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tbonesullivan

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Everything posted by tbonesullivan

  1. total scam. i've gotten the exact message before. the demand that you consider it sold and take it off is also something I'd never do.
  2. none of us can. those that might know are most likely under NDA, or just taken in trust to not let people know what they know. I think it would be a complete and total waste/shame to take an existing high-level custom guitar shop that is already set up and just get rid of it, so I would hope that if they aren't going to make production hamers anymore, at least they'll be used to do something else. Now, they aren't really set up for hollow body making, so the only real option would be Guild Electrics, if they choose togo that way.But, I don't really know anything, that's just speculation on my part. I certainly HOPE that they keep making hamer guitars. The hamer product line doesn't really interfere with anything FMIC already does. Some might say "GRETSCH" but that's a completely different market.
  3. They would most likely have to cut back staff, and in this economy, I'm sorry but I don't see a "custom only" shop that doesn't have a huge amount of marketability to be able to survive.Heritage guitars survives because they are "almost but not quite just like Gibson" guitars, and offer custom colors/options at far less than Gibson. Both makes are relatively expensive. Being a semi-pro trombone player, prices around 2K do not scare me. But in the end, custom guitars are always a risk compared to stock guitars. you have to wait for them, they are usually not returnable, and cost more. And with PRS and Gibson both diversifying their product lines and price points... Heck even Fender just slashed the prices on just about EVERYTHING. They lowered the price of the Highway 1 strat/teles by $100, put out a new "special" that is somewhere between the highway 1 and the american standard, and cut the price of the american standards by $200. So, to survive as a custom shop, they'll really need to cut back, and get their name really out there, and convince a lot of people that it is really worth it to get their guitars over standard stock ones that are 1-2K less in price.
  4. I would wager that the custom orders have, and will continue to be, a small part of the total number of guitars put out by the USA shop. If Hamer is only taking custom orders, that means that they pretty much dead in the water. That doesn't mean they are sinking or sunk, but that does mean something serious is going on, as for the most part they are just sitting around working on any "in progress" stock instruments, and custom orders. Of course only someone who works at hamer could let people know what the ratio of "custom" to "dealer stock" is, but in most cases, it's pretty low, and not nearly enough to sustain a company with a bunch of poeple working for it. If it was say, one or two guys, then it's doable.
  5. I'd order one, but I'm simply full up on guitars. Two hamers, two heritages, three carvins, two carvin basses, two gibsons, and a ton of amps. One of my friends said he'd heard of hamer but they were "too expensive"... and then he bought an LP classic for $1600. Hamer makes great guitars, but they don't have the brand recognition that larger brands have. Even their import models still sell a lot less than other brands, even though their design is just as good. What hamer really needs is someone big and famous (moreso than Cheap Trick) to be seen with Hamer guitars. Not easy, considering the big F and G are very quick to find artists, as are a lot of other makers like dean, washburn, ibanez, esp, etc. It's a jungle out there.
  6. Hmm... well at least they are trying. It's sad to see where Kramer is now... pretty much internet only through Gibson's own site. Though, they did have a USA made model a year or two ago that was very reasonable. Where do you buy charvel guitars anyway?
  7. well... Hamer is owned by... Kaman music? And they got bought out by FMI, which in the past has done a great job of buying up and then ruining brands. Jackson was bought up and pretty much everything but the custom shop and the high end USA models was shipped overseas. Guild was virtually gutted and turned into an acoustic-only company, probably to avoid competition with Gretsch, which was allowed to stay pretty much like it wanted, and even expanded. It would be very sad to see Hamer go the way of Guild, stripped down to avoid cross competition, but unfortunately that's the way it goes. Bushmills whiskey was under produced and put to the wayside because it was owned by the same company that made Jameson, which they wanted to sell more of. Bushmills also made an Irish cream. However, then another company bought Bushmills, with the intention of returning it to its former glory. However, because said company also owns Baileys, Bushmills Irish cream was cut. Anyway, I have two hamer guitars from 1993, and they rock, and it would be sad to see Hamer get gutted, now that it finally is back to how it used to be "in the old days"
  8. I like tubes, though I'm not against a good tube/solid state hybrid. Tube driven solid state power sections seem to do well, and the marshall Jubilee amps I believe had solid state preamps, and many say they are some of the best sounding marshalls, ever. All of my guitar amps have tubes. One has tube everything, one has Tube everything with clipping diodes, and two have tube preamps, tube power amps, and a solid state EQ section with reverb and effects loops driven by solid state.
  9. wow! Did he have insect repellant on? or sunscreen? Unfortunately those can ALSO do a number on gibson finishes.
