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Another sign of "no love" for Hamers


Hgb5000

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I hear ya man... back in the eighties and early nineties a MIDDLE CLASS individual could afford to own a Hamer without absolutely KILLING his bank account or racking up his credit card.

Somewhere along the way, the corporate assholes that run the music gear industry decided that MIDDLE CLASS people were no longer welcome to buy their American made products.

What kind of an asshat company decides to only make guitars for the upper class?

I am middle class and would have to make a LOT more money to afford a $4000 guitar. I mean, if I drove a $40,000 car and had a half million dollar home, I could afford one right? How many fucking Americans can afford to drive a $40,000 car and have half million dollar homes? I certainly don't... I drive an economic Mazda and RENT my home.

In 1986 I managed to scrape up the money to buy my first USA Hamer when I was 13 years old. What fucking 13 year old can afford a $4000 guitar delivering newspapers today? Absolutely none.

Hamer's elitist attitude that they will only allow the wealthiest of Americans to purchase their guitars is downright WRONG! If they continue down this road, then they will have nobody to blame besides themselves.

Hamer's import line was an outright deplorable decision... I don't want a fucking Korean or Chinese guitar, I am an American and we have this AMAZING history of making the world's finest electric guitars HERE in our own country. It's sooooo fucking sad that Hamer has decided that only the wealthiest of people will be able to own their American made products.

Out and out elitism along with TONS of hubris = tragedy

Hamer started as a custom shop targeted primarily at artists who were shopping for quality instruments, not headstock logos. They were an unknown company that had the audacity to charge more than Gibson for a similar instrument, but better made. They continued that way until the early '80s when they joined the Spandex hair band movement with Floyd and Kahler-equipped pointy guitars. That generated a lot of sales and visibility on the music videos, but it also had the negative effect that in the minds of many, "Hamer" is a relic of the hair band shredder days.

A paper boy can still get plenty of good US-made instruments. Gibson, Fender, Gretsch, G&L, Music Man, and Heritage all offer many US-made models in the $800-1800 price range. $1200 today is equivalent to $619 in 1986. It's just that Hamer has decided not to compete in that market anymore.

As far as creating import lines, who hasn't done that? Technically all Gibsons are USA, but Epiphone is their import line. Fender's standard line is now MIM and some MIJ, and Squier does the stuff from Indonesia and China. G&L has the Tribute line, PRS has low cost imports, as does Dean, Music Man, and just about anybody else you can think of. Even the custom shop bass makers, Lakland, MTD (Tobias), and Ken Smith have Indonesian-made basses called Lakland Skyline, MTD Kingston, and KSD (Ken Smith Design).

For every Hamer fan lamenting the closing of a USA factory operation, there must be 10 Guild enthusiasts eagerly awaiting handcrafted Guilds coming out of New England again. Fender Music has been pretty conscientious about keeping the brands alive that it bought, but sometimes it requires shifting of resources and rewriting mission statements to keep them all alive. I'd much rather know Hamer was surviving as a custom shop with Jol in charge--even if I can't afford their product anymore--than see them completely shut down.

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To echo what other people have said:

- The resale value of Hamer is so bad that even buying a used Talladega for $1800 is a risk. Heck, I recently bought a new Tally Pro for a great price over 50% off, only to see another new one sell for much less at $1875 a week later. I know some people might argue that you buy a guitar to keep, not resell, but a guitar is an asset that can be sold in an emergency.

- Hamer isn't a well known brand, and some people have a bad idea of the brand. Like someone mentioned, I too always thought of Hamer's as pointy shredder guitars. Only recently did I realize that they also made, classy high-quality traditional guitars.

Mark

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Hamer has become the "Buick" of electric guitars, imo, with the latest crop of styling.

Nice, classy, well built, expensive and the guitar that my 68 year old dad would drive ... err play. No offense

to those who dig them, just not my cup of joe.

B)

I drive a Buick. In my defense, it does have a supercharger in it...

I guess that explains why i like Hamers.

Man, i gittin' old.

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a couple thoughts... I love Hamer with all my heart, but there's

a better chance of me wearing a NY Jets jersey to work three days in

a row than paying $1800 for a tally... B) In a perfect world, Hamer

should have a satin or oil finished one pickup special, but I think they

tried the low cost model in the 90's and it didn't quite work... if they

did it today it would just cannibalize their higher end stuff.

My favorite guitar right now is a charvel usa production model tele

which you can buy all day long for under a grand... Charvel really

has a nice thing going right now with being under the Fender umbrella

and using their production support to build batches. They also allow

them to use the strat headstock...

725007577_9QwWh-S.jpg

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A paper boy can still get plenty of good US-made instruments. Gibson, Fender, Gretsch, G&L, Music Man, and Heritage all offer many US-made models in the $800-1800 price range.

You forgot Carvin. I was stunned by my friend's custom bass. I've also tried that model Marty Friedman used to play (it looks like an odd Explorer) and it's so comfortable you will be playing it for hours just for the pleasure of touching and feeling its fretboard.

I understand however Hamer doesn't want to play in that league anymore.

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Get rid of the ugly stuff, like the headstock? I happen to really like it myself

no48_detail3_lg.jpg

ArnieZ

I've really grown to like the Headstock too!

My favorite Headstock is the one I have on my '80 Super Swede Hagstrom.

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It's a simple case of the brand not being marketed effectively.

