The Last Bass Outpost
Main Forums => The Bass Zone => Topic started by: mc2NY on April 22, 2014, 09:47:14 AM
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FMIC this morning has decided to close the New Hartford, CT factory where Hamer, Guild and Ovation were being made.
They had been using the Hamer builders to build the other brands, while they have been finishing up the backup of custom Hamer orders.
A sad day in U.S. Guitar history when a great brand with 40+ years dies.
HERE IS THE PRESS RELEASE
FENDER MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS CORPORATION TO CLOSE NEW HARTFORD, CONN. FACILITY;
OVATION® TO CEASE U.S. PRODUCTION
Fender Musical Instruments Corporation (FMIC) is proud of the products that are built in our New Hartford, Conn. manufacturing facility and appreciates the talented group of people that hand craft them. However, due to current market conditions and insufficient volume levels, the company has made the decision to cease production there within June 2014.
This decision represents a consolidation of production capabilities for FMIC U.S.-made acoustic instruments. “We are committed to providing the same high quality musical instruments our artists, consumers and customers expect and demand, and will continue to support the brands that are currently being produced in New Hartford,” said Richard McDonald, senior vice president of Fender®.
U.S. production of Fender acoustic and Guild® instruments will transition to other facilities at a later date, while domestic production of U.S.-made Ovation musical instruments will cease.
Forty-six New Hartford-based FMIC employees will be affected by this decision over the next several months. These impacted employees served the company well and will be treated fairly and with respect; they will be provided comprehensive assistance, including severance packages, outplacement services and other related assistance.
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That's too bad. It's especially bad news for Ovation. I've never been an Ovation fan, but the brand does have its fans and a long history as an American brand. Sales must really be down.
Of course Hamer could still be revived at some point and the brand didn't originate in CT. I wonder if the brand name could be bought.
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Ovation had it's day back when they were the only acoustic that played like an electric . They opened things up for a lot of acoustic players and brought many electric players in to the acoustic world, which made a lot of good music that otherwise may not have happened. Guild ruled the acoustic world for a few years , from mid 70s t0 mid 80s , when they were one of the only acoustic builders to deliver high quality at a reasonable price. At that time Gibsons were really pricey , Martins were having quality issues, Taylors were pretty much unheard of and the good products from Japan were still not too popular. In any event, it's a shame to see Fender making stuff disappear again :sad:.
Rick
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It's unfortunate but it seems to be the old case of supply and demand capitalism, hard to argue with it. Maybe some of the builders who did the actual work will start their own businesses.
The various brand names have zero value to me, there is no guarantee someone buying a brand would produce similar quality.
The people who did the actual work made the instruments what they are. In today's world there are opportunities to capitalize on that. Probably not in Connecticut, though. Too expensive and too much regulation, the price you pay for living in a civilized state.
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I'd been up to the CT Kaman headquarters a few times, to cover press events. A really great bunch of people running Kaman and Hamer.
In got all the "suits" into a mass snowball fight with each other when the other media guys were trying to get them to pose holding shovels, in the typical stereotype "groundbreaking" photo. I yelled out "that BLOWS....someone throw some snowballs" and all he'll broke out. Funny.
I was up there maybe a year later for the grand opening of the new warehouse, which Kaman had timed to coincide with founder And CEO Charlie Kaman's birthday (I think his 75th.) I spotted Charlie sitting off alone with his German Sheppard and shot a few candid pics of him. I later sent a couple copies to his son, Kaman Pres Bill Kaman. To my surprise, Bill called me a few days later, asking if he could get more. He said his dad said it was the best photo anyone had ever done of him, a rather nice compliment coming from a guy who had been around for 75 years and been photographed quite a lot for his accomplishments.
The one time I was up there Bill took me around for a tour of Kaman Aerospace, where they build helicopters and had come up with the idea of using the blade plastics to make the round back Ovations. All those guys loved music and played. They weren't just a bunch of suits. That was part of what led to Kaman buying Hamer. Bill Kaman owned a bunch of their guitars and loved them and wanted to help expand the brand back in the late 80s.
