cornjulio

I like this one better, 3.5k in Italy: https://reverb.com/item/93571703-hamer-special-1981-custom-black-and-white-graphics-video (no afiliation) Still have mine :-)

😉

Aye, I guess I never really paid attention to this. So the individual saddles on the 81 are about 1mm thinner/ narrower, the total for the six saddles is a difference of 6 mm between the 1978 (wider) and the 1981 (narrower). So maybe that's why the 1st and 6th string are closer to the fretboard edge on the 78. But the width of the strings at the bridge pick up on the 1978 (roughly 53 mm) is pretty much what I have on my 2022 Nik Huber too. The special comes in at about 47 mm.

So... I have a 78 Sunburst with a sustain block and two Specials (1980/1981) and my Shishkov with sustain blocks. The spacing on the 78 in between the strings is much wider, to the point where you notice that the high and low E strings are off center to the poles of the bridge pick up and it also seems to mean that both E strings are closer to the edge on the fretboard than on the Specials/ the Shishkov. Why is that? The string / pole correnspondence is much better with the later sustain blocks but I get the feeling the extra space on the 1978 comes in handy when picking strings (I feel less clumsy). The difference between the width of all six strings on the 78 (wider) and the 81 (narrower) ist almost 5mm altogether.

Are you looking for a Sunburst yourself? pm'd ya.

I sent you an mp3 of a new track. All the best for 2026!

Keep hearing good things about them. I would really like to try one but they are quite pricey IMO.

Two in 2025, to my surprise...wasn't palnned at all. A 1978 Sunburst and a 1980 Special, both in very good condition (the Sunburst had changed tuners at some point). They are the oldest guitars I have now. Everything Fender form the 1960s long gone and I don't think I will ever be able to afford one buying again (love the 1960s Jaguars with matching headstocks).

The idea for the inlays is based on a questionable translation of my German last name into English, supposedly something like "evil river". I made line drawings for fish skeletons and the head of a cat (simplyfied) and Mike tunred them into MoP inlays. The the fretboard is the river, and the cat (frets 11-13) is the predator that has eaten the fish. It kind of went with the curly maple top, that has some lines looking like a wavy extension/ shadow of the strings around the sustain block area. A few years later I followed up on this idea of drawing the inlays with a Nik Huber (which has bone inlays).

Mike's interpretation of a V, the Shishkov V80. We talked a lot about the details, the headstock was entirely his design. He used a leftover part from the maple top to create a matching headstock.

cool!!!

This is one of my favourite Shishkovs from all I've seen so far!

Some more pics... the blue isn't entirely apoque you can see bits of the wood grain. The strap locks are not original I think. Fun guitar!

The serial is 0 2314. That would be cool, if there was a trio of them. i think I saw a Hamer Blitz bass on German Kleinanzeigen in the same colour but that's about it.

So a friend of mine is seling a Hamer Special in red. Someone gets in touch who has a couple of 80s Specials himself. Turns out he's someone I sold a b&w Hamer Special to a couple of years ago. And then I find out he recenlty bought a 1980 Hamer Special in opaque blue with a MATCHING HEADSTOCK from the first owner. I tell him to get get in touch should he ever consider selling it. Guess what, now it's mine. It wasn't cheap but it is in great condition, has had a fret dressing, has a nice medium neck, plays and sounds great. I believe the paint is all original, no undercoat, no other paint in the control cavity or under the trussrod cover). The body contour is slightly different to my 1981 Hamer Special, the lower cutaway less pronounced, so cool, I love it!

A friend of mine is selling his red 1981 hamer special. https://www.kleinanzeigen.de/s-anzeige/hamer-special-1981/3238132446-74-2092 It's in good to very good condition, nice bit of flame ot the top, medium neck IMO, no original case, the saddles of the sustain block look slighty different (no chrome?) and could be aftermarket. It's a nice guitar with some dings but no breaks etc. It's not mine, he just happens to be in the same building and took his pictures in my favourite spot ;-)

That was a treat indeed, what a great interview! The only thing I'm not sure about is the design of his signature guitar, not that it matters. Very cool guy and amazingly talented. His dad is my all time guitar hero period.

They forgot to mention the aftermarket pick guard. Guitar looks great, but that's steep. Peter has/ has had amazing guitars though!!! It feels like half of what is in THE BOOK was owned by him at some point.

Excellent, a new Shishkov!!! Love the flamed maple neck. Reminds me of a Huber neck. Is Mike still doing the paint job in these too? Great to see him in the photo (and his fabulous MIII 😉 Congrats on the guitar!

I'm tempted now, simply because of the massive reduction on the the price. Saving $1404,- on this case would allow me to spend the money on a guitar for it.

Mike, I'm sorry to hear this and I hope you'll feel better real soon. It seems like ages ago we came to see you guys but I still remember being so excited about all the new guitars in the making. So here is to a speedy recovery and all the best to your family.... C. (Shishkov No 80)

How do you guys do this? I do look too, know those site like ebay kleinanzeigen...never ever did I pull of a stunt like this...congrats!!! ... now... wanna sell it to me?

want!

Hanging out at customs in Allemagne (the guitar is). Hope I can pick it up by the end of the week.

I did indeed...