NGD: Hamer SATP90

AlanRatcliffe · 2009-11-20T09:29:54+00:00

I've been wanting to get a P90 guitar ever since I sold my RVC Woodstock (LP Special clone) due to a neck too thin for my liking. When Muz was doing the R2K special on these goldtop Hamers, they really appealed to me, but unfortunately I couldn't spare the cash at the time so let it slide. Then one popped up on Gumtree for R1K the other day... I mean, how could I not? My wife was in Cape Town the last few days, so I arranged for her to meet the guy and buy it sight unseen - a bit of a chance admittedly, but I know I can fix most things and could always fix it up and sell it for at least what I bought it for if I didn't like it. Anyway, the better 3/4 picks it up and phones me to say she's on her way back and it's "really ugly" (but then, she doesn't like gold - not even in jewellery... Yay! ?). So I was prepared for anything. Anyway, it and she arrived yesterday afternoon. Nice surprise #1 - a perfect condition Warwick student Rock Bag, still with tags attached. Nice surprise #2 - I just found a Billy's Music woven strap in the pocket, still unused with swingtag and Music Mate R99 price tag. Nice surprise #3 - the guitar is in "as new" condition, still with protective plastic on pickups and control cavity cover and absolutely no fretwear. Nice surprise #4 - nice chunky '59 roundback neck. Here she is: The setup's bad, but I did a quick bridge action and intonation setup and it's surprisingly resonant. I'm pretty sure that it is all mahogany body with no maple cap (Hamer's site is a bit vague on the Asian models), as it sounds more like a LP Special than a LP. Pickups are decent but not amazing and electronics are cheap, but working. The plastic nut has to go - it's not well cut anyway and is pinging, but I have a bone one handy. All in all, a nice little guitar for R1,000.

Sean

singemonkey wrote Oh. It also says, "Go home and die." on the headstock. ?

How many fans does the band have left then? ?

singemonkey

Luckily they don't seem to be taking his advice. ?

Wizard

Alan Ratcliffe wrote Yeah but I could have fun enjoying the irony of having something like an "Only a Gibson is Good Enough" sticker on a Hamer. Punk as all hell (just what goldtops are all about). ?

Irony would be "Only an Ibanez is Good Enough"

Jack-Flash-Jr

singemonkey wrote My buddy Ivan (plays in Fezray now) has a fine arts degree. He plastered his pacifica in cutouts from magazines - mostly swarms of eyes cut out of models and a huge yellow spider with a model's eye stuck across it's face. Then he stuck plastic over the lot to keep it together. It's a little home made, but it looks very cool if you don't get too close
Oh. It also says, "Go home and die." on the headstock. ?

I like!

@Steve R: that pic on your profile seems pretty stickered up buddy! Mister "The only sticker i want will be on the case, You toucha my axe i breaka your hands" ?

AlanRatcliffe

I rewired yesterday, but basically just with what I had on hand:

- Screened the control cavity.
- CTS 573K pot (master volume)
- CTS 280K pot (master tone)
- .022uf green poly tone cap

The 500K volumes / 250K tone is how P90s are usually wired. The stock pots were both 500s, but I thought it would be good to start with a known quantity. 573/280K is how the pots actually measured - which goes to show that the standard 20% tolerance can be a bitch.

After playing with it a bit now, it's more dynamic, but the tone is a bit darker than stock - not surprising with a 280K tone pot. I think when I order a decent switchcraft toggle, I'll lay in some 500K pot stock and change the tone pot to 500K. I also think I'm going to end up with a much smaller value of tone cap. I have a .0033uf in my StraTele, which does real odd/wonderful things to the midrange when driven, so I'll try a few in that range. For the meantime I'll disconnect the tone pot completely.

baseline

That in fact is a custom paint job, done by a guy who paints bikes and custom helmets, Pretty cool,

« Previous Page