MCChris

On a positive, that just means that I have one of the only two that they did and that's just fine with me. Sure. "Hurray for me and to Hell with you." Nice attitude. LOL! Not taking into account the "winkie" emoticon?

Love it.

They were doing that with the Vintage S, T62 and, to a lesser extent, the TLE. There's a difference between basing a model on something else and directly copying it. The earliest Hamers had design twists that set them apart. The later ones didn't. Thus the decline.

Certainly when you're talking about identical designs, the casual observer/fan will take a Strat with Fender on the headstock over the Hamer version 10 times out of 10. And when I say identical, I'm aware that the bridges and headstocks are different. The casual observer/fan, a.k.a. the segment that can make or break a business, doesn't notice that stuff. The T62 and Vintage S could have had some success had they been marketed like a Tom Anderson or a Suhr. Once again, it all comes down to marketing. Corgan played a Daytona. An endorsement deal with him wouldn't have sucked. What would it have taken to put a Daytona in McCready's hands and a T51 in Gossard's? Making a better Strat and Tele than Fender matters not if no one knows you're doing it.

Was there any taking into account anticipated public perception of putting dead-nuts copies of Strats and Teles out to market?

Andrew, your earlier post is spot-on IMO. Putting binding on an Explorer shape was proprietary. Putting binding, humbuckers and a sustain block bridge on a double cut Junior shape was proprietary. The Prototype, Phantom, Virtuoso and Scarab were proprietary. The list goes on. Calis and Chaps, not so much, but they were so well built and (gasp) marketed that Hamer carved out a niche in that department. How the Duotone didn't become a fixture in every "modern country" band is an astonishing failure. And you are so right about the Daytona and T51. Great guitars as they may be, utterly pointless from a business perspective. If anyone can sufficiently explain the thinking behind those models as it relates to being a positive move for Hamer, I'm all ears.

^^^ Exactly. The proportion of PRS marketing aimed at performance features and ergonomics versus celebrity endorsers and aesthetics was/is heavily slanted toward the latter. Straight string pull isn't what's making a Creed fan buy a Tremonti model.

Well, there was the Shakira Junior ... Obviously a lot of what we're talking about here, resurrecting a guitar brand, would be tremendously challenging in today's marketplace. But the thing to do, in very basic terms, would be to show up at a place like the Bottom Lounge in Chicago when there's a van or bus with a trailer attached outside and find out what it would take to put Hamers in the whole band's hands. If guitars become popular again and one of those guys is at the forefront, the gamble will have paid off. And as I've said before, I'm surprised the big guitar manufacturers and instrument retailers haven't formed a lobby to get the industry to start cultivating more guitar bands. "Bands" like the Jonas Brothers don't become popular on their own merits; they're shoved down the public's throats by the Disneys and Simon Cowells of the world. The JoBros don't matter to this discussion anyway, because Gibson has already gotten to them.

Most people associate him with his old Tele. A proper endorsement deal dictates that a guy only plays publically and is photographed with that brand. And if his guitar becomes iconic, he is not allowed to nix the mass production of a signature model.

Because as we all know, it's impossible to find boob pics anywhere else on the internet.

Not at all, because what is relevant today is who is playing what guitar today, not who played what guitar 25 years ago. Actually when they were rocking Hamers the most was when the brand was at its peak, late '80s/early '90s. Even Ian Hill was playing a Hamer. The shredder era was a boon for Hamer, but I always got the impression that Jol hated it. Which is fine, as shredders went out of favor in the early 90s. But that didn't have to mean zero endorsers. How do you not parlay into sales the fact that the intro of one of the biggest hits of the grunge era IS the sound of a Hamer instrument? How do you not sign Ament to an endorsement deal that requires him to play a Hamer at all times? You don't see Morse or Petrucci playing anything other than Ernie Ball Music Man, ever. Because it's part of the deal.

Which makes it a bit of a perilous decision for a guitar company to hitch its wagon to him for four decades.

Much of the same could be said about one Rick Nielsen.

They also keep brands like Santana in business. Hamer, not so much.

Santana a hack? Somebody's having too much eggnog.... hack·neyed /ˈhaknēd/ Adjective (of a phrase or idea) Lacking significance through having been overused. That's about as close to a definition of Carlos Santana as you will ever find. The man is a repetitive as a broken record. Tell the masses who've sopped up everything he's released since "Smooth" that Carlos is overused. Those of us who clamor for a return to acid-drenched renditions of "Soul Sacrifice" and whatnot are the ones who lack significance in today's marketplace. Casual fans...that's where the big cash can be found.

There's also Tremonti, Kroeger, the guy from Opeth...lots of quality endorsers, it just doesn't seem like it because guitar players aren't as omnipresent as they used to be. But yes, they've managed to convince the guitar-buying public that their prices are worth it.

Not sure how that would lower costs. On American soil you'd have to pay them a comparable wage and conform to safe workplace requirements. Neither of those things apply overseas.

Look at the reception i would have got if i would have posted it here....do you blame me for not posting it here? And we wonder why Hamer is out of business! lol

Thanks for explaining how the world works I guess we'll have to agree to disagree. Making a profit is one thing, jumping on a deal simply for the opportunity to make someone pay nearly a grand more is another. We're not talking appreciation over a period of years, we're talking days. I can, and do. I guess I feel like if we get a great deal on a piece of gear, that we should pass it on when we sell. If the guitar has appreciated while in your hands, fine...but that's not what we're talking about here. Good for svl that he doesn't feel Brent's shafted him, and hopefully whoever bought the Standard doesn't feel shafted either. I'm obviously in the minority on this one, so hooray for Brent, way to hook a brother up! You know what Mr. Get on your Fuckin High Horse, I dont have a $100,000 salary, i have bills, i live in a 40 yr old 1000 sq foot house, i drive a 6 yr old car with 145,000 miles on it, a 6 yr old daughter, a dog and a good reputation for being a honest seller ALL OVER THE GUITAR COMMUNITY!!! Where the fuck do you come off telling me what i should and shouldnt do with my money and my guitars? I guess you could flame me if i were some kind of dishonest scammer, that sold crap for big money....you go looking for someone who has bought from me that felt like they were taken advantage of or that was unhappy with their deal.....YOU WONT FIND ANYBODY.....BECAUSE I SELL FOR A FAIR PRICE AND I DONT FEED MY BUYERS ANY BULLSHIT!!! Stick that in your fucking hat, you arrogant prick!!! Love it! An old-fashioned HFC dust-up! To imply that someone got ripped off if they paid for something and actually received it as described is silly. If you pay a higher price for an item than someone else might have because you didn't do exhaustive research on it, that's on you. Then again, the unthinkable could have happened here, and the buyer thought the guitar was worth every penny and is ecstatic with his purchase, choosing to spend his time enjoying a new instrument versus prowling around the internet trying to save every last nickel he can. As long as we're ribbing each other goodnaturedly, I blame bubs for bringing this transaction to light. I'd have never known about it otherwise, and I'm guessing others wouldn't have either. The way some of you keep tabs on each other's online activity is, put politely, a little odd.

She'll benefit from the perpetual erection you'll be experiencing when this one arrives.

Yep, great post from Pete and a spot-on comment here as well:

I'd need a report on the high-gain tones first before I'd take the plunge.

Greg started the thread. If he or anyone else didn't expect what this thread has become, then I don't know what to tell you.

Quite the contrary. You nailed it.