bcsride

Go European members of HFC. Buy it, then bring it to me in the US when on vacation.

And there you have an example of why this place is awesome. Helpful and knowledgeable.

This topic hits close to home for me too. ‘Cause I’m that bass player turned front man to promote his own songs now playing guitar with bad tone. Ha!!!!!! But, no one in my project has complained about my tone. I use two OD pedals, but not at the a same time. I use some chorus sometimes and some phaser very rarely. No verb (I like it dry to cut through) and no delay (at least not on any of our songs yet). All pedals analog except the delay. Gain in front of the map. Wet through the effects loop. Mostly a Hamer Studio GT P90. EQ is mostly flat. I set up the EQ and guitar clean to sound like I want. Then, bring in the OD and adjust the EQ on the OD pedals to work with the OD and pickups selected. And, my two cents on my tone. It is fantastic. It is clanky crunch. I play mostly chords and some finger style. Blends with the bass player in a fantastic way. It ain’t sweet - but it isn’t supposed to be - its power pop. It sounds great loud (though the amp is still clean) through my Mesa Express 5:50 with 2X10s. It sounded great through my Peavey Delta Blues. It sounded great through my Fender Hot Rod Deluxe. Those are all tube amps with 10, 15, and 12 speakers respectively (I think). It sounds like poop through my little Peavey modeling SS amp (I forget what it is) 8 in. speaker. Note, everything is in front of the practice amp as it has no effects loop. But, that ain’t the problem. I can get some good sounds out of that Peavey practice amp - but only clean ones. The dirt either from pedals or the emulator on the amps sound bad to me. It might be the speaker. It might be the output transformer. I don’t know. But it matters.

What?

On the contrary, if I perceive the purpose of the initial offering correctly, it is a strategy to get buzz going on the new company. We're 11 pages in with overflow onto the Seymour Duncan forum (and possibly others). I'd say it did exactly as purposed. <<<< gets it. Also, lets say the “initial offer” is 250 guitars - at that crazy low price, and it fills up immediately. So, then the wait times become long. Folks gripe - bad for business. Mr. Shishkov has to make 250 guitars below market value - bad for business. I don’ know the magic number, but the magic number has to be “too few" Also, over on the duncan forum, folks were saying that they ultimates were “out of my price range” - is that bunch of folks even cheaper than the HFC. I know $1650 is real money - but a cookie cutter Fender American Deluxe is $1400. A hand made, standard style, set neck, bound, and mahogany guitar for $1650 is a steal.

This is exciting news. Best of luck to all parties involved. ps - I had to google Kate Upton - but I do know what a quickie is. The there is no such thing as no-string-attached - that would be like getting a “new” 4 digit for $1680 - there is no such thing

Let's go. https://www.kickstarter.com/

And with that, the HFC collectively started jotting down CO ideas, earmarking non-Hamer items for sale to raise cash, and generally going back into denial about the current reality.

I'm glad Guild got bought. My intuitive sense is that Guild had brand value. We'll see about the quality, value, marketing, distribution, and etc. of the new Guild brings.

That repair is brilliant. And, in another thread BCR Greg stated that he had a backlog of 1 years worth of work. Makes me think the headstock repair of that caliber is pretty expensive. I'm not saying it isn't worth it - the 12 mos. backlog says many players think it is, but those repairs probably only make sense for "special" guitars.

6/6 in Texas? Playing awful guitar pop as load as the equipment will go?

Did a salesman assist you in that decision or did you pull the Taylor off the wall on your own and decide you liked it better? I ask because if it was the former, that's another aspect of retail marketing. Sales reps educating sales forces and offering incentives to push the product. A salesman did put it in my hands, but he didn't give me the hard sell. The process was simple really. I went in, started at the cheap end of the rack. Started playing Seagulls, hmm, whatever. Every time the guitar got a bit nicer (and more expensive), I did like it a bit better. One could argue that it was perceived superiority as they cost more. But, at that time I still had pretty good hearing. Anyway, I got to the Taylor and decided to stop at that point. I figured I could keep pulling them off the rack, and liking them better, but I wasn't in a position to buy a $3500 guitar and I decided to buy the one I liked the best of the ones I had played. So yeah, I don't remember. Maybe the next one in the rack was a Guild for another $100 and I would have bought it. I don't know. I still love that Taylor. It is a "cheap" one but the base quality is there.

