guitar shipped. It’s one-of-a-kind.

I am not a knudnick. For the record. My son & I purchased Hamers together. His 99 Eclipse I made a very slight adjustment on truss. Twice. I set it perfectly, except there was a tiny G-string buzz working major chords. Intonation is set. Give or take sometimes. 12th fret and above playsbetter than any guitar I have ever owned. 3-4 weeks later, his Hamer doesn’t need adjustment. He is taking it to college. It hasn’t been sitting in a case. Probably on his bed 1/2 the time. i would love to know the pickups. Any wild guesses? I don’t know if they’re from factory, or customized. Neck doesn’t indicate SD.

I had an '81 Special for 25 years. NOTHING in this world brought me greater satisfaction than tightening up the truss rod so that the neck is perfectly perfectly flat. At least to my standards. It then plays like a dream. However, I found myself doing this 2-3 times per year. Every year. I sold the guitar figuring problem solved. Now I have a 93 Archtop. I will set the neck perfectly. Very, very slight clockwise turn. Very, very carefully. In a week and a half it begins to very slightly bow. Enough where I've gotta readjust. What is it with Hamers??? I have a Hercules guitar stand, so I imagine that the guitar sits perfectly at rest. I know. Loosen strings. Loosen strings. Is there an extra nut I can screw on top of the nut so as to keep it from loosening? Does anyone else have this same constant issue???

I am not a fan of OD channels. I accepted Budda clean. Phenomenal tone with Radial Tonebone Plexitube. I am never happy with the OD channel. Very muddy and unresponsive. Until today. I turned off the Radial Plexitube. Turned on the Tumnus. THAT is THE TONE I've been seeking. Like a cascading waterfall...

I traded 2 Friedmans for 2 Buddas this year. i expected Friedman to be the bee’s knees. I wasn’t that impressed. Runt 50 & Dirty Shirley. It seems that he took the wheel and tried to reinvent it. Buddas don’t have bell’s & whistles. It’s straightforward. Basics. That is its beauty. I’m not trying to slay a dragon. You know how Solid State sounds? You dig it for about 10 mins., then find it annoying. That is how I found Friedman. Except in a valve sense. is Budda the very, very best? Not sure. Sometimes I find its tone to be very satisfying. But limited. However, that limitation is where its beauty sits. It does one thing (actually two) very well. Like an old reliable Peavey. I play low volumes and I suspect LOUD is where Budda really shines. i have a 45 Combo I gave to my son. $559 local pickup. Tube kept dropping out. I brought into reputable tech for repair. I was told they see very few Buddas, they are well built.

OK. 6 lbs. Pine. NOT Oak, I am a horse’s ass. Is pine OK??

The Zexies are very sexy! I shunned single coils for decades. Hated them. This is a very, very good compromise. Now I’m into singles. The output very clean. No messy interferences or hums.

Hard to say. It’s bright. And punchy. The neck is to die for. Builder told me that the titanium bridge really opened up its tone. Maybe I should bring to Petillo and get his feedback.

I changed pick guard to black normal. And toggle switch. Beautiful paint. I put in a shim. it took me a very long while to set neck & strings. 2 years, I think. (You have to remove neck to get to truss rod.) Neck is top shelf Fender and plays flawlessly. Absolute perfection. Guitar put together by legendary Amp Designer and builder. Dave Petillo, Springsteen’s tech, came into his shop and gave him this titanium bridge. I and Springsteen are only two to own. Story goes… Why Oak? A builder of this caliber, friend of many celebs to include; Greg Allman and DiMeola and who plays local gigs, decided that this is likely the very best. Not a popular choice. I paid $1400 cash, knowing that this Tele is likely one of the best ever crafted. (He was going through a divorce when he sold it to me.) My guess is that it’s a tip-of-the-hat to an original Broadcaster. Or just off-the-charts original.

