PSA rare Virtuoso on the Verb

[VECTOR]

No affiliation.  It's not marbeled, it is granite finish in my opinion. With ebony fretboard! Too expensive for me but one can dream. Has someone here expieriences with Virtuosos? Are they only good for soloing or for rhythm too? 

1990 Hamer Virtuoso Marbled 36 Fret https://reverb.com/item/65260763-1990-hamer-virtuoso-marbled-36-fret?utm_source=android-app&utm_medium=android-share&utm_campaign=listing&utm_content=65260763

[Victor (Fret Friend)]

That's a weird one...

[Nathan of Brainfertilizer Fame]

how the heck do you determine the market value of something this unique?

[Nathan of Brainfertilizer Fame]

I mean, first, is it *worth* $6700?  With flamed maple Cali Elite prices up to $3500 or so, my plain-jane-except-for-the-factor-scalloping Hamer Californian listed and bought by me for the asking $2700 because I figured I wasn't going to see another one and it seemed in line with other price increases, is $6700 in line with that?  When Californian Elites were $1400-1800, the Virtuoso I bought and sold was about $2500.

 

Also, I'm mildly amused that he chose $6700...did he actively think, "well, $6800 would be ridiculous!" ...?  And even more amused that he dropped it by a dollar to $6699 to make it seem just a little cheaper.

 

Or was that to get a double 69, maybe?

[The Shark]

Only dogs can hear those notes.  The older I get, the more I play below the 12th fret!

[Dave Scepter]

5 hours ago, VECTOR said:

Has someone here expieriences with Virtuosos? Are they only good for soloing or for rhythm too? 

Absolute fantastic guitars... effortless playing, perfect pickup placement... although the scalloped fretboard may not be for everyone... I'm not going to comment on the price as I'm tired of reading all the fuk'n price complaints constantly bombarded by HFC members 😴 

Have you priced Korina Standards or Vectors lately?.. and these are extremely rare~

[tobereeno]

wow. having owned a Virtuoso for 16 years, it's far more flexible than one might imagine. I sold mine for $5000 in 2018, which I thought was fair, although it lasted for all of two hours on Reverb before it got snapped up lol. I love ebony fretboards (and the only thing I didn't like about my Virt was the maple fretboard) so this is quite attractive to me. Off the top of my head, there might be one other Virtuoso with am ebony fretboard. Quite a rare feature on an already insanely rare model!

[Bennyboy-UK]

They are incredible instruments - like a magic wand, and have a unique voice - in my opinion quite flutey and woody.

You can play anything on them

 

Rare and precious things!

 

I catalogued 27 or 28 examples in a rough-arse document I threw together a couple of years ago - If I've missed any, it will only one or two

[Cboss]

What is the pickup in this? Covered obl?

[Dave Scepter]

50 minutes ago, Cboss said:

What is the pickup in this? Covered obl?

SD Hotrail = KILLER in this guitar 🤘

[Disturber]

On 1/26/2023 at 10:54 AM, VECTOR said:

Has someone here expieriences with Virtuosos? Are they only good for soloing or for rhythm too? 

 

 

Only if you play really really fast rythm. 

 

[cmatthes]

Honestly, the first time I picked up a Virt, I was plugged into an AC-30TB.  I just hit a D chord and let it ring, and it was super ballsy, yet had a chime that would make a Rickenbacker blush.

Very cool and unique instruments.

 

[cmatthes]

Also, it's in a B&W Granite finish...not "Marble", which would have cost hundreds more.

[rickrock999]

For that kind of money if I was serious about buying it. I would have to get on a plane to Seattle to see it in person. Southwest from Burbank roundtrip maybe $250. Let's see if I sell 3 guitars and he takes a semi reasonable offer....

[Dave Scepter]

Man, I'd kill for a sustain block Virt.. 

🤘😝🤘

[WorstBandName]

https://www.thunderroadguitars.com/store/used-hamer-virtuoso

Thunder Road is always a little less on their website - $6,499 - if it happens to matter to anyone.

[Nathan of Brainfertilizer Fame]

I gave them a lowball offer right off the bat, and they graciously turned it down, saying they wanted to let it run.

I have a cash award bonus coming from work soon.  I could make a few sacrifices and scrape up enough to get this.

I keep *almost* talking myself into it, and always failing in the end.

The reason why might only apply to me, but it also might help someone else.

The part that applies to me: I already have a factory-scalloped ebony board Californian that sounds and plays great.  This would just add an extended range.

The part that may apply to others:  I owned one before. The extended range sounds great in theory, but in practice, think about the high keys on a piano.  The higher up you go, the more plinky the tone is, the less sustain...because the strings are short, the vibrations are quicker, there is less length to oscillate, and so it all dies away more quickly. 

So to *use* that range, you do kinda have to play fast.  What the extended range is AWESOME for is if you have some sweep picking pattern or hammer on pattern that you are moving up the neck in a sequence, you can just keep going on this.  Or starting high and going down?

