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pablo

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6 minutes ago, BubbaVO said:

google: Terry McInturff + hamer + dead spot + g string

 

 

OK.  Here is a post from Terry McInturff himself. 

Quote
The only "cure" is to add weight to the headstock via a small C-clamp, and maybe one of those headstock plates (Fatfinger?) would work; although these solutions may well make the guitar neck-heavy. I worked as custom-builder and more at Hamer during that time period 1992-1994 and I tried everything to no avail. Heavier tuners have no effect.

I eventually found the solution but the company, understandably, did not want to completely re-design the neck and build schedule. So I kept it for myself.

BTW the C-clamp on the headstock is a trick you'll see in Nashville studios on acoustic guitars (talk about neck heavy!)

It is a neck resonance issue; the neck vibrates sympathetically at the "dead spot" thus robbing string energy quickly. The G string spot is pretty dead, and that same pitch on the B string dissolves into weird overtones.

Its a common issue with double-cut mahogany necks that are traditional build designs. Single-cuts less often, since on those the carved portion of the neck is shorter, and thus rings higher, up-and-away from trouble.
 
 

Here is something attributed to Terry McInturff. 

Quote

"Dead spots on a neck on the G string at around the 12th fret area are common, especially on a double-cut guitar; neck-thru or otherwise.

Very often, the culprit is a neck resonance issue, and this has nothing to do with any setup or fret related things. Instead, it is due to the neck vibrating at a sympathetic frequency and this vibration robs the string of energy. The string drives the neck and loses energy fast.

Most who experience this can perform a simple experiment; clamp a small C clamp to the headstock and voila! problem dissapears. This is because the added mass of the clamp has raised the PRF of the neck.

The extended heel on a PRS came about in order to minimize this situation. The shorter length of carved neck had a higher PRF.

The problem CAN be very annoying. That octave G note is pretty important. Ive played many guitars which required a change in technique in order to avoid that spot.

It is less common on single-cuts, due to the fact that the neck is supported starting way down at around the 16th fret, usually. This provides for a much shorter unsupported length of neck."

and

"A good Q. The following is my opinion only.

The truss rod is involved only because it is part of the neck; I 've arrived at the conclusion that in general we cant point to the truss rod as being a primary factor.

The "dead octave G" has been a source of frustration and mystery for years. It is due to the neck resonance matching the fundamentals of that note/pitch...the neck is stealing string energy.

It is not always G string/12th fret...it can be one of the neighboring notes on that string; note as well the behavior of that same note/pitch on the B string/9th fret...it will usually quickly shift into a higher overtone series as the note decays. However, the same note/pitch on the D string/15th fret is rarely a problem. The hi E/3rd fret can sometimes behave a bit like the B, but not as much (usually).

Finally, this phenomenon is very rare on set neck single-cuts which feature neck support from the 16th fret on up.

These behaviors give us important hints. The phenomenon Im referring to has nothing to do with loose parts, frets, and the like. It is a neck resonance-related phenomenon.

The G string and to a lesser extent the B string are "driving" the neck hard enough to cause "robbing". The hi E usually is not, and the D string is fretted so high up on the neck that the resonance of the lower part of the neck is not much of an influence in this way.

If the resonance of the neck can be raised significantly, the "problem" can be reduced or eliminated. This is what happens when we experimentally shift the resonance via that C=clamp I mentioned earlier. And we have seen how PRS shortened the shaft of the neck via that extended heel, which raises the PRF over the same neck with a small heel....a clever trick that is (as in all such things wooden) not entirely fool-proof as a solution. I always thought that they were rather brave in changing that heel!

While I was at Hamer in the early '90's I experimented with a group of approx 20 guitars. all of which exhibited this phenomenon. I was hopeful that using heavy tuners ala Rotomatics would be a solution, but on balance this was not enough. Ive lost my notes from back then but I seem to recall a slight improvement on maybe 3 guitars.

