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AdmiralB

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Everything posted by AdmiralB

  1. Nah, IRC. I'm a northsider. Most of the GW employees were cool (Troy Seele, often of Iced Earth, was my guy there for a long time), but the owner is psychotic. Apparently he's from a wealthy family and they fund the store to "give Kevin something to do". I've seen sales guys there spend a half-hour with a customer, close the deal, go to ring it up, and have Kevin step in and say "I'll take it from here". And take the commission for himself. Having said that, I bought most of my new Hamers there, including the '95 pizza day Standard that about half this forum has owned.
  2. That's a great point. My first acoustic was a Taylor, and it was suggested to me. I was in the 'big' music store in Indy, prior to GC/MARS, looking at Gibsons and Martins. Sales guy asks if I'd considered Taylor; I'd never heard of them, he explains what they're about. I checked them out and wind up taking home a 710 (7s were simply less-ornate 8s back then). Prior, I'd been looking at a Gibson (model I don't recall); it sounded glorious but played terrible. The Taylor sounded as good and played like an electric with really heavy strings. And it was about 65% of the Gibson price. If not for the sales guy, I'd have never picked it up.
  3. Olds was dropped six years before bankruptcy. I hardly see how it can be claimed to have been 'shed as a result of bankruptcy'. Same with Chrysler and Plymouth? How about Ford and Mercury? Ford sold Aston, Volvo, and Jaguar, GM sold Lotus, Chrysler sold Lamborghini. All due to bankruptcy, I reckon?
  4. I was thinking that Guild's and Hamer's endorsement strategies were very very similar - one aging 'has-been', and one current semi-obscure (Richie Havens/Rick Nielsen, Kim Thayil/Tom Dumont).
  5. I thought about that, Ford dropped Mercury, GM dropped Olds, and Chrysler dropped Plymouth - but those things happened well before two of the three went under. GM dropped Pontiac and Saturn (Pontiac, at the Feds' behest, not by own volition) and retained Chevy, Buick, Cadillac, and GMC...so let's see, they dropped two and kept four. "Over half"? I think Occam's razor applies here. Hamer was a tiny tiny operation and even if margins were huge the cashflow was microscopic. Same for Guild, probably sans margin. Ovation, as mentioned somewhere else in all this, probably has seen the sun set on the viability of USA operations - others figured out how to amplify acoustics in the 30 years since they owned the live performance. Fender's not a niche company, neither is Gibson (nor really PRS), they gotta move volume, for better or worse. I think this was probably a long time coming, regardless of the competitive environment (although the GC situation probably puts a real fine point on it). Contrary to what seems to be the majority opinion, I think Fender did the best they could with Hamer and gave it an honest effort. All the stuff we hated - "no" to any off-mainstream custom order, dropping crown inlay...on whose watch did that happen? Oh, Jol's, right. And who opened the shop back up to "sky's the limit"?
  6. These are the only reasons to shutter underperforming brands? You're gonna get sold, OR you're going bankrupt? Is that in your curricula?
  7. For what it's worth, I agree - but they were essentially "the American brand that's not Martin or Gibson". They weren't pioneers, and I think didn't have a lot of brand equity beyond being high-quality and American. And Taylor just ripped a giant chunk out of the market for that. Taylor also knows how to market their stuff, something Guild (and Hamer for that matter) never really figured out in the post '70s ('80s, for Hamer) world.
  8. I have a real hard time understanding how FMIC 'destroyed' Guild. Seems to me they kept at it for at least fifteen years past its sell-by date. What did/does Guild have to offer, anyway? They did some electrics and semi-acoustics that were kinda like some Gibsons, and kinda like some Gretsches - but none that ever made me say "Oh, yeah, I want that" instead of the real thing. For a long time they were the acoustic alternative to Gibson and, a lesser degree, Martin - but I think Taylor took that slice of the market away. If ceasing production equates to "destruction" in your lexicon, well, that's cool - but I don't agree. "Destroyed" in the MI context would be better described I think with a Gibson-Steinberger example, or maybe a few other Gibson brands.
  9. What are the others? EDIT - this is a sincere question, BTW. I don't know "Mr. Fender", I have no allegiance with or against them. But AFAICT Fender has done pretty well. Gretsch is making guitars that are/rival the best in their history. Same with Charvel and Jackson. I can't think of any going concerns that Fender has acquired/partnered with that were 'destroyed'. I'm not nearly as close to Hamer as many here were, but from my vantage point it was undone by Jol's efforts to turn it into his own hobby shop, making/not making things as he pleased.
