django49

"My lawyer can beat up your lawyer!"

I guess we all have stories of builders that do a better job (YMMV) of building vintage style guitars than the typical mass produced ones cranked out by Fender. Applies to Gibson too, of course. Not that the original designs are not "classic" and game changers in their time. But some things can be improved. Needs of players do change. I appreciate builders who recognize the original designs but put efforts into attention to detail to make them as good as they can be. (I know the ones I like). Assembly lines cranking them out in huge volumes do not have that luxury. Leo famously laughed when asked about the quality control that made those 50s Strats so desirable. "You must have been very careful about matching those 3 pickups!" "Hell no, our gals grabbed three out of a huge pickle barrel, screwed them on and passed it on down the line". FWIW, I understand that many old "vintage" models were destroyed intentionally.....If you sent one back to Fender to be refinished, they simply built you a new one in the desired finish. It was cheaper than taking one apart and redoing it. And that was when (IIRC) the music store that told me that was offering brand new Strats for $269. Leo knew, to the penny, the material cost of building one.....A friend of his back in the day quoted Leo to me....."$36.59"....I may have the exact number wrong after all these years, but it was right around that amount. Of course, in those days, the music stores I went to MIGHT have 1 or 2 in stock, not a whole store room full......

And some of us get priced out. OR our desires change. I lost track. I think I have owned close to 100 Hamers over the years. Including at least one of most of the "limited editions". At one point, I know I had around 60. I think I have 7 now. One has been listed for sale at what I think is a very reasonable price. Some bites, no follow-through. No big deal. Two others (unique Duo-Tones) that I have been offered what I believe to be above market prices, but I do not wish to sell. The others I am not motivated to sell. Of those I have passed along, all (or virtually all) could be sold for more now than then. Such is life. Same as all those vintage Gibsons I sold a few decades back. My faves HAVE changed. And there are some great options today for those who want a great playing and sounding guitar at a price comparable to some of the "vintage" pieces. As but one example, a couple Suhrs I picked up in recent months (2 new, 2 used) were very reasonably priced and arguably better than some of my former (or even current) Hamers. And not higher than many current ASKING prices for Hamers. Is that MY taste or just the market? And how many of the subject asking prices make sense for PLAYERS as opposed to collectors? Not that I MIGHT not ever buy another Hamer. I would certainly buy back some that I have sold IF the price as very right. But to pay a premium price for something when my current choices for playing out are something different.....Highly illogical. Even if my ears are not pointed. 😉

The world has passed me, or at least my budget, by.

Hard to tell. At least for this one, it certainly does not seem to run small. I have a similarly styled PRS letterman jacket.....The old one with the picture from their original brochure with 3 colorful figured maple top Custom 24s embroidered on the back. It is a size large and a good fit. The Hamer XL would be way too big for me even if I was wearing it over a sweat suit. (Depending on the garment, a MEDIUM will often work for me. so almost anything in an XL is gonna look like a tent).

It took a while to find one of the HH models, but it was worth the wait. Not that I needed to do it, but then a version of the Andy Wood in SS format (Iron Man colors!) was offered to me at a major discount (unusual by a dealer of new Suhrs) and I said yes. Arrived a few days ago. Not unhappy. I do like the HH version more. With 5 way and push/pull, it can pretty much work the tones of a Tele, Strat and LP (or HB equipped Tele). Either it or the earlier 3 pickup S type MAY supplant my long time (14 years now) numero uno Dolphin. But then the Shishkov with all that and piezo.....🤔

Mine is XL. Too big for me. Got it dry cleaned, so at least the worst dirt is cleaned up. Maybe I can grow into it. 🤔

Suppose I gotta try one......🤔

Back when, the real deal instruments were not as numerous as today, but were available, used, at big discounts from the even inflation adjusted list prices (which were mostly "fair traded" and not discounted) if you looked for them. I could go on and on about buying great guitars for under $200, sometimes under $100. Including Gibson archtops. Many that I used to own would be worth well into 4 figures, some 5 figures today. If I had only known....As in late 60s, early 70s. To be fair, in the late 60s, I was a student and bringing home $35 a week from part-time work. Fortunately, I was living at home and had few expenses! If I had deeper pockets AND could see the future, I'd be more well off today. (Cue Norm's Rare Guitars!) Even in the 80s, you could pretty easily pick up a Les Paul, Strat, 335, 347, ES 175 for that cliche $350 around Los Angeles. I kick myself for not having picked up an original late 50s 335 (blonde!) for the $1000 asking price, that being from a dealer. Anyway, there was little incentive to build a fake and copies were generally clearly inferior. But now that the real deals have become collector's items.....

And the perfect C & W song.....

I like him a lot. WAY back when, our band covered a couple of his tunes......More Than One Way Home and Standin' At The Station. They were crowd pleasers. (Even if I was then using a modded Hamer Artist rather than an M3).

Or maybe it is the lead singer(?)

I have never been convinced that "appraised value" was a good measure of what a guitar would likely sell for, even at a music retailer. Maybe more for "insurance purposes?" But here is what an AI question answers re our old favorite to kick around.....Guitar Center typically pays 50% to 60% of a used guitar's, or gear's, fair market resale value** when trading in for store credit, and roughly 40% to 50% for cash. Stories abound of people hearing someone get offered a low ball amount at GC, then following the disappointed owner outside the store to make a higher cash offer and close the deal. Hey, WTF, if you can cut out the middle man....Not that I have the time to spare to hang around GC and wait for it to happen. But I have found folks anxious to sell (Craigslist, etc). that were just trying to beat the GC cash offer before they moved outta town. Like the Mesa Two 90 for $350..... I would guess that a good local store would want to take 30% for a CONSIGNMENT. But that implies you wait until they find a buyer rather than walk out with cash. And maybe wait for months and then get calls asking if they can reduce the price further to make the sale. You take the risk, not the store. I know I have sold something well into 6 figures locally with CL, but things sure have slowed down....

I would maybe expand that to include legitimate dealers (as in those with actual stores). Yeah, that means likely not the potential bargains we used to find on eBay and then on Reverb. But I did get a few really nice and unique items in the past year after they had been posted a LONG time and then came down in price. As it turns out, the stores were selling on consignment and were able to shave the price a bit more by selling direct and avoiding site fees. (In some cases, that MIGHT also allow a bypass on the taxes that were once NOT assessed when going through the sites but now are mostly unavoidable). Of course so much is listed by buyers with overly optimistic prices. But that (and age) is another reason I don't chase too many things any more.... Now if only EVERYTHING worked as well as HFC..... One of these days I may break down and get serious about SELLING some more things. I wonder if using Reverb with a local sales option (no shipping) is worth trying(?)

Name of a stripper at the local titty bar. She DOES have great tone......

Give them a band name.....

Yuck. Now if it had Shishkov on the headstock......🫢 Here is my idea of a travel guitar. Or an easy to carry in back up guitar.....Cheap Cort replica of a Steinberger headless. A 5 way, plus a mini 3 way for each pickup (Split, series, parallel) for great versatility. I am sure the guy that sold it to me had more into the upgraded wiring and pickups alone than I paid him for the thing. It is actually pretty impressive for tone and playability.

Well, 10-12 years ago, pricing was quite different. Pretty sure that I sold it to him for about $1200. Typical pricing at that time.