Hamer shutting down?

[BTMN]

Good Bye Old Friend

Good Bye Old Friend

I'm seeing comparisons with car brands that have disappeared. I find that to be a good analogy. :2:

I'm finished with the being mad about it part and I accept it, so onward I continue in my stages of grief over this matter. Hamer owner for 30 years. :2:

 

[Powdered Toast Man]

Hamer shutting down?

How is Fender so far in debt?? I thought burritos were cheap...

Probably because they went on a shopping spree buying up other companies. Hamer, Jackson, Charvel, Tacoma, Guild, Gretch, Sunn... Basically over expansion during a recession.

They cancelled their planned IPO. I suspect the disaster of Facebook's IPO just a few months prior to when Fender was supposed to go public scared them into backing off.

 

[playas]

Re: Hamer shutting down?

Is this official? I can´t find anything official to the effect that they´re shutting down.

 

[Little Pigbacon]

Re: Hamer shutting down?

Probably because they went on a shopping spree buying up other companies. Hamer, Jackson, Charvel, Tacoma, Guild, Gretch, Sunn... Basically over expansion during a recession.

They cancelled their planned IPO. I suspect the disaster of Facebook's IPO just a few months prior to when Fender was supposed to go public scared them into backing off.

I remember thinking the same thing on the IPO issue. With Facebook, people thought they were getting some kind of chance to get in on the ground floor of the next Apple, IBM, MicroSoft, etc. Problem was, it wasn't just a few people who thought that -- it was most of the people who'd ever sat around wondering how much money they'd have right now if they'd put one paycheck into the right stock thirty years ago.

I think Fender feels a lot of pressure to keep their offerings diverse without diluting the Fender brand. People expect Strats, Teles, and the occasional Jagmaster, Jazz-stang, whatever. I don't think many players want to see set-neck, carved-top Strats, or 24-fret Teles with Floyds and quilted trans-black finishes. I mean, they could have made good metal guitars or acoustics that a lot of people wouldn't have taken seriously. If the means and opportunity are there, it probably makes more sense to buy a company that's already known for that thing.

 

[Powdered Toast Man]

Hamer shutting down?

Is this official? I can´t find anything official to the effect that they´re shutting down.

When I went to Fender.com and looks at their page for "other brands" I noticed that the Hamer logo/link is absent. Also, a look at Hamer's website shows the last update was April 2012. Not good signs.

 

[orpheo]

Re: Hamer shutting down?

I'd go as far as to say "when Kaman bought Hamer"

That was when the import line started... this was the WORST thing for Hamer to possibly do at that point.

Hamer didn't have enough market share to warrant an import line IMHO.

The company soon suffered from a customer disconnect and confusion between their USA and import line.

This is around the time that they left Arlington Heights for New Hartford.

Hamer also couldn't get it's two highest profile players (Stone Gossard and Jeff Ament) at the time to shill for them in any meaningful way

Thank God for Jeff Golub raising the "Artist" model's profile... other than that, Hamer was just never associated with top tier players (which is a damn shame).

Hamer basses were played in a high profile manner by three of the BIGGEST JOKES in bass... Kip Winger, Nikki Sixx and Rick Savage (Def Leppard may be awesome, but the bass playing is not).

Hamer guitars were played and endorsed by the two "clowns of guitar" Rick Neilson and Steve Stevens... they got the reputation for being endorsed by a hairspray addicted cross dresser and a guitar player who could lose a guitar solo contest with Ace Frehley.

If I were Hamer, I would have paid half of their endorsed "players" to NOT play Hamers in public and certainly not run ads featuring their likeness to sell further brand recognition.

An ad for Chester Bennington endorsing Hamers? Are you fugging kidding me?

Hamer was marketed by chimpanzees apparently.

Whats wring with kip winger? The guy is amazing.

 

[formula73]

Re: Hamer shutting down?

Whats wring with kip winger? The guy is amazing.

You must be joking. Whether he's a good player or not isn't relevant. People laugh at him.

 

[orpheo]

Re: Hamer shutting down?

You must be joking. Whether he's a good player or not isn't relevant. People laugh at him.

Again why. I live in the netherlanda and winger is very unknown. I know their music and love the music. So whats the issue..

 

[formula73]

Re: Hamer shutting down?

They came about during the last hurrah of hair metal in the 80s and his headset mic and ballet pirouettes on stage with his bass was not what most considered 'metal'. In other words, his image is what did him in.

 

[The Dali]

Re: Hamer shutting down?

My killer goldtop. What a GREAT axe!!!

 

[Laughing Kookaburra]

Re: Hamer shutting down?

My killer goldtop. What a GREAT axe!!!

Wow! I love love love that one!

