GAS is a strange thing, it can have you spend money on guitars that never fit your way of playing and have you going "Why on earth did I buy this?" But it can also lead to owning the love of your life.
I take it that the majority of us have played and owned countless guitars over the years but are there still guitars out there that give you the "Man, I would love to have one of those" feeling in your gut?
In my own case, yes, there are some guitars that still make me salivate. Early Hamers for example. I love the way they look and the fact that they were made with their own vision of what a good guitar should be.
This Hamer Sunburst from 1980 perfectly illustrates what I'm talking about, Gibson style body but with a flat top and a Fender-like through the body Bridge providing stability and easy of use as well as providing a look of it's own. Hamer Still produces the Sunburst but with a carved top and a tune-o-matic bridge and stopbar making it more generic with similar guitars made by PRS and Gibson. Too bad really, those early Hamers were really something else.
The Hamer Vector is another good example of Hamer going their own way with a well known look. But as with the Hamer Sunburst, the Vector also has recieved a more generic makeover resulting in a close copy of the Gibson Flying V. Give me the vintage ones, KK Downing, Judas Priest, Brittish steel!
Another guitar I really love to own one day is the Musicman Silhouette.
Call it a guilty pleasure but Richard Marx was one of the guys I looked up to in my early teens, songs like "Satisfied" were on my Walkman and he played a Silhouette and I was mystified by this strange looking strat style guitar with it's small headstock and teardrop shaped pickguard. When I finally got to play one around fifteen years ago, I found that it has an incredible neck and that the dimarzio pickups made for a very versitile platform, a real workhorse guitar. The Musicman owned OLP budget brand offered a Silhouette style guitar but it never nailed the look of the real thing.
The body shape is different, it doesn't have the 24 fret neck and the overall look is just off.
I take it that the majority of us have played and owned countless guitars over the years but are there still guitars out there that give you the "Man, I would love to have one of those" feeling in your gut?
In my own case, yes, there are some guitars that still make me salivate. Early Hamers for example. I love the way they look and the fact that they were made with their own vision of what a good guitar should be.
This Hamer Sunburst from 1980 perfectly illustrates what I'm talking about, Gibson style body but with a flat top and a Fender-like through the body Bridge providing stability and easy of use as well as providing a look of it's own. Hamer Still produces the Sunburst but with a carved top and a tune-o-matic bridge and stopbar making it more generic with similar guitars made by PRS and Gibson. Too bad really, those early Hamers were really something else.
The Hamer Vector is another good example of Hamer going their own way with a well known look. But as with the Hamer Sunburst, the Vector also has recieved a more generic makeover resulting in a close copy of the Gibson Flying V. Give me the vintage ones, KK Downing, Judas Priest, Brittish steel!
Another guitar I really love to own one day is the Musicman Silhouette.
Call it a guilty pleasure but Richard Marx was one of the guys I looked up to in my early teens, songs like "Satisfied" were on my Walkman and he played a Silhouette and I was mystified by this strange looking strat style guitar with it's small headstock and teardrop shaped pickguard. When I finally got to play one around fifteen years ago, I found that it has an incredible neck and that the dimarzio pickups made for a very versitile platform, a real workhorse guitar. The Musicman owned OLP budget brand offered a Silhouette style guitar but it never nailed the look of the real thing.
The body shape is different, it doesn't have the 24 fret neck and the overall look is just off.
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