Does Hamer give endorsements?

[jisham]

I'm not questioning whether they make good or innovative products, they do of course. I just think it's interesting that apparently Jol does what he wants, whether it makes money or not, which is what's implied by some of the comments here. I guess the big question is if FMIC will let him continue to play in his little playground the way he has for apparently so long.

I still contend that at some point, a company can't continue to rest on its laurels; seems to me, Hamer will have to reach out to new customers to remain viable. The current target market, which again to me seems to be seasoned/older players, is gonna die out -- literally -- within a few years. Then what happens? If the 20 something that was at my house doesn't have Hamer on the radar at all, there's a problem.

[Jorge]

It's not like they're only making 50-60 guitars a year

Of course not. I meant for each "innovative" model. How many Talladegas are sold? How many Improvs a year?

but I'm, happy to know that there are other things I can get from them that will truly meet my needs.

Good for you. Really.

they're not having problems selling enough guitars to keep them in a backlog as it is.

That's not that difficult, if you downsize enough.

[Willie G. Moseley]

I know of one guitar manufacturer whose artist relations guy included "At the present time, we are not accepting any new endorsers" on his outgoing voice mail message.

RE: Tom Dumont...who?

RE: Shakira...who?

The discussion of MTV, CMT, et. al. is fascinating since those entertainment outlets emphasize the visual facets, not the sonic aspects, of what the artists are proffering.

[Wordupperman]

Have to agree with eduave on this one. The Hamer shop is buried with high-dollar custom and "designer" guitars. That's actually the way that the Hamer company first started... before guys like Mr. Jisham even knew what a guitar was. Ten years ago, Hamer was practically out of business and had to be downsized BECAUSE they had gotten off track from their original business model and went shred. The last three years has seen Hamer being much more dominant than in a long time. Five years ago, prices were in the tank (both retail and resale) and when you asked anybody (including pros) about Hamer, they'd say "Kramer? Are they still in business?"

Jol and Hamer have rescued a brand from extinction by learning from their mistakes and getting back to what makes them great. I personaly think that their designs in the last decade have been extremely focused and innovative while not straying from their roots. My feeling from talking to as many people in the business as I have, is that the biggest reason that Hamer has not "caught on" is the parent company's (Kaman) inability to market what Hamer has. From the awards and glowing reviews to the raves from anyone who plays one, it's clear that the product is right. It's just the corporate structure of Kaman that has been dragging Hamer down.

Maybe if Fender is smart, they'll put Jol back in charge of the marketing and artist relations like the old days, and we'll see some real action. I think that if you think that Jol is doing what he wants in regard to marketing, you are very naive about how things work in a corporation that is focused on the distribution of accessories. You only need to talk to the marketing and brand guys (I've interviewed them) at Kaman to see that they aren't about rock, guitars or even music. I think it's a miracle that Hamer has survived, especialy since Bill Kaman got run out of town.

[MCChris]

That's actually the way that the Hamer company first started... before guys like Mr. Jisham even knew what a guitar was.

I dunno, Jaye's pretty old .....

[jisham]

That's actually the way that the Hamer company first started... before guys like Mr. Jisham even knew what a guitar was.

I dunno, Jaye's pretty old .....

I am old, and opinionated, and unlike Mr. UppityWord, don't worship at the Jol altar and drink the kool aid. I state my opinion, which any one can agree or disagree with as I could care less. It has nothing to do with being naive...it has everything to do with an observation, whether you like it or not. Be sure to write that in your notepad interviews, okay?

Before you make broad statements about what I do and don't know, perhaps you should ask me.

[Wordupperman]

Sorry Jaye, my bad. Shouldn't have said that I s'pose. Maybe I thought you were younger than you are... seeing as I read your post about "discovering" P90s for the first time...

Take it as a compliment, at least I didn't think you were a OLD guy still trying to hammer out Bad Company covers. (I didn't check your set list)

You're totally entitled to your opinions and that's fine. One thing I think is that a lot of what you wish for are things that the current Hamer/corporate deal won't allow even though Jol or whomever at Hamer may want it too. As far as "drinking the koolaid" I'm obviously not of the opinion that everything that Hamer does is perfect, which is the point I was trying t make.

[Bernard from Belgium]

Free gear??? I was happy already to receive at the Euro HFC-jam a free Hamer t-shirt! Good quality shirt by the way... Hamer proves here that what they do, they do it right, whether it's a guitar or merchandising...

Bernard

[belgian]

Free gear??? I was happy already to receive at the Euro HFC-jam a free Hamer t-shirt!

Bernard

And chicken and beer and even a cake ! Altough Jol didn't paid for that, I'll better send him a bill.

[kizanski]

...at least I didn't think you were a OLD guy still trying to hammer out Bad Company covers.

No, that would be me. LOL

[elduave]

...at least I didn't think you were a OLD guy still trying to hammer out Bad Company covers.

No, that would be me. LOL

Roll the tape!

[Scottcrud]

Ya know, I wasn't even implying that Hamer should start making shred models again, I like their current models, like the Vector, Standard and Special, I'd play metal with any of those models...Hamers shred models are by far my least favorite of their models.

[jisham]

Ya know, I wasn't even implying that Hamer should start making shred models again, I like their current models, like the Vector, Standard and Special, I'd play metal with any of those models...Hamers shred models are by far my least favorite of their models.

Exactly.

[MCChris]

The discussion of MTV, CMT, et. al. is fascinating since those entertainment outlets emphasize the visual facets, not the sonic aspects, of what the artists are proffering.

