NancyJohnson

About twenty years ago, Hamer used to be distributed (along with Godin and, I think, Warwick) from a small industrial unit close to me in Kings Ride Park, Ascot; my drummer knew someone who worked there and I had a couple of hours one afternoon pulling guitars out of boxes and playing them. They were all good. I can probably pinpoint that afternoon as where my love affair with Hamer first started. P

That Paisley Tele/P (top right) is deeelish! P

May be me, but the link doesn't go to anything? P

I just got an e-mail from the Hamer forum mods who advise that, 'Hamer brand guitars will no longer be produced after the current round of custom orders are complete.' I find this a sad day. Hamer may not be to everyone's taste, but they certainly resurrected a handful of dead in the water Gibson designs and introduced some new poop into the market. I'll miss them. P

Putting my Detective NancyJohnson hat on, if you look at some of his past eBay purchases, he bought a Jazz bass pickup cover (or possibly more than one). I suspect he's probably just changed the cover. P

[quote name='Dingus' timestamp='1356708740' post='1912744'] +1 on this comment on Michael Anthony of Van Halen . He's a superb hard rock bass player who is no slouch when the mood takes him . Listen to the first VH album and Michael plays some clever stuff throughout without ever cramping EVHs style or getting in the way . An underrated player in my estimation , and not poor by any stretch of the imagination . [/quote] I loved early (Roth era) VH, but never really thought that Michael Anthony fit the band. He was certainly the the worst musician in there by a country mile, although I do concur that his BVs were pretty extraordinary. I recently bought the Guitar World VH interview collection ([url="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Guitar-World-Halen-Great-American/dp/1618930273/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1356779757&sr=8-1"]http://www.amazon.co.uk/Guitar-World-Halen-Great-American/dp/1618930273/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1356779757&sr=8-1[/url]) and the guy really comes across as unlikeable, ignorant and somewhat of a bigger arse than I originally thought. Irrespective of how he feels about DLR now, VH would simply have been another LA rock band without DLRs bravado, charisma and showmanship as the primary focal points. Despite what he was doing before (and after) it just reinforced my opinion and that he was simply in the right place at the right time.

I'll vouch for Dean here. FoT are very metal. Amongst other things, Dean has speedy facial hair and his brother sings in my band. He's almost family. P

Alarmingly, he 'bought' this for £71.00: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Precision-Jazz-Bass-PJ-Style-Electric-Bass-/181026754614?nma=true&si=iuKej0XsFvNcPX638edWnImIdlM%3D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557 ...did his business on it and has it up for sale for £198.00 here: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/J-Bass-a-dual-tone-pickup-type-J-bass-in-metalic-blue-/190775365513? The guy has more front than Brighton. And I should know. I've thrown up on it. P

Taking the thread back in the general direction of the original posting, along with age and the amount of work/use the bass has had, one primary issue to factor in has to be the material used on the instrument when it was manufactured. Consider Fender (as this is generally the benchmark for wear'n'tear); they stopped using nitrocellulose on their guitars in the late 1960s...this finish was soft/prone to drying out/crackling/peeling and reacted with rubber in such a way that the finish would melt after prolonged exposure. (It wasn't uncommon for guitars to be returned to Fender for refinishing.) After nitro was discontinued, Fender moved to a polyurethane finish. Hard/brittle/bombproof. With this in mind, it's feasible that if you had a two identical Fender basses from 1968-70, both of which were subject to [i]exactly [/i]the same level of daily usage and care over a period of 40+ years, it stands to reason that the nitro-finished model would/should be expected to be in worse condition than the poly finished version. This isn't to say that all poly (or nitro) finishes are identical. A generalization is that it's probably a fair comment to say that a 50 year old Poly finish will look considerably better that a 50 year old nitro one. In closing, the oldest bass I owned from Fender was a 1979 Precision. Poly. I used that bass for 20+ years. I jammed/gigged with it two or three times a week and it was played daily and it barely had a ding on it. There are guys on here who have 50s/60s basses who I'm sure will be happy to share their opinions and experiences. Everyone has their own experiences and production values differ from manufacturer to manufacturer. P

I would like it more (in chrome) if there was a way of retro-fitting a 60s style two part bridge, but as things stand, mine will get a Supertone the day it arrives.. I'm really not a fan of the three point monstrosities that Gibson put on their basses. P

[quote name='Count Bassy' timestamp='1356135618' post='1907418'] Output Jack !!!!!!! [/quote] Hmmm. All three of my Thunderbirds have side mounted [i]output[/i]-jacks. (Some new arrivals since the original faux pas.) P

Out: MusicMan Bongo 5HH Lakland Skyline DJ5 In: Gibson Thunderbird (black/white plate) Gibson Thunderbird Gothic Epiphone Phant-o-Matic (OK...it's a guitar) Rolls Crossover Boss ODB-3 Merry Christmas! P

...aah, but does it sound any better that the black hardware and pickups?

Chrome modification and knob/socket alteration alert! P

[quote name='Billy Apple' timestamp='1355783355' post='1902798'] Has anyone had an order completed within Europe? [/quote] Not yet. Key Music told me that Gibson would be fulfilling all orders globally, so I will still be on track for mid-January. Elsewhere (I think LBO), there was talk of these being a limited run anyway...400 of each model was mentioned. P

I thought you'd sold that one Rob. P

Thanks for the offer...may be in touch!