Disturber Posted January 20, 2017 Posted January 20, 2017 I wonder if they come with the new air guitar strings?
zorrow Posted January 20, 2017 Posted January 20, 2017 I see a name and a job title there: Jonathan Lee, Hamer Director of Design and Development Sounds awesome, doesn't it?
Rockola Posted January 20, 2017 Posted January 20, 2017 44 minutes ago, cmatthes said: Consider your interest lost then, Nathan. None of that is ever going to happen. Dang, no P-90 Duotones ? Good times...
BubbaVO Posted January 20, 2017 Posted January 20, 2017 14 minutes ago, zorrow said: I see a name and a job title there: Jonathan Lee, Hamer Director of Design and Development Sounds awesome, doesn't it? Do they know he's moonlighting? Proof of this commitment to set new standards for design, cosmetics, and playability are evident in the three new series of guitars being introduced at NAMM 2017. Director of Design and Development Jonathan Lee and his team have pulled out all of the stops to create a new line-up of solid body and solid top guitars being debuted within Washburn’s Heritage, Woodline, and Revival series of guitars.
scottcald Posted January 20, 2017 Posted January 20, 2017 46 minutes ago, MCChris said: Before retiring from the stage in 2013, Hamer Guitars were seen, heard, and played around the world by acts that included Aerosmith, Bad Company, Blackfoot, Blues Brothers, Bon Jovi, Cheap Trick, The Cars, Def Leppard, Del Fuegos, Dire Straights, Eagles, Sammy Hagar, Hall & Oats, Billy Idol, Jethro Tull, Billy Joel, Kiss, Huey Lewis & the News, Gary Moore, Motley Crue, No Doubt, Neville Brothers, Night Ranger, Ted Nugent, Robert Palmer, The Police, The Pretenders, Judas Priest, Ratt, The Romantics, Savoy Brown, The Sex Pistols, Steve Simmons, Billy Squire, Third Eye Blind, Steve Vai, The Who, Wishbone Ash, and Warren Zane, among many others. Steve Simmons and Warren Zane were huge influences for me. Rebel London Werewolf Yell is one of my favorites.
scottcald Posted January 20, 2017 Posted January 20, 2017 22 minutes ago, zorrow said: I see a name and a job title there: Jonathan Lee, Hamer Director of Design and Development Sounds awesome, doesn't it? So it IS a one man shop!
cynic Posted January 20, 2017 Posted January 20, 2017 11 minutes ago, BubbaVO said: Do they know he's moonlighting? Proof of this commitment to set new standards for design, cosmetics, and playability are evident in the three new series of guitars being introduced at NAMM 2017. Director of Design and Development Jonathan Lee and his team have pulled out all of the stops to create a new line-up of solid body and solid top guitars being debuted within Washburn’s Heritage, Woodline, and Revival series of guitars. Not moonlighting, just more within his purview. Jonathan Lee Director, Product Design & Development - Washburn & Oscar Schmidt Stringed Instruments - USM / JAM
BubbaVO Posted January 20, 2017 Posted January 20, 2017 4 minutes ago, cynic said: Not moonlighting, just more within his purview. Jonathan Lee Director, Product Design & Development - Washburn & Oscar Schmidt Stringed Instruments - USM / JAM you forgot the smiley face indicating that the aforementioned "moonlighting" comment was not a serious question...
serial Posted January 20, 2017 Posted January 20, 2017 More like 'moonshining'. There is so much wrong with that press release (from someone who actually writes press releases on a regular basis), it is sad. They are dead at the scene before the ambulance shows up. The Vector was the first model Hamer introduced? Um, no. 1980 introduction of the Sunburst? Asshats.
crunchee Posted January 20, 2017 Posted January 20, 2017 30 minutes ago, serial said: More like 'moonshining'. There is so much wrong with that press release (from someone who actually writes press releases on a regular basis), it is sad. They are dead at the scene before the ambulance shows up. The Vector was the first model Hamer introduced? Um, no. 1980 introduction of the Sunburst? Asshats. That's what I love about the modern information age...the advent of The Internet(s) was supposed to end misinformation and make people more informed, instead it just perpetuates misinformation and makes people dumber, because they just accept it at face value and won't do their due diligence.
cmatthes Posted January 20, 2017 Posted January 20, 2017 Kind of sad that they couldn't even get the logo with the correct font on the marquee banner! I got some texts from a friend/former Hamer endorser this afternoon (he was in several print ads/catalogs and STILL plays his Hamers), and he said that he walked by the booth earlier today at NAMM. He said he felt "disgusted"...and maybe as bad or worse as when he heard FMIC shut the brand down. The display pieces were just not good at all, even by XT standards.
Steve Haynie Posted January 20, 2017 Posted January 20, 2017 If the people restarting the brand cannot get the history correct or spell the names of past users and endorsers, how did they get put in charge of such an expensive operation?
cmatthes Posted January 20, 2017 Posted January 20, 2017 Maybe that's an indication of how much care and attention the line is going to get. Another NAMM visitor just texted me pics of the empty Hamer booth at Washburn, which at 2pm on the Friday of the show was "the lonliest booth at NAMM". That does not bode well...