Also took the Hamer factory tour of their factory, in an old lumber mill on a river up in the woods. Just a great place. A lot of notable builders came through the Hamer ranks over the decades and the brand was responsible for many industry firsts. So, for me, it is a sad thing to see it closed....especially by a bunch of corporate FMIC hacks who bolt on necks down in Mexico. It's like Kia buying Mercedes and closing it down.
Maybe that's why I only own one Fender....my four main brands I've used the longest Hamer, Kubicki, SUNN and SWR, were all victims of FMIC.
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That is a bummer. They made a LOT of good stuff over the years. As a guy from the Chicago 'burbs, and a big Cheap Trick fan, Hamer really meant something in the 80s. I've only had 2 (an original Cruisebass, and my current B12S), but both were expertly crafted instruments.
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And somehow people think Gibson is the Evil Empire ???
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I'd been up to the CT Kaman headquarters a few times, to cover press events. A really great bunch of people running Kaman and Hamer.
In got all the "suits" into a mass snowball fight with each other when the other media guys were trying to get them to pose holding shovels, in the typical stereotype "groundbreaking" photo. I yelled out "that BLOWS....someone throw some snowballs" and all he'll broke out. Funny.
I was up there maybe a year later for the grand opening of the new warehouse, which Kaman had timed to coincide with founder And CEO Charlie Kaman's birthday (I think his 75th.) I spotted Charlie sitting off alone with his German Sheppard and shot a few candid pics of him. I later sent a couple copies to his son, Kaman Pres Bill Kaman. To my surprise, Bill called me a few days later, asking if he could get more. He said his dad said it was the best photo anyone had ever done of him, a rather nice compliment coming from a guy who had been around for 75 years and been photographed quite a lot for his accomplishments.
The one time I was up there Bill took me around for a tour of Kaman Aerospace, where they build helicopters and had come up with the idea of using the blade plastics to make the round back Ovations. All those guys loved music and played. They weren't just a bunch of suits. That was part of what led to Kaman buying Hamer. Bill Kaman owned a bunch of their guitars and loved them and wanted to help expand the brand back in the late 80s.
Also took the Hamer factory tour of their factory, in an old lumber mill on a river up in the woods. Just a great place. A lot of notable builders came through the Hamer ranks over the decades and the brand was responsible for many industry firsts. So, for me, it is a sad thing to see it closed....especially by a bunch of corporate FMIC hacks who bolt on necks down in Mexico. It's like Kia buying Mercedes and closing it down.
Maybe that's why I only own one Fender....my four main brands I've used the longest Hamer, Kubicki, SUNN and SWR, were all victims of FMIC.
Jon, I understand your feelings for Hamer and the Kaman family, but your view of Fender's actions isn't accurate.
Kaman sold because its music division had become a huge drag on corporate profits. They unloaded it at a bargain basement price to keep from losing more money on the division. Fender bought it because they needed the manufacturing capacity and the skilled workmen at the time. They certainly didn't buy it for the Hamer brand. If FMIC hadn't needed the capacity and workmen, you can bet Kaman would have shut it down rather than continue to bleed. Nobody -- including Fender -- would have ever bought it with the idea of turning around the US operations. There were no other prospective buyers.
US Hamer production was at a trickle compared to the 90s, long before FMIC bought it. I don't know what you would have expected them to do. It's sad that sales no longer can support that factory being open, but Hamer's custom shop was already living on borrowed time.
Fender revived the SUNN brand for a new series of guitar and bass amps about 15 years ago, then dropped the nameplate when they didn't sell well, and people somehow thought they shut down the company. In fact, SUNN amps were already dead and gone when Fender bought the rights from Hartzell in 1985.
SWR was in receivership when Fender bought them. Now, maybe they could have done more with the brand, maybe not, but SWR would be extinct if FMIC hadn't bought them. Likewise with the Guild and Tacoma brands. Both those companies were broke and production had ceased when FMIC bought them.
I don't know about Kubicki, but none of these other companies were victims of FMIC.
And somehow people think Gibson is the Evil Empire ???
Maybe they are, maybe not, but Gibson also gets an unfair rap for shutting down companies or running them into the ground. Example: Trace Elliot. The company was in receivership when Kaman bought it, the bass amps weren't even being made by the time Gibson bought the remains in order to produce a guitar amp under the Gibson name. Yet Gibson was accused of running the company into the ground.
