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When was the time of the Checkerboard stripe?


donner

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I guess you already have done some research yourself, but here's what I have found:

No checkerboard logo on Specials: 1980 models, up to the early 2000s serial numbers (e.g. 0 2048 has none).

Check logo: earliest one I have seen (FWIW...) is 0 2153, checkerboard stripe runs into 1981 (last one I know of is in the 1 2900s).

Then later in 1981 the checkerboard logo again disappears - in any case by the  1 3600s range, but this must have happened somewhere after the 2900s range.

I guess it's now up to you to find the exact cutoff range...

Fun stuff, no? I dig those trivial pursuits..

 

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Really fun stuff –  this is the first and most profound answer: THANKS!

I can find 2 guitars with the stripe in my stable:

A bleached yellow 80 Special from the first year with serial # 0 2141– you may update your knowledge, as soon as I had an opportunity to picture and upload it.

 # 01610 should be the 1. Special reported, but I don't know any more, WHO of the HFC stated that.

And a black 83 Special with a Sustainblock-Trem, # 3 9294.

May be interesting to find out when the Checkerboard stopped.

 

Paul Hamer's H-Guitars still use that decor element at the inside edge of their soundhole rosette:

https://www.premierguitar.com/articles/27377-holy-grail-guitar-show-18---h-guitars-h-cutaway-demo

 

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I owned an '82 and an '83 Special with the Checkerboard logo.

 

There were also a number of other "one off" and/or custom ordered guitars later on that had a checkerboard logo.  I know of a few Korina Standards from the mid-1990s, a few large checkerboard graphic Standards from a decade or so ago (that are pictured in another more recent thread), and maybe a handful of other guitars.  These were really not regular production items though.

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The earliest Special I have on my list (which I only pursued for a few weeks before buying a newer Hamer, so this does not mean much) is 0 1652.

Since the chec board temporarily seems to have disappeared in 1981 and then reappeared, my guess is they ran out of decals, or whatever they used to apply the logo went missing or needed fixing.

Not a big fan of these checks myself - I prefer the 'uncluttered' look of the headstock on the earlier Specials (which I why I started looking into this in the first place). Then the forum talked me into going for a later model, so I got a stop bridge Studio. Beautiful guitar, but I still think the earliest Hamers are the coolest.

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Update for those who are interested...

No checkerboard logo on Specials: 1980 models, up to the early 2,000s serial numbers (e.g. 0 2048 has none).

Appearance of checkerboard logo: earliest one I know of is 0 2141.Later in 1981 the checkerboard logo briefly disappears (1 3446 still has one).

No CB logo: (at least) 1 3614 until (at least) 1 3826. 

CB logo reappears: (at least) 1 4106 onwards.

 

 

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