New here and jumping in to the DIY deep end

[lorenmiller]

Hi HFC! I'm Loren, a long time Hamer admirer and as of a little over a year ago, a proud owner. Thanks in advance for helping me out on my quest.

Background:

I bought this guitar off reverbDOTcom for 1.2k, other than the condition being overstated I am really happy with it. I am a church musician and am mainly stuck behind an acoustic or piano, but have been playing electric more and at different gigs/rooms which require my gear to be up to snuff to get the best sound to fit the room/band/gig.

Goals:

So with a hernia operation last week I find myself with a lot of time on my hands and I am going to go through my guitar to get it in the best shape. Here is what I would like to do:

1. Go through the guitar with a fine tooth comb and make sure everything is working properly and replace what is not with quality, yet real world parts (i.e. no $200 cryogenically treated billet steel tail piece (but if I can find it for $20, well...))

2. I am really leaning towards a PTB (where the knobs become Volume, Treble cut, Bass cut) wiring mod, "I think and assume" it would give me a lot of sonic flexibility to get the tone I need for the gig, I have also thought about a blender pot, where the last pot blends the other pup in, but am leaning towards the first.

3. Since I have a lot of time on my hands for a couple weeks, I would like to learn how to do as much as I can myself, but realize that there is a time and a place for professionals.

Gameplan:

--- Mechanical:

1. Bridge - I already know my bridge and tailpiece are pitted out and the saddles are hindering intonation with each bend, I could get by with just new saddles but I am leaning towards replacing the whole bridge which I think is a Nashville TOM??? After a lot of research I think I should be fine with a $30-40 bridge replacement from stewmac or the like and have a pro slot the saddles ( I am leaning towards brass?).

2. Tuners - I originally thought my intonation problems were tuner related but after taking off the bridge I think I found my culprit, but in the back of my mind I love locking tuners that I have on my other guitars?

3. Nut seems just fine, I will give it a thorough lube.

4. Learn how to do a full set up myself or go to a pro

--- Electrical:

1. I just got a multimeter and would like to test every component to make sure that it is still working at 100%

a. get a reading for each pot open/close

b. get a reading for each pup

c. test the capacitor on the bridge tone pot

d. test continuity/resistance/ground throughout the wiring harness

e. try to evaluate the sweep of the pots to see if they are still to spec

2. If needed, fix components to bring back to spec myself or bring to a pro

2.5 This might be a good point to do the PTB mod myself or go to a pro

--- Hamer Fan Club

Here is where I need your help, how does my plan sound? What am I missing? What would you do?

Thanks in advance,

Loren

Here is what I am working with SN: 230948

(pics)

a beauty of a burst with one weird spot, probably where the previous owner put his finger a lot, but you can't "feel" the wear, resprayed?

http://googledrive.com/host/0BwvTy2SKzxPmbXBmbDRxcTFQVEU/

The bridge and tailpiece are really pitted and the saddles are shot, notice the top bridge post is closer to the bridge pup, normal?

http://googledrive.com/host/0BwvTy2SKzxPmVHp1X2ZLMG5sSFhzdmliVTlzSjRUTzI5eF93

Wiring cavity looks real clean/stock, the pots are herky-jerky so I am interested to see what they read on the multimeter

http://googledrive.com/host/0BwvTy2SKzxPmRnJ0SFZzbk03N3dfbE93TUxZajJmc0QtWmRj

Back of headstock

http://googledrive.com/host/0BwvTy2SKzxPmaW5zQUN3MDJsdlhZeHYzc1J3b2Fib2VCT0hF

[gorch]

Welcome to the HFC Loren! Actually, the guitar looks really nice. I wouldn't be worried about the spot in the finish. Most players are proud of hard earned spots however.

For what the pictures show, the bridge might look bad, but does not seem to be worn off. With regards to intonation, I think it just needs to be setup up properly and obviously requires some polishing. If, however, you want the bridge shine like new. Replacements are easy to find at http://www.stewmac.com. Since you have plenty of time, it might be worth conquering the site to see what's all available.

The pots on a USA Hamer usually last a life time. I would not expect any issues here. Special wirings like high pass filter and low pass filter require technical and wiring knowledge. Especially the high pass filter might require some additional capacitors to be built up. At least, I think high pass filtering is fairly unusual on guitars. If you have that knowledge, fine. If not, a pro might be the right person ask. Someone here may be able to provide a schematic that could help you on the tone knob topics.

