Toadroller

A little wire, a little epoxy, a little time. My wife calls me cheap, but I prefer to think of myself as frugal.

+1000!

Holy Flitz! I'm gettin' a tube.

Is it for sale yet?

That Explorer Standard Shishkov Ultimate shaped one looks fantastic.

Good thing you don't need a truss rod cover!

Somewheres 'round here my wife has the program from their tour in 85 (86? 87?). It's... of its time. But lotsa Hamer sightings. I think Night Ranger can be best classified as "guilty pleasure." I was too cool to like them in their time, but on a recent 3 hour drive, Sister Christian came on the radio twice, and yes, I was cranking and singing right along. Guilty. Pleasure. Thanks for posting. Love the guy's Peavey. (cross-referencing the Guitar brands that repel you? thread. And yeah, I love my Wolfgang and my Firenza P90. Great players.

House of Guitars in Rochester. Visit first, get into the piles/ stacks of records and assorted crap deep in its bowels. Then visit Dinosaur for the BBQ. Then, drunk, at 3:00 in the morning, head to Nick Tahous for a garbage plate. Turn in. Now you've seen Rochester.

Ya know, a quick run of t-shirts would sell out around here. A few hundred bucks is another tool in the shop...

I'm saving my pennies for the purge. Congrats Mike, and all the best on the adventure. Working Man's Custom Guitar Shop, indeed!

Oh, you're killing me on the Newport. You'll do well with the sale.

Break a neck?!? Never! But then it came to me... It wasn't my neck. My brother, who got guitar lessons, had a Yamaha acoustic of some sort. Why I remember that it was $80, used, is beyond me. In any case, he had pissed me off at some point. Older brothers have a finely-honed skill at this. I grabbed his guitar and threw it across the room into the Christmas tree, snapping it at the connection to the body as opposed to the traditional break at the headstock. I paid for the repair, but it was never the same.

what would something like that cost?...like real life real money. does anyone have the insight to that? thousands?millions?...if its dead doesn't that make it essentially worthless other wise they would have sold it then close it. I would be genuinely interested in a number. Well, thinking out loud,* you can't take a classical valuation approach of a five year ROI, meaning pay 5x a typical year's profits. Hamer was not a constant, steady source of income. It was a decliner. I feel that it's a brand equity, long term value guess. What is the value of reviving the brand for nostalgia's sake in the medium to long term (5 -10 years) future? What is the value of comparable brands? Now we're into comps. What is the value of a brand in the guitar marketplace today? Which brand presence: Hamer, the hand-crafted, or Hammer, the misunderstood import line? If the former, is it to the hundreds of fans (HFC) of whom a small percentage (a reasonable guestimate) would be willing to shell out for nostalgia and the working-man's quality hand-built guitar, or the latter, the entry-level guitar buyers looking for something better (or with more cachet) than GFS's Xaviere line? My guess? The brand is worth tens of thousands to low hundreds of thousands. 80k to 400k. It's a difficult, changing time for the guitar industry. Hamers are a hand-crafted, analog device in a time of mass, automated, outsourced, quality manufacturing. In a technology world gone digital yet selling analog tubes for vintage feel yet I've got this iPad and $10 worth of Garage Band which lets me multi-track record and edit. And the same for its purposed market, the music industry, which is also undergoing its changes. But, ultimately, it is worth what a buyer will pay for a brand and what a seller (FMIC) will let it go for. And once it is let go, it is up to the capitalist, willing to risk their capital, to make something of it. Or fail, losing their money (as is their right), and leaving the brand, diluted, to the next risk-taker. I didn't follow the link, but I am curious what Guild was transferred for. On a similar note, my bicycle is a USA, hand-made Cannondale; they've been through the same in roughly the same time-frame: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannondale#History How does one play a brand? Hand made, USA, small-group triiibe (tip of the hat to Seth Godin), or Schwinn at Target? Both can work. Neither and both can take you down and lead a resurgence. See Philips and Apple, both of whom could be playing the other side of the fence right now. Bugatti? Chrysler-Maserati? *that's my CYA out that you can't hold me to shit, also known as "he's had more than one Bombay martini, just let him ramble."

Sorry to hijack the thread, BCRGreg. Back to you with Sports! How's the paint matching coming along?

If ever, in my role, I'm brought out on stage for a presentation for my peers, I'm walking out with a wireless hookup, a Hamer Special (or the 25th Anny Artist), and playing the intro lick to "Whole Lotta Love." We had the Bear Naked Ladies for a sales meeting once in Vegas. Loads of fun.

There are very few big-time bands out there that aren't willing to play private functions. For the right price, of course. That, plus he and our CEO are buddies, apparently. That said, in recent years we've had Clapton, Van Halen, Don Henley, Bonnie Raitte/Martina McBride...

Bon Jovi's supposed to play our corporate function in June. It's a shame this wil be the first time in 6 years I've missed it. I bet there will be a gold-top Les Paul in the show. What a story. Great work!

If you're going to go out, go out with a blaze of glory. Rick Nielsen's Standards struck me as wicked-cool, even as a ten year old. Now, thanks to HamerHead, (who's been getting a lot of thanks from HFC members in recent weeks, don't you think?) I've joined the club of Standard USA ownership. 97 Mahogany. I love mahogany and its rich tones. This one is a 9.9 in my eyes. Just a bit of Hameritus but otherwise as new. Tim takes care of his stuff.

I'm out. Details soon.

Bravo.

Thanks for posting it and for the description of the picking style. I learned something and enjoyed it.

Just want to point out that Nathan, while calling attention to the headstock as a potential deal-breaker, never actually showed one.

I don't know a shredder from a Tele, but would any of the incarnations of Eddie's vision fit the bill? USA Peavey Wolfgangs can be found with Floyd and D-tuna at good prices. When I feel like cranking the distortion, I pull mine out. Great necks.

So, about 10" yesterday, cleaned up nicely, and expected 6-8 tonight. Snow-blower running like a top. I won't see the asphalt until early march, but can get teh cars up and out. Quattro FTW!