DBraz Posted January 19, 2017 Posted January 19, 2017 1 hour ago, kizanski said: I'm trying to think of a word... What's 100 miles past "Phenomenal"? I know what you mean. Every time I get an update I try and put my thoughts into long and sophisticated words and come up with the same well used superlatives.
cmatthes Posted January 19, 2017 Posted January 19, 2017 6 hours ago, KH Guitar Freak said: Would Mr. Shiskov make a basic bared boned Hamer style guitar? He's already stated and discussed that he wants to build something more basic, more of a "workingman's guitar". There's a thread on that in here as well, but it won't be a "Hamer", it will be one (or more) of his original designs. It won't be a $1,000 guitar by any stretch (can't really even get the wood, pickups and parts for that), but his goal is to build something less tricked out, and more in the LP Jr. vein.
gorch Posted January 19, 2017 Posted January 19, 2017 15 hours ago, cmatthes said: My main point is that people weren't buying Hamers NEW, because there was so much affordable old stock Well this is where marketing comes into place. Something that had been agreed had been failed.
Steve Haynie Posted January 19, 2017 Posted January 19, 2017 16 hours ago, cmatthes said: Ha! I remember calling them because they had a toll-free number and would always pick up the phone to talk about guitars, even with a couple of middle-school kids who were a few years away from actually making a purchase! That whole staff was great, but in hindsight, I always imagine them handing the phones off to the new sales guy when "those kids" called! In 1998 Ernie Ball/Music Man had a dealer conference at the factory. They emphasized that the teenagers coming into the stores would be the ones buying the expensive gear ten years later.
MCChris Posted January 19, 2017 Posted January 19, 2017 3 hours ago, cmatthes said: It won't be a $1,000 guitar by any stretch (can't really even get the wood, pickups and parts for that), but his goal is to build something less tricked out, and more in the LP Jr. vein. Keep in mind that a lot of the "tricking out" comes from the customer. At the risk of being presumptuous as only Mike and his close confidantes know for sure, I don't know why it wouldn't be within the realm of possibility to render the single- or double-cut design with dots, single pickup, plain top or simply a solid mahogany body, understated or no binding, etc.
crunchee Posted January 19, 2017 Posted January 19, 2017 56 minutes ago, Steve Haynie said: In 1998 Ernie Ball/Music Man had a dealer conference at the factory. They emphasized that the teenagers coming into the stores would be the ones buying the expensive gear ten years later. You mean the same ones that got hit by The Great Recession of 2008?
BubbaVO Posted January 19, 2017 Posted January 19, 2017 48 minutes ago, MCChris said: Keep in mind that a lot of the "tricking out" comes from the customer. At the risk of being presumptuous as only Mike and his close confidantes know for sure, I don't know why it wouldn't be within the realm of possibility to render the single- or double-cut design with dots, single pickup, plain top or simply a solid mahogany body, understated or no binding, etc. Not disagreeing with you about the possibility of doing so, but would it be worth his time to do so? Like you said, only Mike and Team Shishkov really know what makes sense for them. I would rather see them head off in the Huber model rather than the old Hamer model - even if that means a new Shishkov will be a long term goal for me. There are plenty of great working man guitars out there already. But guitars that are works of art? Not so much.
serial Posted January 19, 2017 Posted January 19, 2017 4 minutes ago, kizanski said: I'm just gonna drop this here... Mmmmm... 3 to 5-piece butcher block body Junior. Ugh. Hard pass.
bruce919 Posted January 19, 2017 Posted January 19, 2017 this all has been a fun read! If it happens cool, if not I will enjoy the Hamers I have. the web site has now been updated to just the Imports http://www.hamerguitars.com/2017/
Steve Haynie Posted January 19, 2017 Posted January 19, 2017 If we do not want any guitar to say Hamer unless it meets our criteria then we should have taken up a collection to buy the name/trademark and permanently keep it from being used. I doubt that even lottery winners spend their money that way. So, the name is out there and someone got control of it. Danelectro, Alamo, Supro, Kustom, Magnatone, and Airline are some names that were sold, bought, and put to use. Ernie Ball bought Music Man. Jim Dunlop got Cry Baby, MXR, and makes Fuzz Face pedals. Peavey owns Crest Audio and Trace Elliott which was once owned by Gibson. Dean disappeared a couple of time, and came back with different owners. Dave Wintz can sit on the name Robin, but what will his heirs do with the name decades from now?
MCChris Posted January 19, 2017 Posted January 19, 2017 Again, we're drifting off course. A lot of the ire here is a result of: a.) the implication of a return of Hamer Guitars USA when all we're seeing so far are imports and b.) the fact that this thread has been the equivalent of a toddler pushing all the buttons on an elevator before dashing off as the door is closing
Mitch Posted January 19, 2017 Posted January 19, 2017 and let's not forget c.) personal animus toward the messenger.
KH Guitar Freak Posted January 19, 2017 Posted January 19, 2017 1 hour ago, kizanski said: I'm just gonna drop this here... I don't get the point in terms of a NAMM context...
