Hallmark Owner's Corner!

[JimPage]

Erksin wrote:
>>different enough to cause me to think on my picking technique and just how hard I'm hitting the
>>guitar. A heavy hand seems to be detriment, and I've always been a bit of a basher. Thing is,
>>I've been trying to break that habit and this guitar finally seems to be the tool to get me to
>>lighten up . . .

Well said, Mike. That is exactly what I discovered from Bob's Hallmark guitars, and it is also true on the two "real" Mosrites I bought later.

Being an acoustic-guitar fingerpicker, I could never find an electric guitar that had that same level of responsiveness that I was used to until I scored my first Hallmark. It opened up a door for me, and now I usually play rhythm electric guitar in my bands instead of acoustic guitar or bass.

Of course, now I have some very nice instruments with cobwebs all over them.

So it goes; it's all good.

--Jim

[midwestsurfer]

About how big of a washer did you cut? I haven't taken it all apart yet, but I plan on it in the next day or two.

OBTW - I see you rock a 6G15 Reverb Unit. It's my favorite effect - I live for the splash...

Weird as it may be, I have a bag of scrap leather in my toolbox, so I was able to try different diameters and thicknesses. I wound up using a penny-sized piece from the thinnest piece of leather in my box.

As for the 6G15, yes, I too live for the splash. My baby is a '61, numbered in the early 300s. She's not pristine by any means, but I've never played though a better sounding unit and I feel lucky to have her in my life.

BTW, love your blackface/white-knob beauties - are they '64s?

[erksin]

About how big of a washer did you cut? I haven't taken it all apart yet, but I plan on it in the next day or two.

OBTW - I see you rock a 6G15 Reverb Unit. It's my favorite effect - I live for the splash...

Weird as it may be, I have a bag of scrap leather in my toolbox, so I was able to try different diameters and thicknesses. I wound up using a penny-sized piece from the thinnest piece of leather in my box.

As for the 6G15, yes, I too live for the splash. My baby is a '61, numbered in the early 300s. She's not pristine by any means, but I've never played though a better sounding unit and I feel lucky to have her in my life.

BTW, love your blackface/white-knob beauties - are they '64s?

Wow - a '61! It's hard to tell from your pic - is the front tolexed too or is it grill cloth? What about the amp..?

The 6G2 is a '64, the 6G15 is a '65 - looks like a matched set, doesn't? They are perfect for the Neil Young/Crazy Horse type tones that I love.

Thanks for the info on the washer - now I have an idea of what to look for. I assume lambskin provides the best tone?

[midwestsurfer]

Wow - a '61! It's hard to tell from your pic - is the front tolexed too or is it grill cloth? What about the amp..?

The 6G2 is a '64, the 6G15 is a '65 - looks like a matched set, doesn't? They are perfect for the Neil Young/Crazy Horse type tones that I love.

Thanks for the info on the washer - now I have an idea of what to look for. I assume lambskin provides the best tone?

Yes, definitely looks like matched set, very nice.

My 6G15 has a wheat grill cloth, and below it is my '63 reissue Vibroverb that I bought new in '95 and have used as my primary amp ever since. I missed a chance to purchase an original 1963 Vibroverb many years ago and am still kicking myself. At the time, though, I had no idea how few were made and how much they would go up in value!

[erksin]

Wow - a '61! It's hard to tell from your pic - is the front tolexed too or is it grill cloth? What about the amp..?

The 6G2 is a '64, the 6G15 is a '65 - looks like a matched set, doesn't? They are perfect for the Neil Young/Crazy Horse type tones that I love.

Thanks for the info on the washer - now I have an idea of what to look for. I assume lambskin provides the best tone?

Yes, definitely looks like matched set, very nice.

My 6G15 has a wheat grill cloth, and below it is my '63 reissue Vibroverb that I bought new in '95 and have used as my primary amp ever since. I missed a chance to purchase an original 1963 Vibroverb many years ago and am still kicking myself. At the time, though, I had no idea how few were made and how much they would go up in value!