  10. I wonder if this is a hedge against the looming losses the inevitable Guitar Center implosion will cause. Isn't FMIC one of their largest creditors? It doesn't play well for the 'heartless corporate bastards' crowd, but it may be an act of self-preservation - when GC goes over the cliff, they're taking others with them.
  11. Fret at the second. You should just be able to see light between the first fret and the string.
  12. Au contraire. http://www2.gibson.com/Products/Electric-Guitars/Doublecut/Epiphone/1962-Wilshire.aspx
  13. Except that he's not. The brothers made him sign away his publishing rights in order to do the last tour with Sam. IMO, he was a dumbass to do that, but...I ain't him.
  14. Hey Arnie...where did you get that one? I had one exactly like it (except I had a white pearl guard on it) - two-tone burst on alder, rosewood board - that was the lightest Daytona I've ever owned. I sold it to a friend in the Cincinnati area, and I know he sold it later - could it be yours?
  15. Most Daytonas have maple boards, and most are not exactly light (although there are a lot more light Daytonas than T51s - most of those are stones). You didn't mention body wood, but if you want ash, you will be looking a LONG time. I've only seen one ash/rosewood Daytona, and it had a '97 serial - made up of leftover parts, I suspect.
  16. Rubber cement and tissue paper.
  17. Yeah. But those are screaming "Import" to me.
  18. The base plate will fit in the rout, but the clamp screws will overhang the back - won't work.
  19. The Wilkinson wrapover used SAE threads and studs, and (fairly large) brass body bushings that are smooth over most of their outer surface (i.e. not knurled). Hamer used/uses Schaller stop tailpieces, which use metric studs and bushings. IIRC the bushings are smaller in diameter (not interchangeable) and are knurled. I replaced the bushings on several Wilkinson-equipped Hamers with steel bushings, also in SAE threads, and they were correct fits. I suspect whoever added the Baby Grand just used the stock bushings.
  20. Most of the JMP 2204s have a lower-voltage secondary on the PT - so the power tubes are sitting around 380V. Most 800s have around 475V, so all the tubes are seeing about 25% higher potential, so yes, that is different. The 100W amps all are around 470V, though - no changes there. That early circuit is only in '75s and early '76s. The later circuit came along in late '76, certainly all '77s and later had it.
  21. Well, another thing with Marshalls (really any amp prior to the early '90s) is...they're all HIGHLY variable. Parts tolerances weren't what they are now, so they're all gonna be a little different.
  22. Other way 'round - the vertical inputs are the earlier. If we're talking only master volume amps, then late-'76 through '83 are 99% identical. Sometime around '82 they made a subtle change in the presence circuit (earlier has DC on the pot, like a tweed Bassman - scratchy when you adjust it), but it's not audible IMO. '75-'76 MV amps are a unique circuit, just added a master to the old amps. Very thin at low volumes, less gain (SUQ, in other words). In '84 the PCB changed (horizontal inputs) and the amount of filtering was altered (affects the 100W more than the 50W). The circuit stayed the same but the layout was changed and the PCB was kinda screwed up, so they added some snubber caps to keep things stable. As a result, the later amps might have a little less 'sparkle'. It'd be a subtle thing on a stock amp, though.
  23. The Wilkinson bridge used on the T51 was called the HT100. It hasn't been produced in probably ten years, although you do see them pop up on eBay occasionally. There are versions of it with the bent steel saddles, as used on the VSV bridge, too. Any 'standard Telecaster' bridge - the four-screw string-through type - will bolt right on to a T51, but since the HT100 is a little longer than most others, you might see some marks on the finish from the back edge of the original bridge.
  24. What it means is, even if he declared the value as $800 and FedEx accepted it, they're not responsible for anything over $100 because the contents fit one of the exceptions listed above. FedEx does offer insurance/declared value for expensive stuff, but it's a different service and you have to apply to use it (that is, you can't get it with a counter walkup).
  25. I've never seen one, but I've seen (hell, *owned*) damn near every other trans color on Diablos...yellow, orange, salmon blush, red, green, purple, natural, blonde...so I'm fairly sure there must have been blue ones at some point.
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