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Gee, Dave, what a spoilsport. Letting facts get in the way of a good story.
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I note "OVATION® TO CEASE U.S. PRODUCTION".
That doesn't mean they won't move production overseas.
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Does any of this mean that my Celebrity CC074 ABG is going to be worth a lot of money?
Rats! :sad:
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Gee, Dave, what a spoilsport. Letting facts get in the way of a good story.
:mrgreen:
I note "OVATION® TO CEASE U.S. PRODUCTION".
That doesn't mean they won't move production overseas.
Most Ovations have been made in Asia for some years now.
Does any of this mean that my Celebrity CC074 ABG is going to be worth a lot of money?
Rats! :sad:
AFAIK the whole Celebrity series was imported so I don't see how it would be affected.
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So by closing down the US operation with regards to Guild...not sure what models were being made in CT, but that most likely means their higher end LTD edition series. This most likely won' t affect the Korean made Basses or....?
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Jon, I understand your feelings for Hamer and the Kaman family, but your view of Fender's actions isn't accurate.
Kaman sold because its music division had become a huge drag on corporate profits. They unloaded it at a bargain basement price to keep from losing more money on the division. Fender bought it because they needed the manufacturing capacity and the skilled workmen at the time. They certainly didn't buy it for the Hamer brand. If FMIC hadn't needed the capacity and workmen, you can bet Kaman would have shut it down rather than continue to bleed. Nobody -- including Fender -- would have ever bought it with the idea of turning around the US operations. There were no other prospective buyers.
US Hamer production was at a trickle compared to the 90s, long before FMIC bought it. I don't know what you would have expected them to do. It's sad that sales no longer can support that factory being open, but Hamer's custom shop was already living on borrowed time.
Fender revived the SUNN brand for a new series of guitar and bass amps about 15 years ago, then dropped the nameplate when they didn't sell well, and people somehow thought they shut down the company. In fact, SUNN amps were already dead and gone when Fender bought the rights from Hartzell in 1985.
SWR was in receivership when Fender bought them. Now, maybe they could have done more with the brand, maybe not, but SWR would be extinct if FMIC hadn't bought them. Likewise with the Guild and Tacoma brands. Both those companies were broke and production had ceased when FMIC bought them.
I don't know about Kubicki, but none of these other companies were victims of FMIC.
Maybe they are, maybe not, but Gibson also gets an unfair rap for shutting down companies or running them into the ground. Example: Trace Elliot. The company was in receivership when Kaman bought it, the bass amps weren't even being made by the time Gibson bought the remains in order to produce a guitar amp under the Gibson name. Yet Gibson was accused of running the company into the ground.
I wasn't so much blaming FMIC for destroying some of my favorite brands! just mentioning the coincidence. I'm pretty familiar with the various players after being the editor of one of the major music trade magazines for years....but both Fender and Gibson show a lot of similarities over the last 20 years or so -- buying up once great brand names, cheapening up the once great production values of those brands and throwing them against the wall to see what sticks.
Perhaps it is just impossible for a major manufacturer to build a good U.S. made guitar or amp any more? I don't really believe that, since there are some folks doing it. I guess it comes down to profit margin.
But I saw Fender try to cheap out Kubicki and Phil took the brand back and did it himself again until his death. I saw Gibson try to revive Orange and fail....and then Orange thrive once separated from Gibson. SUNN could have done the same, since Fender sold,the same amp successfully under the Fender logo. So, it was a marketing problem. Fender could have done the same with Hamer....but why would they want a brand that built better guitars than the Fender Custom Shop? Again, Fender had no intention of marketing Hamer, IMO foolishly....since I saw HAMER's value to Fender being the only brand allowed to build Gibson-ish models and not get sued by Henry J.
But Fender bought Kaman for its large distribution network and warehousing locations...NOT for any of its brands. Kaman CEO Charlie Kaman was dead and his son Bill had resigned, with no interest in continuing to run the company. So, Kaman Aerospace had no interest in the M.I. Industry. FMIC was looking to do an IPO and beef up its value before offering stock.....but despite buying Kaman as part of beefing up its net worth, FMIC could not get a high enough value and pulled back from the IPO last year.