If it were mine, I would learn to do a proper setup first and then decide on to what's required to be replaced. There should be plenty of guides available on the net. Since you have the time, polishing the bridge might let it shine again.

[cmatthes]

Stock bridge and tailpiece on your guitar would be Schaller parts in chrome. StewMac sells them, but tends to be more expensive than other places on the 'net. For the price of those replacements there, you could get better parts by TonePros or Faber.

[Hbom]

/\ /\ /\

Faber parts are on sale this week. wow! I'm starting to sound like a faber sales rep. (I'm not.)

That's a great looking guitar. Other than the intonation issue I think I would leave it alone.

Setups are fairly easy. Just go slow and be patient, you may not get it exactly right the 1st time or two but you should learn from each try and pretty soon it will be second nature.

If you're going to get rid of those crappy old pots and harness could I please have them?

[lorenmiller]

Gorch - Just tried to polish the bridge, I don't think the pitting will come out without some industrial potions and tinctures, it might be more cost effective to just get a new/used one? But it is the pitting/burring on/in/near the saddle slots that is troublesome.

Cmatthes/hbom - the faber is about $50 on sale and a noname from stew is $28, and the rest of the field seems to fall somewhere in that range +/-

[Jakeboy]

Welcome to the HFC! That is a beautiful Hamer!

You will like it here.

[gorch]

Gorch - Just tried to polish the bridge, I don't think the pitting will come out without some industrial potions and tinctures, it might be more cost effective to just get a new/used one? But it is the pitting/burring on/in/near the saddle slots that is troublesome.

Cmatthes/hbom - the faber is about $50 on sale and a noname from stew is $28, and the rest of the field seems to fall somewhere in that range +/-

I'd go for quality replacement parts to prevent pitting from inaccuracy on cheaper parts. Ask in the FS board if someone has a set to give away. Those are standard components many HFC members should have a spare floating around.

This is the HFC. Many curious things happen here, hardly found elsewhere on the web. There have been guitars sent around just to be helpful.

[veatch]

My opinion (which is worth just that) is pay extra for a good bridge. You're replacing it already - pay the extra $$$ for the upgrade.

The stock Schallers are fine. They will intonate well, and you'll get years of good use out of them. Nothing wrong with that or an equivalent replacement if that's the way you decide to go.

After many years of tinkering, what *i* like are the Tone Pros bridges - they lock down, so there is *no* wiggle. Some say this is good for tone, but i can't confirm that. One of the wiseguys here said simply, "Unlock it and see if you hear a difference." I can't. What i can tell is the intonation is dead-nuts on (since it doesn't wiggle...)

For the tailpiece, i go with the Tone Pros locking studs and a Gotoh lightweight aluminum tailpiece. Some like lightweight tailpieces, some like heavier. They both have their pluses and impact to the overall sound of the guitar. For something like a Studio, i like lightweight bridges to hear the tone of the guitar. I then send the tailpiece to Jay at NTL guitars (murkat on the board here) to mod it for topwrapping the strings.

Some people like topwrapping, others don't. Try it first before you pay for the mod. (The mod keeps the windings of the strings under the bridge - highly recommended if you do top-wrap...)

Whether or not any of this will get your guitar sounding / playing better is a crap-shoot. I doubt what i like will be the same as what you like. I have 3 guitars set up this way, and i really like it for what i do.

In the end, opinions vary, so trust your own ears.

Edited to add: Welcome to the HFC!

[Caddie]

Ok, Ok, Ok. I'm surprised no one has said it yet. I'll buy it off you for $tree fiddy wun. and take away the stress caused by these horribly disfigured pieces of mahogany, copper, etc. Plus! If you reply within the next 45 minutes I'll throw in a Swiffer that I bought at 3am yesterday.

Have a Safe, Healthy, Prosperous and Happy New Year!

Cheers!

caddie

[gorch]

Ok, Ok, Ok. I'm surprised no one has said it yet. I'll buy it off you for $tree fiddy wun. and take away the stress caused by these horribly disfigured pieces of mahogany, copper, etc. Plus! If you reply within the next 45 minutes I'll throw in a Swiffer that I bought at 3am yesterday.

Have a Safe, Healthy, Prosperous and Happy New Year!

Cheers!

caddie

Got to wear my $tree fiddy shirt today for this one.

[Caddie]

You love locking tuners, eh? Me too!

Remove the Hamer-stamped Schallers and put on the Schaller locking or Grover locking or Sperzel locking or whatever locking tuners you prefer. You can sell those Hamer-stamped tuners here and come close to paying for your new locking tuners.

Cheers!

caddie