In 1995 I walked into Guitar Resurrection to buy a Guild. I walked out with a Taylor. I bought it on sound/value/quality. I was unaware of any artist endorsements at the time. But yes, Taylor should be a case study in Bschool marketing classes. After purchase I started getting the Wood and Steel (?) magazine. Somewhere in about 2003, Taylor made a national tour and visited my local out of the way, small town, mom and pop music store and did a free clean, simple adjust, and new strings (free too). Not sure how that worked financially, but is sure could build some customer loyalty. But, I don't own a Taylor electric. I wanted to like it. I played several. All were duds.

600-800 guitars? Unfinished Hamers? I'd guess Fender acoustics (a poor idea from the start). Right, proof that I'm a business idiot. How Fender acoustics can be viable when Guild acoustics, and Hamer electrics aren't I don't understand. I can see Ovation going away. The composite back is sort a concept that had its run, but isn't timeless.

Exactly. There are plenty of corporate rubes at FMIC who never even lay eyes on the product. To them it's all about the numbers. Which is as it should be. The ideal scenario involves a balance between business and personal; the latter lends something that (you would think) is appealing to the consumer. In lieu of that balance, the personal aspect should be given zero credence. Because it ain't personal. It's business. This is why, if you're a guitar enthusiast, you probably shouldn't be in the guitar business. You're too emotionally involved. You could be the face of a guitar company, like Jol or Paul Reed Smith, and thus present the illusion that the personal aspect is present in your business. But you'd better have a person who's strictly business calling the shots. And yes, that Standard is perfect. It should not all be about the numbers (profit). Yes, you must remain solvent (as a business). Yes, you must make a living as an individual. But, you don't have to "screw all" in the name of money. Many knowingly don't maximize their earnings potential, either as individuals or small business owners, because there are non-financial tangibles in the work they find important. Many businesses seek the steady and sustained model, value the product or service they sell, and value their workforce. It isn't all greed. Yes, FMIC was maybe never one of those companies - even back to Leo Fender - maybe they were always there to maximize profit. But, it doesn't have to be that way. And yes, HFCers, I am enjoying my Earth day.

Those frets are fantastic.

Full disclosure, I wish Bon Jovi played some of my work functions. But having said that. I laughed when I read "... play our corporate function..." Alas, corporate rock.

Nope, too pretty - and I mean that in an "I have a daughter about that age" sort of way. And, anyone feeling like they are struggling with their guitar playing, pm me and I'll send you a comp'd demo of my very best work to cheer you up.

As I went through this thread, it popped in my head that gmaslin might consider an 83 prototype.

Those neck blend photos do a good job of capturing the skill and craftsmanship. That is fantastic. I can produce sawdust freehanding with a grinder, but not much else.

Gibson LP for $800 http://www.musiciansfriend.com/guitars/gibson-lpj-pro-electric-guitar work on man. It isn't the $1000 guitar folks want. I doubt if it is even a $1000 Hamer - if that Hamer had the same compromises the linked Gibson has. We want a $1000 Hamer CO. I want the Newport 90 with center block and sustain block bridge, ebony, sparkly gold top, and victories. An hell yes, let me pay $1000 for it. I've also got ideas for a few CO basses I'd love to pay $1000 for. I think anyone would be hard pressed to get this thing http://www.lostartvintage.com/Categoryinfo.aspx?categoryid=8&categoryitem=143&itemid=727&country=us down to $1000.

I'm sort of guilty of that. I've got two projects going. In one a play bass. I show up for my bass gig. 1) bass, 2) head 3) cab, 4) shoulder bag with tuner, di box, power supply, cables. I set up and am good to go in about 5 minutes. I'm a passable bass player. In the second, I front and play rhythm guitar. 1) P90 guitar 2) HB guitar 3) single coil 4) mic and mic stand 5) collection of pedals and power supply 6) 2 channel combo amp. I set up, fiddle with tone nobs, pedals, guitars, amp channels, more pedal fussing, checking out the amp settings with the different guitars to make sure I can switch guitars etc. It takes me 25 minutes. I suck as a singer and a guitar player.

Fantastic. Just fantastic.

As "adds" go, that one is great. It is a bit discouraging that svl can't get a good gig. But I'll admit that I had a DJ at my wedding as I couldn't afford a band (we'll my band played, but we played for free and only did 4 songs).

fantastic