Nathan of Brainfertilizer Fame

I like it.

Oh, it's on, now. (Or should that be: "It's already been broughten!" ?)

No, I think that one is about right. That's why I was so stoked to get one for $262 shipped. I think those 600-level plus Yamaha guitars are worth at least $500 in playability, tone, etc. But they don't have enough respect, so $350 shipped is the absolute max you should ever pay for one (unless their rep increases/improves someday). Anyway, not a big deal, I just thought the notion of my underwriting the Viet Nam rock guitar scene was worth mentioning. Glad Hamerhead set me straight.

Yeah, but the problem wasn't eBay at all. It was Cash America. I don't even blame them. When you have a business that size, there are going to be mistakes sometimes. It was just dumb luck that was the one miss-sent guitar that ended up in Viet-freakin'-nam.

So I had the high bid on a sweet red Yamaha Pacifica 721. Came with case, shipped for $262. Seller was Cash American Sales (pawnshop, I think). I have a black PAC 721, but it has a minor pickup issue. The 721's have a good neck, great tone, and the trem is every bit as good as an OFR. Stays in tune for weeks. I was looking forward to it. Got the tracking info, and saw it was headed to California instead of here in Virginia. I emailed them via eBay to say 'wtf?' but got no answer. Saw it was delivered to California. Got a phone number for them, and called. They said they put the wrong address on it, asked me if I wanted a different guitar from them. I looked, and nothing in the $260 price range was close to the Yamaha quality. The accidental recipient was a broker and frequent customer, so there was a high likelihood he'd be honest. So I told them I'd wait a week to see if they could get it back. I called this week and learned they had just gotten a response back from him. Communication was difficult because he speaks little English. Turns out he was in Vietnam, and the California address was a shipping point. He buys guitars and ships them to Viet Nam to resell. He said he'd ship the guitar back to Cash America (from Viet Nam!) and then they could send it to me...but he'd have to locate it first, could take another week. So I just took my money back. They offered me an additional 20% off of any other item they sell on eBay, but I told them there was no need. It was an accident, but I wasn't actually harmed by it. I already have a PAC 721 that I really like, I just got a PAC 921 that I like alot, I'm still loving on the recently-arrived Yamaha jazz guitar and the Eclipse...and the Newport is still inbound. Its not like I'm short of great guitars, and now that's one less I have to sell to make room. But I'd be lying if I didn't admit being slightly disappointed. I was looking forward to it.

Quite nice!

To be fair, Google changes swaps "dick" for "penis" in all the non-HFC results. So you get the most results of you Google "Hamer bubs_42 dick"

There is a difference between "one note" and "one fret". Sometimes I see people blurring or ignoring that difference. Discuss.

If I'm going to do a one-note solo, I think I would chose F#. Largely because it isn't part of the d minor scale, which is the saddest of all keys, I find.

Not sure if any of these qualify: Alannah Myles. She's known because of "Black Velvet", but she has some excellent guitar songs throughout her library. ATF (After the Fire). Known for "Der Kommissar", or at least for the non-Falco version. Absolute definition of a one-hit wonder. But the rest of the album had some great songs, great lyrics, great guitar work. A little investigation into their past (the Power of the Internet!) a year or so ago turned up that they started as progressive rock band, and actually had at least one credible tune in that style (haven't been able to uncover any complete albums from that era of their existence), and then turned New Wave. Probably the only New Wave band I liked...later analysis helped me realize: it is because they have a prominent guitar role...for me, if it doesn't have guitar, I don't really like it. Darrell Mansfield. Christian artist, but does some of the best blues harp, blues rock, and even hard rock out there. In my opinion, should have made it big.

It's not the size of the LP collection, it's how you use it. Wait, is this the Outer Circle?

This. The number of bands that I can't stand because of the singer (GnR, Zep, Oasis, REM) is staggering...maybe more rock bands should do instrumentals.

Was it to buy a guitar stand? I can't think of a good enough snappy comeback...

Feynman cut in line in front of me once.

You now have the story recorded for posterity. I'm putting together my first documentary. I've already learned alot. If you ever want to do a documentary regarding Hamer guitars, let me know. I'm game to do the filming and editing.

That is my thumb, by the way. First time I've used the camera hand-held... I'm very pleased with how the sound turned out, tho. As clear as if you were sitting right there.

It will have to be later. I have a deadline I need to get some work done on. Sorry... On the bright side: it extends the enjoyment!

Isn't that what message boards were created for?

Just in case my disclaimer was unclear: all my criticisms were tongue-in-cheek. I am actually impressed with her ability. I like her voice, she plays an instrument (which always makes me a fan), and she chose a good tune. If I had one actual criticism of her, it would be that with her voice, she should be doing hair-band stuff. She needs 20 years of whiskey and smoking before she could do AC/DC vocal stylings any real justice. But I still enjoyed the performance with the window minimized.

Disappointed. I expected a ukelele rendition of this:

All I can say is, most singers think only the singer is important, they think that whatever and however they sing, the band should follow them. Most singers need a band to play with. This young lady does fine playing with herself and posting the video on YouTube for everyone to watch.

Okay, someone's gotta do it: I've seen 8-year-olds smile more she did. She looked bored. Her phrasing and/or intonation sucked. Did I miss any? (full disclosure: Just like the 8-year-old we joke-trashed previously, she displays more talent in one video than I have my entire life. Please don't take statements on a message board as always fully representative of my true views. I see no reason to let truth stand in the way of a good smartass joke. Or, sometimes, even a ridiculously bad smartass joke. Or a dumb-ass joke, for that matter)

I had always been a musician, starting from learning to play songs on our family's little "magnus chord organ" and a songbook, progressing to singing along with anything/everything, playing the recorder in 3rd grade, teaching myself to play "The Entertainer" on the piano in 4th grade, taking a year of piano lessons in the 5th grade, and then joining choir and band (trumpet) from the 5th grade on. As a senior in High School, I house-sat at someone's place for a coupla weeks. They had a 12-string guitar and a basic book, so I taught myself the basic chords. Then they needed a bassist for the local Juco production of "Annie", so I borrowed a bass and learned the whole damn score, only to have them decide they wanted me on trumpet more, and used the keyboard for the bass part. I bought a bass my freshman year of college, and within the first half hour of owning it, I sat down and learned "Don't Stop Believing". I grabbed "Guitar for the Practicing Musician" with bass lines for cool songs, but mostly learned by jamming with some local musicians and learning songs by ear. Within a few years I was good enough for the 2nd jazz band, and bought some books to teach me walking bass so I could comp lines based on the symbols instead of just the ones with notes written out. I dated a girl who had a classical guitar and one time when she was at work I sat down and learned the first 3 songs in her classical book. So I bought a classical guitar. I took 2 classical lessons and couldn't afford to continue. I noticed that even on a classical guitar, everything I played sounded like rock. Then I roomed with a guy who had a strat copy he didn't play much, and got a job working nights at a hotel at the same time, so I started trying to learn to play lead electric guitar. My first electric was a Harmony Flying V copy, the 2nd was a Sebring superstrat, and the rest is even more boring history. Oh, wait, did you mean you only wanted the fantastic players to answer? Sorry...

I have 2 or 3 dozen of every carvin you can imagine + about 200 other guitars ranging from Hamers Dah? to Greg Fessler made Strats, Suhr, Colling and Zemaitis etc. Carvins are great guitar 90+% of the time. pots and pickups can be upgraded after you get it to make it a superb instrument. This is my 2 Cents If you have that many guitars, you should add 1-2 Jon Kammerers to your collection. Great guitars. Tell 'em Nathan sent you.