X220
New member
I have a good story to share with you guys about a guitar. Wanna hear it? Here it goes...
In 1988 I bought a new Hamer Chapparal at a music store in Indianapolis. It was red with 2 singles and a humbucker, and a Schaller/Floyd bridge. I think I paid somewhere around $900 for it.
Around 1991 I decided to scallop the fretboard on it. That's not something I'd do today, but I was young and stupid. It turned out ok, but my scallop job removed some of the position markers. In my drunken wisdom I decided to melt a plastic ice cream lid and smash it into the holes where the position markers once were...and it worked! I ended up selling it shortly after that, to some local guy. I don't remember what I got out of it. I moved out of town and that was that.
A couple of years later (around '93), I came back and ran into an old friend of mine. We decided to get together that evening and have a few drinks and get caught up on things. That night when I went to his place, I walked in and, hanging from the ceiling was my freaking Hamer! Seems his room mate bought it from whoever I sold it to, didn't like the scalloped neck and decided to make a decoration out of it! I gave him $10 for it (with the original case) and took it home with me that night. It was scratched up pretty badly so I ended up stripping the paint and clearcoating it.
I kept it for a couple of years and ended up selling it again around 1995. I took it out of town to sell it since there was no pawn shop or music store in the town I lived in. This time, I had said my goodbyes to the guitar believing I'd never see it again.
Fast forward 12 years to 2007 (keep in mind that I now live about an hour away from where I sold the guitar). I was coming home from a doctor's appointment and decided to stop at the pawn shop and look at guitars. I hadn't been there for months because every time I go in there they don't have anything good. Anyway, the first thing I do is scan the headstocks for brand names. I went down the line and near the end, I saw "Hamer." I looked at the neck, and it was scalloped. The body was unpainted mahogany. I really could not believe what I was seeing here. I picked up the guitar, and looked at the serial number...it was an '88. The position markers were plastic. I even recognized the pattern of the grain on the body. It was my freaking Hamer!! 12 years and 50+ miles away from where I last left it behind.
The tag showed that it had been hanging there for a few months. The price was $350, and I talked them down to $300 because it was missing the bar and a pickup. I could not get my wallet out fast enough.
Here it is, right after I got it home:
Sorry for the long story, it's hard to tell it without going into a little detail! I have since replaced the plastic dots with decent mop inlays..I figured the guitar deserved it!
p.s. I'm keeping the guitar for good this time...
In 1988 I bought a new Hamer Chapparal at a music store in Indianapolis. It was red with 2 singles and a humbucker, and a Schaller/Floyd bridge. I think I paid somewhere around $900 for it.
Around 1991 I decided to scallop the fretboard on it. That's not something I'd do today, but I was young and stupid. It turned out ok, but my scallop job removed some of the position markers. In my drunken wisdom I decided to melt a plastic ice cream lid and smash it into the holes where the position markers once were...and it worked! I ended up selling it shortly after that, to some local guy. I don't remember what I got out of it. I moved out of town and that was that.
A couple of years later (around '93), I came back and ran into an old friend of mine. We decided to get together that evening and have a few drinks and get caught up on things. That night when I went to his place, I walked in and, hanging from the ceiling was my freaking Hamer! Seems his room mate bought it from whoever I sold it to, didn't like the scalloped neck and decided to make a decoration out of it! I gave him $10 for it (with the original case) and took it home with me that night. It was scratched up pretty badly so I ended up stripping the paint and clearcoating it.
I kept it for a couple of years and ended up selling it again around 1995. I took it out of town to sell it since there was no pawn shop or music store in the town I lived in. This time, I had said my goodbyes to the guitar believing I'd never see it again.
Fast forward 12 years to 2007 (keep in mind that I now live about an hour away from where I sold the guitar). I was coming home from a doctor's appointment and decided to stop at the pawn shop and look at guitars. I hadn't been there for months because every time I go in there they don't have anything good. Anyway, the first thing I do is scan the headstocks for brand names. I went down the line and near the end, I saw "Hamer." I looked at the neck, and it was scalloped. The body was unpainted mahogany. I really could not believe what I was seeing here. I picked up the guitar, and looked at the serial number...it was an '88. The position markers were plastic. I even recognized the pattern of the grain on the body. It was my freaking Hamer!! 12 years and 50+ miles away from where I last left it behind.
The tag showed that it had been hanging there for a few months. The price was $350, and I talked them down to $300 because it was missing the bar and a pickup. I could not get my wallet out fast enough.
Here it is, right after I got it home:
Sorry for the long story, it's hard to tell it without going into a little detail! I have since replaced the plastic dots with decent mop inlays..I figured the guitar deserved it!
p.s. I'm keeping the guitar for good this time...
Last edited:
....
