1998 Phantom Custom brand new

[Eartender]

Hey guys, I'm brand new on here. I've probably had around 500 guitars in my life and only a couple Hamer's. I'm mostly a blues player but I do like to rock. Recently a friend of mine had a friend pass away who owned a guitar shop here in Hawaii that shut down around 1998-99. He had a "fire-sale" and everything else went into climate controlled storage. My friend purchased the load, called me and next thing you know we're opening over 100 cases! Sound like fun??? 

I got a couple nice semi precious gems and took home a nice '97 TV "pickle" Phantom. I plugged it into an old tube amp and jammed out "Riff Raff" by AC/DC. I always make my first judgement on a guitar on how it feels in my hands- this lady felt as good or better than any Les Paul or Fender I've owned made after 1969. The Seymour Duncan triple was so rock'in sweet that I didn't even notice that my overdrive pedal wasn't on. I gave him what I thought was a fair wholesale price on it considering the geographic. I live in the land where the ukulele is king and guitars are peasants. I liked it enough that my GAS took over and I bought the '98 Phantom Custom the next day, I figured I could sell it to make some of my money back or just keep it around. It has the original Hamer tag still hanging from the tuning peg and the $999.00 price tag from 20 years ago still on it. Its brand new except for a tiny ding of a couple mm's near the tip of the treble volute that clearly happened in the store. Original strings are still on it, the neck is as strait as the day it came off the boat. The fretboard needs some fretboard oil and the frets need some steel wool but I'm leaving it as is so no one thinks this is some Chinese knock-off. The only bummer is no original case. Its like they were in a hurry to get these into storage. I think it was in an Ovation acoustic case. 

My reason for posting this is I'm wondering how much this second run Phantom Custom with tags is worth? And figured this would be the place to ask. I also wanted to post this because I know you guys would probably enjoy checking out some pics of this baby. 

The $500 I paid for it seemed like a good deal with all things considered. I've read threads from other sites where people brag about going to some widow's garage sale and asking if she has any guitars. "Well my husband had this guitar, its in the closet..." I gave her $50 for a 1954 tele man!!! WooHoo! 

I guess thats capitalism but it might also be called something else. To each there own, I'm not that guy. I have a day job. I'm just wondering what a fair asking price for a semi-motivated seller would be for this girl?

I appreciate any comments or responses. I do looooooove guitars!

E.T.

[Hbom]

Welcome to the group Eartender. You may be in the right place to talk Hamers!

That's a pretty nice looking old Phantom you got there. Sorry you got hooked on the price. But if the seller was a friend of yours you might take solace in the fact that you helped him out of a big pile of guitars.

Usually those guitars get offers of around $350 here. And that's one that has been properly cared for. Those are pretty cool guitars but do to the harmonic nodes of the mahogany body don't do well in warm climates. Having spent so many years in the extreme heat of Hawaii it's hard to say whether that one is even playable anymore.

Let me suggest that you send it to me and I will store it under my bed for a while. We have a cold dry climate in Anchorage which works out very well for cool guitars.....

And that really is one cool SOB!

SO... I'll get out of here and let someone tell you the truth. My best guess would be a poor substitute for an answer from some of the folks around here who actually know.

 

P.S. If that's the one you don't want, I'd be very interested in seeing your keeper.

 

 

[cynic]

Your BIN on eBay is probably best case scenario, and would need a buyer that agrees it's brand new.

The truth is there are many used Hamer's floating around in like new condition, and a motivated seller would probably list it for a little less than the $900-$1000 they typically sell for.

[DaveL]

That's really cool...   the nice thing about the phantom customs is those

were Ultimate grade tops.    If you were to compare that top to say a garden variety

FM special top,  the phantom has a nicer top.   

 

  I don't think phantom customs were super popular, but I think a reasonably

clean one with good frets, You can probably find a buyer here...   

[Eartender]

1 hour ago, Hbom said:

Welcome to the group Eartender. You may be in the right place to talk Hamers!

That's a pretty nice looking old Phantom you got there. Sorry you got hooked on the price. But if the seller was a friend of yours you might take solace in the fact that you helped him out of a big pile of guitars.

