Disclaimer: Although the following information is "secondhand", it originates from a reliable source. I spoke to a Fender sales representative a few weeks ago who told me that Jol was no longer associated with Hamer. He didn't specify whether Jol left of his own volition, or if he was fired. However, he did say that Jol's position at Hamer in recent years was more or less that of a "figurehead", and that his involvement in the day-to-day operations of the company was very limited. He said that for the past few years, Jol was only in the office about one day per week. He also mentioned (in a somewhat offhand manner) that perhaps Jol would become more involved with his automotive endeavors. The sales rep. also told me that Hamer will discontinue mass-production of the American-made models, and adopt a "Custom Shop", or special-order only business model. My understanding is that when Fender bought Guild, they shut down the production line in Connecticut, and filled the orders they received by building the instruments by hand in the Fender Custom Shop. Also, it is my opinion that the Gretsch guitars built in Japan, are far better than any of the original American-made Gretsch guitars. I've lost count of the number of vintage Gretsch guitars I've seen that were either poorly assembled, and/or are literally falling to pieces.