Same guy who did the Guitar Center IPO was heading FMIC......and we now see how well Guitar Center's marketing plan and large debt in turning out. They may very well take a number of brands down with them when they crash.
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But Fender bought Kaman for its large distribution network and warehousing locations...NOT for any of its brands. Kaman CEO Charlie Kaman was dead and his son Bill had resigned, with no interest in continuing to run the company. So, Kaman Aerospace had no interest in the M.I. Industry. FMIC was looking to do an IPO and beef up its value before offering stock.....but despite buying Kaman as part of beefing up its net worth, FMIC could not get a high enough value and pulled back from the IPO last year.
Same guy who did the Guitar Center IPO was heading FMIC......and we now see how well Guitar Center's marketing plan and large debt in turning out. They may very well take a number of brands down with them when they crash.
It's true that Kaman no longer had any particular interest in the MI industry after Bill resigned, but it's also true that the division was losing a lot of money.
GC's demise has been predicted for years. Could happen, but I wouldn't count on it. Are you aware that Ares Management, which was GC's biggest creditor, has now taken control of GC from Bain? They exchanged part of their holdings in the company's debt for preferred stock. The deal was completed early this month.
One of the last annual reports from GC before Bain took them private showed that guitar sales were only 14% of their sales volume. If they do eventually crash, it may affect the pro audio manufacturers a lot more than guitar manufacturers.
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True. Whatever happens, it is just a big negative hanging over the U.S. MI industry, in an already bad economy. Coupled with a down record industry. Not a pretty scene.
This just in from a Hamer/Ovation dealer in the know:
Today I found out that the Adamas Ovation Hamer Guild factory in New Hartford CT will be closed by Fender. Adamas/ Ovation USA will no longer be a brand. Hamer has been closed for 2 years now but is formally put to rest. Guild and the Fender custom shop are said to be moving to another facility. Guild went from Westerly to Corona to Tacoma to New Hartford and I doubt they will move it back to Corona it didn’t work the first time. My opinion is that Guild USA will die when the current inventory is sold off
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He could be right, but they haven't come right out and said that Guild USA is history like they have done with Ovation. Even if it's true, the entire Guild company would have been history in 1995 if Fender hadn't bought them.
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He could be right, but they haven't come right out and said that Guild USA is history like they have done with Ovation. Even if it's true, the entire Guild company would have been history in 1995 if Fender hadn't bought them.
It's true that Fender has saved a lot of brand names that were destined for extinction, but we tend to forget that part of the story. The fact is that business is business and only the strong survive. If Fender didn't take advantage of these opportunities, some up and comer would and Fender would lose strength and become one of the gobbled themselves. Better to be the gobbler than the gobbled. That being said , it still hurts to see companies like Tacoma and Genz Benz, who built products that were really superior , get bought just to be eliminated .
Again, business is business and every big successful company has done the same thing. Survival isn't always pretty.
Rick
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It's true that Fender has saved a lot of brand names that were destined for extinction, but we tend to forget that part of the story. The fact is that business is business and only the strong survive. If Fender didn't take advantage of these opportunities, some up and comer would and Fender would lose strength and become one of the gobbled themselves. Better to be the gobbler than the gobbled. That being said , it still hurts to see companies like Tacoma and Genz Benz, who built products that were really superior , get bought just to be eliminated .
Again, business is business and every big successful company has done the same thing. Survival isn't always pretty.
Rick
I can hear Algonquin J. Calhoun from Amos & Andy: "I'll be the gobble-or, you'll be the gobble-ee." :)
The Genz Benz shutdown is a mystery for now, although it could just be that sales weren't good enough.
Tacoma is a different story. I know more than I can say publicly, but the company was already dead when Fender bought it. I also read at the time where people lamented another American company shutting its doors, which is ironic considering that Tacoma was founded as part of Young Chang Piano's North American lumber division.