Usually those guitars get offers of around $350 here. And that's one that has been properly cared for. Those are pretty cool guitars but do to the harmonic nodes of the mahogany body don't do well in warm climates. Having spent so many years in the extreme heat of Hawaii it's hard to say whether that one is even playable anymore.

Let me suggest that you send it to me and I will store it under my bed for a while. We have a cold dry climate in Anchorage which works out very well for cool guitars.....

And that really is one cool SOB!

SO... I'll get out of here and let someone tell you the truth. My best guess would be a poor substitute for an answer from some of the folks around here who actually know.

 

P.S. If that's the one you don't want, I'd be very interested in seeing your keeper.

 

 

Thanks Hbom, ya I like serious bow in the neck considering I'm a slide player and all. And when I run my fingers across the body I can ever so slightly feel the curl in the curly maple top. It doesn't affect the playability or tone at all, its actually pretty pleasant but I'm wondering if its a factory second or just missed it, like a factory 1 1/2 or something?

1 hour ago, cynic said:

Your BIN on eBay is probably best case scenario, and would need a buyer that agrees it's brand new.

The truth is there are many used Hamer's floating around in like new condition, and a motivated seller would probably list it for a little less than the $900-$1000 they typically sell for.

Mahalo cynic, thats good to know. I don't have any way of actually proving its brand new other than no scratches on the pickguard, a dry fretboard and some light oxidation on the frets. It appears to be "like new" and clearly stored for years. It would be really nice to have the case but on the Big Island of Hawaii this type of things happens all the time, you get used to it after a while.

[Eartender]

13 minutes ago, DaveL said:

That's really cool...   the nice thing about the phantom customs is those

were Ultimate grade tops.    If you were to compare that top to say a garden variety

FM special top,  the phantom has a nicer top.   

 

  I don't think phantom customs were super popular, but I think a reasonably

clean one with good frets, You can probably find a buyer here...   

Thanks Dave, I know the "first run" of the Phantoms are more collectable. The frets have no wear on them. The top really pops. I took those pics before I wiped it down. 

[Jakeboy]

Welcome to the HFC! Let's see the other one too.

[KofSeattle]

For what it's worth i very recently found one of these for 800 in like new condition. The only difference being no hang tags and mine is a red flame top. It is a great player. Very harmonic. Cheers and welcome to the the HFC! 

[sled]

6 minutes ago, KofSeattle said:

For what it's worth i very recently found one of these for 800 in like new condition. The only difference being no hang tags and mine is a red flame top. It is a great player. Very harmonic. Cheers and welcome to the the HFC! 

$800 is a great price.  I paid just over $900 for mine.  that price included shipping and fees.  The rotary five way switch is brilliant.

 

[Armitage]

Nice!

[Jakeboy]

Reread your post....what are the semi-precious gems you speak of? I assume that is a euphemism for some nice vintage gear...or were you speaking of real-deal gems.

[cmatthes]

Those are nice guitars, but they weren't very popular, so were discontinued after a couple years.  Most sat unsold and were blown out - several dealers near me were selling the black and TV Yellow Standard Phantoms for @$350 and the Flame Top versions like yours in Orange Trans and Sunburst for @$550 in the early 2000s.  People seem to appreciate them more now, as they were really well made and are very versatile guitars.  I would agree with the above assessments of value in the $800-$900 range, with the original hardshell case.  Unfortunately, like the original run of Prototypes from the early 1980s, these seem to have limited appeal on the used market.  Better as a player than a collectible, but you scored pretty well paying $500 for it!

[Eartender]

8 hours ago, Jakeboy said:

Reread your post....what are the semi-precious gems you speak of? I assume that is a euphemism for some nice vintage gear...or were you speaking of real-deal gems.

Thanks Jakeboy. The other two were are a really nice mid 60's Gibson B25N with a Dearmond soundhole pickup that matches the patina perfectly. Its been around a bit but its a player too. The other is a full size Oscar-Schmidt 1920's hollowneck. Its called a "Hilo Lap Steel" and though its 100% acoustic. It came out around the same time those first Ric frying pans did. It also came in on of those heavy duty plastic 60's? 70's? Martin cases. Its all koa. It had a couple cracks so its being repaired right now. It isn't a Weissenborn but I do play a lot of slide and "Hilo" is the main town on the Big Island, Hawaii where I live. I get to keep that until I find someone/can afford someone to build me one. I only keep custom builds now, I have around 8-9. There's so much exotic wood on this island and the guitar community is so small that you get to know everyone after a while. And some world class builders- my friend/neighbor just took 5 guitars to NAMM for Fernandes. Its a pretty unique community. Only 120,000 people here and its bigger than all the other islands put together. BTW, if anybody knows a crackerjack amp tech whose looking for work, ours is in his late 70's. Kiernan's Music, the big shop on the island told me the other day that he could set up shop upstairs rent free. Thats how bad we need one.