Aside from the use of something like that Fathead plate (with which I have zero experience but, it should work) I am sorry to report that there does not seem to be anything that can be done post-build in order to improve the situation....if the prob on any given guitar is related to neck resonance."

 

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5 hours ago, diablo175 said:

ETA- Was never fond of the Miller High Life Guitars. Not sure how they play but building more than one guitar of what should have been a novelty item seems dumb.  Not a fan of MHL and advertising it on a guitar is pretty much guaranteed to keep that guitar in the "hell no" file.

You could get Stike to paint it and have a sparkly amoeba guitar.  :lol:

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57 minutes ago, scottcald said:

You could get Stike to paint it and have a sparkly amoeba guitar.  :lol:

That'd be something I'd expect to see in Nathan's collection... along with the Kammerer Potato guitars...

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11 hours ago, DaveL said:

I thought the late period Krokus armed with hamer scarabs was not a great period.     They actually filmed a video in the last few years and was suprised at how good they sounded.   Think the lead guitarist was playing a historic les Paul.   Probably a better band than they are remembered for.    But back then, Even joe Perry looked like a moron on the cover of his “once a rocker always a rocker” phase. 

  That and some of the weak tops of the 1990's...  the tops were not as consistently excellent (IMHO) than what they spoke of  (paying a premium to

sort wood, and send the rest back).   maybe they would have gotten more market share if the had better tops.        

 

What era is considered to have their best tops?

 

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10 hours ago, kizanski said:

OK. Here is a G string.

Cosabella-Womens-Dolce-g-string-Panty-Cr

 

Just trying to help.

I´ve looking for some Hameritis but could not found one. For me just perfect shape :lol:

 

But serious: I´ve owned a lot of Hamers in my life. (without those "Superstrats" from the late 80´s). The biggest -and only- disappointment was the T-51. (o.K. I compared with my 69 Tele...)

 

Jochen 

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12 hours ago, gtrdaddy said:

I wouldn’t go that far. His first design for Santana in ‘79 sure looks familiar... just sayin’ 😉

0F8F8D5F-CC73-4E09-AADE-60CE29FDBD1B.jpeg

Oh, SNAP-diggity!

 

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The Vintage S.  Maple bodies and maple necks just sound terrible to me.  The active circuitry took it into, as Kizanski likes to say, a whole new world of "suck".  I loved the design and look so much I've owned about five of them.  All tone deficient.

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On 4/25/2018 at 9:18 AM, Jakeboy said:

I got nothin’ to add to this thread. I have loved every single one I have touched....

I’m the same way.

If I was forced at gunpoint, I’d say the circa 1996 Standard with the white pickguard.

And only because of the pickguard.

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Ducking...   I was never fond of the shape of the original Cruise bass. I also found the 3x3 headstock on the original Vector's and Blitz's aesthetically displeasing.

 

-Bobby

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On 4/25/2018 at 2:14 PM, diablo175 said:

ETA- Was never fond of the Miller High Life Guitars. Not sure how they play but building more than one guitar of what should have been a novelty item seems dumb.  Not a fan of MHL and advertising it on a guitar is pretty much guaranteed to keep that guitar in the "hell no" file. 

Yes.  The look on your face said it all.  :)

046BBB0C-8F93-4F45-83C0-7B554B64143E-2.jpg

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On 4/28/2018 at 12:14 PM, hamerboy_ said:

 I also found the 3x3 headstock on the original Vector's and Blitz's aesthetically displeasing.

I am sure those are great guitars, but I, too, found that particular headstock an odd element of otherwise cool designs. 

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1 hour ago, DBraz said:

Yes.  The look on your face said it all.  :)

046BBB0C-8F93-4F45-83C0-7B554B64143E-2.jpg

Caught red-handed! I'll be honest- playing that one it was mostly a forgettable experience though, that could be attributed to my advancing years and not just the meh nature of the guitar.  😃

 

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