Twas a HOLY SHIT day for Diablo!

[diablo175]

Did you ever see that Toakai Vivian Campbell Tokai model?

Your Hamer is MUCH MUCH cooler looking, but the discussion of the angled neck humbucker reminded me of this a little bit.

LOL. The two pups smooshed together looks kinda silly, IMO. But yeah, I got a lot of commentary over at the JCF Online about the bothersome aesthetics of the neck p'up slant against the edge of the fretboard.

[MCChris]

No question about it, that Tokai is fucking hideous. What would make it even lamer would be if that were a single pickup ring. If not, the neck pickup ring looks like it requires modification, which is also lame.

I don't get the slanted neck humbucker bit, either sonically or visually, but I guess you're not trying to get a woman tone from a shred guitar.

[diablo175]

No question about it, that Tokai is fucking hideous. What would make it even lamer would be if that were a single pickup ring. If not, the neck pickup ring looks like it requires modification, which is also lame.

I don't get the slanted neck humbucker bit, either sonically or visually, but I guess you're not trying to get a woman tone from a shred guitar.

The slant in my design is kinda necessary given the extended 27 fret board. Yeah, you could shoe horn two together parallel but then it'd start to look like the Nightswan config and frankly, I think that's uglier than a slanted humbucker.

[murkat]

I thought it was a Diablifornian.

I thought it was a Caliablo?...

Hmm. The only Diablo-esque feature would be the humbucker in the neck pos. Hardly significant enough to warrant being likened to a Diablo. Maybe ya'll should just minimize the Diablo aspect by calling it a Calio. Mostly Califonian with just a hint of Diablo.

This is the HFC,

don't be gettin all sensitive on us now.....

[diablo175]

Murkat, I got yer sensitive right here.

[ptm1diver]

Looks fantastic, but why does it say "Made in China" on the back?

[Jackass]

_Diablo,

_{I forgot to send a note along because I was rushed. You wanted two springs with a spongy feel and we only had 3,000 springs from Chicago to work with. Two springs and the claw jammed against the cavity couldn't bring down the tremolo flush when tuned to pitch. I put three on, and I sent an extra so you could find some heavier alternative. If I spent time outsourcing heavier springs, I would have been spotted. The pickups that I put in were on the custom order spec sheet, so I ordered those. I almost put EMG's in. But then again I would put EMG's in anything heavy. I even put EMG's in my ice cream at night. I can't believe how patient you guys are. After placing an order, the next day I'd be calling the rep. "Hey where the F**K is my axe!?"}

_Bm

[Jackass]

David Barker sent a question about an order. Are you out there? Is you're order one of the Music Center's? There are still three Music Center orders in the early stages. Two Standards and a Virtuoso. Also, there is a 12-string blue burst bass waiting in my rack from another dealer. I know the Virtuoso and the black Korina light weight Standard. are waiting for special woods. Does yours have special wood? We're sorry for the wait. Also, labor time has been an issue. I have to go now, they have cameras in my apartment.

Bm

[David B]

David Barker sent a question about an order. Are you out there? Is you're order one of the Music Center's? There are still three Music Center orders in the early stages. Two Standards and a Virtuoso. Also, there is a 12-string blue burst bass waiting in my rack from another dealer. I know the Virtuoso and the black Korina light weight Standard. are waiting for special woods. Does yours have special wood? We're sorry for the wait. Also, labor time has been an issue. I have to go now, they have cameras in my apartment.

Bm

No special woods for mine. It's the Rocketeria Standard. Any updates?