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Hmmm Kingfish, I can't comment on the finacialization of either company till I has all the information to properly coagulate :)
I don't know anything about eithers financial status, but from a consumer point of view, both had products that were outstanding and it would be nice to see some of their innovations live on. I guess time will tell if they will or not. To jump right in and incorporate Genz Benz or Tacoma ideas in to the Fender product line could hurt the sales of their existing products initially. But, given a little time, they could ease some of this stuff back in to production. One can hope , right? ;D
Rick
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since tacoma is gone you can't walk into a music store and buy a better abg for the money, or even a more expensive one! from cruising you tube everyone seems to be buying those toy ibanez and fender things. sad story, indeed.
for me and rick at least. ;D
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Hmmm Kingfish, I can't comment on the finacialization of either company till I has all the information to properly coagulate :)
I don't know anything about eithers financial status, but from a consumer point of view, both had products that were outstanding and it would be nice to see some of their innovations live on. I guess time will tell if they will or not. To jump right in and incorporate Genz Benz or Tacoma ideas in to the Fender product line could hurt the sales of their existing products initially. But, given a little time, they could ease some of this stuff back in to production. One can hope , right? ;D
Rick
since tacoma is gone you can't walk into a music store and buy a better abg for the money, or even a more expensive one! from cruising you tube everyone seems to be buying those toy ibanez and fender things. sad story, indeed.
for me and rick at least. ;D
I'll send you both a PM about Tacoma, but as I said earlier, Fender only bought them for the factory capacity and skilled workmen. They were never interested in the brand.
No idea about the Genz Benz situation, but it was part of the Kaman purchase, it's not as if they bought it separately with the idea of killing off competition. I suspect if sales were good enough they would have kept the brand alive. When you're trying to reduce your corporate debt, just about anything but your flagship brand is fair game.
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Thanks Dave :)
Both Tom and I have the cheapo Olympia Tacoma (Korean plywood model). The design and internal construction is the same as the expensive real wood Tacoma. Even the cheapo is head and shoulders beyond anything at two and three times the cost. I have the Olympia and the holy grail Earthwood. If it weren't for those two, I probably wouldn't own an ABG. Tacoma really had something there.
Rick
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And Fender just sold Guild.
http://www.vintageguitar.com/17565/fender-sells-guild-to-u-s-builder-cordoba-music/
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Better buy up those pre Cordoba, FMIC Guilds now before they start demanding collector level prices ;)
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Interesting. Cordoba has a pretty good rep for nylon string guitars from beginner level imports to their small US shop for the upper end ones. They do have a fairly new steel string line so buying Guild's assets may tun out to be a good fit.
Considering that Cordoba is strictly an acoustic builder and importer, I wonder if they will continue the semihollow archtops and solidbodies. We'll know soon enough.
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One of the last annual reports from GC before Bain took them private showed that guitar sales were only 14% of their sales volume. If they do eventually crash, it may affect the pro audio manufacturers a lot more than guitar manufacturers.
I can tell you from my time as a manager there that pro audio pays their bills, which is ludicrous considering its margins, and why most of what they carry now is junk. Larry Thomas is the guy who ran GC while I was there. He's now the guy running FMIC. He also is the one who handpicked my particular store manager: wonderful criminal person he was. I don't want to see FMIC implode, but they're heading that way in a hurry. You can't leveraged debt acquisition based on continual growth without having more customers and this economy is NOT a growth-builder.
BTW, re GB- Fender just came out with a whole new line of switching bass amps. That's all that's left of GB and SWR for that matter. SWR was killed directly by Guitar Center- who refused to pay for delivered product until newer runs were discounted. SWR (and Mackie and Ampeg before being owned by Loud) all ended up having to ship B and C-stock to feed GC's massive orders, which killed their reps for quality and put them in even more manufacturing debt, ultimately leading to their demise/buyouts and it all was the work of the man running FMIC now.
I think Cordoba may save Guild if they can find a decent marketing outlet.
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I can tell you from my time as a manager there that pro audio pays their bills, which is ludicrous considering its margins, and why most of what they carry now is junk. Larry Thomas is the guy who ran GC while I was there. He's now the guy running FMIC. He also is the one who handpicked my particular store manager: wonderful criminal person he was. I don't want to see FMIC implode, but they're heading that way in a hurry. You can't leveraged debt acquisition based on continual growth without having more customers and this economy is NOT a growth-builder.
BTW, re GB- Fender just came out with a whole new line of switching bass amps. That's all that's left of GB and SWR for that matter. SWR was killed directly by Guitar Center- who refused to pay for delivered product until newer runs were discounted. SWR (and Mackie and Ampeg before being owned by Loud) all ended up having to ship B and C-stock to feed GC's massive orders, which killed their reps for quality and put them in even more manufacturing debt, ultimately leading to their demise/buyouts and it all was the work of the man running FMIC now.
