yngwie308

Apparently I have been in my midlife crisis since I was about 38 !! Now 58... yngwie308

Jim died on what would have been Gary Moore's 60th birthday...God Bless Jim, the world is richer for you being here!! yngwie308

The guitar was ordered that way, all my OFR tremolo guitars are top mounted, no rear route, I d bought the Chap secondhand, but was happy it met the criteria I like, thanks. Obviously I had forgotten the neck thru variation, duh, yngwie308

What's wrong with putting a spec'd out Chaparral against a Soloist? My 1987 Hamer Chap with top mount OFR H/S/S, ebony board, boomies and Jim O'Connor snakeskin finish, I have always called my Soloist, just that the Chap has a more playable neck to me, no binding with nibs to hang up on the hand and just a faster playing, more versatile neck though instrument to me than the Jackson. I have played a few golden era Soloists and they don't have the superb feel of my Chaparral, to me, plus the OBL pickups have superb tone, being direct mount. So I was always more attracted to a Jackson or Charvel Dinky/Strat head, then a pointy head Soloist. Mine must have been special order with the features it has, being the second series with the side output jack, and control and pickup selector switch type and location. Let's see more Chap love, they are great guitars, sure Cali's are great and the top of the line, not counting the Virtuoso or the Centura, which of that ilk I much more prefer the SS-3 in relation to the production Centura! Thanks for looking yngwie308

Also Keith Urban got wiped out gear wise and he has/had some rare guitars. Hopefully Brad's Trainwrecks can be ressurected, it was strange how the Nashville thing , with loss of life, was second page news to the idiot NY bomber deal for quite some time, ect.. Prayers to all in this major area of US culture.. yngwie308

Just a few clips, this always reminds me of ABB "Live at Fillmore East", due to the dynamics and tones: The first slow solo, has always been one of my favorites..Gary often jammed around this first solo during that tour and also during his last 'rock' concert tour "After The War" in '89. The second solo is a whammy bar tour de force: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrpZjgiqj5w Why not: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGDJx8VGc-4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GZSM-fTGx0 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BAO6GjGa7SY One of the greatest: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9TqyJW2tyY...feature=related This is textbook on lead guitar playing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2bGUeDnqPY http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwwpXvQDsjc http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TV74PsUo1dc http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkBYPwaExdM yngwie308

Be sure to check out Jim Seavell, Southbay Amps, he's sharing a room with Dave Friedman of Rack Systems and next door will be Metro amps, so worth the price of admit right there.. yngwie308

I consider my 1987 Hamer Chapparal painted by Jim O'Connor the ultimate 'Jackson' Soloist, ect. I understood Hamer destroyed all the tooling or whatever to build their eighties guitars. Also though well made these new Hamers do not interest me. I also lost major respect for Jol Danzig, ect., when the whole Steve Stevens 'ethnic cleansing' of him form the annals of Hamer. Steve contributed a lot to Hamers rock appeal and development of their technology. I actually asked Jol Danzig what happened with Steve Stevens at a guitar exhibition in Washington, D.C. a few years back, he basically told me he would have coffee any day with Steve, but as far as working with him again.... I told Steve Stevens this story. I cannot reveal what Steve has said about Hamer guitars, but to just completely excise one of the greatest artists to play a 'shred,rock' Hamer is inexcusable. Steve went on to Washburn guitars a few years later with the great Terry Atkins from Hamer, during the Steven's era, and developed the zenith of shred rock guitars in my completely unbiased opinion, the SS80 and SS100 guitars. That liaison also came to a glaring halt..again I am aware of the situation there, not so much the Hamer situation, except for a few details. No, Hamer will not make the classic designs of yore again. The bolt on neck Hamer SS-3 that Steve asked them to build, may be the ultimate Hamer shreddder out there and the Hamer Centura is a poor relation to that brilliant SS guitar. Would I ever buy a new Hamer guitar...no, I have my favorite one, my Chapparal, I had a SS-2 Hamer for a while, but I wasn't really into them that much, I am more into the bolt on neck dinky Strat styles.. Any thoughts, being fairly new here, when I asked for SS pics/ Jim O'Connor painted guitars, I had some response, thanks to those who did, but fairly lack luster frankly. Just thowing this out there, it's like SS is the Uncle Ernie of Hamer, shut up in the attic and rarely discussed. Thoughts..any info from you clubbers?? Dave

