chromium Posted May 4, 2014 Posted May 4, 2014 This was one of the first instruments that made me aware of Hamer as a kid, and after all these years I'm still curious about the headstock... Is there any story behind the "gumby" headstock? Were any other Bs produced like that, or was this just a one-off?
Caddie Posted May 4, 2014 Posted May 4, 2014 Is that Dave Edmunds right and behind Lowe? Long live Rockpile!
HSB0531 Posted May 4, 2014 Posted May 4, 2014 That is the Dan Armstrong headstock design that was done for RockPile.Nice Bass!!
Andrew Posted May 4, 2014 Posted May 4, 2014 It's a Dan Armstrong shaped headstock (like the Plexi-glass guitars). This was like the two Sunbursts made for Rockpile with this headstock, one each for Bremner and Edmunds. There are a few more Sunbursts in various forms with DA headstocks, but I haven't seen another B8S with one.
cmatthes Posted May 4, 2014 Posted May 4, 2014 They did that a few other times, probably the last ones they did were in '85.
mc2 Posted May 4, 2014 Posted May 4, 2014 That bass was NOT made for Nick Lowe....he borrowed it from the owner for the video, if I recall.So, cannot be said the headstock was a Rockpile-only exclusive....but it is one of my fave Hamer Basses ever.That yellow B8S was built for Bruce Thomas of Elvis Costello's Attractions, one of my fave bass players of that period. It was also set up with the roots on top, since Thomas played fingerstyle. Lowe's had the octaves on top, since he mainly was a pick player.
chromium Posted May 4, 2014 Author Posted May 4, 2014 Ahh cool- thanks all! I never would have made that DA/Rockpile connection... in most of the clips I've seen, Edmunds and Bremner are playing other brands of guitars.
chromium Posted May 4, 2014 Author Posted May 4, 2014 ...but it is one of my fave Hamer Basses ever.Agreed!
HSB0531 Posted May 4, 2014 Posted May 4, 2014 I like it better than the traditional Hamer 3x3 headstock.
HSB0531 Posted May 4, 2014 Posted May 4, 2014 Hey can I get a Hamer C/O just like................................Oh.........Nevermind
Caddie Posted May 5, 2014 Posted May 5, 2014 This was one of the first instruments that made me aware of Hamer as a kid, and after all these years I'm still curious about the headstock... Is there any story behind the "gumby" headstock? Were any other Bs produced like that, or was this just a one-off? The "Gumby Head" stock. Its been over an hour since I first read that and its still making me chuckle. I gotta get a haircut this week. "Well Mr.Caddie (if that is your real name) how would you like me to style your comb-over today?" Gimme the Gumby Head…and can you dye it that weird blue green color too, please? One of the most popular colors on The Hamer Eclipse. Hmmm…Gumby Hairdoo, Matching blue green flip flop metallic Eclipse. This Century's Devo. "The best things in life are free,(bang, bang, bang, bang on a trash can lid) but you can save it for the birds n bees…." Picture that! Cheers caddie
chromium Posted May 5, 2014 Author Posted May 5, 2014 This was one of the first instruments that made me aware of Hamer as a kid, and after all these years I'm still curious about the headstock... Is there any story behind the "gumby" headstock? Were any other Bs produced like that, or was this just a one-off? The "Gumby Head" stock. Its been over an hour since I first read that and its still making me chuckle. I gotta get a haircut this week. "Well Mr.Caddie (if that is your real name) how would you like me to style your comb-over today?" Gimme the Gumby Head…and can you dye it that weird blue green color too, please? One of the most popular colors on The Hamer Eclipse. Hmmm…Gumby Hairdoo, Matching blue green flip flop metallic Eclipse. This Century's Devo. "The best things in life are free,(bang, bang, bang, bang on a trash can lid) but you can save it for the birds n bees…." Picture that! Cheers caddie It's Gumby, dammit!
chromium Posted May 5, 2014 Author Posted May 5, 2014 It was also built with the roots on top, since Thomas played fingerstyle. Lowe's had the octaves on top, since he mainly was a pick player.Interesting about the Bruce Thomas connection to that bass...My Ric is still setup with roots on top. Could just be me, but I find that it makes the octaves tough to fret consistently, and they don't ring out as much as a result - with fingerstyle or pick.The others are setup the more conventional way with roots on the bottom. With those basses, the octaves fret easily, I can selectively hit just the roots when I want (e.g. when playing fingerstyle), and the octaves really chime out with a pick. That config also keeps me from having to swap basses around mid-set, since I can cover all the stuff that I'd normally play fingerstyle on a 4-string. Best of both worlds for me.Hope to snag one of those 8-saddle bridges for the Ric when/if they come available again, make a new nut and swap the courses around. I'll probably see more use from it then...
Andrew Posted May 5, 2014 Posted May 5, 2014 It was also built with the roots on top, since Thomas played fingerstyle. Lowe's had the octaves on top, since he mainly was a pick player.That means that it has been modified and is no longer in original condition, as in the photo the octaves are on top.So you wouldn't want it anyway.Hamer really had something with the DA headstock but never pursued it. It's a versatile design as the strings pass over the nut in a near straight line. If you look at a PRS headstock, ten years or more after Dan Armstrong, you can see it is derivative - the top curve is concave rather than convex but otherwise the same.
mc2 Posted May 5, 2014 Posted May 5, 2014 Somewhere I have close-up pics of the bass that Jol sent me years ago when I was doing the 8 and 12-string websites. I'd have to find them to figure out if it was modded.It is possible that the tuners were done like a octave on top but the nut and stringing was simply reversed for root on top for Bruce.My Earlier Pedulla 8-strings are sort of like that...the D and G strings, anyway. I guess Mike Pedulla liked the headstock looking symmetrical, so the D and G tuners appear as if they would have the root on top from how they are places. But they are all strung octave on top from the factory.....all the 80s Pedulla 8-strings were like that. I've had several. Works just fine but they eventually changed it in the 90s to where the tuner placement coincided with octave on top stringing.I actually preferred the symmetrical look. I guess some players complained about grabbing the wrong tuners, so they changed it.
chromium Posted May 5, 2014 Author Posted May 5, 2014 Ric adopted the symmetrical look too (...well, aside from those few potato-head 8-stringers; See what I did there? From gumby-head to potato-head... ) Using bass tuners across the board makes it so you can rearrange the courses, but I always find myself lunging for the wrong tuner...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.