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23 minutes ago, HAMERMAN said:

I have the exact same Godzilla figure guarding my beer fridge in the garage! :-)

Godzilla rawks!

ETA- wouldn't it be cool to die cast a Godzilla figure that worked as a bottle opener?

 

Edited by diablo175
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25 minutes ago, HAMERMAN said:

Or a lighter where the flame shoots from his mouth. :-)

 

Great idea but I open more bottles than I do light , uh... things.

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There's something to be said about persistence.

For years, the Godzilla Cali has been the red-headed stepchild of my Cali family; always offering some manner and degree of annoyance or obstreperousness. Never fully cooperative or helpful with getting my musical impulses out. This was particularly aggravating because of the money and creativity invested in the finish.   I tried, mind you, to make it work. Numerous pickup and trem changes, upgrades, set ups, tweaks all fell short of propelling this Cali into the upper echelon of stage-worthy, go-to, keepers. In a fit of exasperation, I even sold it but bought it back a year later. There HAD to be a way to make it work. This is where my persistence paid significant dividends-  after one last pick up change and another trem swap, it started to sound like what I was wanting to hear. But it still didn't play/feel the way the others did. In a last ditch, Hail Mary move, I sent the wayward ax to my favorite local tech for a re-fret. Dude does excellent work. Can't tell that the frets were aftermarket. Not a mark or scratch on the board and the frets are superbly shaped. He even oiled the board and cleaned and polished the body.

I could not put it down last night. It was the only one I played this morning. It will likely be the only one I play tonight. It sounds and feels fantastic. Persistence paid off. It's a mutha beautiful keeper and it's gonna be used at the next gig. :D

 

 

Edited by diablo175
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I don't got no Godzilla but I had a model of Reptar from Rugrats but the dog chewed its tail off...

I do, however, have a model of the Clapton "Fool" SG...

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In related news, after acquiring the Fernandes Revolver I was so taken with the Sustainer, I've run through a number of different options of acquiring another Sustainer-equipped ax but preferably with specs and characteristics closer to my beloved Hamers. So, after cycling thru the list of which guitars I'd like to have a sustainer in and which guitars would accept a unit, I was left with one option: plug and re rout the neck cavity in a Diablo to accept the sustainer p'up. Naturally, this would require some more real estate near the control cavity also get routed (for the motherboard and switches). It's do-able but not ideal.

Then it dawned on me- (more like was inadvertently stumbled upon) Meatbomb at Addict Custom Guitars is in the process of finishing up another neck thru Cali-esque guitar for me. Why not have one put in there? Sure, I'd need to lose the distinctive and appealing 27 fret board to allow for the Sustainer p'up to be square. But who the f*ck uses those frets anyway? :lol: And as good fortune would have, he has not yet routed the neck p'up cavity. So, the maple neck thru, alder body, now 24 SS fret Burrito.2 will be sustainer equipped as well.  Yee HA!

 

 

Edited by diablo175
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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...

Hard to believe it's been almost 2 months since last posting here but it has. Lot has gone down in that time: I ordered myself a custom Standard-esque ax from Shane at HEL, and my latest Cali project has come back from Mike Learn and gone right to J Guitars for SS frets and Floyd post relocation. Despite having other badass Cali's to keep me preoccupied, I find myself looking forward to this one with the same excitement and anticipation that the Celicited. That's saying a LOT.  Maybe because this is gonna be something special? The perfect storm of kickass finish design, mad painting skillz, a Murkat Special in the bridge, and a real-deal OFR for the bridge. Hoo-AH!  Can't f-ing wait!!

Next up: Barney Sparkle gets a new finish! Stay tuned!

No automatic alt text available.

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

With the Cali-oactive project complete (and how !!!) and my HEL Standard in it's infancy, I wanted a new project. Possibly my last refin/mod project. Today, I put down a deposit for a swirl finish and matching head stock. This will complete the mods to a Cali that include stainless jumbo frets, new Floyd, p'ups, pots and selector switch. Deciding on the finish has been a tough one as there are several I've been considering:  WW2 Warbird, Lynch kamikaze, Samurai, neon solid(s) and several graphics I've designed. I went with a swirl as a sort of homage to Vai and the 80's and because it looks cool IMO. :D

 

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2 hours ago, diablo175 said:

With the Cali-oactive project complete (and how !!!) and my HEL Standard in it's infancy, I wanted a new project. Possibly my last refin/mod project. Today, I put down a deposit for a swirl finish and matching head stock. This will complete the mods to a Cali that include stainless jumbo frets, new Floyd, p'ups, pots and selector switch. Deciding on the finish has been a tough one as there are several I've been considering:  WW2 Warbird, Lynch kamikaze, Samurai, neon solid(s) and several graphics I've designed. I went with a swirl as a sort of homage to Vai and the 80's and because it looks cool IMO. :D

 

Cool.  Yet another I'll look forward to seeing.  I was going to say as I started reading it, don't do a Lynch copy, your herd has a lot of creativity in it.  The swirls do look cool.  

