Hamer Scepter.............Now this could be interesting!

[ARM OF HAMER]

4 hours ago, Hamer Dave said:

And, what might a Scepter V case fetch??? $50-$75?

 

                         I know you were joking around. given the guitar is so difficult to get you have to know that IF you could find a used original case w/o the guitar in it would command a premium price...............like you paid for yours................ maybe more. Its nice and interesting talking about the more obscure Hamer guitars............the Scepter and Specter V  certainly fall into that realm. White 3 PUP Scepter V with while and gold hardware??????....................Hmmmmmm any pics of that one anywhere? Bet Peter could share some..................just speculating but it would not surprise me to find out he owns it.

[JustKid]

On 12/20/2016 at 0:56 PM, ARM OF HAMER said:

                                 Hoping at some point the buyer of the Ebay Scepter will come on board here................if he isn't here already.

Out for delivery. I will give you a rundown on this jem later today

[ARM OF HAMER]

                                  So your the one!  Well congrats! I hope that none of my comments regarding your guitar were taken as a negative as that was not my intention...............just REALLY surprised at the final sale price..............but then as Dave [Mr Scepter} said IF you have some of those parts from another guitar that you can use on this one and have skills to make it back right again it will be a VERY cool guitar.............[Actually it is a VERY cool guitar right now, just in need of some TLC] In the end as far as with anything what something is worth is what some one is willing to pay to own it.I do wish you the best with your plans with regards to the Scepter and look forward to any info and photos you might care to share once you get it. Glad that someone here on the HFC got it.

[Dave Scepter]

1 hour ago, JustKid said:

Out for delivery. I will give you a rundown on this jem later today

YES!.. congratulations!.. please post lots of pics! 

[JustKid]

29 minutes ago, ARM OF HAMER said:

                                  So your the one!  Well congrats! I hope that none of my comments regarding your guitar were taken as a negative as that was not my intention..............

Absolutely not. I've been Hamer fan for many many years, bought some for ridiculously high amounts, and some at very low prices ( mostly shredders), so at the end it always evens out. And when I place a highest bid, I always keep in mind, that there is at least one more idiot like me, who was just $25 short  So there is always someone to pass it along to  

[ARM OF HAMER]

                                        No Idiots here when it comes to Hamer guitars..................................... just enthusiasts! We know what we like and sometimes you have to go the extra mile to get them. Again congrats and I hope that you can get it back in the condition this rare guitar deserves!..................a piece of "Hamer History" for sure.

[diablo175]

6 minutes ago, ARM OF HAMER said:

                                        No Idiots here when it comes to Hamer guitars..................................... just enthusiasts! We know what we like and sometimes you have to go the extra mile to get them. Again congrats and I hope that you can get in back in the condition this rare guitar deserves!..................a piece of "Hamer History" for sure.

Enthusiastic idiot here!

[JustKid]

3 minutes ago, ARM OF HAMER said:

                                        No Idiots here when it comes to Hamer guitars..................................... just enthusiasts!

True. Was just kidding . Although my wife tells me that I stepped over the border line, that separates enthusiast from hoarder. But one thing for sure - she never stopped me...actually she did stop me a few times, one when I was going to break my Jackson Jigsaw (Puzzle Face) collection and sell one of them and I had to turn the guy down . She is still very much into that paint job. I am more of a Cali guy.

 

[geowolves]

2 minutes ago, JustKid said:

True. Was just kidding . Although my wife tells me that I stepped over the border line, that separates enthusiast from hoarder. But one thing for sure - she never stopped me...actually she did stop me a few times, one when I was going to break my Jackson Jigsaw (Puzzle Face) collection and sell one of them and I had to turn the guy down . She is still very much into that paint job. I am more of a Cali guy.

 Very nice!

[diablo175]

10 minutes ago, JustKid said:

 I am more of a Cali guy.

 

I hear that!

[ARM OF HAMER]

44 minutes ago, JustKid said:

True. Was just kidding . Although my wife tells me that I stepped over the border line, that separates enthusiast from hoarder. But one thing for sure - she never stopped me...actually she did stop me a few times, one when I was going to break my Jackson Jigsaw (Puzzle Face) collection and sell one of them and I had to turn the guy down . She is still very much into that paint job. I am more of a Cali guy.

 

                                                                   A very nice grouping of fine looking Hamers!

[ARM OF HAMER]

                                                 Now that Christmas has come and gone....................any updates and photos forthcoming? Would like to hear about your guitar now that you have ii in the fold and what your plans are for the instrument.

 

[JustKid]

