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Your custom orders, either Hamer or not, and what motivated them?


zorrow

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Can't afford a custom build, but I wish I could because I would have supported Mike when he started taking orders. I don't even acknowledge the new "Hamer" company, because I think Shishkovs are the only legitimate heirs to the Hamer legacy. 

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In 2005, I found this website and started seeing the amazing custom orders coming out of the Hamer shop. So I began fantasizing about what my "ultimate" would be. A Studio Custom with a Duotone bridge and P90's, ebony board, iced tea burst and some other bling-y upgrades. BCR Greg helped make it a reality. It is an awesome guitar.

 

 

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CamstoneDuo.jpg

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After I landed home with my Shishkov Super-C within a few weeks I’d ordered another.

This one was to be deliberately different in subtle ways so as to avoid being a clone of the first.  Having played BTMN’s Korina Hamer’s and loving them I decided on a Figured Kotina body and Quilt Maple top accompanied by a Wenge neck (once you’ve had one...) and a different choice of pickups.  The biggest visual difference being a bound body/neck (this time White/Black/White) and a figured ebony board/headstock face.  24.75 scale length as opposed to the firsts 25.5 with Satin Chrome Schaller hardware.
 

Once the build was underway I requested Mike do the same headstock bevels as the first Super-C but this time on the rear face.  Into the build Mike suggested no pickup rings and to screw the pickups into the body as an alternative.  I liked it.  

Colour choice was fun.  I’d originally wanted a blue into purple “marine life” inspired finish but it just never worked out.  In the end I settled for a deep purple wash with a translucent purple/pink over the top and a purple burst on top of that.  Photos don’t do it justice as it changes in the light constantly.  Sometimes you get all colours at once -pink, purple and an in-between hue - but often it’s a purple burst with reddy pink flashes.

Inlays, requested early on, were Mike’s original design but I wanted them in Black Pearl like I have on my Virt so they didn’t pop as much as usual.  Abalone was used for the 12th inlay “pick”.

To top it off, thanks to a good friends Dad, I had a hand engraved metal Dragon truss rod cover made.

This has been my go-to guitar since I first picked it up.  The shorter scale makes it play slinkier and it’s softer tonally particularly in the higher register.  Uber light too.  Mike said it’d be light and he wasn’t kidding!  It’s a masterpiece.

For me this guitar has added memories as my original plans of going to Hartford and then Philadelphia by air, before going home, were altered at the last moment.  On the morning of the second day Mike said he’d drive me to Philadelphia and we could have a road trip.  If I fancied it?  Hell yeah!!  We had a great time chatting, eating, putting the world to rights.  On arrival we were greeted by Diablo175 and, after an introduction to his axe arsenal, we all went out for dinner. Fabulous.  Sometimes it’s the memories associated with the custom orders that make them so special. 
 

 

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Well, my turn now. This is my Scheithauer custom, named Mayday-V, which is actually the materialization of an idea I had since my teens —building a Flying V version of the Brian May’s Red Special. It got built in Germany thanks to the support of my friend Dirk ( @gorch), who kindly offered himself as my proxy to a local builder there who specializes in building Red Special clones and got enthusiastic about this project. It features everything a “normal” Red Special does, but I did choose the shape and the hardware layout, so this really was made to my own specs. I used it as my backup during 2014 —I used to play a couple of songs live with it per gig, just to give some “stage exposure” to it. It remains in “as new” condition though. This is a very vibrant instrument which sounds amazing and provides unmatchable access to the highest frets. So, someday, if possible, I might want another one in either yellowish colour or in green. 😉

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Oh yes, it had been wonderful to have in my house for a while. Still have this picture.

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Like DBraz I contacted Mike pretty early on but was not after an Ultimate shape, so I got in line and waited.

Took a trip out to Shishkov headquarters thinking I wanted a wide flame top. There wasn't one that I really wanted and then Mike showed me a quilt. I immediately pictured the guitar and finish and we were off to the races. Mike was working on the bullseye inlays at the time but I wasn't sure I wanted those. I came up with the idea of an inlay like Mike's signature 12th fret inlay but sans pick. Mike worked that out beautifully. Though I have never been snobby about fretboard material I asked Mike if he had any Brazilian boards. He said he did but didn't know where they were so selection came later. Finally pickups! I really loved the way my PRS DGT electronics worked. Josh said he knew the recipe for the pickups and wiring was available from the PRS website

Raw top 

hCnqOg2.jpg

Mike's first mockup of the fretboardcJhADDt.png

Fretted Board

x7GWSJa.jpg

Carved and bound body

Wj16QuA.jpg

headstock

cHl2WxV.jpg

Finished body with best color representation

u83o59C.jpg

I love this guitar, but one of the best parts of the experience is that I got to know and become friends with Mike, and that folks could be the best part of the deal!!

ArnieZ

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12 hours ago, ArnieZ said:

Like DBraz I contacted Mike pretty early on but was not after an Ultimate shape, so I got in line and waited.

Took a trip out to Shishkov headquarters thinking I wanted a wide flame top. There wasn't one that I really wanted and then Mike showed me a quilt. I immediately pictured the guitar and finish and we were off to the races. Mike was working on the bullseye inlays at the time but I wasn't sure I wanted those. I came up with the idea of an inlay like Mike's signature 12th fret inlay but sans pick. Mike worked that out beautifully. Though I have never been snobby about fretboard material I asked Mike if he has any Brazilian boards. He sai he did but didn't know where they were so selection came later. Finally pickups! I really loved the way my PRS DGT electronics worked. Josh said he knew the recipe for the pickups and wiring was available from the PRS website

Raw top 

hCnqOg2.jpg

Mike's first mockup of the fretboardcJhADDt.png

Fretted Board

x7GWSJa.jpg

Carved and bound body

Wj16QuA.jpg

headstock

cHl2WxV.jpg

Finished body with best color representation

u83o59C.jpg

I love this guitar, but one of the best parts of the experience is that I got to know and become friends with Mike, and that folks could be the best part of the deal!!

ArnieZ

Everything about this is my favorite.

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