MCChris Posted January 19, 2017 Posted January 19, 2017 43 minutes ago, Mitch said: and let's not forget c.) personal animus toward the messenger. d.) which is largely rooted in a.) and b.)
kizanski Posted January 19, 2017 Posted January 19, 2017 27 minutes ago, KH Guitar Freak said: I don't get the point in terms of a NAMM context... You don't even want to guess?
KH Guitar Freak Posted January 19, 2017 Posted January 19, 2017 2 minutes ago, kizanski said: You don't even want to guess? That's like asking me if I want to know if I impregnated a woman is slept with after getting too drunk
kizanski Posted January 19, 2017 Posted January 19, 2017 7 minutes ago, KH Guitar Freak said: That's like asking me if I want to know if I impregnated a woman is slept with after getting too drunk Come on. You can do it.
grooveman1961 Posted January 19, 2017 Posted January 19, 2017 So, As a relatively new convert to Hamer, I am frustrated (to an extent) that I can't go into the marketplace and buy a new bass that's equivalent to the gen 1 cruise basses that I have come to revere so much. Seems to me that instruments built with "hamer" construction details with out exotic frills would happily find a spot in the market place. I'm thinking along the lines of the Arlington Heights era.
Hamer_SS_guy Posted January 19, 2017 Posted January 19, 2017 I don't see myself in the market for a Boutique guitar, neither for a regular Fender or Gibson. When I got my first Hamer (1988 Steve Stevens I) which I bought new in '88, it was something Special. Gibson and Fender both had a low period. Kramer guitars were dominating the market then, mostly based on Fender guitars. Hamer did offer something that was a niche then, a US made guitar with a Floyd Rose (at a time when there was just the original Floyd Rose, so FR-equipped guitars were still something Special then) based on Gibson's designs. Also the pickup market did boom then, now it is oversaturated. Where were Dean, Washburn, Charvel/Jackson, PRS then? While the 90's had lots of guitar music, there were by far less guitarists one idolized than were the previous decades before. By the 90's, besides still offering custom made stuff, Hamer's series guitars didn't really offer anything that others didn't also offer. In the 90's I bought a US Fender Strat and in the late 90's I mostly played bass guitar, I also bought a Fender Jazz Bass. In the early 2k's and with the success of eBay I got into Hamer again. Found some great guitars for ridiculously low prices compared to what they did cost new. That way I got some of the Hamer's I always wanted, nothing really rare and no custom one offs, but I wasn't in the market for those anyway. At that time, I'd say, Hamer lost me as their customer for their series guitars. I really like what Hamer offered back then. But I have never been into boutique stuff, what Hamer offered back then as series guitars was unique to me then. But it is unlikely that might happen again. At the moment I put together two Fender Strats from parts, after that I want to put together a few Jazzmaster shaped guitars from parts (probably Warmoth) and then I am done, enough guitars.
JohnnyB Posted January 19, 2017 Posted January 19, 2017 1 hour ago, KH Guitar Freak said: I don't get the point in terms of a NAMM context... The guitars hanging on display at NAMM are the same prototypes of import guitars pictured on the updated Hamer Guitars website, model for model, color for color, feature for feature, trash for trash. The NAMM context (and the thread title) says "Hamer USA Guitars May Be Coming Back Soon."
tbonesullivan Posted January 19, 2017 Posted January 19, 2017 Well, that's a whole new can of worms right there: if Hamer USA comes back, which Hamer USA would it be? Will there be Cruisebasses, Daytonas, Chaps, Diablos, Virtuosos, and other 80s and 90s awesomeness, or will it be more like the Hamer of the 2000s, with a lot more "Classic" type guitars like the Monaco, Taladega, duotone, etc.
MCChris Posted January 19, 2017 Posted January 19, 2017 1 minute ago, tbonesullivan said: Well, that's a whole new can of worms right there: if Hamer USA comes back, which Hamer USA would it be? Will there be Cruisebasses, Daytonas, Chaps, Diablos, Virtuosos, and other 80s and 90s awesomeness, or will it be more like the Hamer of the 2000s, with a lot more "Classic" type guitars like the Monaco, Taladega, duotone, etc. Meet the new can of worms, same as the old can of worms.
JohnnyB Posted January 19, 2017 Posted January 19, 2017 On 1/19/2017 at 1:23 PM, tbonesullivan said: Well, that's a whole new can of worms right there: if Hamer USA comes back, which Hamer USA would it be? Will there be Cruisebasses, Daytonas, Chaps, Diablos, Virtuosos, and other 80s and 90s awesomeness, or will it be more like the Hamer of the 2000s, with a lot more "Classic" type guitars like the Monaco, Taladega, duotone, etc. The safest answers are: None of the above Shadows of their former selves Question is too naive for words ... with honorable mention to: Rebadged Washburns
MCChris Posted January 19, 2017 Posted January 19, 2017 7 minutes ago, JohnnyB said: The NAMM context (and the thread title) says "Hamer USA Guitars May Be Coming Back Soon." How does a presence at NAMM imply USA? Lots of import-only brands hawk their wares there, no?
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