Tres Aardvarks

well they dont all have to be $5000 customs,Carvin sells USA made guitars bolts-on $7-800 and lots of neck thru under $1500. And Carvin make dam nice guitar...so why cant the quality and price be had with Hamer name and still be profitable. Very different approach. While I dug the couple Carvins I've played, they are much more CNC made than Hamers were. I think if you went that way, you'd lose a LOT of the mystique (of course, if the same luthiers aren't there isn't it already gone)?

Jeez I need to start hanging with some of the local guys, I had no idea Fralin was out here. I'm 90 minutes west of Chesterfield, up against the Blue Ridge Mountains in Crozet. Need to drag my sorry butt down to Richmond!!

Sir, you have impeccable taste. I don't understand why it's still there. The color is awesome, the build is awesome, it's a ONE OF A KIND custom issue, but not like a Miller guitar or something gaudy. And it's only $2500. That would be like 15,000 if it was from the G-brand. It's there because I don't have $2500 to buy it! I posted it before and was mocked! Mocked, I say!

I thought about that, Ford dropped Mercury, GM dropped Olds, and Chrysler dropped Plymouth - but those things happened well before two of the three went under. GM dropped Pontiac and Saturn (Pontiac, at the Feds' behest, not by own volition) and retained Chevy, Buick, Cadillac, and GMC...so let's see, they dropped two and kept four. "Over half"? I think Occam's razor applies here. Hamer was a tiny tiny operation and even if margins were huge the cashflow was microscopic. Same for Guild, probably sans margin. Ovation, as mentioned somewhere else in all this, probably has seen the sun set on the viability of USA operations - others figured out how to amplify acoustics in the 30 years since they owned the live performance. Fender's not a niche company, neither is Gibson (nor really PRS), they gotta move volume, for better or worse. I think this was probably a long time coming, regardless of the competitive environment (although the GC situation probably puts a real fine point on it). Contrary to what seems to be the majority opinion, I think Fender did the best they could with Hamer and gave it an honest effort. All the stuff we hated - "no" to any off-mainstream custom order, dropping crown inlay...on whose watch did that happen? Oh, Jol's, right. And who opened the shop back up to "sky's the limit"? GM? I actually include the death of Olds and Hummer in that list, since these were shuttered while GM was suffering sales declines and was largely unprofitable. Perhaps we see it through different lenses, but Pontiac, Saturn, Olds, Hummer--that's half of the domestic GM nameplates in my view. And Saab...while they didn't shutter it, they would have if Spyker hadn't bought it.

I thought about that, Ford dropped Mercury, GM dropped Olds, and Chrysler dropped Plymouth - but those things happened well before two of the three went under. GM dropped Pontiac and Saturn (Pontiac, at the Feds' behest, not by own volition) and retained Chevy, Buick, Cadillac, and GMC...so let's see, they dropped two and kept four. "Over half"? I think Occam's razor applies here. Hamer was a tiny tiny operation and even if margins were huge the cashflow was microscopic. Same for Guild, probably sans margin. I spent over 10 years at a company in Colorado where I ended up getting laid off (courtesy of mandatory headcutting across the board by the VERY large multi-national corporation which owned us). For years we were concerned they would just shutter the whole place as we NEVER appeared in their annual report and were such a small drop in the bucket(we're talking 0.01% or less of annual revenue) that no-one but us would have even noticed if we disappeared. They are still in business 4 years later, but it's damn near a ghost town and has been repurposed (they are now mostly a development shop working on the owning company's technology). Waitasecond, that sounds familar!!!

This makes me very sad.....do I need to send ninjas up to Connecticut? It'd be nice to even get a look at the list when they go off to auction (as I'm sure they will).

So sorry to hear it Mike(for you and all of the guys)! Please let all of us know where you all end up (hoping you all stay in the game and keep producing amazing instruments) and hope everyone lands on their feet!!

Damn!!!! I know how hard it is to receive those walking papers, I feel for all of you!! So sorry to hear this is happening. Also sounds like they aren't relocating staff? ETA: I hope the old Hamer crew can box up everything from the good ol' days and get it out of there (signs, catalogs, everything nostalgic). Guaranteed whoever management brings in to "clean it up" will chuck everything in a dumpster

Man, you are on fire lately! That's really cool!!

OK, so the archtop in the reflection here made me go check out Guild's website. If the same dudes building our Hamers are also making these fiddles, it makes that price tag make a little more sense...still, for $8K, I think I'd see if Monsieur Shiskov and Herr Jackass could custom build one!!

Was that the Nighthawk (or whatever Jol called it)? The more I play my 12, the more I'd like to have a 4 in that shape.

I also have an Impact and it's nowhere near as loud acoustically (even accounting for the extra strings on the 12). I figure the semi-hollow has to have something to do with it My old fretless is so quiet I can't hear it over the kids

My amp almost never gets turned on these days (as I usually play while the kids are asleep or while I'm hanging out with them). I was walking around playing my B12M, and enjoying how loud it is acoustically(compared to my other basses). I've regularly thought about pulling the octave strings off so I could play her more (as a 4), so the alternate question came up: I wonder if Hamer made many other 4s that are semi-hollow, or chambered, or hollow...anyone?

Sweet baby jeebus, whose is this??? Cool! ETA: this is the first Newport I've really liked!

Cynic, normally I tell you to ignore Nathan but in this case, I agree - that O'Conner finish is unique. Not too many of them, either I'm guessing, He's referring to a plan I have for a FM Cali I'm letting him hold onto (for now ). Alternating clear and trans red Rising Sun over flame maple. Don't worry, the finish on this one is staying as is ???? You could always pick up a beat Cali and have someone add a FM veneer to it? Rather than abuse an original FM Cali (I have a sweet spot for 'em).

I would have too. It is certainly more trebley than the OBL equipped LE, but that's part of what I liked! I A-B'd at guitar night a couple times, and the OBLs sounded dull compared to the PATBs. I should note that I wasn't playing heavy stuff, it was more pop, country, and rock. Years ago (when about all I played was metal) I might have preferred the OBLs. Both my guitar buddies said they couldn't even hear a difference and that the OBLs sounded just fine. Of course, they also didn't have the amp pointed at their heads

Nice! I'm curious to hear your take on the OBLs. My LE has them and I don't care for them. They're ok, but the Trembuckers in my flame maple Cali sound much better.

I had a pretty basic understanding, but hadn't worried about it too much since I was first and foremost a bass player (and not one prone to busting out solos). When I started playing lead guitar with some buddies, I realized I had to get working. Just picked up this book, and while I can skim over a lot of it, I am learning stuff out of it.

John Mayer and his over the top expressions killed the guitar face.

She may be bored but she's fluid... wish I could be bored playing like that too. Almost everyone playing into a video recorder looks bored (when they are clearly trying to show how well they play). I think it's most people's "Recording face". Mine usually involves furrowed brows, cursing, and hitting the Record button over and over and over and over....

Good stuff!!!

There's some seriously tasty Hamers on this thread....but I'm a little partial to my B12M, ordered by my then-fiance as a wedding present.

Good for her! Doesn't make me feel any more inferior, I know how bad I am!!

That Virt body looks more Cali shaped than I remember. Maybe it's just the lack of the neck?

OMFG. That beauty is stunning!