Abaco

With the birth of our first son 7 months ago I thought my guitar future might be in question. He's not talking yet, not even crawling yet. But, when I walk into the living room with a guitar strapped on he'll even stop watching his Baby Einstein video, roll over and watch my hands as I practice - back and forth from right to left hand. He's really interested it in already - pretty funny - and makes me feel a little better about the guitar habit. But, I'm sure I'll love the soccer games, plays, track meets and all the other crap enough to put down the guitar sometimes. Nothing's better than family. The gigging band thing IS tough. Spending 30 minutes late at night, tucked away in my guitar room trying to cop John Sykes licks - much simpler. Ironic.

Very interesting thread. I'm a rocker at 38 with a baby son so I can relate to the comments about people hanging it up. It's so odd... I also have a great house, family, terrific daytime career. When a booker approaches us to play a crummy gig that pays almost nothing and I turn it down they act insulted. It's like, if you're going to be gigging, the assumption is that you're a starving moron. That's what wears thin on me. So....don't worry...gigging aint all roses, either. Play if you enjoy it. Woodshedding is fun for me so that keeps me going. As far as meeting other musicians who are worth a damn - give up on the Craig's List/classifieds - it don't work. Mutual friends and word of mouth are just about the only way to do it, based on my experience. Placing an ad is a joke. I can totally understand the urge to hang it up. You only got one life. Do what makes you happy.

Yeah, I agree. Regarding headstocks. I've always liked the Dean Vs...until I look at the headstock..no thanks.

Yes. Count me in that category. I acutally did finish a project this morning but am on a private strike at this time....

Very, very glad to hear the good news. It's shocking to me how this storm caught so many people so off guard. After it "surprised" the people in Florida.... Sounds like the kid has a good adventure story now. That God he's ok.

That always cracks me up. Seems to be minimal shit stirring on this forum. Lots of good folks here. As an armchair economist I bet the Hamer factory is just very busy trying to gear up and fill a void left by Gibson's terrible quality.

Modes for Dummies (like me)--- One way to think of modes that worked for me is this: You already know the major scale, right? Now, play a C Major scale. Now, start it from the second note in the scale - that's D Dorian. Dorian is the second mode. Start from the third note - there's your third mode (the name escapes me). That's a simple way of looking at it, so I'll just stop there.

I run my amp loud as hell with the in-amp overdrive pretty high. To eliminate the unwanted noise I bought an old MXR noise gate pedal and it's sounds sweeeeeet! Regarding playing with some distortion at low levels, I bet the little amp idea is the right way to go. Also, I have a Korg PX-4 that can be used with headphones....all the distortion you want without disturbing anybody. Built-in tuner too. Fun little box.

FWIW, the Dimarzio Evolution should not be overlooked if you're looking for a great bridge hard rock/metal pickup.

Excellent report. Man, that's a beautiful guitar. I know EXACTLY what you mean by actually feeling the sound from the guitar. I had never experienced that until I got my first Hamer - actually feeling the vibes come up the strap and into my shoulders.

Yeah, I just checked and love their Betty Paige shirts. May have to get one of those.

Man, whoever made that website should go back to design classes. Yeah, I couldn't navigate that website with any success. Maybe they'll "streamline" it a bit. I've been looking at odd shirts on ebay too. Some good stuff there. I'm not into the vintage band t-shirts really. I already own too many t-shirts.

I actually don't know the answer to this question. When my band gigs I wear the requisite black tank or tee and jeans. But, I see so many rock stars wearing cool button down shirts with nice patterns and such. I like some of Steve Vai's shirts (except any Seinfeld pirate ones). So, where do rock stars get their clothing? And, feel free to slag and make fun of this goofy thread.

Well, the price issue comes down to Business 101. From what I understand Hamer does not crank out tons of guitars - just a few a day, right? Well, any business man who detects a void left by Gibson's screwup (and there will be a void - the size of it is what's to be debated) will predict more demand. With more demand you can either raise prices, crank up production (and, in this case lower quality), or both. To do nothing, given the increased market pressure, wouldn't make sense and would get you a "D" grade in Business 101. We'll see how things unfold. I know that Gibson is THE BRAND but one must wonder how long subpar quality will be tolerated by the market. My own opinion (and, everybody's got one of those) is that the guitar-buying masses will still clamor for Gibsons becuase their old heros played one no matter how poor the quality becomes. And, honestly, 95% of the guitar-buying public couldn't tell the difference between a $300 Memphis Les Paul copy and a Gibson if they were blindfolded. Thanks for reading my meaningless blather...

Yes, I think Hamers will not go down in market value since Gibson has fumbled. This is just drawing more people to give Hamers a serious look. Of course, those of us here already knew the truth. Now, the cat's leaping from the bag. It was my quest for a good Les Paul that made me discover and own Hamers. Still haven't found that Les Paul....