Roy Buchanan's Hamer Standards

[gtone]

I was somewhat surprised to learn that Hamer's '79 promotional bulletin indicated that Roy Buchanan had been a purchaser of two Hamer Standards.  I can't really seem to find any online reference to these guitars in print or photos/clips of them other than reference to Hamer's '79 bulletin.

So, what do we know, if anything, about these two guitars and Buchanan's history with them? 

 

[Disturber]

There is one that I've played that belongs, (or belonged - he might have sold it), to @Tokyo Tapes that is rumoured to have belonged to Roy. I think @serial might now the full story, or @cmatthes.

 

[gtone]

Yep, be good to shed a little light on these guitars.

Be pretty cool to hear Roy playing a Standard back when he was still with us. To my tone tastes, I found much of his Tele thru a Fender tone overly bright ("ice-pick" def comes to mind), in spite of his often inspiring and creative playing.

[cmatthes]

Serial Steve owned one - I THINK it was #105, but might be confusing that with another one.  He bought it from a seller in the great state of MD in the very early '00s, if not right before.

[gtone]

21 minutes ago, cmatthes said:

Serial Steve owned one - I THINK it was #105, but might be confusing that with another one.  He bought it from a seller in the great state of MD in the very early '00s, if not right before.

A burst perhaps? @serial - can you shed any more light on this?

 

[Willie G. Moseley]

Do pics of Buchanan w/ a Std. exist? My research a few months ago for a writing project averred that he regularly used the '53 Tele (and ultimately retired it), a newer 'Tele, a Strat and that odd-looking Guild (ugly, IMO) before committing all too briefly to his Fritz Bros.-made moniker-branded model. He might have sampled others in concert, but I can't say that I ever saw a Hamer in his hands.

[cmatthes]

I think there are a couple of pics - I recall a B&W shot at least, but it was too grainy to see for sure if it was the Standard Steve bought or another one.  The location, and seller history all lined up on that one.

[Jakeboy]

This is cool. Would have loved to hear his recordings with a Standard. I have also seen a couple early 70s studio pics of him was a p90 Les Paul Special. Bet that sounded great in his hands too.

[gtone]

2 hours ago, cmatthes said:

I think there are a couple of pics - I recall a B&W shot at least, but it was too grainy to see for sure if it was the Standard Steve bought or another one.  The location, and seller history all lined up on that one.

 

Thanks so much for this pic - it's pretty cool.  Judging by their smiles, it must sound pretty awesome, ha ha...

 

[kizanski]

If he knew what that Standard is worth now, he'd hang himself.  Oh wait...  

[0054]

8 minutes ago, kizanski said:

If he knew what that Standard is worth now, he'd hang himself.  Oh wait...  

Prozac n alcohol, my best friend blew his head off with that combo. Sux.

[Steve Haynie]

11 hours ago, kizanski said:

If he knew what that Standard is worth now, he'd hang himself.  Oh wait...  

Too soon. 

[gtone]

Well, there are some that postulate that his death was not a suicide in spite of the fact that he was found hanging from his own shirt in the jail cell. So there's that aspect to consider... 

[cmatthes]

48 minutes ago, gtone said:

Well, there are some that postulate that his death was not a suicide in spite of the fact that he was found hanging from his own shirt in the jail cell. So there's that aspect to consider... 

Yes indeed.  I remember there being a significant amount of news around that time that things just didn’t add up, and the Fairfax police were under investigation for some similar “suicides” shortly afterwards.   I’m not at all a conspiracy theorist, but would definitely be interested in that one being cleared up.

[sonic1974]

16 hours ago, kizanski said:

If he knew what that Standard is worth now, he'd hang himself.  Oh wait...  

Wow! That is reall harsh, even for you.

Joking about suicide. Is there no line at all? 

[RobB]

43 minutes ago, cmatthes said:

I remember there being a significant amount of news around that time that things just didn’t add up, and the Fairfax police were under investigation for some similar “suicides” shortly afterwards.   I’m not at all a conspiracy theorist, but would definitely be interested in that one being cleared up.

I read that Roy dated a daughter of the County Sheriff in his younger, crazy druggie days. Pop did not approve. He’d had a few overnight, drunk tank stays through the years for drunk/disorderly and that said sheriff, “made sure”, there would be no further visits 

[kizanski]

1 minute ago, RobB said:

Pop did not approve. He’d had a few overnight, drunk tank stays over the years for drunk/disorderly and that said sheriff, “made sure”, there would be no further visits 

Yeah, but at least he didn't JOKE about it!

[RobB]

Oh, KIZ!  You’re so cruel when you’re sober!

[DJL]

2 hours ago, cmatthes said:

Yes indeed.  I remember there being a significant amount of news around that time that things just didn’t add up, and the Fairfax police were under investigation for some similar “suicides” shortly afterwards.   I’m not at all a conspiracy theorist, but would definitely be interested in that one being cleared up.

From The Life & Times of Roy Buchanan by Phil Carson:

According to Carl Peed, now sheriff, then PR officer, shortly after Buchanan was placed in holding cell R-45, he was discovered with a crushed larynx and died en route to the hospital. The sheriff said an investigation showed that the 220-pound Buchanan had hung himself from a waist-high bar in the cell door using his own t-shirt.

There are still missing pieces to the puzzle of what happened that night. Even 10 years later, a hard look at the evidence requires withholding judgment. At Buchanan's funeral, one former band member recalled that Judy opened the coffin for them.

"It was obvious he'd had his head bashed in," this witness said. "There were bruises on his head. I saw them." The Fairfax County coroner's report did not mention bruises on Buchanan's head. Thus questions have arisen that still call out for answers.

I recall reading that the person responsible for logging RB in to holding mentioned that he did SOP and removed RB's shoe laces . Also read that RB was wearing laceless Boots at the time of his arrest -

D.~

[DJL]

A good read -

https://www.vintageguitar.com/2817/roy-buchanan/

D.~

[soli'd]

If my name were Carl Peed, I'd be pissed, too.

[boundandcrowned]

On 12/6/2021 at 9:07 PM, Disturber said:

There is one that I've played that belongs, (or belonged - he might have sold it), to @Tokyo Tapes that is rumoured to have belonged to Roy. I think @serial might now the full story, or @cmatthes.

 

 

This is the above-mentioned Standard. @Tokyo Tapessold it to me a few years ago.  I was told that it might have been owned by Roy Buchanan, but there's no proof for that. I really don't care because it's a great guitar of it's own. 

Burst view:

 

As you can see it's definitely not the Standard in the picture that @cmatthes posted: double cream neck pickup, poker chip. See below. Maybe it's only another obscure Standard ... 

On 12/7/2021 at 12:12 AM, cmatthes said:

I think there are a couple of pics - I recall a B&W shot at least, but it was too grainy to see for sure if it was the Standard Steve bought or another one.  The location, and seller history all lined up on that one.

 

[Disturber]

7 hours ago, boundandcrowned said:

 

This is the above-mentioned Standard. @Tokyo Tapessold it to me a few years ago.  I was told that it might have been owned by Roy Buchanan, but there's no proof for that. I really don't care because it's a great guitar of it's own. 

 

 

 

Burst view:

 

 

As you can see it's definitely not the Standard in the picture that @cmatthes posted: double cream neck pickup, poker chip. See below. Maybe it's only another obscure Standard ... 

 

Yeah, that is the one! Great guitar. Is the serial number 0148?