 

[LReese]

Re: Hamer shutting down?

Whats wring with kip winger? The guy is amazing.

These guys said so....

In reference to...

 

[BTMN]

Re: Hamer shutting down?

Did you ever get a photo of that before your friend had it goldtopped?

Great looking guitar.

 

[The Dali]

Re: Hamer shutting down?

I'll be honest, I don't see how guitar companies stay in business at all. With 50 years of guitars on the market and no signficant changes in design I'm not shocked that profit margins are so low.

 

[The Dali]

Re: Hamer shutting down?

You know, I'll ask him right now!

 

[Powdered Toast Man]

Re: Hamer shutting down?

I'll be honest, I don't see how guitar companies stay in business at all. With 50 years of guitars on the market and no signficant changes in design I'm not shocked that profit margins are so low.

No kidding. I still recall last year when Fender tried to raise their prices and everyone just about shat themselves. Prices came back down within months.

 

[orpheo]

Re: Hamer shutting down?

@Dali I agree.

About winger. I hate beavis and butthead. I dont care for image if the music rocks. Andy timmons likes to hop around on stage too and looks queer on occasion but the music is amazing. Winger's the same. Its shallow and narrow mindedness that gets me. For example. Justin bieber looks and walks and talks like a girl. I dont despise him or wish him anything remotely unpleasant but his music is horrible and wish musical exponents like him were banished and buried. But not him cause it's not his 'fault' .

About guitars. It is exactly the same. The companies need big shot names so people by their crap especially if the company is part of a bigger corporation. The absokute worst fender could do is go the kramer route. Mostly import and only for the hotshot a usa build kramer branded guitar (cause satchel'd kramer aint build by kramer or gibson in the usa but some ghostbuilder).

 

[Dr. Vegetable]

Re: Hamer shutting down?

I remember thinking the same thing on the IPO issue. With Facebook, people thought they were getting some kind of chance to get in on the ground floor of the next Apple, IBM, MicroSoft, etc. Problem was, it wasn't just a few people who thought that -- it was most of the people who'd ever sat around wondering how much money they'd have right now if they'd put one paycheck into the right stock thirty years ago.

Actually, the FB IPO fiasco was entirely predictable. They got greedy with the strike price and listed the stock on opening day at the absolute top of the estimated range for its "value" (and even that was overvalued by traditional measures) leaving nothing on the table for the first-round investors to earn. If early investors don't get a kick, it establishes a disappointing trajectory for the stock price that usually takes months to reverse. On top of that, FB being a household name, it attracted a lot of casual investors who falsely believed their personal experience with the company gave them some unique insight into the company's untapped future potential. FB stock was overrated, overheated, with nowhere to go but down. The sluggish economy was only a small factor in the bellyflop - it failed from being over-hyped and smug.

I'll be honest, I don't see how guitar companies stay in business at all. With 50 years of guitars on the market and no signficant changes in design I'm not shocked that profit margins are so low.

...Especially for brands whose major asset is their timeless classic designs. Fender and Gibson are premium brands that sell instruments that look and feel very much like they did several decades ago. Their biggest competitors are their own classic designs, hence all the "re-issue" sheit they are always pimping. And any who know what the re-issues are trying to emulate also know how much better the originals were anyway.

Compare F&G to Ibanez. The lawsuit era was the best thing to happen to Ibanez, IMHO. It forced them to innovate and differentiate their products instead of just copying the same old classic designs. This is what keeps the brand vital with younger players. New ways to deliver high quality instruments with the best features, fresh designs every few years, and they aren't afraid to kill the models that don't make money.

To survive today, companies have to innovate. The real challenge is how to innovate without abandoning the things that made you great in the first place.

 

[XPAULPITT]

Re: Hamer shutting down?

Help me here. How is FMIC "losing" lots of money?

It might not be that they are losing money, its just that they may not be making enough profit for the greedy corporate type of shareholding board member these days. Its all about maximizing profits, who cares how many lives they ruin in the process. A decent profit just isnt enough these days, it has to be the absolute max that can be made. Just a sad fact of life in this world we live in.

 

[Edgecrusher]

Re: Hamer shutting down?

About winger. I hate beavis and butthead. I dont care for image if the music rocks. Andy timmons likes to hop around on stage too and looks queer on occasion but the music is amazing. Winger's the same. Its shallow and narrow mindedness that gets me. For example. Justin bieber looks and walks and talks like a girl. I dont despise him or wish him anything remotely unpleasant but his music is horrible and wish musical exponents like him were banished and buried. But not him cause it's not his 'fault'

I get you dig winger thats fine whatever blows your skirt up but trying to defend him wont really get you anywhere he embodied everything that was bad about hair metal next thing we know you'll trying to defend Nickleback.