I had a '63 reish VV at one time too - bought it in '94 after playing one at NAMM. I thought that's what you had there but couldn't quite tell if it was an original or not from the small pic.

[erksin]

Okay - been playing on my C60 for a couple weeks now with everything as it was when it shipped from the dealer.

I wanted to play on this thing as spec'd from the factory before I did any of my usual personalizing to dial it in to my typical preferences. I'm finding after a few weeks that I do need to make some changes but they are pretty minor overall, but it leads me to some question for you more experienced owners.

The 10-46 Curt Mangan set that shipped on this guitar feels too light for me (I typically play a GHS 10-52 on everything - Gibson or Fender scale, even on my Danelectro). There have been a few times when I've been fingerpicking stuff (Albert Collins/Hubert Sumlin style - kinda aggressively snapping them) that I've actually popped the light E out of the bridge roller, so I think a heavier gauge will help combat that a bit. I don't wanna stray too far from the light feel and quick playing response, but am super curious as to how a slightly beefier set of flatwounds would sound on this thing - anybody try a set of 11-48 or 50 set on theirs? Did you have to make any truss rod adjustments?

Also what are you guys using to lube the bridge rollers and guide nut at the headstock?

[Rob_J]

erksin - in answer to your "aggressive style" of pickin' causing a string to jump off the saddle, I had a similar experience with my H-60 when I first got it. I had a couple of instances where the low e string popped off of the saddle. A friend played my H-60 and it happened to him also, so it wasn't just me.

I cured this by a combination of adjusting my playing style a bit, but also by going to 11 gauge strings and raising the bridge just a tad to increase tension on the saddles. No truss rod adjustment was necessary (for me, at least) and even though the action is now just slightly higher than it was when it arrived, it still plays really well with little to no noticeable difference from stock.

I can't speak to what flatwounds might do for you. I prefer rounds to flats, but it could be worth a try.

[erksin]

erksin - in answer to your "aggressive style" of pickin' causing a string to jump off the saddle, I had a similar experience with my H-60 when I first got it. I had a couple of instances where the low e string popped off of the saddle. A friend played my H-60 and it happened to him also, so it wasn't just me.

I cured this by a combination of adjusting my playing style a bit, but also by going to 11 gauge strings and raising the bridge just a tad to increase tension on the saddles. No truss rod adjustment was necessary (for me, at least) and even though the action is now just slightly higher than it was when it arrived, it still plays really well with little to no noticeable difference from stock.

I can't speak to what flatwounds might do for you. I prefer rounds to flats, but it could be worth a try.

Thanks - this is confirming what I was going to try as the action is fairly low for my taste but I wanted the guitar to settle in before I made any meaningful adjustments. I want to raise it only as much as needed to maintain the string sitting in the roller because it's really effortless and so different from my other guitars in how it plays and I want to keep that uniqueness as much as possible. Going up in gauge should feel more like home to me too as I like the guitar to fight back a little.

I've tried flats on other guitars - pretty hit or miss and very dependent on what pickups are used. Teles are cool, humbuckers not so much. It'll be a fun experiment I think.

[erksin]

Got the washers from Bob installed - MUCH better now. The whole assy feels more solid.

I also jacked up the bridge a good 3/32" and slapped on a set of my trusty GHS Boomer TNTs (10-52) - the whole guitar resonates loudly now when strumming it acoustically. The positive difference in feel and sustain going up in gauge from the 10-46s that were on there makes me think I should try an 11-50 set next string change. I can still bend the heck out of the plain strings since the bridge flexes, I'm sure an 11 set won't kill me.

Still plays fast and feels great. Took the guitar into work yesterday to show it off and the crew were all impressed with it. This guitar absolutely LOVES a tweed circuit (as do I), it sounds like a very beefy Gretsch type thing to me.

[Bob Shade]

Glad you got the washers and set the guitar perfectly! Now all of the lefty's are asking for the washers. I guess Jerry's tech left them off on all of them.

Jerry wants to get more, so we will make sure next time this gets sorted out.

I did send left handed washers didn't I?