NancyJohnson

Holy mother of god. In their defence, Hamer did only make one and if you look at their old workshop blog, it seems more of a case of doing it because they can, rather than it ever becoming a production model. Horrific.

Don't lose sleep over it. I'd schlep across southern England with my old band playing to near empty rooms. You just can't rely on people making anywhere near the equivalent level of effort that we made in trying to do a 45 minute slot. Better off out of it now. More fun.

I didn't even know there was football on.

I recall seeing some V2s in Denmark Street early 80s...like the two on the extreme right in this photo. They were an abomination. A classic case of a company tweaking a design for 'betterment'. Nasty.

Drawn to remembering a guy called Eddie who was in a band at college. I just recall the first few lines he wrote for a song called Bollweevil: I am a Viking and I live in a village I love to rape and pillage.

I was out with Darren on Saturday night. It's very, very clear that the guy is very passionate about music (although we agree to disagree on when Rush's golden period was) and he metaphorically knows his poop, but t hat said, the station operates a playlist, so he is tied to what the station want played.

I'd need to spend a load more on liposuction and lycra.

It's a monstrosity. And I owned one.

You've said you've owned them for 15 years, so they were seven years old when you got them. How do you know what the previous owner did? Maybe they changed one of the pickups, maybe both, maybe neither. The things that jump out for me is the heat-shrink on the red bass (the '57) pickup; I wouldn't think that Fender would issue a bass with that flaw, unless it was part of the spec, but hey ho. Also the basses are effectively copies/reissues of two different periods, so perhaps the blue one (the '62) comes with the earthing/shielding plate and the red (the '57) doesn't.

You know, funny, sarcastic, tongue-in-cheek, or whatever that passes for, the thing that leaves me stone cold is the grammar, spelling and abbreviation. You' ll? pidgeon? That irritating space before the fullstop after the word music? The inverted commas (and space therein) when he/she uses the word deputising. If you're going to be an asshat, at least get the freaking text right.

This just popped into my inbox: https://www.gumtree.com/p/for-sale/hamer-scarab-bass-1985/1291412241?utm_source=savedsearches&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=GT.TRIGGER.SA&utm_content=none&utm_source=savedsearches&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=GT.TRIGGER.SA&utm_content=none

Are the Yewtree suspects edited out?

'Don't kill me, kill that dude over there.'

Or this:

Lest we forget this monstrosity:

Sorry, just to get sensible, try a little of the stain somewhere where you'll be able to determine the end colour. In a control cavity or neck pocket. Once you're happy, apply in a well ventilated location. Don't apply more than you need, work it in with a soft cloth allow it to set up for a bit then wipe away any excess. Let it dry, lightly sand or wirewool the body to get rid of any areas where the grain will raise. Repeat the stain until you're happy. Apply something over the top...a clear coat of some kind (others here will tell you the best ones), rub down and repeat. Avoid putting the guitar anywhere it'll come into contact with foam rubber as it'll cause the finish to burn/tarnish after there's been extended contact.

Unless you're from the planet Zargoid.

When Neephid was doing his Gibson Ripper Rescue, he installed a Varitone on that. If I can throw in my 2cents here, I own a guitar with a six position Varitone on it. It is an interesting thing; way more so than a straight tone knob. Generally, I'll just leave it #1 position (Open/Bypass), but the other five settings give a tremendous amount of variety. Interestingly, some outboard effects that sound terrible in position #1 sound fantastic in different positions, so it can open up for a bit of experimentation. I love #6...it just squeezes the output and the guitar sounds like shortwave radio. Great for introductions. P Position 1: Bypass, Position 2: 5db at 1950hz, Position 3: 12db at 1100hz, Position 4: 16db at 620hz, Position 5: 18.5db at 360hz, Position 6: 21db at 120hz.

Yummy.

I think the Flying V, Explorer, Moderne and Futura were all designed in the 1950s, which says a lot for the design team working then, compared to the one working now. (TH I'm not certain whether Gibson have a design team anymore.) I've seen photos of Explorers with the split V headstock and it works on that model too. I'd seriously consider a Futura at some stage. I never go out live on guitar, so it would just be a vanity purchase. Lovely though. Really lovely.

Man alive. It's so ugly it's beautiful. Message ends.

The Cheap Trick setting did cause me fire up eBay to see whether there was a B12A on sale anywhere.

Wang Chung. Blimey. They sound a lot like Hall and Oates.