Leaderboard

Great names have come and gone throughout our lives, and will continue to do so long after we're gone. The best we can do is relish the memory, and appreciate & enjoy the legacy. With my Newport in hand, knowing that it was featured as the prime example of the model in the last Hamer catalog published, will be a memory that I will love until the day they close the lid on my life. Here's to all the guys I had the opportunity to meet when I had the chance to visit NH. A nicer gang of artisans you'll never meet. Thanks for the memories...

Congratulations, team - we've collectively made it through the 5 stages of grief: Denial Anger Enough said. Bargaining Depression Acceptance Me, i'm still stuck on Anger - i'll need more time...

Is there brand equity? Hard to say Is there brand loyalty? Yes. Once in, you're in. Did the brand ever damage itself from a quality-of-product perspective? No, for the USA prods. Not really, for the imports... unless the "Slammer" brand is considered. Ugh. Can the brand be revived? FMIC has determined that Guild has more brand equity, which it probably does. Brand revivals can fail or thrive- think Kramer (Music-Yo, Y'all?) and Electar as failures. Think Mini-Cooper, Star-Trek as successful brands (franchises?). Question Fiat. How could it be revived? Diluting the brand (Slammer. XT); Boutiquification; Re-Opening business as usual (but with product innovation); Wait and return in a wave of nostalgia- if pointy-guitars had a resurgence, but they'd have to take a number behind Kramer, Charvel, etc. Modern-Vintage played out. Vintage is owned by Gibson & Fender, Ricks and Gretsch. Smaller unique's by G&L, MusicMan; the 13-year-olds by Ibanez, Schecter, Epiphone (??) How does Peavey fit into all of this? It hurts to see a brand, a company, die. Brands are fashion statements. To me, Hamer says discerning, off the beaten path, and man-in-the-know; alternative. But die they do, from TWA to Pan-Am. Be glad the losses were absorbed by the risk-takers (Yes, FMIC). Be glad of the 50,000 some-odd well put together hunks of straight-necked, vibrant wood and steel were assembled, sanded, polished and wired up. Be glad for HFC, Craigslist, eBay, PayPal, and Google for helping us find them, play them, store them, trade them, show pictures of them, and bring them out on occasion in Chicago or wherever gatherings may happen. I'm at 6 Hamer USAs and I still don't have a Standard, a Vector, a Cali, a Chappy, a Monaco, an A5, a Newport, or a Tally. Many lands yet to explore. I'm going to go plug in my Daytona, relic'd as it is from over-playing, and enjoy its neck and its soul. My boy Henry does.

I am by no means an MBA, and know little about costs to produce guitars. However, to me this was always the problem: Hamer made great guitars that somehow lost their cachet. I thought they were moving in the right direction when they brought out the 25th Anniversary base model. Put out a solid, quality-made American rock machine at a highly competitive price. Keep your higher end models, but get your foot in the door with guitars that the everyday hack can afford. Instead, they started concentrating on guitars like the Improv. I'm not knocking Jol's vision, because I respect the hell out of him, but who here can afford, or at least justify, $7,000 for an Improv? Or any of their guitars at today's list prices? I know there's a few, but the majority of us aren't professional musicians. I am one who is guilty of only ever buying a couple of my Hamers new, and I have ten. But when the choice is to buy a custom guitar, or, say, buy your 16 year old a car for the same price, the necessities are going to win out with most of us. Put out some basic AMERICAN MADE guitars like Specials, and basic, mahogany Standards, and put them in the hands of popular musicians to get the brand out there. Reel 'em in with the basics, and hopefully they'll eventually pony up for the higher-end stuff. Keep your higher end custom-shop stuff, but realize that if all you're producing is $5,000 and $6,000 guitars, then you're competing with brands like PRS who DO have cachet with today's younger guitarists. Maybe that's not a do-able business model in today's world, with real-life manufacturing costs in America, but that's what I would try to do. Criticize away

The guy is a monster, a true all around musician. He knows what He wants and does it. a modern man's Mark Bolin. I have a lot of respect for him. Prince Rocks, brings it to the table.