JimiH Posted January 20, 2017 Posted January 20, 2017 28 minutes ago, Steve Haynie said: If the people restarting the brand cannot get the history correct or spell the names of past users and endorsers, how did they get put in charge of such an expensive operation? most of that was just from music radar to be fair
MCChris Posted January 20, 2017 Posted January 20, 2017 27 minutes ago, cmatthes said: Maybe that's an indication of how much care and attention the line is going to get. Another NAMM visitor just texted me pics of the empty Hamer booth at Washburn, which at 2pm on the Friday of the show was "the lonliest booth at NAMM". That does not bode well... The already straight-uphill climb to get Hamer USA going again (assuming any such climb was even planned in the first place) just got even more difficult. Showing up to NAMM and failing miserably to make a ripple much less a splash will be more detrimental to the brand than being completely inactive. Again, an abject failure of marketing. Sound familiar?
django49 Posted January 20, 2017 Posted January 20, 2017 26 minutes ago, cmatthes said: Maybe that's an indication of how much care and attention the line is going to get. Another NAMM visitor just texted me pics of the empty Hamer booth at Washburn, which at 2pm on the Friday of the show was "the lonliest booth at NAMM". That does not bode well... Kinda reminds me of Leo Fender sitting, alone and ignored, at the G&L booth (many years ago). At that time, more or less an EVH era, everyone wanted a "Super Strat" or equivalent.....Nobody wanted to look at that old fashioned stuff, let alone talk to "some old guy". NOT the sort of place I ever hoped Hamer would end up.
JimiH Posted January 20, 2017 Posted January 20, 2017 12 minutes ago, JimiH said: most of that was just from music radar to be fair Now I see it was a press release 😀 My bad.
MCChris Posted January 20, 2017 Posted January 20, 2017 26 minutes ago, JimiH said: most of that was just from music radar to be fair 13 minutes ago, JimiH said: Now I see it was a press release 😀 My bad. Actually, most of that was attributed to a "Hamer Guitars press release." That includes the misspelled band names, the canned quotes from that Lee guy and the numerous bits of misinformation and incorrect tidbits about Hamer history.
JimiH Posted January 20, 2017 Posted January 20, 2017 11 minutes ago, MCChris said: Actually, most of that was attributed to a "Hamer Guitars press release." That includes the misspelled band names, the canned quotes from that Lee guy and the numerous bits of misinformation and incorrect tidbits about Hamer history. That's what I said right ? 🤔😀
zorrow Posted January 21, 2017 Posted January 21, 2017 3 hours ago, MCChris said: The already straight-uphill climb to get Hamer USA going again (assuming any such climb was even planned in the first place) just got even more difficult. Showing up to NAMM and failing miserably to make a ripple much less a splash will be more detrimental to the brand than being completely inactive. Again, an abject failure of marketing. Sound familiar? Yes. Pathetic.
Nathan of Brainfertilizer Fame Posted January 21, 2017 Posted January 21, 2017 5 hours ago, cmatthes said: Kind of sad that they couldn't even get the logo with the correct font on the marquee banner! I got some texts from a friend/former Hamer endorser this afternoon (he was in several print ads/catalogs and STILL plays his Hamers), and he said that he walked by the booth earlier today at NAMM. He said he felt "disgusted"...and maybe as bad or worse as when he heard FMIC shut the brand down. The display pieces were just not good at all, even by XT standards. Yeah, okay. I'm out. That's just sad. If you're gonna do it, do it right, yanno?
Armitage Posted January 21, 2017 Posted January 21, 2017 This is the kind of stuff that chases Hamer artists, who play it for the instrument, away from the brand.
peedenmark7 Posted January 21, 2017 Posted January 21, 2017 I'd really have to agree for the most part with Steve and Chris on Hamer coming back.. There are so many factors working against it. I haven't played a Gibson scaled guitar in almost 10 years , still I love the few Hamers I kept. Further, I am at the cut off of the boomer age group and I have been downsizing for almost 10 years . Mine is not only because by downsizing I will soon not have the space to keep the silly numbers of guitars, but it is driven more by what will any of the guitars I love be worth 15-20 years down the road when I am crapping my pants in a home somewhere. I've been pretty lucky each time I've been bitten by the bug to move sideways -brand wise, or divest, in that I always seemed [not by design] to sell when prices were high. I genuinely feel sorry for the guys that bought high, as I just don't see anywhere but down from here. Sure there will always be peaks , valleys and plateaus ,but it will never be like the mid to late 90s for any of the 80s guitars, or as I like to call them the upstart guitar companies., The market was mainly driven by players/collectors in their mid-late 30's who had the extra income to buy what they liked as a kid. We are starting to see collection impacting Hamers sit unsold or taking far longer than they used to, which is tell tale of where things are headed. Fast, slow, I dunno. Reason to panic, of course not, but something to consider. If Hamer were to re-tool, I'd reluctantly [after the spalt nightmare] have an open mind provided the quality was up to snuff AND they were willing to make WHATEVER I want ! I'm not holding out for Pauls' mythic appearance from the heavens, or for specific former employees, I just want to order what I want to order or forget it, I'll build my own guitar. Telling many of us time and time again that we could not order boomerangs, a Virt, Firebird or whatever simply because the company was headed in another direction was silly from a business stand point. Charge us accordingly , get it right , and move on to the next order. Clearly Hamer was a lost leader and tax write off for the KAMAN machine, but that may not have had to happen , had a better job been done catering to the generation that put them on the map , all while still moving forward on modern designs to get new blood playing the brand. Then again , maybe not . It's probably more being in the right time than anything. Grover Jackson in my opinion has been the most influential builder since Leo Fender , and look where he is today. Not an easy business , that's for sure.
Studio Custom Posted January 21, 2017 Posted January 21, 2017 The only way for Hamer USA to work going forward would be to either go direct like Carvin or boutique like Knaggs. It is not possible enter the GC realm, and that's fine.
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