Too large photo… I had Friedman Dirty Shirley & 50 W Runt. I traded for 45W head and 30W combo, both Bober builds. $1K each. I gave my kid 45W combo I bought local pickup $550. The 18W are more expensive used than 45W. The 45W combo I brought into Fuchs Audio. Amp tech there said that they don’t see too many Buddas, they are so well built. i have 6 or 7 other boutique amps, its hard to say Budda is my fav. Sometimes they are. The competition FIERCE! Fargen, Orange, VOX handwire, Lockard, Fuchs Train45. I play very low volumes, it’s hard to get them to fully open. Maybe an Ox someday.

HOLY SMOKES!! I can't tell you how much time I spent adjusting truss rod on the '81 Special. That is probably why I hesitated to return to Hamer. About every 6 months the nut seemed to loosen and the moron that I am, I would get it mixed which direction to turn. I had soooo much anxiety it was awful. And then VOILA!! Hamer perfection. I did a teeny tiny truss rod adjustment on the Standard. Lowered the bridge setting. Then played with intonation settings. Right now it is set to play flawlessly. I may have compromised on the upper frets a little, making the action maybe too low. But 12th fret and below is PHENONMINAL!! String action is VERY VERY important to me. I see many guitars and guitarists play without ever considering it. I will spend weeks adjusting if I have to. I have a Tele Warmouth I could not get right for weeks. Then I studied Tao. I let go. Then one very super minor adjustment and the action was PERFECT! I traded a '74 Tele Deluxe of 25 years to Nashville celeb. He liked the action. Low with a little buzz.

I take absolutely no offense. I don't know what my problem is posting. I have a Masters degree.

My bad. Not Phantom. I made up the guitar. Eclipse. My son purchased an ECLIPSE. I was then inspired to look at Hamers. I have a Tele Performer and I'm thinking why not sell it and buy a Hamer?? I put on a SD Quarter Pounder on the Tele, and it just doesn't inspire me. I got my Standard before he got his Eclipse. The Eclipse it seems is the only six string ever produced?? I don't know if the pickups are stock from factory, or not. Doesn't matter. I've read mixed reviews on the SD mini-humbuckers. I am besides myself with the 93 Standard sunburst. $1,100! Are you KIDDING ME? The 59 Voodoo pickups are SPECTACULAR! Is it an '81 Special? No. But I don't mind. On some levels it may be better.

Peter Florance was a great guitar player, a highly regarded luthier and he knew about great tone. He operated out of Honesdale, Pennsylvania and hand-wound all of his pickups meticulously. One such set is Peter’s Voodoo ’59 pair which is described in his own words - "There are certain things that make a great sounding old pickup, wire, magnets and some unqualified essence. This set of Voodoo 59 really sounds and feels like ’50’s pickups. The neck position pickup features an ALNICO 3 magnet, and is perfect if you are after that low heat distortion while keeping note clarity at the same time. It has that classic Clapton neck position sound without the wooliness. The bridge position pickup has an ALNICO 5 magnet. It produces excellent high end articulation, and lows with a “cello” quality. Sadly Peter Florance died suddenly in May 2019. But his legacy lives on in these pickups, as there will be no more. As a footnote, John Scofield’s personal Ibanez signature model prototype carries a set of Peter Florance Voodoo ’59 humbuckers because apparently Ibanez has not yet been able to create a pickup to match the Voodoos.

5 years ago I sold my 81 Special of 30 years. I promised myself I’d never sell it. It was a bit of beater and had truss nut issue. I figured it can’t be THAT special. I can always buy another. I was hard up for cash. $650 I think. It hurts thinking about it. I spent many, many lonely weekend nights poverty stricken with guitar, as a college student. That is the biggest reason I was able to part with it. Too much negativity. I went through MANY trials and tribulations. $1099 cash local pickup. The kicker with this beauty are Voodoo 59 Peter Florence (RIP) PAFs. Top shelf value. My son waiting on candy green Phantom. He was amazed at how beautiful this guitar is. The pickups rather impressive