[Eartender]

1 hour ago, cmatthes said:

Those are nice guitars, but they weren't very popular, so were discontinued after a couple years.  Most sat unsold and were blown out - several dealers near me were selling the black and TV Yellow Standard Phantoms for @$350 and the Flame Top versions like yours in Orange Trans and Sunburst for @$550 in the early 2000s.  People seem to appreciate them more now, as they were really well made and are very versatile guitars.  I would agree with the above assessments of value in the $800-$900 range, with the original hardshell case.  Unfortunately, like the original run of Prototypes from the early 1980s, these seem to have limited appeal on the used market.  Better as a player than a collectible, but you scored pretty well paying $500 for it!

Thanks man, its great. As good as any Gibson or Fender, totally underrated and it really rocks!

[Eartender]

11 hours ago, Jakeboy said:

Welcome to the HFC! Let's see the other one too.

Thank you sir! You guys are awesome! The TV "Pickle" flew out the door for $800 7 hours after I posted it on eBay. It was a heartbreaker. I've always loved the TV yellow LPJ's but I'll probably never have one of those either! Like I said, I only keep custom builds made by friends now or I'd have or still have 40-50 gits lying around and all those cases. I'm almost 50 and trying to manage my acute GAS disorder as best I can. I'm sure you guys can relate? 

[Eartender]

10 hours ago, KofSeattle said:

For what it's worth i very recently found one of these for 800 in like new condition. The only difference being no hang tags and mine is a red flame top. It is a great player. Very harmonic. Cheers and welcome to the the HFC! 

Thanks man, I'm getting an idea what its worth. I really appreciate all the input you guys! Special shout out to KofSeattle. I was born and raised there myself! Spent years literally destroying my hearing in those tiny practice rooms downtown until I moved here. I might have bought a git from you, do you put a lot of stuff on Seattle CL? I remember lots of funky guitars with lots of inlay on the fretboards?

Anyway, I'm legally deaf in the left ear, the sound that does come through is acute tinnitus and hyperacusis (hypersensitivity to sound, frequencies) Couldn't play live anymore, total devastation. I went back to school, which is something a swore I'd never do and became a psychotherapist who specializes in working with musicians and war veterans with noise induced hearing damage (the two main populations.) If you guys know anyone whose suffering let me know. It usually happens that the guy in your band suddenly leaves because he says his ears hurt and nobody really hears from him again. Isolation, depression... 

There was nothing like an A/B box, an old JMP and an old Bassman both dimed out in an 8X10 practice room to destroy my ears.

[tbonesullivan]

I used to want a phantom in the biggest way. Having all those tonal options, and the giant three coil "motherbucker".

Then I went insane and got an EBMM Steve Morse, for people who need four pickups, and three 3-way switches to control their guitar.

 I kinda wish I had held out for a phantom. Oh well. That one is awesome, and you should do well with it.

[JimHalinda]

I have a '98 Phantom Custom just like yours that I bought NOS in 2000, it's a super-versatile monster, still the best guitar in my collection to take to a jam if you don't know what you're going to be playing through, or what style.

I couldn't tell you what it's worth, but the triple coil certainly seems to scare people off - you know how ultra-conservative guitar players are (even though coil splits are popular).

But, as you've learned, they really are fantastic guitars! I've grown to prefer a Fender scale length, but can't bring myself to let my one Hamer go.

 

Regards,

 

Jim

[Eartender]

Thanks Jim, It sure sounded good tonight!

[G Man]

My first Hamer was a 98 Phantom Custom that had been customized with a mini-bucker in the neck.  Great guitar, superb build quality, but as heavy as an ox, so it sadly moved on.  Had it been about 3 pounds less weight, I would still own it.