  10. Yep... again try to stick to the black foam rubber, and not the latex surgical tubing. Nitrocellulose lacquer is a solvent based finish, so it never really "cures" it just dries. If exposed to certain solvents/plasticizers, it will get eaten into. For My nitro guitars I use the Gibson pump polish, which did wonders on my heritage's finish. like the Gibson finish it's a relatively thin finish that can quickly get eaten through. What suprises me to most is that with Gibson being such a popular brand that so many companies put out stands that are not nitro-safe. The only "good" part of the whole thing is that nitro is relativey easily touched up, compared to polyurethane and polyester. Then again polyester looks at most solvents and laughs. They are also far more resistant to light degradation. And one other thing: Vinyl also eats through lacquer, so do NOT leave your guitar sitting on top of your case, which may be covered with vinyl. Don't rest it up against an amp that is covered with Vinyl. etc etc etc.
  11. now this is classic: The Fender les paul model! http://nevertoolateguitar.com/2009/09/23/f...model-revealed/
  12. I haven't read the rest of the thread, but also being a fan of Heritage and Carvin guitars, the reason is simple: name recognition. Even people that don't know jack about guitars recognize the name Gibson and that it means more money. The used market on Fender, Gibson, and to a lesser degree rickenbacker and Gretsch is pretty inflated. On the other hand the used market for carvin, hamer, heritage, peavey, etc is almost DEflated. So in other words, either buy used, or if you buy new, make sure it's exactly what you want and that you are financially stable, because you'll never sell it for what it's really worth.
  13. Janie Hendrix is a gold digger, along with Jimi's cousin. Hendrix's grave has never been completed, yet they are living like kings off of his legacy. The rights to his songs and everything else should have died with him, or have been put into trust to avoid the family pillaging it for cash.
  14. wtf... well I guess they offered the Hendrix estate more money... or maybe because it's a TRIBUTE model, it doesn't require that. But I'd wager it's a money thing. If any company should be doing a Hendrix reissue, it's Fender. They should get Dweezil Zappa on the horn so they can borrow Jimi's burnt strat. Lets see their relic department pull THAT off.
  15. what models are those supposed to be? Any idea what the finished product will look like? For a second I thought maybe Gibson was actually going to try to put some real money into it's KRAMER line, but I guess I was mistaken.
  16. congrats! I'm trying to stay away from ebay for a while... lest I pick up another hamer special from the 90s... or that aztec gold FM special from 94 that is on daves guitars.
  17. whoa! when did this become the "post your guitars" thread? not that I mind, I wonder if I should participate hehehe. those are some nice guitars up there. I'll have to post a buncha pics once the 535 arrives.
  18. My one friend who had two 535s.. the first had the Schaller pickups and Schaller roller bridge.. the second had a Standard tom, and I think covered SD 59 pickups. He liked those a lot better than the Schallers. If the schallers are supposed to be PAF... they should sound somewhat like the seth lovers. My main concern is that the schallers may not have quite enough bite/snarl for me, at least in the bridge position. For the neck position. I tend to like a more "airy" pickup with a nice mellow sound... so I doubt that would need replacing.
  19. they are... but I jumped on that 535 for $1200. I like the color, it's had the roller bridge replaced with a real TOM, and it was free shipping. so now... the wait begins.
  20. HAH! True. Well, that's the reason one of my friends who had two 535s at different times didn't like them. They were too "PAF" and not biting or modern enough. something like that. If I find this to be true, well then I'll just have to slap a pair of SD Pearly Gates in it.
  21. Hmmm... currently lookin at this heritage 535, which has schaller pickups, and they are supposed to be very PAF sounding: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...em=270442514291 The sound I'm missing that I used to have came from a MIK Epiphone sheraton: my first guitar that I bought with my own money. It looks like, for that sound, the heritage 535 or Yamaha SA2200 is the best bet. Thanks for all the help. If these all fall through then I'll probably pick up a used Newport pro.
  22. the solid spruce top is one thing that drew me to the newport pro in the first place. I kinda like going "against" the grain, which is one of the reasons it appeals to me. The construction would be top notch, and I like the colors they offer it in. I also like Heritage guitars, and the Yamaha stuff. Also there are some MIJ Epiphone sheratons up now that I've been looking at. But... something about the hamer just looks better... maybe it's the strap button on the upper horn where it belongs instead of on the back of the neck joint. Also the black cherry burst and jazz burst look awesome.
  23. Well.. I've decided against the Sheraton, and now I'm back with basically the SA2200, the Heritage 535, and the Newport Pro. I read more reviews, and also realized that I'm not getting the guitar to play hard rock.. I'm getting it to play classic rock and some clean stuff. I've got plenty of solid bodies to handle the heavy loud stuff. So... now to stalk guitars on ebay.
  24. hmm... what about this: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...em=260463984563
  25. NICE!!! the big problem of course is finding an Yammy AS1000 or Ibanez AS180. I have looked for the AS180 before, and rarely seen one. The current model Yamaha AS2200 and the Heritage 535's are much easier to track down. It's a shame I wasn't in the market when my friend moved his blue Heritage 535... I love blue guitars.
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