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Hamer Guitars USA might be coming back soon.


BCR Greg

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46 minutes ago, sonic1974 said:

Why did Kaman keep them going for that period of time when they were losing money? Kind of a "showcase" brand or something along those lines? 

I imagine to some degree that it is a bit of the same philosophy as Tiffany and Cartier operating brick and mortar stores on iconic streets all over the world on which they lose a lot of tangible capital in pursuit of the more intangible factor of "brand equity" - sort of you can afford to operate a shop that can't even cover the rent, but you can't afford to not have a presence in the market. 

Whether Hamer was the right vehicle for that, well, I guess that is the sort of shit we love to argue about here. :lol:

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On 1/11/2017 at 5:37 PM, BCR Greg said:

Wow.

 

Buncha bitches whining here.

 

Knock yourselves out.

Knowing you , I'm inclined to believe something is brewing.

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Just now, Lockbody said:

You mean Fender's?

Probably got sold.

Well, there is another reason it wouldn't be Hamer. Not only did the old Hamer consist of her craftsmen. It was also the machines they ran. 

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1 hour ago, HSB0531 said:

Knowing you , I'm inclined to believe something is brewing.

...or not.

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23 minutes ago, Ting Ho Dung said:

Well, there is another reason it wouldn't be Hamer.

If there's a legal Hamer logo on the headstock, it's a Hamer.  Even if it's made with shit quality wood by builders that haven't been anointed by the HFC membership.

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29 minutes ago, cynic said:

If there's a legal Hamer logo on the headstock, it's a Hamer.  Even if it's made with shit quality wood by builders that haven't been anointed by the HFC membership.

Whenever I see the words anointed or knighted I think of this:

 

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No person here REALLY knows what's going to happen in the future. Hey, let's all piss in the wind anyway! :P

IMHO, I suspect it would be VERY difficult to pull off a new Hamer Co. and there are a lot of good posts in this thread to back that up. One of my favorites was Page 6, post #2. Chris disagreed with the previous post but didn't feel the need to belittle him with little snide comments. I appreciated that because I value my friendships on this board more than ANY guitar brand. 

I've been here a long time. Sure, there are times that we've collectively pounced on some troll for being a dick, especially in the past. Hey, if someone really deserves it we'll tear him a new one! But, I didn't see the need for any extra crap in this thread, no matter how slight some may perceive it to be. 

 This whole debate doesn't really matter to me much as it probably won't affect me either way. If they went for top quality, I couldn't afford the several thousand dollar price tag. If they went cheaper imports it wouldn't matter to me as I already have USA Hamers.

My Hamers are an '86,'89 and '95. That was the sweet spot for me! Their last few years/models just didn't appeal to me. Besides, I feel like I already hit the jackpot anyway, by buying my USA Hamers used. 

Now, if Hamer ever made a guitar like the Gibson faded series etc; a basic, good USA guitar, I would be interested in buying one...used...for the price of (wait for it)...............$350!:o:D

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3 minutes ago, ZR said:

 This whole debate doesn't really matter to me much...

 

  /\ This.

If it happens, it happens. If it doesn't, it doesn't.  If it happens, and they're putting out a solid product, and offer custom order Calis or Standards, I'll likely order one.  Otherwise, life goes on.

 

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I think I've made this statement here before but, if not, I will say it again.  The only way I could see it coming back with any chance  of being what it was is if Frank U somehow managed to convince Chris Martin to buy it.  Even though Frank wasn't a hands on builder he knows enough about the process and has enough sense to hire the right people.  Otherwise whoever builds them will end up with Hamer shaped objects that won't be quite right.  You need a certain spiral notebook (which I would guess is tucked away in a small shop in Connecticut) and the knowledge of a few key people.  What makes them Hamers is the process, not dimensions on a blueprint.

Given the market and Hamer's history whoever is thinking of buying it would be better off investing in a Blockbuster video or a bowling alley.

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I haven't priced a new Shishkov  since my Ultimate arrived.....but for a while there was talk of Mike producing a simple working-man's guitar....I have much more interest in this that in the resurrection of Hamer IF that occurred without some semblance of the leadership and craftsman who were part of the brand at some point. 

 

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40 minutes ago, mirrorimij said:

I think I've made this statement here before but, if not, I will say it again.  The only way I could see it coming back with any chance  of being what it was is if Frank U somehow managed to convince Chris Martin to buy it.  Even though Frank wasn't a hands on builder he knows enough about the process and has enough sense to hire the right people.  Otherwise whoever builds them will end up with Hamer shaped objects that won't be quite right.  You need a certain spiral notebook (which I would guess is tucked away in a small shop in Connecticut) and the knowledge of a few key people.  What makes them Hamers is the process, not dimensions on a blueprint.

Given the market and Hamer's history whoever is thinking of buying it would be better off investing in a Blockbuster video or a bowling alley.

When a Hamer insider for over a quarter century weighs in on the matter, I'm more inclined to listen.

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On 11 January 2017 at 10:47 PM, BCR Greg said:

For the record.....I was approached by someone with the news that the Hamer brand is coming back at NAMM.  They sent me a list of import guitars with pricing.....and I was not impressed.  The parent company is discussing the feasibility of restarting the Hamer USA brand, and the man in charge is who I am meeting with.

Doesn't sound particularly enticing...

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On 2017-01-11 at 5:47 PM, BCR Greg said:

For the record.....I was approached by someone with the news that the Hamer brand is coming back at NAMM.  They sent me a list of import guitars with pricing.....and I was not impressed.  The parent company is discussing the feasibility of restarting the Hamer USA brand, and the man in charge is who I am meeting with.

I was refraining from intervening, but this above does sound interesting to me. 

Even the imports might offer us something cool, if they get up to "Slammer Series" quality. Those early imports weren't bad at all!

If someone like Martin Ritter is behind this, he might actually succeed... at least to some extent.

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I feel very fortunate to have had the opportunity to work with Frank, Jol, Steve Ward and many other very talented people over my many years at Hamer.  I've always been proud of the guitars that we built and I second what Bob said about the fact that there is a process that makes a Hamer a Hamer.  It's not a process that is well suited for mass production, it takes time, attention to detail and an ability to "read" the wood.  you can't force the process.  The overall team envionment and the trust that was given to us to make decisions on the floor was just as important. Things weren't pushed off to the end of the line, if something wasn't right, it was addressed or scrapped at any point during the build. I hope that if it is brought back, it is done the right way. I'd love to see other young kids get the same opportunities I had.  

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2 hours ago, cmatthes said:

 

3 hours ago, mirrorimij said:

Otherwise whoever builds them will end up with Hamer shaped objects that won't be quite right.  You need a certain spiral notebook (which I would guess is tucked away in a small shop in Connecticut) and the knowledge of a few key people.

When a Hamer insider for over a quarter century weighs in on the matter, I'm more inclined to listen.

Yet said insider is making the same assumption the long-time outsiders are that the new product would be based on or trying to imitate the old product.

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