[diablo175]

_Diablo,

_{I forgot to send a note along because I was rushed. You wanted two springs with a spongy feel and we only had 3,000 springs from Chicago to work with. Two springs and the claw jammed against the cavity couldn't bring down the tremolo flush when tuned to pitch. I put three on, and I sent an extra so you could find some heavier alternative. If I spent time outsourcing heavier springs, I would have been spotted. The pickups that I put in were on the custom order spec sheet, so I ordered those. I almost put EMG's in. But then again I would put EMG's in anything heavy. I even put EMG's in my ice cream at night. I can't believe how patient you guys are. After placing an order, the next day I'd be calling the rep. "Hey where the F**K is my axe!?"}

_Bm

No worries, Bm. I tune my Calis down to D # and that, along with the claw screwed damn near to the cavity wall, made it possible to get my beloved spongy feel. As posted earlier, I initially put 2 heavy duty noiseless springs in there and while it worked, the feel was a tad stiff. At BCR Greg's suggestion, I went to two stock OFR springs, in a V config, with the claw almost all the way in. Mission accomplished.

EMG's? No thanks. Frankly, I don't recall specifying the type of p'ups outside of "something 80's shred-ish sounding" but it wouldn't surprise me if Greg put down the Custom/59 on the order sheet. Dunno. You DID say it was SD Custom/'59 set, didn't you?

[Jackass]

In my excitement to finally be able to post, I forgot to mention Mike Shishkov in my initial rant. Mike, who has been a Hamer Master Custom Order Builder expert for over 20 years, has had quite the ride the last five years. Five years ago when they announced that Guild was coming in, they pulled the Hamer guys in and dispersed us out. Because of Mike's talents as a builder and a leader, they designated him (Imprisoned him) as the boss of Guild's final assembly department all this time. A while back they let him out of his cage and for a brief time he helped Dave on some custom orders to help move them along. But then Cheap Trick's world was rocked! Disaster struck and some of Mr. Nielson's famous Hamer guitars were hurt. Ironically, none of his other brands were hurt that we know of. Four guitars came in that needed attention. By the way, the tension of spending rare labor time on a valued, long time, paying fan's custom order versus labor time spent on the one and only infamous Mr. Neilson's (who by the way I have never seen or heard from in the last ten years I have been working here even though we've worked on many special projects for him that have been thrown at us last minute that I'm sure hasn't forced him to use the dollar menu at McD's) works of art has been an awkward situation. Anyway's, his Monaco Superpro with the Beatles graphics came in. I replaced the harness because of moisture concern and it went right back out. His checkerboard Standard came in with a broken headstock which Mike did his magic on. They wanted two copies made, but we were only able to make one copy. Actually, it was a 70.45% copy. We couldn't reproduce the skull volume/tone knobs and all the Japanese jizz on the finish. The Uncle Dick double neck came in because they wanted a copy made, Mike took all the specs and we sent it back. He did all the wood work making a duplicate body and the two necks an it has just been sitting because of the the current situation (You know). The 'Gonna Raise Hell' Standard came in. Gary sprayed some clear over the headstock because it is flaking so bad. We made one copy. He wants the tremolo replaced on the original. The copy is at my station waiting for the rest of it's journey. The original is at my station waiting the rest of it's journey. Maybe we should call in Steve Perry to help. Mike is also doing invaluable work on the Guild Custom shop line at the same time as the Hamers and running the Guild final dept. How much can one guy take. The other day I said hi and he said %$##@#$%%%%$###$%%$##@#@#$%%%%$$#@#$%%%%!

Bm

[Jackass]

Yes Diablo that's what the sheet said. Glad you got the trem the way you like it. That's the biggest thing. Like power steering. David Barker, I'll check on that. As a side note, I'm usually on-line Thurs-Sat. Unless there is a sale on Bud.

[David B]