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I've opted to go with another OFR for this mod.  The cavity will need to be extended but it will be cool if I get it painted to match the rest of the body! 

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  • 1 month later...

Lots going on on the bench these days. Well, lots will be going on anyway. It's pickupalooza time in Diablo's laboratory.  Been re-evaluating the tone/sound of all of my various beauties in the harem and have decided yet again to tweak a few p'up assignments. Enter Josh Gravelin and Murkat. Rumor has it that Josh is working with Murkat to develop a re-release of the famed Murkat Floyd Specific. I am really digging how the one in my Cali-oactive sounds so, I've put in an advance order for one, slated for my Jackson Fwam Star and possibly the upcoming HEL Standard. I've also been in contact with Josh about one of his custom winds for two of my Cali's- the Bengal Cali and the hopefully soon-to-be-delivered Swirly Cali. The Swirly Cal had a SD Pegasus in it, which, to be fair, sounds fantastic in the Godzilla but I wanted something with more musical highs and beefier mids. The Bengal has EMG X's and while it's not bad as far as active EMG's go, can't hold a candle to the passives in my other Cali's. I've avoided bringing it to gigs because it just was kinda blah. There should be NO reason why any guitar doesn't make the grade. As such, it's a perfect test platform for various p'ups including the Custom Custom, which sounds fantastic in the recently acquired Gunslinger Retro. My only gripe about the CC  was a rather anemic sounding low end but I'm chalking that up to the angle it's positioned in. I'm also contemplating swapping in a new bridge p'up into the recently acquired Charvel DK24. The DiMarzio Super D is a monster p'up but a tad too harsh for the type of stuff I normally do on it. Needs a slightly more melodic yet responsive p'up like the Custom Custom or one of Josh's custom winds to turn that into a more manageable and melodic marauder.

Gonna be getting my solder on here, real soon.

 

 

Edited by diablo175
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  • 4 weeks later...

Gatorbytes former red metal-fake Cali (I've named Liberace) got some bench time and a new gold Schaller LockMeister last night. The LM had the requisite brass big block which, to my chagrin, discovered did not have any room for pull up nor flutter due to the cavity rout. Not content to let something like a little real estate stand in my way, I took a Dremel and a flat file to the one side of the cavity and oh-so-carefully removed enough wood to allow for a full 1.5 step pull up and glorious fluttering.

While I want to say it's pro quality, I'd be lying. The angle I used minimized how much real estate actually came out but unfortunately, a few chips of paint around the rim also came with. The good news is, from the top, you don't see it. At all. Underneath, when the cover is off and the ax is upside down in the light? Yeah, it's a little more evident. But most importantly, it works perfectly.

Score another point for the DIY, Learn-As-You-Go types!

 

 

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Countdown to the Swirled Cali arriving has begun. Once it arrives, it'll get all it's guts back but with a new Gravelin Mongoose in the bridge and a LockMeister for the bridge. Am VERY excited to hear how this Mongoose is gonna sound in the newly painted Cali.

For the HFCer who inquired about ballpark cost for new paint, a very decent swirl including the matching head stock, correct Hamer logo and shipping is $540

 

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Jim - did you go with the black & green swirl?  I'm assuming so, based on the Avatar choice, but wasn't sure.

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21 minutes ago, cmatthes said:

Jim - did you go with the black & green swirl?  I'm assuming so, based on the Avatar choice, but wasn't sure.

Yup. And a little bit of neon magenta... ;)

Edited by diablo175
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Regarding the headstock label:

If its too late, decision is done, sorry.  But may I suggest taking a stand, market yourself.  The diablo 175+.com  underneath, smaller font, Made in USA Chester County, PA.   Be prepared for an avalanche of orders.

Edited by Caddie
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2 hours ago, Caddie said:

Regarding the headstock label:

If its too late, decision is done, sorry.  But may I suggest taking a stand, market yourself.  The diablo 175+.com  underneath, smaller font, Made in USA Chester County, PA.   Be prepared for an avalanche of orders.

Market myself for what?

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