" Working Man Guitar "

[veatch 3,409]

Quite frankly, I trust these fine gentlemen with the details of how it will look. Lots of stuff listed above would be fine. Quality of the build and components (to a lesser extent, cause those can always be replaced...) is what i care about. I have seen very little they have made that I would "kick out of bed". As long as it was not cost prohibitive, I'm in.

[gorch 5,400]

Question is to build a workhorse not a fashion guitar. The guitar in any means should be practical and cover a wide sound range. It should stay in tune whatever abuse gets to it. It should be robust, solid, and neck break safe. Finally, the price should make it a proud dings and dongs collector for no headaches.

Simply a whorehorse.

[dragan 371]

Must have quality but plain wood n parts ,look good (subjective ) ,nice finish , small options set, must sell for an average guys pay check ,one or two weeks pay (1000-2000)

[RichRS6 719]

Interesting thread, praying that it happens.

The main downer would be as mentioned above, the competition (Gibson & Fender etc) at the price point suggested they have plenty of products available (which even with their massive marketing machine they're having a difficult time selling).

I hate to say it but the only way I can see this happening (for anything like $1000) is if a large portion of the work (basic shaping of bodies and neck blanks) was done outside the U.S. where labour is cheaper.

Perhaps final assembly, paint etc could be in the U.S.

The quality of (some) import guitars (particularly Japan) is now so good the "made in" is (almost) irrelevant.

The other main obstacle (also mentioned earlier) is clear from reading this thread, everyone wants something different.

A working mans guitar needs no binding, no fancy fret markers, a simple and cost effective single colour paint job, 1 Humbucker with a pull to split the coils a volume and (possibly) a tone pot.

If you want 2 pickups, binding and fancy inlays etc then take the basic guitar to your local shop and get them to tart it up as you like.

[polara 4,382]

Serious question. Are the guys posing the question interested in:

1. Just making a run of guitars?
2. Making a new company as a sideline?
3. Making a living off this thing?

P&L ain't much of a factor in the design of the first scenario guitar. Then we must get increasingly practical, to the point of flirting with just becoming Jay Turser (have Cort build Hamer Specials and Californians, put Duncans in and do setup in the USA and you're done) if we're really gonna talk meeting needs of marketplace and turning a profit.

[Bass Guy Dave 200]

The Special was/is a great guitar. (insane that it retailed at only $800 at first in the 90s.)

The Prototype (2nd Gen Phantom) body style balanced better and better upper fret access. (Belly and arm bevels were a BIG plus.) Triplecoil is nice, but not essential at all, IMO.

Much as I love the A5 body style for comfort and balance (better than both above...) I just can't see it selling these days as a guitar platform (Bass, maybe... but still not the most likely)

It this comes out as a non-Hamer logo'd guitar (which is fine,) a "Jack-Newfield" makes me think: Same great neck/fretwork; set-neck, Hum/single (P-90 is cool), fixed bridge, 2-3 colors max, out the door at $1,200 would be hard to beat. (add $300-$400 for a flame veneer top ( still 2-3 colors) would be frosting on the cake.)

Mind you, this is coming from a bass player, so beware accordingly, lol.

[prototype-fan 158]

Reading through this thread kind of reminds me of that Simpson's episode where Homer's half-brother, Herb, asks Homer to come up with a car “designed for the average man”... The resulting product being “powerful like a gorilla, yet soft and yielding like a Nerf ball.”

[ib2010 256]

One size fits all -???--- Solid swamp ash bod -- bolt on maple neck/rw fret board -- mild bucker+s+s--- 5way -- and a SIMPLE, mild, on board pre/boost to take the strat world up to tickle the tubes.

[tomteriffic 2,756]

My thoughts turned to the headstock, as in, what name might be on it. Let's see, we have 3 Monkeys Amps, 2FIG (Two Effing Idiots in a Garage) bridges and? ???

[burningyen 1,788]

A Newport 90 with "center block" and sustain block bridge. Sorry, just realized I need one.

Argh, me too!

[sixesandsevens 2,284]

My thoughts turned to the headstock, as in, what name might be on it. Let's see, we have 3 Monkeys Amps, 2FIG (Two Effing Idiots in a Garage) bridges and? ???

Is that really what 2FIG stands for? Heheheh...

[Steve Haynie 11,960]

What if the design of the Peavey T-60 was tweaked just a little?

[veatch 3,409]

lol

I trust these guys more than that...

[serial 3,631]

Prototype body (or new 'Phantom', although I never liked that name). It's a solid, sensible, attractive shape with comfortable bevels, etc.

