PSA: Phantom A5 and Question about it

[Submariner85]

I was looking at this A5 and thought it was pretty decently priced maybe a little high but got my interest. Has there been something done to the pickups? Slammer pickups? I thought all the Phantom A5s had the single/double together at the bridge plus a single at the neck.

http://cgi.ebay.com/HAMER-USA-PHANTOM-A5-V...7QQcmdZViewItem

[serial]

As gunked up as that one is, $700 plus over $100 to ship it is crazy. The pickups aren't original (or at least the single coil for the 3 coil is missing, as is the mounting ring), the guard's been boogered bad (don't know wtf is going on in the neck), it's missing the bar (good luck finding one-you gotta retrofit a Floyd collared arm) and the backplate is gone (these are scarcer than the trem bars). Knobs and truss rod cover are wrong too as is the two-way switch, but you can score those much easier. No case? Good luck finding something that'll fit suitably. I'd offer 'em $450 shipped, but then again, I got a killer 6 in line Phantom from Dave's about a year ago for $349 that had no issues other than no case and I had a line on one of those for a while.

That being said, Phantoms are usually great guitars, but you can find better ones for that price surely.

[mhmike]

The 3+3 headstock Phantom A5's are pretty rare/hard to find these days, but I don't think this one is worth 800 (especially not $100 for shipping...WTF is up with that?!). I got my 83 for $900 (shipping included). Mines probably a little more beat than that one, mostly because of the finish cracking mine has.

Things to watch out for, most of which Steve noted:

- no case: good luck finding one of these lying around. I know Warmoth makes a body style that is similar to the Phantom A5/Cruise (with the lower horn being curved down in a weird BC Rich fugly style), but I have no idea about their case production...beware.

-non original knobs: I believed Hamer used the fat black ones on Phantoms and Phantom Customs, but I have yet to see them for sale anywhere. IMHO, those white strat knobs are pretty whack looking.

- non original pickups: No idea if Hamer offered Slammers with creme covers, but the "triple" surround is definitely not stock, as there's no room for the bridge single coil. I've never seen one of those around either, and the "triple pickup" is one of the unique features of these guitars, so think of that.

- missing trem arm and backplate: I don't think you'll ever find either of these. The backplate will probably have to be handmade by you (something I'm going to be doing for mine the future). While the Sustainblock trem arm is utter crap, IMHO, but the bridge itself will need to be fitted for something else, which is another pain.

All in all, even despite how scarce these are getting, I'd wait. There was a yellow one on eBay last month (can't remember if it was a refin) and a refinned blacked one that was kinda goofy, but still had all its parts.

[Submariner85]

I didn't even notice the shipping cost. As soon as I saw the pickups, I was pretty sure something was wrong.

[GusS]

i bet there are a ton of surprises under that aftermarket p/g. The mods are very ed roman. i woudln't pay $300 for that. Shit $350 bought me an all oriiginal playa A5 from a fellow forumite last month.

[DavidE]

i bet there are a ton of surprises under that aftermarket p/g. The mods are very ed roman. i woudln't pay $300 for that. Shit $350 bought me an all oriiginal playa A5 from a fellow forumite last month.

You must be lying. I would never sell an original playa sustain block trem A5 for a mere tree fiddy! Boy do I feel dumber than usual now. LOL. ;-)

I hope you're kickin' some ass with it ya hoser!

[serial]

Mike-yours is original it appears, so the finish checking is not going to be that big of an issue (well, it wouldn't be for me, but that's just my opinion). Funny that Gus mentioned Roman-I SWEAR that this guitar was on his website a few years back along with a horrible blue metallic one that was similarly boogered.

Mike-lemme know if that template works out for you!