I think Cordoba may save Guild if they can find a decent marketing outlet.
All the major online retailers already carry Cordoba. I can't see why they wouldn't keep carrying Guild under new ownership.
I checked, Cordoba just introduced their only steel string line late last year. This will probably get them in big time.
FYI, Larry Thomas is out at FMIC. One of the board members is acting as temporary CEO and they just hired Bob Roback (http://www.billboard.com/biz/articles/executive-turntable/6070254/bob-roback-appointed-fender-president) as president. Maybe things will improve.
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I have to think this is a plus for Guild, and I'll keep my fingers crossed for Fender.
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I look at Fender basses the way a Hell's Angel looks at Harley Davidson motorcycles. Why buy a new one? Let the yuppies do that, there's plenty of old ones to go around.
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I look at Fender basses the way a Hell's Angel looks at Harley Davidson motorcycles. Why buy a new one? Let the yuppies do that, there's plenty of old ones to go around.
That's my general rule for all my bass gear. Especially Ampeg stuff. 8) I rarely buy anything new.
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I'm the same way. I made an exception for the BaCH NR.
The last new bass I bought prior to that was my '86 Dynabass :)
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My trend is that my newest bass is older than the previous one. 1990s Danelectro Longhorn, then a '70s Don R. Miller, and then most recently the '60s NR.
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I guess I did buy a new Bach, didn't I? ;D And a new Explorer. And I've sold both. Nothing against the Bach - it actually smoked the Gibson, I just wasn't into the length and neck dive. That Explorer didn't have the "teeth" I was expecting.
My trend is that my newest bass is older than the previous one. 1990s Danelectro Longhorn, then a '70s Don R. Miller, and then most recently the '60s NR.
I like that trend!
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My jazz was 12 years old at purchase... bought the fretless neck new, mind you...
Last new instruments I bought was the Jack in '87, the Ibanez acoustic 12 in '80, and the RD in '79... nothing else has ever been new...
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I like that trend!
Me too! It's mostly the same with motorcycles I still own. In order of purchase and build date it goes like this: 1987, 1974, 1985, 1941, 1971, 1940.
I skewed the average quite a bit when I bought the 1925 Henderson four pile and sold it. Wish I hadn't, but then I would have had no choice but get a project from the teens.
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I have only bought used or vintage for the last 20 years but did make an exception for a custom build which is nearing completion.
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Hell, I bought a lot of stuff new that has become vintage. Just like me , I guess :o
Rick
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Hell, I bought a lot of stuff new that has become vintage. Just like me , I guess :o
Rick
As Rick and I have discovered, if you buy new stuff and hold onto it long enough, it transforms into vintage stuff. (And so do you.)
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Ugh, you and the grey hairs showing up don't have to remind me :P
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Here is a pretty cool magazine column article by Jol Dantzig, regarding the closing of Hamer in a cryptic sort of way. He makes a good point.
http://www.premierguitar.com/articles/20797-esoterica-electrica-an-axe-to-grind
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That was very thought-provoking. Then again, Jol is one who sold to Kaman which eventually led to the closing of his Chicago-area shop.
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And now we have this:
http://www.shishkovguitars.com/
Best of luck to Mike and crew.
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He'll have more work than he can handle (looks like he already has).
Screw the corporations. The new economy works fine for someone with talent, a good work ethic and a quality product.
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I hope he makes it. More power to him. Not an easy road but he won't have the overhead and payroll that the New Hartford plant had.
Uwe should contact him about having his dream doubleneck made.
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Uwe should contact him about having his dream doubleneck made.
There ya go!
I joined the Hamer fan page over on facebook not too long ago just for the hell of it, since I own a B12S. There are a lot of very rabid fans of those guitars! Seems Mike will be busy for a while at least.
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Has anyone here spec'd out a bass with him? Looks like that is an option....
http://www.shishkovguitars.com/custom-guitar-estimate
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I filled out the form. Got the reply that it was received, and a request to be patient. ;) I have a feeling they'll be out of my price range, but we'll see. From the pics I've seen on the facebook Hamer page, the guy does beautiful work and knows his sh*t.