Pick your neck/headstock, but the Special is SO played out by everyone out there making guitars. This would not be a Hamer-branded product, I'd assume, but there'd be some marketing 'sense' to a semi-unique original design.

Picture this:

A Korina Prototype...

Mahogany too-pickup options available.

Upcharge for extras.

[bubs_42 8,174]

A couple of HFC'er and I had talked about a Korina Prototype Run (Not Recently). That would so kick ass in my book. The Prototype looks funny but feels so perfect when you play it. It IS a great guitar. Stike, Jay and Myself are working on Phantom #2. I'm hoping it will top the first one.

[Feynman 2,633]

I find Prototypes to be very, very ugly, for whatever my opinion is worth.

[bubs_42 8,174]

I find Prototypes to be very, very ugly, for whatever my opinion is worth.

NOTHING!

[vicjoy1945 27]

Hhhhhmmmm...."Well I get get up...seven yea...and I go to work at nigh...hine"

Doesn't that describe a "working man" guitar !?!

Vic

[burningyen 1,788]

I'm a Proto fan.

[onguitar 41]

I'd go for an Axl guitars Bulldog type thing, but oversized, and humbucker oriented so:

Flat top Monaco singlecut, all Mahogany, maybe slightly thinner body,

PRS-style stoptail bridge (i.e intonated)

Pickups either: 1 bridge humbucker, or bridge humbucker with neck p90.

Finish: black with cream/white accents (binding, pickup surounds, pickguard if applicable?), or brown stain with black accents, or goldtop with cream accents - all non-glossy, satin or matt finish. It would look like something someone like Josh Homme would play.

[polara 4,382]

That'd be cool, too. Practical, save money on finishing. Just wonder if the body and headstock shape would attract attention enough to generate sales. But I'm kinda a Homme fan and am drawn to that kind of vibe in instruments.

I'd go for an Axl guitars Bulldog type thing, but oversized, and humbucker oriented so:
Flat top Monaco singlecut, all Mahogany, maybe slightly thinner body,
PRS-style stoptail bridge (i.e intonated)
Pickups either: 1 bridge humbucker, or bridge humbucker with neck p90.
Finish: black with cream/white accents (binding, pickup surounds, pickguard if applicable?), or brown stain with black accents, or goldtop with cream accents - all non-glossy, satin or matt finish. It would look like something someone like Josh Homme would play.

[polara 4,382]

Okay, another idea. Two words, gentlemen:

Talladega Junior

Flat top Talladega style body, no binding, satin finish in either ivory, black, or orange/red, same soft v neck, dot inlays, wrap tail, bone nut, Spertzels, and Phat Cats/Double Ds/P90s (depending on what will hit the price point.)

$1500

I'd buy the ever-loving shit outta THAT.

[zorrow 4,516]

Dean is offering pretty good "working man" guitars with their 1000 Series, all priced around 1K. Look at them here: http://www.deanguitars.com/usa1000_series.php

Do you see the variety of models? I guess that could be used as a source of inspiration.

As you can witness, everyone has his/her own tastes about body shapes -single cut, double cut, Strat-ish, Flying V, Explorer, Firebird, Tele-ish, SG-ish and so on...

Same thing applies to headstocks -Standard-like fat, Standard-like thin, pointy 3x3, paddle-like 3x3, Cali-like, reverse Cali-like and so on...

So, I guess you need to prepare CNC templates for all the possible variants, plus supporting 24 and 22 frets fretboards, 25.5", 25" and 24.75" scales, as well as at least two neck profiles (slim and vintage).

For the bridges, you need to support a hardtail (sustainblock preferred), TOM with stop bar, TOM with string-through-body, traditional Strat-ish trem, Kahler trem and Floyd Rose.

All that is pretty straightforward to implement using CNC machines.

Your added value would be then in the attention to detail when finally assembling and finishing (painting, buffing...) the guitars, as well as in the selection of the materials used to build them -properly aged/dried woods, etc.

BTW, the 1000 Series from Dean are CNC-cut and assembled in the USA, then they're shipped to Korea for painting/finishing, then they're shipped back to the US and then they mount the electronics and the hardware this side of the pond.

I guess for 200 bucks more in the final price you can save on the shipping back and forth, and focus more on the finish quality, right?

[gorch 5,400]

Forget! Just for the headstock.

[coolfeel 1,401]

Yah some of those headstocks give Heritage a run for their money in the "butt-ugly" category...