But that's not my type of playing.  So as cool as it was to have it, I never played it.  I wasn't as into scalloping then, and also, since it was the most expensive guitar I had ever owned by far at that point, it seemed precious and I didn't want to damage it through use. 

That's why I sold it: too much money sitting in a guitar I wasn't using and too much functionality that I really couldn't use well.

The urge to get this is because it IS rare and special.  But I don't know if it is an investment or not.  The number of people that know Hamer USA guitars are cool and significant in history is declining each year. Another 40-50 years, no one may care about Hamer.  On the other hand, all the info is on the internet.  THIS being so rare, it might actually end up being a great investment, because they are not making 30 year old Hamers anymore (by definition).

 

So if someone was on the edge of getting it or not, I hope this helps you decide one way or the other.

Full disclosure: if it's still there next month, I might eventually talk myself into it...

[HamerCustomEr]

23 minutes ago, Nathan of Brainfertilizer Fame said:

I gave them a lowball offer right off the bat, and they graciously turned it down, saying they wanted to let it run.

I have a cash award bonus coming from work soon.  I could make a few sacrifices and scrape up enough to get this.

I keep *almost* talking myself into it, and always failing in the end.

The reason why might only apply to me, but it also might help someone else.

The part that applies to me: I already have a factory-scalloped ebony board Californian that sounds and plays great.  This would just add an extended range.

The part that may apply to others:  I owned one before. The extended range sounds great in theory, but in practice, think about the high keys on a piano.  The higher up you go, the more plinky the tone is, the less sustain...because the strings are short, the vibrations are quicker, there is less length to oscillate, and so it all dies away more quickly. 

So to *use* that range, you do kinda have to play fast.  What the extended range is AWESOME for is if you have some sweep picking pattern or hammer on pattern that you are moving up the neck in a sequence, you can just keep going on this.  Or starting high and going down?

But that's not my type of playing.  So as cool as it was to have it, I never played it.  I wasn't as into scalloping then, and also, since it was the most expensive guitar I had ever owned by far at that point, it seemed precious and I didn't want to damage it through use. 

That's why I sold it: too much money sitting in a guitar I wasn't using and too much functionality that I really couldn't use well.

The urge to get this is because it IS rare and special.  But I don't know if it is an investment or not.  The number of people that know Hamer USA guitars are cool and significant in history is declining each year. Another 40-50 years, no one may care about Hamer.  On the other hand, all the info is on the internet.  THIS being so rare, it might actually end up being a great investment, because they are not making 30 year old Hamers anymore (by definition).

 

So if someone was on the edge of getting it or not, I hope this helps you decide one way or the other.

Full disclosure: if it's still there next month, I might eventually talk myself into it...

You have thought about it a lot, obviously, and... you deserve it!

[Nathan of Brainfertilizer Fame]

1 hour ago, HamerCustomEr said:

You have thought about it a lot, obviously, and... you deserve it!

Honestly, I'll probably continue to fail to talk myself into buying it.

I'd really have to sacrifice. I'd have to sell the Cali Elite that's in my avatar pic, my Diablo, my Schecter Banshee, and might even have to sell my Composite Acoustics Blade (carbon fiber electric with stainless steel frets).

Even though it apparently has a unique voice even played normally, that's a bunch of resources and loss of other cool guitars (the Blade is a prototype and probably literally irreplaceable) sunk into just one.

[diablo175]

47 minutes ago, Nathan of Brainfertilizer Fame said:

Honestly, I'll probably continue to fail to talk myself into buying it.

I'd really have to sacrifice. I'd have to sell the Cali Elite that's in my avatar pic, my Diablo, my Schecter Banshee, and might even have to sell my Composite Acoustics Blade (carbon fiber electric with stainless steel frets).

Even though it apparently has a unique voice even played normally, that's a bunch of resources and loss of other cool guitars (the Blade is a prototype and probably literally irreplaceable) sunk into just one.

FFS! The amount of energy you're allocating to talking yourself out of buying the Virt could be put into knocking over a convenience store or gas station. Priorities, man!

 

[Nathan of Brainfertilizer Fame]

2 hours ago, diablo175 said:

FFS! The amount of energy you're allocating to talking yourself out of buying the Virt could be put into knocking over a convenience store or gas station. Priorities, man!

 

I over think things; that's what I do, it's who I am...

 

[rickrock999]

5 hours ago, Nathan of Brainfertilizer Fame said:

The part that applies to me: I already have a factory-scalloped ebony board Californian that sounds and plays great.  This would just add an extended range.

I have a scalloped neck Korean Californian. I'd love to get a USA one. I've only gotten to play one USA Cali so far, but I'd love to try out the "Virt"

[Bennyboy-UK]

Hmmmm, just noticed that one has a tone control and a little toggle switch - I bet those aren't original  

[Nathan of Brainfertilizer Fame]

VERY good point.