Well...I do not even know where to start in describing it. The cosmetic condition, as you can probably guess, is pretty poor. But that was not a major concern. Major concern for me was the neck. Not even the repaired part, but the geometry of it. When I see a guitar with no strings on it, first thing I look at is how straight the neck is. If it has a little bow, it's a major turn off for me. Bow with no strings would mean even more bow with the strings on. Straight neck pretty much falls into the same category, but still acceptable, given the truss rod works fine. Fortunately, this one has a bit of a hump, which means under the strings' tension it would look fine. And it is absolutely straight, meaning there is no warping or anything. The neck joint is untouched. That's pretty much all I personally want from the guitar. I'd just put some strings on it and start rocking. 
   But the paint. On one hand it is so beautiful and the checking is just unbelievably gorgeous. Hard to tell what color it was, not white, that's for sure, but right now it's a gold top. It absolutely is a natural gold top. The bad part is, it's flaking off and the only reason for it - humidity. While it did not affect the geometry of the neck, and that's what's important, the top coat is falling off the base coat. And as many of you know, Hamer painted them white first and then put the color ( or custom paint) on. Not sure what the exact process was, but the base and top coats were probably of different origin, because if they were the same, say both nitro, one coat would blend into another. Unfortunately it does not happen on Hamers, and the top coat is usually the first to go if the humidity conditions change ( or submerging under water happens). So you touch it and it flakes off. But the good part is - the body is clean of any gouges, holes, chips into the wood etc. So it will be fairly simple to sand and repaint...I'd go for the gold top it has now - would be easy to blend closer to the serial#.
   Regarding the repaired spot. Do not like it when its done without my supervision, because i do not know if the proper glue was used, if all of the areas were covered and all that. But I applied my body weight to it and it didn't budge and there are no gaps or openings. Good enough for me. Everything looks tight and sturdy. Hey...if Gary Moore could have one, why can't we? In conclusion, regarding the whole price controversy, I see 4 digit standards. repaired, re-done, re-topped, re-painted with the cosmic price tags, and to be honest, if you want to find one, you probably will in 1-2 week period ( I got 2 in an almost one month period). If you want to find Scepter - good luck ( although I might be wrong).
   All in all - beautiful piece. The only thing it needs - good re-paint (probably). (some pics will follow)

[JustKid]

[cmatthes]

I can't tell if that's a seriously yellowed Pearl White (most likely) or a Champagne Pearl.  Looks like a beautiful color though.

[serial]

On December 20, 2016 at 5:12 PM, Hamer Dave said:

Thank Chris,

I suspected there had to be at least one. I've a black Scarab bass with the white/gold. Pretty cool, but I need to find a tuner for one that had been replaced. May improvise a gold one.

d

There were a bunch of white/gold hardware (Scepters and Scepter Vs). I had a Scepter with that hardware-there was a run about a month earlier that I had a Phantom and SS1 from-all with that hardware.

the letters/numbers are paint batch codes from the mid-1980s.

[ARM OF HAMER]

                                                Thanks much for the info and photos................appreciated! If that were mine.................and it is NOT so.............. I fix it up to be playable with period correct parts knobs,switch tip,PUPS,hardware,............ etc.,etc. make it all straight with regards to those things [How are the frets now that you have the guitar in your hands?] and  then leave it as is. I like it............the finish color..........the aging,

[Hamer Dave]

1 hour ago, serial said:

There were a bunch of white/gold hardware (Scepters and Scepter Vs). I had a Scepter with that hardware-there was a run about a month earlier that I had a Phantom and SS1 from-all with that hardware.

the letters/numbers are paint batch codes from the mid-1980s.

Thanks Steve. And with a '?' In there, suppose they didn't know what they had!

[Hamer Dave]

13 minutes ago, ARM OF HAMER said:

                                                Thanks much for the info and photos................appreciated! If that were mine.................and it is NOT so.............. I fix it up to be playable with period correct parts knobs,switch tip,PUPS,hardware,............ etc.,etc. make it all straight with regards to those things [How are the frets now that you have the guitar in your hands?] and  then leave it as is. I like it............the finish color..........the aging,

^^ Ditto ^^  Preserving what originality you have left.  

Looking good. I'd examine the truss rod. Look to see that you have adjustment both ways. You'll feel it with your hand wrapped around the neck. At this stage, I also like to unscrew the nut completely off, brush clean and lube the exposed threads of the rod and get the nut back on. They usually work noticeably better after. With some back bow now, appears it wouldn't be snapped.  You just need to assure string tension offsets that 'hump' to where you'd want it.  \m/

d

[Hamer Dave]

Btw, what pups they have in these? Slammers?

[Dave Scepter]

18 minutes ago, Hamer Dave said:

Btw, what pups they have in these? Slammers?

Mine does~

[HamStd]

On 12/20/2016 at 2:12 PM, Hamer Dave said:

Thank Chris,

I suspected there had to be at least one. I've a black Scarab bass with the white/gold. Pretty cool, but I need to find a tuner for one that had been replaced. May improvise a gold one.

d

 

Hi Dave,   Drop me a line at Hamstd@gmail.com.  I think I can help you out with that white/gold Bass tuner.

Thanks

Peter

[Dave Scepter]

22 hours ago, JustKid said:

It absolutely is a natural gold top. The bad part is, it's flaking off and the only reason for it - humidity... So it will be fairly simple to sand and repaint...I'd go for the gold top it has now - 

For now, I would shoot a thin clear coat to stop the flaking... also buying you time to purchase all the proper parts & and decide how you want to take care of the paint job... but in the meantime you can put it all together to play/adjust/make notes "using whatever parts you have laying around" ... just my two cents 

RAWK ON!

[serial]

This one (like the one I had which I'll have to see whether it was the same one), is champagne (gold) pearl metallic.

[JustKid]

On 12/27/2016 at 3:14 PM, cmatthes said:

I can't tell if that's a seriously yellowed Pearl White (most likely) or a Champagne Pearl.  Looks like a beautiful color though.

 

2 hours ago, serial said:

This one (like the one I had which I'll have to see whether it was the same one), is champagne (gold) pearl metallic.

Now that you've mentioned it, it does look more like Champagne pearl in the cavity.