In my excitement to finally be able to post, I forgot to mention Mike Shishkov in my initial rant. Mike, who has been a Hamer Master Custom Order Builder expert for over 20 years, has had quite the ride the last five years. Five years ago when they announced that Guild was coming in, they pulled the Hamer guys in and dispersed us out. Because of Mike's talents as a builder and a leader, they designated him (Imprisoned him) as the boss of Guild's final assembly department all this time. A while back they let him out of his cage and for a brief time he helped Dave on some custom orders to help move them along. But then Cheap Trick's world was rocked! Disaster struck and some of Mr. Nielson's famous Hamer guitars were hurt. Ironically, none of his other brands were hurt that we know of. Four guitars came in that needed attention. By the way, the tension of spending rare labor time on a valued, long time, paying fan's custom order versus labor time spent on the one and only infamous Mr. Neilson's (who by the way I have never seen or heard from in the last ten years I have been working here even though we've worked on many special projects for him that have been thrown at us last minute that I'm sure hasn't forced him to use the dollar menu at McD's) works of art has been an awkward situation. Anyway's, his Monaco Superpro with the Beatles graphics came in. I replaced the harness because of moisture concern and it went right back out. His checkerboard Standard came in with a broken headstock which Mike did his magic on. They wanted two copies made, but we were only able to make one copy. Actually, it was a 70.45% copy. We couldn't reproduce the skull volume/tone knobs and all the Japanese jizz on the finish. The Uncle Dick double neck came in because they wanted a copy made, Mike took all the specs and we sent it back. He did all the wood work making a duplicate body and the two necks an it has just been sitting because of the the current situation (You know). The 'Gonna Raise Hell' Standard came in. Gary sprayed some clear over the headstock because it is flaking so bad. We made one copy. He wants the tremolo replaced on the original. The copy is at my station waiting for the rest of it's journey. The original is at my station waiting the rest of it's journey. Maybe we should call in Steve Perry to help. Mike is also doing invaluable work on the Guild Custom shop line at the same time as the Hamers and running the Guild final dept. How much can one guy take. The other day I said hi and he said %$##@#$%%%%$###$%%$##@#@#$%%%%$$#@#$%%%%!

Bm

Is mine in the dumpster?

[BCR Greg]

It was my call on the pickups. I like that combo.

[diablo175]

It was my call on the pickups. I like that combo.

Good call.

Anyone else had done that, they'd be eating thru a tube.

[BCR Greg]

I'm drinking a milkshake through a tube, right now.

Sure sounds better than that POS Bare Knuckle!

[David B]

Yes Diablo that's what the sheet said. Glad you got the trem the way you like it. That's the biggest thing. Like power steering. David Barker, I'll check on that. As a side note, I'm usually on-line Thurs-Sat. Unless there is a sale on Bud.

Thanks Jackass for checking. I have seen some pics early on but that was quite a while back.

[Jackass]

There is a rumor going round that there will be a Facebook page in the future that will have plenty of photos of the early years of Hamer. People and behind the scenes photos of custom shop builds. Maybe you might see photos of your custom shop Hamer! Or maybe you might see a photo of your favorite Hamer personality with a chiapet hairstyle!

Bm

[David B]

It was my call on the pickups. I like that combo.

Definitely looks good with that finish.

[Jackass]

Hi Greg! Dave, at the moment no. I'll check with Mr. Dave Brown tomorrow. Does my font look weird?

Bm

[BCR Greg]

Todd, you need help, brother. lol

[David B]

Hi Greg! Dave, at the moment no. I'll check with Mr. Dave Brown tomorrow. Does my font look weird?

Bm

Thanks!

[HoboMan]

Friggin' Awsome!

Congrats

[veatch]

I don't want to hijack the thread, so i'll start and end with, that Cali is seriously cool. Great job all around.

Todd - great to see you here in the forum. I had a CO done a couple years ago through BCRGreg. You guys in the shop knocked it out of the park, plain and simple. Every CO i've seen since then has been just as kewl (the "Tiger Eye" Tally, the black quilt-top12 string standard bass, the red SS2 with tumbling Boomers, the Impact bass, etc...) You folks have done a lot of great work, and you should be very proud of the legacy you've created.

We all hope that the status on the Hamer brand will change (i'm still in denial...), but in the mean time, we have a lot of killer guitars out here thanks to you, Mike, Tom, Gary, David, and i'm sure others that i've missed. Thank you all.

And that Cali is seriously cool.

[diablo175]

I'm drinking a milkshake through a tube, right now.

Sure sounds better than that POS Bare Knuckle!

+1. But I wouldn't call the Bare Knuckle a POS- it just was not well suited to the Cali. It had some redeeming characteristics. Just fell a little flat in the lead/soloing dynamics dept.