Well, it's the visual aspects that get people to notice your product. Doubtful that people listened to a Buddy Holly record and said "wow, that's some nice Strat tone." They saw him on Ed Sullivan and said "wow, that's a cool-lookin' guitar. Who makes it? I want one."

[jisham]

Or when millions of kids saw EVH with the striped guitar....he single handedly changed the guitar industry for a time based on the LOOK. Of course, his playing ability helped too...

[kizanski]

Or when millions of kids saw EVH with the striped guitar....he single handedly changed the guitar industry for a time based on the LOOK.

Definitely, and that further drives home Muse's "visual" point because I don't believe EVH ever recorded with that guitar.

[serial]

Or when millions of kids saw EVH with the striped guitar....he single handedly changed the guitar industry for a time based on the LOOK.

Definitely, and that further drives home Muse's "visual" point because I don't believe EVH ever recorded with that guitar.

Which one and why do you think that? I know that the first LP was recorded with a bunch of things, including a 75 Ibanez Destroyer on RWTD, etc (the non-trem stuff), but I thought that he did use that superstrat with the PAF in it for all of the whammy stuff.

[kizanski]

Or when millions of kids saw EVH with the striped guitar....he single handedly changed the guitar industry for a time based on the LOOK.

Definitely, and that further drives home Muse's "visual" point because I don't believe EVH ever recorded with that guitar.

Which one and why do you think that? I know that the first LP was recorded with a bunch of things, including a 75 Ibanez Destroyer on RWTD, etc (the non-trem stuff), but I thought that he did use that superstrat with the PAF in it for all of the whammy stuff.

From what I've read (and EVH might have been taking a page out of BFG's book of "stories"), he recorded with the Ibanez, the '58 V, and a non-Floyded Strat, but not the striped up Strat/Kramer "Frankenstein guitar because he didn't think that it recorded well. He used it (THEM really) for "the Look" while on stage, as it had become a trademark and of course the Floyd came in handy in live situations.

Of course I could be wrong. Eddie has told his share of stories, too, but that was the gist of what he said in an interview years ago.

...at least I didn't think you were a OLD guy still trying to hammer out Bad Company covers.

No, that would be me. LOL

Roll the tape!

[Guest Mike Lee]

Considering it's a non-Floyd Strat copy on the early albums before the Floyd was even available, he may have continued to record with the same guitar if he liked the tone. Once the 5150 guitar replaced the Frankenstein, I think he did record the later 80's albums (Hagar stuff) with that one, along with the Steinberger and various other guitars.

[cmatthes]

These guys can really Rock Steady:

[elduave]

These guys can really Rock Steady:

Now THERE'S a nice long strap!

[Wordupperman]

How many current guitarists on MTV or the like play Hamers? I can't name one. I've never understood why Hamer was never aggressive about getting young current artists on its roster. PRS does it like a science and it pays off in spades.

Jaye, buddy... I'm right here with you on this one. The reason PRS was so successful was that they had already "seeded" the young market's mindset by turning PRS into a high-buck status item that young dudes couldn't afford. Then their artist relations guy went to gigs in a van full of guitars and handed them out like candy. There was a story in a major national newspaper about this, so it's not conjecture on my part either. I actually wondered why PRS allowed their guy to say all the stuff he did in the story, but I guess that they figured that rockers don't read newspapers, so what the heck. That was the first half of the one-two punch... the import line being the second. Now, young guys COULD get a PRS like their heroes, without the hassle of law school.

My observation is that if you draw a timeline of Hamer's involvemet with major artists of any kind, it tanks just about the time that Kaman Corporate took over the marketing, which was about 1996. Prior to that, Jol was doing all the artist relations and marketing and advertising was handled in-house. Many artists remained loyal for a while out of respect, and because they had personal ties with "the guy" at Hamer, but after a while some of those guys probably were ordered to deal with corporate guys at Kaman instead. I know this to be the case because I interviewed Rick Nielsen, and even he got shoved off on some Kaman AR guy for a while. My theory is also that the break between Hamer and Tom Peterson was caused by this too. I think that the recent appearance of Jol's blog and his guru tours is an effort to get back some of the credibility that Kaman threw away with Hamer. From what I gather, Jol is much more involved recently, and that bodes well for the future if Fender is smart enough to take advantage of it. Maybe this is Hamer's big chance. I don't trust big corporations, but sometimes they get it right, so all we can do is hope and throw our support behind Frank, Jol and the guys in the shop.

Now I know some people have accused me of being Hamer's press agent, or some kind of insider, but this is all info that anybody could scrounge up if they wanted to.

Enough cheerleading, back to your regularly scheduled program...

[kizanski]

Now I know some people have accused me of being Hamer's press agent, or some kind of insider, but this is all info that anybody could scrounge up if they wanted to.

Enough cheerleading, back to your regularly scheduled program...

Right everyone!

Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain!

[jisham]

Yep, The Washington Post wrote a big story awhile back on PRS's A&R guy. Like I said, they approached it like a science and also like I said, it paid off in spades. Tons of the younger bands use PRS guitars and Mesa Recto amps.

I, however, don't believe Hamer ever lost credibility but for whatever reason, decided to focus on the more vintage-esque looking guitars with their product offerings and more important the lame (IMO) ads, even though several models lend themselves well to guys like me who like to RAWK.

Although the blog and "guru" tour are nice, IMO they do nothing to get new players into the Hamer fold...Jol's preaching to the choir so to speak.

[elduave]

Yep, The Washington Post wrote a big story awhile back on PRS's A&R guy.

That dude (Jeff Lanegan IIRC) got busted BIG TIME for stealing guitars from PRS. He was married to my cousins ex, who ironically, she left because he spent too much time involved in music/guitars.