Someone on Facebook asked Jol what he thought of the news. He replied: "There are those who believe that products are like a sports franchise, and that even though the players are traded and hired and fired it remains the same entity. I don’t. For me, the dream ended quite a while ago, and now the denial has finally caught up with the reality. I was devastated when the decision was made quite a few years back, so any announcement just seems like picking up an old newspaper. It hurts, but not as much as it did at first. As for the torch bearers of the brand, we have all moved on and are all doing what we’ve always done. For me, that means making the guitars. I think that’s telling. Thanks for caring about something so dear to me."

"I am by no means an MBA, and know little about costs to produce guitars." (Excerpt from Cary). Interesting....I AM an MBA (as well as a CPA, though not practicing as such any more). Any my wife is a (now retired) sales/marketing executive. (There is also some woodworking expertise around here, but NOTHING that would cause me to make or seriously repair guitars!) Neither of us would know where to start with a financial plan for converting a name and a $3 million line into a viable business, I suspect we could add some mental contributions to evaluating and fine-tuning ideas. And there are certainly people here with a history on the retail side of Hamer (and others). Not to mention people with great skills on the repair and modification side. The starting point would have to take into account many comments above.....Like what is the goal? Can it then be made to work? Such as Paul Reed Smith had good ideas and product. He famously nearly starved while hanging around the stage door to put his product into the hands of Carlos Santana. (Who is also linked with Randall Smith at Mesa). I believe Leo Fender and George Fullerton (and crew) did much of the same back in the day. I know which Hamers (and other guitars) I like most. I am not all that much into the 80s and "shredders". Obviously others see those as the reason for Hamer's existence. Is there enough demand for such to catch up with those mentioned that are already using that segment to rebuild? At the same time, how much demand will there be for USA made Monacos, Newports, Talladegas, etc? (And are those, as well as the iconic ones, like Standard, Studio, Vector, sufficiently differentiated from the models they were derived from, largely with the G word on the headstock, to capture a viable sales number absent big spending on marketing---including giving instruments to upcoming acts? I KNOW they are better in terms of quality, but how do you get that message out when money is tight and there is a surplus of instruments----and manufacturing capacity-----out there?) Country/crossover? Maybe. How much potential is there? Will they take to an unknown name and/or go for something beyond the more traditional Teles and Dreadnoughts, at least in a big way. On custom orders......Pretty much discussed above. Chicken and egg......How do you get people to spring for high end things without awareness of the brand? Most of us here can get what we want at a reasonable price used, As much as we dislike the closure of the window on futures COs, you cannot build a business on the hopes that all those people will win the lottery. Side light on COs......I have acquired some such Hamers (used). I have ONE (non-Hamer) CO that I spent a lot on, waited a long time for, was everything I asked for, and yet is NOT the answer I was looking for. The related issue......The competition. If you want the "best" there are a number of makers out there......Will not try to name them all, but such as Nik Huber, Ruokangas, McInturff make instruments arguably as good or better (maybe much more so) than anything Hamer has made.......And Gibson? Yeah, right! Of course, you either buy from (very limited) stock or submit big bucks and WAIT. Hard to find one to play in advance of purchase in many markets. And the odds of getting a "deal" on a used one are low. I don't know that FMIC gave Hamer a full chance. But how far could they push on that particular string? MAYBE they could have devoted more hours per week and gotten the delivery time down to months from a year or two. But how many more orders would they find to refill that pipeline? IF there WAS a viable business plan (and not just killing the competition) I am sure there were SOME wise minds to ponder it. Ultimately it IS business.....As FMIC, Gibson and Guitar Center are painfully aware----And increasingly so. We have seen the tons of NOS Hamers hit the market, blown out to Willcutt and other dealers in bulk. Many of them sharply discounted from (obviously over inflated) list prices. And some of these were already several years old. Many of them are STILL in dealer inventories. Again, how do you compete with such a bottleneck of relatively high priced guitars, even if discounted? Certainly eats into theoretical profit margins! Side note.....As much as there are things I dislike about GC, I got a lot of chances to touch and play high end gear (the good old days at the Hollywood store) that I never (well, seldom) bought. I think I can recall ONE TIME I could actually play new USA Hamers in a "mom and pop". That was many years ago and I am on the west coast where they are less prevalent. Having a chance to physically "bond" with an instrument, rather than read the marketing hype (Yeah, PRS is the master of that!) was a big help in loosening my purse strings, even if I bought used, scouted the neat new tools on the Internet, etc. And, generally, found used ones that someone else had already taken the depreciation on At risk of repetition, most of us are able to find what we want, eventually, at a fair price in the used market. Most of us are not going to place that custom order....And if so, it is generally going to be a once in a lifetime thing.....Yeah, I know there are "lawyer guitars" and such.....Some of mine no doubt fall into that realm. I love them but am not going to plop down $5k or more to propagate the herd. Well, maybe I WILL win the lottery........ Shoot.....More questions than answers. I WOULD be more than happy to compare notes and provide input if/when things get more focused. In the meantime, back to the chicken and egg thing....IF someone is sitting on $3 million of funding, they certainly will not do it without a reality based business plan. But are there those amongst us that can/will develop such a plan unless there is at least SOME potential for funding? People and businesses are sitting, collectively, on TRILLIONS in cash. Money is available. Sort of. Fear is rampant. ("Damn, that fiscal clit is gonna kill us all!") (sic) There will ultimately be growth and maybe even prosperity again. I guess we are all open to ideas on how to make that happen........Seems like the elected class will have a hard time making it happen. Unfortunately. Not sure if that helps at all, but it gets it off my chest. Oh, about that CO I WOULD have submitted.........

