In 1988, was there a Hamer finishing dept employee with the initials R.C.?

[Hamer Dave]

I have a Scarab with the craziest paint job from the 80's. The initials R.C. are located near input jack. Any one know about this kind of finish, or artist? I will post pictures soon. It appears to have started as a red finished instrument. Then nearly every color (and glitter) under the sun used in a crazy one-off?, patterned finish, then clearcoated? I'm leaning toward this being factory done. But who knows? That's the question. Thanks!

[Hamer Dave]

Here are pics. It's 1988 by serial #, as well as initials dated '88'.

http://m955.photobucket.com/albumview/albu...oEKKod2kfQw4%3D

http://m955.photobucket.com/albumview/albu...oEKKod2kfQw4%3D

Tried to post pics but won't let me paste URL? Sorry. Hope the links above work. May need to copy/paste the URL.

Here's the headstock. Hamer U.S.A. decal over paint. Then probably clearcoated.

http://m955.photobucket.com/albumview/albu...oEKKod2kfQw4%3D

[Hamer Dave]

Appears to be factory one off? paint. Curious. Here's a pic of initials placement.

http://m955.photobucket.com/albumview/albu...oEKKod2kfQw4%3D

Let me know what you guys think or know. Thanks!

[crunchee]

To quote Burt Reynolds in 'The End': "It looks like Walt Disney threw up."

Is there a 'U.S.A.' with the Hamer logo on the headstock? If so, that would probably rule out a paint job done after it left the factory. I can't tell from your photos, they show up small on my monitor.

[Hamer Dave]

Cr,

I'm thinking it to be factory. The headstock does have HAMER U.S.A. decal over this bizarre finish. Which appears sealed as well. That adds to my leaning toward it being orignal. Wondering if someone would recognize those initials? Plus initials dated same year as production. 820503 being the serial #. Maybe Serial could find something on this via the serial number?

[cmatthes]

Doesn't look original to me, but the pics are pretty tiny that I saw, so it's tough to tell. I agree with Crunchee above that if there's no "USA" after the logo, it's definitely aftermarket. The correct size Letraset letter transfers were commonly available in the '80s and '90s, so that would have been especially easy to do in black.

If it was somebody at the factory, it is highly unlikely that it would have been autographed though.

[Hamer Dave]

Cmatt,

When you say it doesn't look original, what do you mean? It certainly isn't any automated paint job. IMO it could not be any more original in an artistic sense. Though very weird! It does have U.S.A. in the decal. This all appears sealed/clearcoated also. Shop I got it from thought it looked factory as well. It looks very well done. Definitely by hand though. All the hand painted work was done atop of what is a red guitar. Most apparent near neck joint, where you can see much of the red. Curious if anyone recognizes those initials R.C. with someone at Hamer of that era 1988? Since it's such a manually hand done art work, it would make sense to see the initials. Which are on the side, near the input jack. I'll have to get better pics. I wish there was someone here that was familiar with Hamers finish department back then in 1988...

[cmatthes]

As I mentioned, the pics are so small that it's extremely difficult to make a call on the originality of that one by those alone.

I will say that it is HIGHLY unlikely that anybody at Hamer did that graphic for a number of reasons. For the most part, Hamer's graphic finishes in the '70s/early '80s were the "tape and spray" variety, and none of those are signed by the artist. The late '80s/early '90s graphics were the airbrushed O'Connor variety, and were done offsite and then shipped back to Hamer for finishing/assembly. Those are signed by the artist, and there was a hefty premium attached for the work.

What is possible/more likely here is that somebody either:

A. Ordered a red Scarab and wanted a particular artist/friend/self to paint a graphic on it, then sent it back for clearcoating/assembly, or;

B. Red Scarab left the factory stock and was then painted, clearcoated, re-logoed aftermarket.

Can you tell the original finish of the headstock under the paint? Again, the pics are roughly 1" square on my monitor, so nobody is really getting a decent look at them.

[Hamer Dave]

Didn't realize the pics were soooo small. Never posted pics before. Used photobucket to store them since they need a URL to post. They don't get bigger if you click them? Only have my iPhone to work with. I will need to get better pictures.

The headstock is red underneath. This guitar appears to have initially been a run of the mill red. I looked closely at the artwork and can see it is sealed with clearcoat. I sent an email to serial to see if he may have something on it. I also looked very closely at the logo to see if I can see any trace of 'slide on' transfer material around it's perimeter (i.e. Fender). I don't see anything. Not sure what that tells us? Maybe I'll look under the control/truss covers for a sign of anything unusual. It also does have the nicer crown inlays. If you have email in your profile, I'll email the pics which should be a little better. Thanks.