I agree, If you get a Hamers in the hands of a player? They are gonna come back to them. I always have as most of you have?

yes but i can't afford a new one , i used to buy em new 15-20 years ago, they were pricey then but an absolute bargain, i want a newport , i am thinkin maybe tax return time, no way i can buy a new one , if they just lowered their prices by 25-30% so you could buy a nice american made guitar for $1400(studio) - $1800(newport,monaco) people would buy em in droves, forget all the fancy corksniffer inlays and B.S , make a real pro's guitar that a working musician could afford , alas i don't see it in the cards unless their biz tanks , they can't be doing that well in this economy , no one is , who knows???????????

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You can have a guy play a Hamer that sounds better, plays better, feels better, looks better.

He'll still pick the bolt on Fender guitar or a Gibby.

Why?

One reason, I have flipped a lot of guitars over the years... I can always move a Gibson or Fender quickly... I've had some nice Hamers over the years and selling them can be challenging at times... things like Hameritis and the fact imports look very much like the USA models haven't helped the cause much either.. I've always gravitated towards unusal and unique guitars... Now I just play what I can turn if I want to.

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The Fenders and Gibbys sell for sure. But you need the Hamers to play?

exactly, i buy a guitar to ............can ya believe this............get ready.............actually play them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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I've always wondered why Hamers have such depressed re-sale values. But it's been that way for a long time. I think it has much to do with offering "off shore" models that are basically the same guitar for 25% the cost of the American model. Then, I think of the PRS cheapos and wonder what the difference might be. Those price-point imports don't seem to hamper the re-sale value of the PRS guitars in any way. Part of me is happy that I bought a killer near-mint 1981 Special last year for just a tad above a grand. A twenty eight year old vintage guitar for a song. The new guitars, in my opinion, are not overpriced for the instruments turned out. I do know that there isn't one dealer within hours of my home where I can play one. I can go twenty miles either way (Daytona Beach or Orlando) and play just about every other manufacturer's guitars. I'd have to drive hours to Dr. Cluck's Music Emporium. A website search tells me to stay home. No Hamers. In fact, I can't find a Hamer Dealer within three to four hours. There's Cluck's in Florida, Jordan Music in Albany Georgia, and Alabama isn't even in the picklist for Hamer Dealers. A whole three states with two dealers. Just using Hamer website searches, but that's depressing.

I think two advertised dealers in three contiguous states is the answer to this compelling question, no? Sorry to be so blunt. Only experienced and knowledgable players/collectors will buy without the most important thing to everyone else buying a guitar; holding the guitar.

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A whole three states with two dealers. Just using Hamer website searches, but that's depressing.

Nail, meet head.

Same problem up here. I have to drive to Chicago to find a store with US Hamers. One dealer listed in MI, and the last time i checked, imports only.

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Ditto for me, no dealers that I could find in the Philadelphia area. Sure, there were a couple of dealers listed but when I went to the stores there was no guitars in stock.

There's a Hamer dealer in Lemoyne. I hear it's worth the trip.

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It's been a long way to read through this thread. Right at the current end, I am not sure what to think about. I somewhat lost direction. What are we actually talking about? Hamer USA is a custom shop delivering ~10 people's monthly salary? Assumed it really does. The Fender Custom Shop as stated on the Wikipedia page has 5 times as much employees to basically do the same thing. Produce copies of 50 year old guitar designs. Whether you call it Modern Vintage (Hamer) or Replicated Vintage (Fender), it's the same song blown through different horns. As the creator of core guitar designs, obviously, Fender has a marketing advantage they had used over time.

On the other hand, I am not seeing Hamer through patriotic American glasses. Business like, to me Hamer consist of more than a little custom shop. As long as zenmindbeginner drives his Mazda there is a vindication for the so called Import line. Did you notice that Hamer runs three workshops on the Import line that are located in Korea, Indonesia, and China? I would not expect Hamer selling badly at all considering this extent of the company. In addition, Hamer is part of the Kaman Music Group that's called "being the largest independent distributor of musical instruments and accessories in the United States" according to Wikipedia. Within the group Hamer is described as "high-end electric and semi-acoustic guitars and basses".

And finally, there is the recession which paints its own color on to the brand and the market as a whole. There are Hamer guitars that still sell for around $2k. Others sell for less. Be happy and catch one handmade for cheap if you can. They will conserve their value in the long run for my opinion especially the post millennium produced ones.

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exactly, i buy a guitar to ............can ya believe this............get ready.............actually play them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Me too.

I've sold only 1 bass and it was a mighty mite parts contraption with a whammy that I built.

I buy only new and kept them.

I guess I am the polar opposite of the "flip-em" mentality.

I never worry what the stuff is worth.

I buy them because I like them enough to keep.

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Shark,

How about Wolfe Guitars in Jupiter?

Three and a half hours. Can't find Jay on the Hamer site. Luckily, I get to see him once a year at the Orlando Guitar Show. Usually has a few Hamers. Sometimes the same ones as the previous year. Lots of nice Heritage guitars too. Another guitar company with terrible re-sale value.

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How about

?

Hamer has never been about what the average guy wanted and I don't think they should.

Isn't music supposed to be about expressing different things?

By the way, Hamer started out as an elite brand... way more expensive than new Gibsons or Fenders. The "change" was to try to go downmarket in the first place.

Kris

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This is just typical Gear Page.

I can see why they get all hyped up about a Danocaster. It looks like a vintage guitar, and therefore must be just as good, right :D That worn look has MOOOOJOOOO, the Taladega looks shiny new, it can have no mojo. Mojo needs to be put in first. Can someone call the witchdoctor. We need som mojo in here.

21788-106542-duvalierjpg-468x.jpg

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