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I filled out the form. Got the reply that it was received, and a request to be patient. ;) I have a feeling they'll be out of my price range, but we'll see. From the pics I've seen on the facebook Hamer page, the guy does beautiful work and knows his sh*t.
Good luck!
What did you spec out? (if willing to share...)
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A "standard" (Hamer-speak for Explorer) 4 string. Mahogany body, maple neck, ebony board, 34'' scale. I told him I could provide pickups (TB+) if that's an option.
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Do you think the F3nd3r CS would rise to the challenge of Uwe's double neck, Dave, and shame Gibson into action...? ;)
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Do you think the F3nd3r CS would rise to the challenge of Uwe's double neck, Dave, and shame Gibson into action...? ;)
No. Like Gibson, they do what they do, and a Gibson-style doubleneck wouldn't be anything they would want to do. Also, they probably couldn't care less about shaming Gibson. After all, Henry J. does a pretty good job of shaming Gibson all by himself.
Hamer started by making Gibson style guitars, and many of their US models (like the Standard) stayed true to that. Mr. Shishkov would probably be a good candidate to take on a job like that. There are probably others, like Roger Giffin in Oregon or Gil Yaron in Jerusalem. OTOH Uwe might not want anything other than Gibson on the headstock.
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I hope he makes it. More power to him. Not an easy road but he won't have the overhead and payroll that the New Hartford plant had.
Uwe should contact him about having his dream doubleneck made.
I'm surprised that Gibson didn't buy Hamer and farm out all it's CustomShop work to them. They did better work than Gibson and were the closest to Gibson style builds.
Hamer started out as repair guys handling Gibson repairs. Maybe that relationship is why they were the one brand that Gibson never sued when they put out Explorers, Thunderbirds and other Gibson shapes.
I doubt ex-Hamer guys will get the same courtesy from Gibson though, if they wander to close into Gibson trademark territory.
I also submitted a custom build quote to Mike Shiskov. So far just an acknowledgement and email,saying they are swamped with the startup but will get back to me as soon as they can.
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I'm surprised that Gibson didn't buy Hamer and farm out all it's CustomShop work to them. They did better work than Gibson and were the closest to Gibson style builds.
Hamer started out as repair guys handling Gibson repairs. Maybe that relationship is why they were the one brand that Gibson never sued when they put out Explorers, Thunderbirds and other Gibson shapes.
I doubt ex-Hamer guys will get the same courtesy from Gibson though, if they wander to close into Gibson trademark territory.
I also submitted a custom build quote to Mike Shiskov. So far just an acknowledgement and email,saying they are swamped with the startup but will get back to me as soon as they can.
That would have made sense. But I've heard that Henry J. felt he was taken by the Kamans over the Trace Elliot sale. It certainly didn't work out for Gibson. So there may have been some hard feelings.
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Has anyone here spec'd out a bass with him? Looks like that is an option....
http://www.shishkovguitars.com/custom-guitar-estimate
I did, I tried to get him to do one of the first 12 as a short scale bass about an hour or so after his site was up. He told me he couldn't do it on the first run. I also put in a quote for a double cut short scale and got the same message back from him that mc2NY did. I figure it will be awhile. I'll just have to wait.
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Yeah, the first run of 12 is based on the original 70s Hamer Standard (Explorer) 6-strings.
I posted on the Hamer Fanclub Forum that the builder should tell all the HFC guitarists to "f*** off" if he truly was to revive the Hamer spirit.....and build me a. 70s Hamer Standard BASS with TBird PUPs, just like Martin Turner's...since THAT was SN#001 and how Hamer began!!
The guitarists didn't appreciate the humor :)
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They were probably afraid he'd take you up on it.
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The guitarists didn't appreciate the humor :)
Now that's a quote...
Hmm... could this be Jon's lounge, and add a few collectible Hamer basses, and then some...? ;)
(http://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0130/8422/products/johnny-cash-finger-canvas-art-print_1_large.jpg?v=1404339265)
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Well, I DO have the leather couch in my man loft....but my coffee table is a LOT cooler!
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Jon... that is utterly shameless... :mrgreen: