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*************Californian Fan Club***************


ton13

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That old pic of my Blue Marble Cali (on our beach, 4th from left, top row) made me tear up just a little...

Miss the hell outta that one!

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An old favorite of mine.

12859510.jpg

Wow. Got any color pics of that one? Yummy.

I find myself all tingly looking at the reversed headstock Cali with the Moon graphic and eyeball holograms. Something about the reversed boomerang inlays just works so right with the direction of the headstock and fretboard too. As an added bonus it has a bound neck :(

That is a cool one. Aybody here still own her? I'd love to see some bigger pics.

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...

TWO QUESTIONS:

Has anyone ever noticed that the earlier MIK SS Californians look more like the US Diablo's than the US Californians? Maybe it's due to both being made of Alder and the US Cali of Mahogany, except the special. I am up to date on the better specs

of the US line, but I have never found a US Cali that looked similar to mine body wise, just the Diablo.

I have not seen a US Hamer Californian that looks like these.

USA Diablo

hamer%20Diablo88.jpg

My recent $120 MIK Cali purchase

1.jpg

I need locking nuts and a whammy. Can anyone direct me to a good website for these accessories? I believe the size I need is R2 (1-5/8).

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I need locking nuts and a whammy. Can anyone direct me to a good website for these accessories? I believe the size I need is R2 (1-5/8).

Real deal @ www.floydupgrades.com or ebay for Gotoh branded...

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Any answers to my second question below? Why does the US Diablo of the same date resemble the high quality import Californian much more so than any Californian I've seen. Is it because the US Diablo's were a notch down from the cali's and Hamer decided to use the same wood among other things? I challenge one person to find me any regular USA Californian than looks like either this US Diablo or 96 MIK Hamer below from the early 90's.

Some guru here know the answer and I please ask you to repond! :P

The MIK Californian seems to have alder wood like the diablo, is that it?

Having difficulty finding specs on these discontinued guitars. I want to know my guitar, and am having a hard time. Still don's understand

Has anyone ever noticed that the earlier MIK SS Californians look more like the US Diablo's than the US Californians? Maybe it's due to both being made of Alder and the US Cali of Mahogany, except the special. I am up to date on the better specs

of the US line, but I have never found a US Cali that looked similar to mine body wise, just the Diablo.

I have not seen a US Hamer Californian that looks like these.

USA Diablo

hamer%20Diablo88.jpg

My recent $120 MIK Cali purchase

7.jpg

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There are US Californians with an alder body around, the US Cali Deluxe. But I don't know if they ever came with transparent finishes. The body dimensions of the Diabolo are identical. I have seen lots of Diabolos going for cheap in ebay over the years. I should have gotten one of those. But I have a Cali which is my No. 1 guitar for 9 years now. And I have some other Hamers around that are meant to be played too (a nice blue Chap Deluxe is my backup). At home I recently play a Gibson Chet Atkins CE a lot. But maybe if I ever see a transparent green or red HSH Diabolo for a good deal I'll get it.

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There are US Californians with an alder body around, the US Cali Deluxe. But I don't know if they ever came with transparent finishes. The body dimensions of the Diabolo are identical. I have seen lots of Diabolos going for cheap in ebay over the years. I should have gotten one of those. But I have a Cali which is my No. 1 guitar for 9 years now. And I have some other Hamers around that are meant to be played too (a nice blue Chap Deluxe is my backup). At home I recently play a Gibson Chet Atkins CE a lot. But maybe if I ever see a transparent green or red HSH Diabolo for a good deal I'll get it.

Yes.

I suspect that my MIK Cali sounds more like a regular US Diablo than any US Californian due to the same wood, or far away quality of the US Alder Delux Cali.

I actually prefer the stratish Mid High's of Alder better than the excellent mid low's of Mahogany, so I am looking for a US Diablo as of right now. Then I can test my theory excusing the slightly less active pickups on the import.

Just to say it one more time, I have owned a few high quality imports and have never gotten a better deal than the $100 I paid for the MIK. Just got my locking nuts today, and all that is left is a whammy bar and possible a pickup update one day, but the D Design 103 has a great crunch and harmonics for a $100 pickup.

The guy at the music store had the guitar listed mistakenly as a Slammer by Hammer, which is on the receipt too :P

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I have not seen a US Hamer Californian that looks like these.

USA Diablo

hamer%20Diablo88.jpg

Maybe because that's not a USA Hamer Diablo. It's an import.

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I have a Californian made in Korea but can't find much info online, everything I've found pertains to the USA models. Its a great guitar but super strats and Floyds arent really for me. I'm considering selling or trading it. Everything appears to be stock, nothing missing except there is no case. Does anyone know the value of these import models?

Edited w/ better pics (June 7, 2011).

HamerCali01.jpg

HamerCali04.jpg

HamerCali07.jpg

HamerCali02.jpg

HamerCali06.jpg

HamerCali03.jpg

HamerCali05.jpg

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I have a Californian made in Korea but can't find much info online, everything I've found pertains to the USA models. Its a great guitar but super strats and Floyds arent really for me. I'm considering selling or trading it. Everything appears to be stock, nothing missing except there is no case. Does anyone know the value of these import models?

Sorry for the bad cameraphone pic, will post better pics soon. Thanks.

001-1.jpg

I could be interested in this if the price is right...

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I have not seen a US Hamer Californian that looks like these.

USA Diablo

hamer%20Diablo88.jpg

Maybe because that's not a USA Hamer Diablo. It's an import.

Here's a USA variety, the picture above was hard to get a good look and was advertised as a USA.

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96 slightly banged up MIK Califonian. It also has the three piece maple neck although I believe the USA models are pre-stretched. If I upped the pickups on this, I doubt it would sound much different at the bridge. My opinion.

4.jpg

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I added better pics to my original post above.

Do you know anything about the body wood or the year?

Not a clue. Havent located any specs or serial number info for the Korean models. That is why I came here.

As far as I know, the good Korean models were built between 92 & 96 (as my 'Slammer Series' Diablo) was at either the Cort or Samick factory. My serial number on my Diablo was 5081438 & this was (I think) a 1992 model. Dunno how much use this is to your plight...

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The import serial numbers don't appear to have much to do with date of manufacture. Does the plain Hamer headstock logo (without Slammer) help to pinpoint anything?

It could mean it's an early Slammer or the model after the Slammer Series. I had my SLAMMER SERIES logo removed (see below)...

05Original_headstock.jpg

09Second-modification_headstock.jpg

And here's my Diablo pre-mod (original) then modded (Trem rout fill, Gotoh FR upgrade, EMG HZ's p-ups upgrade & Pink paint)...

07First-modification.jpg

15Finished.jpg

Cost with Mods over £700 (GBP) & eBayed for a measly £230...

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I like that Pink. I used to have an 80's BC Rich Strat style in that color. I sold it in Germany for twice as much as I paid for it in a Pawn shop.

gibsongeek:

There is a guy that floats around here that wrote, I believe, that the last MIK's before they pulled the plug at the Korean Cort facility did not have the Slammer Series. That would make sense with the condition of your Californian maybe. It also looks more like a Deluxe?

Maybe they removed the Slammer Series the same time they added the USA to the headstock's? This is just a wild guess and I have not read this.

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