Gilles Villeneuve and family. Randy California John Cippolina Gary Duncan Paco de Lucia Andreas Segovia Esteban...just jokingLOL Robert Johnson Albert Collins Allen Collins Brian May Eddie Van Halen (1977-1984 RIP) Top Topham Ariel Bender Big Jim Sullivan Mel Bay Wes Montgomery Django Reinhardt The Ventures The Beatles The Nice Blodwyn Pig Jethro Tull Jesus Christ yngwie308

http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g219/davida54/2ba2abdf.jpg

Let me say this as a Hamer newbee here..my Chapparal snakeskin 1987 guitar us easier to play than any Soloist I have played and I have played the real ones from the eighties. Sure the Jackson has binding and bigger frets, but the sheer awesomeness of the Hamer neck and tone from this OFR monster, plus the killer OBL pickups, it is a more versatile guitar than the Jackson, imo. I call my Chapparal, my Soloist! Let's have some respect for Chapparal's, not just Californians Sure the Suhr Moderns are awesome, but built many years later. yngwie308

Check out Metro amp, Splawn amps. There are any number of boutique Marshall clone builders that can help you out. You have to really know your Marshalls not to get ripped off, ect.. PM me... yngwie308

HOLY CRAP that's clean! I had one (a 1/83 neck date) with a number close to that-and yes, I know that the #s weren't sequential. Wow that's cool! Thanks Yes it's pretty much a 99.9% clean guitar, and my favorite Strat, even over my first one, a 1965 Transition logoed one in 1968. These are killer guitars, thanks for the compliment! yngwie308

1983 '57 Reissue Fullerton made ordered as a tribute to Blackie, trem tightened down: yngwie308 1993 Washurn SS80, note double adjustable truss rod, unfinished headstock: yngwie308

yngwie308 here, first post. Please allow me to introduce myself, as the saying goes. I own a late eighties Chapparal rattlesnake graphics, s/s/hb, OFR, OBL's, absolutely love it. My main reason for being here is to share in my appreciation of Steve Stevens. Since Rebel Yell in 1984, I have been a fan of Steve's unique and killer guitar playing. Technically I have followed Steve through the years as well, from the Hamer days, through the brief Washburn time and presently, with his primary use of fixed bridge instruments. I was particularly impressed by BONEDADYO'S project Hamer SS. I always enjoyed the Live Aid performance and of course have the Guitar World issue featuring the black metalflake SS. What might be of particular interest here is my owning a Washburn SS 80 that I ordered from the factory, just as they were announced, when I lived back in Pennsylvania. I of course love the Hamers as well that Steve had and the Washburn being in spirit of the SS-3 bolt on neck model in features. Also Steve loved his "Glow" Jackson guitar and his Charvel and probably sought aspects of those in Washburn's effort as well. If you look on Steve's Wilkipedia site, I was the one that updated the trivia section as they call it about the various Washburns and their features. I have to tell you that I have of course loved my SS80 since the day I got it, but since 2005 have done extensive research on the guitars. I will start a different thread and with respect to BONEDADYO, I don't mean to jump his Hamer thread, but I read that he as well owns an SS80. So I need to collect my pics and various writings on this guitar and will post them soon. I also was in correspondence with an individual who claims to own SS-3's as well as Washburns, I have not seen pics yet. Also I thought that they were never made for public consumption, Steve leaving Hamer and the ones made for him being the only ones in existence. I have utilised the various forums I write on to research data, but it is rare I come across a SS fan or one who is in the know. Glad to be aboard and look forward to future correspondence. I once bought a SS-2, at a guitar show in the nineties and it had a bad pickup, in it.So I pbtained a wiring schematic from Hamer at the time, very helpful and with a SD JB, sold it to a friend, who was looking for this model. Not as dramatic as BDO's resto, but felt like I had saved it for the future. Cheers yngwie308 (Dave)