Import Hamers

[Liam1963]

Just noticed in one of the on-line retailers some Hamer guitars for sale. Upon closer inspection, there's no "USA" under the Hamer logo on the headstock, and the back of the headstock says "Made In Indonesia". Are these the remnants of the old Hamer imports (never played one), and if so, are they any good?

 

[jeremy]

Re: Import Hamers

for the money they are usually fine. hamer has been resurrected for 2017 but is all overseas made stuff at least right now. was it new or used?

 

[BTMN]

Re: Import Hamers

Could be the new company's offer. Fender has sold the brand and they introduced the imports at NAMM back in January.

 

[thebingopete]

Re: Import Hamers

I had a Hamer Slammer Series made in Korea. Large Hamer logo, when those were first released. They wanted to make a good impression and that thing was built and sounded better than any Strat style in it's price range at the time. When those became "Slammer by Hamer" with the Slammer logo larger than the Hamer logo the quality lowered and the company suffered for it. Hopefully they will return with an eye on continuing into the future not just to make a fast buck on the name and file for bankruptcy after 5yrs.

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[BTMN]

Re: Import Hamers

Actually the Hamer Slammer Series are great guitars for the bucks if you can find them. Like you said the Slammmer by Hamer are beginner guitars at best. The Hamer Slammer Series became simply Hamer with no other lettering with it at that point. All the Korean made Hamers lean towards the "better build" import feeling in my playing experiances with them. The Hamer XTs are kinda all over with many real nice and a few beginner level. You have to play those I would think. Those are Chinese and Indonesian made for the most part. The newer ones are being made by the previous import builder FMIC used I bet. There was another thread earlier this year with a link to the company and the offerings. They look like they wanna rawk the brand. I have a wait and see but the Old Hamer is all gone that is for sure. Mike Shishkov, a main Hamer USA builder, is doing great things. Jol Dantzig, one of Hamer's original founders and later directors with Kaman Music's ownership, always has something interesting posting. Paul Hamer even has a new guitar design budding. Rick Neilsen of Cheap Trick has been playing a Black one for a couple years now.

http://www.hamerguitars.com/2017/

http://www.shishkovguitars.com/

https://dantzig.com/workshop/

http://www.h-guitars.com/

 

[Mincer]

Re: Import Hamers

It is hard to resurrect older brands...you need not just the imports (as those generate $$), but a good USA shop, and that takes a lot of $. Hamer's USA guitars were amazing. Let's hope there is still room for them in this market.

 

[thebingopete]

Re: Import Hamers

Honestly I have always been a Hamer fan. Favorite models were the mid/late 80s Steve Stevens and Phantom. Never met a Chicago Hamer I didn't like really. Kaman did right for the company for a while. The XT were introduced before Slammer as economy models and like many imports were great after a proper setup. USA models after the move continued to keep quality up. Problem was most new models were still just copies or slightly updated Gibson designs. Then FMIC bought it. I believe they sabotaged it. Doomed it to fail because they made better quality guitars and didn't want the competition.

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[thebingopete]

Re: Import Hamers

It is hard to resurrect older brands...you need not just the imports (as those generate $$), but a good USA shop, and that takes a lot of $. Hamer's USA guitars were amazing. Let's hope there is still room for them in this market.

Resurrection of a US brand with only imports hopefully will make the money to open shop in the USA again. After all their reputation and moto was the biggest Custom Shop in the USA. I'm hopeful.

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[BTMN]

Re: Import Hamers

Honestly I have always been a Hamer fan. Favorite models were the mid/late 80s Steve Stevens and Phantom. Never met a Chicago Hamer I didn't like really. Kaman did right for the company for a while. The XT were introduced before Slammer as economy models and like many imports were great after a proper setup. USA models after the move continued to keep quality up. Problem was most new models were still just copies or slightly updated Gibson designs. Then FMIC bought it. I believe they sabotaged it. Doomed it to fail because they made better quality guitars and didn't want the competition.

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UMMMM. Xts were the last version of imports. Hamer Slammer Series mid 90's, Hamer branded late 90sand early 200s Slammer by Hamer mid 90's to early 2000s. FMIC came into the picture late 2007 when they bought the parent company, Kaman Music.

 

[Liam1963]

Re: Import Hamers

for the money they are usually fine. hamer has been resurrected for 2017 but is all overseas made stuff at least right now. was it new or used?

They were new.

 

[Liam1963]

Re: Import Hamers

I should probably clarify that I own two USA Hamers (Chappie Custom & Artist) that I purchased back in the 80's, they are absolutely wonderful guitars, so imagine my surprise at seeing the Hamer brand again after the well-documented decline and fall of years past. I may just pull the trigger on one, play and evaluate it, and see if these imports are really worth the money. I have to admit, I wish the REAL Hamer was still in business...

 

[thebingopete]

Re: Import Hamers

UMMMM. Xts were the last version of imports. Hamer Slammer Series mid 90's, Hamer branded late 90sand early 200s Slammer by Hamer mid 90's to early 2000s. FMIC came into the picture late 2007 when they bought the parent company, Kaman Music.

I stand corrected. Occasionally my chronology is off. I think in this case I didn't see a Slammer Series until after the XT were already well into production. That's where my confusion lies.

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[BTMN]

Re: Import Hamers

Lil Hamer Slammer Series Flat top Sunburst model I picked up in 2001 while on vacation in Ohio. Reddog1. It has Duncan Designed pickups, 59 and JB clones IIRC, and sounds real nice. Some of the best $75 pawn shop money I have ever spent. :headbang:

 

[Detroitblues]

Re: Import Hamers

The new Hamer's are no longer owned by Fender. An overseas (Japan?) investors bought the brand and now are importing higher quality versions of the original Hamers.

A bit of History...

Hamer was founded outside Chicago by guitar techs that were fixing old Gibsons and discovered the junk of the 70's is not as good as the stuff from the 50's. Often, they reused parts from the golden era of Gibson

So they introduced similar guitars to Gibson, but with improved quality controls, I think they started with Flying V's and Explorers. Eventually they sold off over the years to a couple of companies, one of which was FMIC. FMIC systematically, discontinued most of the brand they bought. Hamer being one of them.

USA made Hamer's sell for high prices, but not as much as Gibson's from the same period oddly enough. You'll never find neater hand wired electronics then Hamer USA.

The import line is not much different than PRS SE, Reverend, or other Korean imported brands. But like PRS SE, they are similar, but not the same deal.... Just seems to take away the value.

In a way, I understand why Gibson choose to continue the Epiphone line and keep them separate for brand recognition purposes. I think changing a guitar from a USA brand to an Import brand dilutes the brand value and reputation.