Yes! It was fun while it lasted. I knew it. The second I heard Fender had acquired Hamer I knew that sooner or later it would be shut down. Hamer is just not profitable enough. And what do ALL companies seek? Profit. Granted, Hamer may have lived on longer this way, but I knew Fender wouldn't try to save it. Even if they claim they have. I don't believe it. With all those great guitar players and million dollar bands out there you would think that they'd like at least one Hamer guitar each and that would have saved Hamer I think. Hamer was one of the very few last high quality and genuine brands left. Every great and genuine company gets shot down in the stride for profit and money. When will it end? That's so sad...

Well, he talks about himself a lot... QED.

Oh, like the way they've destroyed Guild, Gretsch ,Gretsch Drums, Latin Percussion, Sabian Cymbals, Takamine, Gibralter hadware, Ovation, and Adamas? With all the brands FMIC has acquired and protected, and the different business models they tried to make Hamer USA viable, I have to conclude that there was insufficient market demand to keep Hamer USA open. They gave them five years, folks. These assertions that FMIC bought Hamer (they didn't "buy Hamer," they bought Kaman Music Corporation) and shut it down to eliminate the competition is patently ridiculous. If that were the case, why didn't they shut down Gretsch, Guild, Takamine, Ovation, and Adamas? Those brands are far more competitive with Fender than Hamer USA ever was or could have been.

Word. in fact, I say we change the name of the Hamer Fan Club to The Used Hamer Trading and Gossip Club (or UHTGC). Rolls right off your tongue! Anyway, it beats the Hamer Fertilizer & Pillows Fan Club.

Not naive, just basic marketing. Getting your product in front of people. Two problems with that approach, though, is it related to Hamer: 1. Post-hair band era, the brand was unwilling to do the legwork to put its guitars in the hands of as many prominent players as possible 2. The number of "huge" guitar players out there is dwindling to almost zero Others will suffer the same fate as Hamer, as there simply isn't enough interest in guitars nowadays for the market to support a plethora of smaller, boutique brands. It may seem like it to us, because we're aging guitar nerds, but pop culture at large and younger generations don't associate the instrument with their formative years like people our age do. Sure, some may survive, but the ones that do a.) won't be swallowed up by a huge corporation and b.) will be satisfied with making a modest living doing what they love.

I'm assuming that's because your mother-in-law never felt or sounded as good as a Hamer? (sorry - no disrespect - just funnin')

Hamer repairs still available in NH, CT.

FWIW, the word "hiatus" was tossed around today.

Eh. As long as the guys at the factory are still employed... then no harm. Come one, admit it: We were all trading and selling and buying used Hamers 'cos they're too damn pricey for 99% of us new. Sad for those who had placed or wanted to place custom orders but how many of us have owned the Phantoglide, the Aceburst, the diaperburst Specials, etc? This is the Used Hamer Trading and Gossip Club. The factory could have been making pillows or fertilizer for the last several years as far as it affected most of us.They still EXIST. It's not like the ones we own just evaporated.No dealer is gonna go under because their bread and butter was selling USA Hamers.It's over. It was fun. We still have cool guitars. Enjoy them.

Damn...but we've still got each other!! (i threw up a bit in my mouth there..)

I don't think I could trust another human being who doesn't rate Prince.