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Ok, my picture taking skillz nor my crappy camera in no way do this guitar justice, but here's a few I snapped real quick...I'll post better ones in a couple days...tone report to follow

sweet axe Jeff!! i'll definately look into a Hamer if going explorer shopping.

That is one sweet piece of maple!

Fretboard looks really well done too.

Bound and crowned... Sweet!

lookin good. You gonna leave the black top hats on it?

OK..it's pretty, but how does it play/sound?

Tonally, it occupies the middle ground between the Firebird and the Les Paul. Clear/bright tone compared to the Bird, but not as complex or thick in the mids as the Paula.

Sustain is extremely good. As I predicted quite a bit better than the Firebird..close but not equal to the Paula (again which I expected).

Low end again, middle ground.

This is a very clear toned guitar. Crisp. Each note easily heard in a chord.

I hate to say it, but unless I can dial in my amp a bit better in the coming days, a pup swap from the 59's is going to be neccessary for me. They are very clear, but in this guitar do not have enough mids....thin. They are smooth, but not very crunchy and they also cannot handle the gain that the BB pros or 498/490 can. The Gibson pups are thicker, more raw and more quot;in your facequot; rock amp; roll. The 59s simply put are too well mannered and *TOO* clear. They lack girth around each note. High gain in the neck is good and sings, better than the 490, but not as good as the BB PRO which is fast becoming my fave neck pup. In the bridge the BB pro and 498 both eat the 59for lunch. The gibsons are much warmer if sacrifcing a slight amount of clarity.

PLayability is just great. Easy bends, no buzz. I need to raise the action though... a bit too low and almost too easy to play for me. Neck feels great and is fast. Upper fret access is excellent. It feels similar to the bird in the way it hangs to the left (for a right hander).

Now I gotta get my boys teeth brushed and to bed. More later

Stick a Custom/Jazz in there and be set!

Looks gorgeous...GAS inducing. Well, almost. It's missing a string .

Very nice. Very nice. Now, if you find the FB missing, not to worry, she probably felt neglected and left and hopefully is on her way to me where she'll get ample attention....LOL......LOL.

That's ok....I guess.....but my First Act is better.......

Seriously though, that is beautiful! Congrats and enjoy that baby!

cool jeff . that thing is NICE !!!!!!!!! less than 24 hour for mine to get here . the pickups that came in the originals back in the day 70's were dimarzio super D's and when they came out again in 95 they came with a 59/JB combo (more mids) and from what i have heard and read it sounds like that may be the combo to have in the standard ! i have an old JB that i am going to try in mine at some point if i don't dig the 59 bridge . or i may try a custom of some kind . later scott

i couldn't play that thing... i'd just keep looking down and staring at its beauty

how much do these guitars run for new?

Wow... just wow. Beautiful axe bro.

Beauty.

Great looking guitar.

B

Beautiful guitar, Jeff. I don't know if it's simply the pics or what, but it looks a little slimmer than a Gibby Exploder. Very classy, with a great top... I'd alomst be afraid to play it. I was also surprised at the weight... I expected it to be a little heavier, but I guess that's a good thing.

You got that from Willcutt, right? I just noticed they are located little more than an hour from me. Uh oh....

i have sooooooooooo wanted to take a trip down to lexington to Wilcutt and see that store in person...it's gotta be killer!!!

does Hamer do and awesome Tobacco burst or what Jeff!!!???

Jeff, glad you're psyched about the new axe! I think it looks stellar. And at 10 lbs ... whew, that's a heavy mofo! Heavier than my Kamikaze!

Hey everyone, Thanks!

I played for a couple hours more last nite, and meant to post but (and this is really weird), an old flame of mine popped up from out of nowhere...pretty good day I had there yesterday

Anyhoo...I did some tweaking last night, and was able to get the guitar sounding much fuller and chunky. The neck was flat as a board and so I tweaked the truss for more relief, dialed up the TOM just a touch, and started fiddling with the tone controls on the amp. Totally got some bigger fatter, thicker fuller sounds out of it now. I think people would be hard pressed to distinguish this from a Les Paul tonally under alot of circumstances, especially in a recording. It's not exact, but it's close....VERY Gibsonesque. The pups still are not as warm as the Gibsons but I think that they are gonna be OK. I was able to dial in some really clear but powerful and fat high gain sounds. Sustain is really good, and the notes take off into controlled feedback nicely. Once I got the tone dialed in, I really got in a good quot;playingquot; groove...where ya can't STOP playing. Love the neck. The Resonance is prolly the best I've experienced...I thought the Faded and my McCarty are/were good..this thing is almost unnerving with the way it vibrates when ya hit a hard A or E chord. Very clear tones. Very defined. Plays very very well now that I've adjusted it to my taste.

OK...the nitpicks

Typical Gibson quot;gquot; string getting stuck in the nut causing it to go out of tune a bit. Gotta get some quot;nutsaucequot; in there (not talking about my old flame either )

The controls are wrong! The middle control is the bridge puckup and not the one closest to the bridge. I thought this would pi$$ me off, but it's actually in almost exactly the same spot the bridge vol control would be on a Les Paul, I go for the correct one, naturally. Still kinda strange though.

I think that's it for the nitpicks

As for it looking thinner than a Gibby, that's prolly just an illusion the binding creates? It's the same or close enough it doesn't matter.

Jolly, I'm contemplating a cream pup switch knob and amber top hats, yes...but the black actually looks pretty good in person...looks like a bit too much contrast in the pics.

I wouldn't change a thing about this guitar really other than just for tweakings sake...new pups...lightweight tailpiece maybe....

Paula is def for sale, this is the most well built, and prettiest instrument I've owned, and tone/playability-wise, it's up there with the best I've had..really glad I went this way, but like some of you mentioned, I'm damn near afraid to pick it up and play it

I was quoted $1999 for this one and the two 59 bursts. I suspect the orange one is the same price. Alot of the others there have upgrades (inlays, ebony boards, better tops...well..different supposedly better tops anyway ), and the Korina models are more as well.

I really feel it's worth the $2550 Sam Ash/M123, etc are charging. Very well made. Bargain really. I've always regretted the $2300-$2500 PRS' I've bought. I just never felt they were worth that...this guitar IS.


Originally Posted by shred-dogcool jeff . that thing is NICE !!!!!!!!! less than 24 hour for mine to get here . the pickups that came in the originals back in the day 70's were dimarzio super D's and when they came out again in 95 they came with a 59/JB combo (more mids) and from what i have heard and read it sounds like that may be the combo to have in the standard ! i have an old JB that i am going to try in mine at some point if i don't dig the 59 bridge . or i may try a custom of some kind . later scott

Actually, the VERY originals - at least once they really became a company instead of three guys in a van - came with real PAFs taken from the Gibson factory floor, though I think I remember him saying that DiMarzio repaired some of them.

That's a sweet looking axe, Jeff. Cherish it. I still want to see one of those in person. I may have to come steal yours.