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1988 Hamer Virtuoso on Reverb


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Greetings.  I have listed my 1988 Hamer Virtuoso in Ice Pearl Metallic up on Reverb for $4500 shipped:

https://reverb.com/item/15490903-hamer-virtuoso-1988-ice-pearl

It's been the crown jewel of my Hamer collection, but it's time to let it go to someone who can put all those frets to good use (I barely need half of them lol).

Thanks, stonge

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Stonge is THE MAN.

 

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The number of Virts actually made is interesting.  I’ve seen no evidence of any more than 30 since I first looked into them.

Rare indeed and sooo playable.  I found that whilst they were designed for “Virtuoso’s” they are so easy to play that they work for a variety of genres.  Light and comfortable.  The tone though is what I find special.  Take away the obviously incredible build quality (these really were made with love) and you have a unique tone that is quite addictive.  Anyone that’s played mine has said the same.  There is an almost violin’esq tone that is very special indeed, plenty of overtones, and very satisfying.

GLWTS!  

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6 minutes ago, DBraz said:

The number of Virts actually made is interesting.  I’ve seen no evidence of any more than 30 since I first looked into them.

Rare indeed and sooo playable.  I found that whilst they were designed for “Virtuoso’s” they are so easy to play that they work for a variety of genres.  Light and comfortable.  The tone though is what I find special.  Take away the obviously incredible build quality (these really were made with love) and you have a unique tone that is quite addictive.  Anyone that’s played mine has said the same.  There is an almost violin’esq tone that is very special indeed, plenty of overtones, and very satisfying.

GLWTS!  

That's a good description - I've also found a very organic "chimey" quality to the sound too.  It's really tough to describe, but you almost feel it as much as hear it.  The version with the Sustainblock (v. Trem) REALLY have that quality, but it's there in all of the ones I've played (maybe 5-6 of them?).

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I may have overestimated the overall count on the Virtuoso's - IIRC there were 10 sustainblock korina Virts in the original batch and I've played two of those.  This is my second Virt - my first was the natural quilt maple Virt that I bought for Darc. There have been a few others up here including the infamous clown puke lefty Virt but I guessed high because I didn't want to be that guy with the 'ONLY ONE EVAH WITH EXTRA MOJO' ad copy.

The playability is great particularly with .010s - the guys at the factory set it up when they last borrowed it (and while they were installing the EMG - iirc they said there was no ground channel drilled in the guitar which made them wonder if the Hot Rails was actually original or not).  The scalloping is very shallow compared to the Fender Yngwie Malmsteen Strat and the string tension on the YM is quite a bit more 'rubber band-ish' and floppy. I also had a Gary Kramer F1 that has 36 frets and 7 strings but it was nothing like the Virt in quality  or tone. I feel a bit guilty to be keeping this on a shelf when it needs to be played - I don't shred and it's kinda like taking a Ferrari to the grocery store when I play it lol.

Once upon a time in a west coast motel, a mysterious figure in black arrived at my door bearing a plethora of Hamer exotica that he pulled from the boot of his BMW - a green Duotone, a 7-string, a green korina Virt, Whitford's mini-standard, and several other Hamer 'unicorns'.  Perhaps it was just an enchilada-fuled dream but I recall there was much merriment and laughter as we swapped stories late into the night...  

 

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2 hours ago, DBraz said:

The tone though is what I find special.  Take away the obviously incredible build quality (these really were made with love) and you have a unique tone that is quite addictive.  There is an almost violin’esq tone that is very special indeed, plenty of overtones, and very satisfying.

 "I've also found a very organic "chimey" quality to the sound too.  It's really tough to describe, but you almost feel it as much as hear it.  The version with the Sustainblock (v. Trem) REALLY have that quality, but it's there in all of the ones I've played"

 

Raised glass... Hear hear Dilly Dilly!

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58 minutes ago, stonge said:

Once upon a time in a west coast motel, a mysterious figure in black arrived at my door bearing a plethora of Hamer exotica that he pulled from the boot of his BMW - a green Duotone, a 7-string, a green korina Virt, Whitford's mini-standard, and several other Hamer 'unicorns'.  Perhaps it was just an enchilada-fuled dream but I recall there was much merriment and laughter as we swapped stories late into the night...  

 

If you're talking about who I think you are talking about, it was Tom Peterrson's mini-Standard. 😁 .

I can also vouch for Stonge being ACES to deal with!!!  I even have secret pictures of his stash taken with my glasses-cam.

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Peter has actually seen and played the infamous "Cornholio".

 

I'll say no more...

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3 hours ago, cmatthes said:

Peter has actually seen and played the infamous "Cornholio".

 

I'll say no more...

Hey Chris,  don't be starting any rumors-I like girls..... "not that there's anything wrong with that"........

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On 10/2/2018 at 11:33 AM, DBraz said:

  There is an almost violin’esq tone that is very special indeed, plenty of overtones, and very satisfying.

What about the design, manufacture or materials produces that quality?

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4 hours ago, BubbaVO said:

What about the design, manufacture or materials produces that quality?

I was discussing exactly this with Curtis Meissner and he was saying Hamer (and in particular he) spent a long time getting it right.  The relationship between the scale length, maple neck and the hot rails pickup in particular was important.  He wanted powerful close coils to drive the resonance of the body.

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Just now, DBraz said:

I was discussing exactly this with Curtis Meissner and he was saying Hamer (and in particular he) spent a long time getting it right.  The relationship between the scale length, maple neck and the hot rails pickup in particular was important.  He wanted powerful close coils to drive the resonance of the body.

So everything has compromises...what are the downsides to this approach?

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It's like this one, but not ugly and backwards!

66bc7072-3f27-471a-a9aa-4e9dcee3a66a_zps

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On 10/4/2018 at 6:49 PM, DBraz said:

I was discussing exactly this with Curtis Meissner and he was saying Hamer (and in particular he) spent a long time getting it right.  The relationship between the scale length, maple neck and the hot rails pickup in particular was important.  He wanted powerful close coils to drive the resonance of the body.

Mr Dbraz came to my house with his Virt and I played it, and the sound was, for me, perfect almost slightly processed and that was running straight into a Marshall no pedals, lovely and full, so that p/u choice was spot on. Amen.

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<sigh> while I sold mine for good reason, it's absolutely true that the magic of the Virtuoso has nothing to do with the fret count. I once tried various pickups - only the Hot Rails works. It's soulful and actually works best when not overly distorted.

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