• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Hamer USA: bass design input request

#121
cmatthes said:
Roger - I believe I was one of those people...if you're talking about the '05 Anaheim NAMM Show, then definitely.
Click to expand...

yeah...that would have been around that time. I ended up buying that bass....I liked it so much. I ended up putting flatwounds on it.
 
#122
JTE said:
Well, since you're sharing some connection with Guild now, and I'm betting they're not going to be making a Starfire II bass with Dark Stars in the foreseeable future...

Well, when I think Hamer, having come of age musically when Cheap Trick was still playing the Red Lion Inn in Bloomington while working the "Blytham circuit", I think of really nice Gibson-style instruments that are refined and built consistently well. Shortly after I quit retail music the store I'd managed started carrying Hamers, and the one I was most taken with was the Sunburst. Now a double-cut Les Paul style body is for the most part utterly useless for a bass player. There's a reason that horn has to be out there at the 12th fret.

So, take that kind of inspiration that led from a Les Paul to the Sunburst, and apply it to a couple of classic basses. I loved my ('90's) Cruise bass, and while I fully understand the "no Jazz bass clones" directive, you could still take that classic Icon and do what Paul and Jol did to the Les Paul to it.

The other obvious one is to make a really nice, but balance Thunderbird. It doesn't have to really LOOK that much like one, but have the essentials- the mahogany neck-through construction, those particularly peculiar Thunderbird PUPs, but have solid and reliable bridge desing (Hipshot, cough-cough), light-weight tuning machines, and the usual Hamer obsessive attention to details like shielding, high-quality pots, impeccable fret-work, etc. Again, dont' try to make it LOOK like a T-Bird so much (that's an ergonomic disaster for most players), but have it WORK like a T-Bird.

John
Click to expand...

great post. Thanks! I agree, getting the "G brand" thing going, without neck dive, would be a neat thing.
 
#123
rwelcome said:
6 1/2 years of blood sweat and Jol :bawl:.

I think it's totally possible to have a successful bass. I'd go towards the Kip Winger bass body (while not not mentioning kip wingers name!) Swamp Ash body, black veneer, flame top, and color only on the maple. Re-design the headstock, and make it a bolt-on. And use the modern exposed pole humbuckers from Duncan that Fodera uses coupled with a Aguilar or Glockenklang pre. NO EMG's! Black Hipshot hardware. This would be a kick ass bass. And remember 5 strings are the new 4 string, best to start with a 5 and work backwards.

Local consultation available ;).
Click to expand...

Yeah...I know...we've met. I played some of your basses at Bass Player Live in Time Square...oh...about four years ago. I was working my Genz Benz booth. ....and I gave you a bunch of Hercules stands.

You made a beautiful fretless that I played......nice, nice stuff.
 
#124
Either one of these two, with a proper long top horn, in a 5-string, would be awesome.
cmatthes said:
MyB4Mfull.jpg

Karmabassfront.jpg
Click to expand...

To the "long top horn not needed with 32 inch scale" guy(s), I say fiddlesticks. Sure the shorter scale is an improvement of balance and reach, but it's not a cure or the "end of the road" for effective design; and it's not usually a good choice for 5-string basses, which will be the bigger seller. Don't get me wrong, I love short and medium scale basses, but I wouldn't let that be an excuse for a short top horn. :)
 
#126
Hamerguy said:
Here would be a 5-string design of the idea in my earlier post...
Click to expand...

Dude, I love the pickups, the pickguard, everything. Looks killer. How much would Hamer charge for something like that if they would even consider it? The four string version would be so awesome for me! I've wanted a cherryburst guitar like that for a long time. With creme binding on the top and three pickups it sounds gorgeous.
 
#127
Chowderboots said:
Dude, I love the pickups, the pickguard, everything. Looks killer. How much would Hamer charge for something like that if they would even consider it? The four string version would be so awesome for me! I've wanted a cherryburst guitar like that for a long time. With creme binding on the top and three pickups it sounds gorgeous.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure where to begin on that one, but I don't believe that there is anything under $4k LIST (non-dealer discounted) on the current 7/09 Pricelist. The Monaco bass LISTS for closer to $5k.
 
#129
Well, I guess Hamer wouldn't build that bass. It is the original Gibson RD body shape just upside down. I have a Gibson RD Artist Bass and a Hamer Chaparral Max Bass, I love both basses, but they're different. I just tried to design some modern (passive) bass but with kinda retro looks. Maple for hard attack, 3 pickups from (possibly) going trebly to muddy. I don't know if the design would be a neck diver, but I haven't had those problems with either the RD (which I borrowed the design from) or the Chap (which also has short cutaway horns).
 
#131
LaklandBass said:
Cruise bass.....cruise bass.......cruise bass......cruise bass....... with a 2tek
Click to expand...

I don't really get why everyone wants a new cruise bass when there are always plenty of them available on the used market.

In the past few years, Hamer has done several beautiful limited-run guitars with really unique woods/finishes, etc but with very high price tags. The redwood and earthen maple come to mind. Have they considered whether they want a regular production bass, or will this be closer to the limited-run high-end variety?
 
#133
hasbeen said:
great post. Thanks! I agree, getting the "G brand" thing going, without neck dive, would be a neat thing.
Click to expand...
Well there's a thought--make a bass that's sort of equivalent to the Eclipse. That is, the Eclipse brought back the Firebird sound minus the snap-prone headstock and big shape. I had two Eclipses and loved 'em, but they had an indifferent reception owing to 1) the very ergonomic but slightly strange looks and 2) Pickups: seems like a lot of owners wanted 'em more mellow, like with aged Alnico instead of ceramic.

That would result in an easy-to-handle, not-prone-to-headstock-breaks, ergonomically comfortable setneck or neck-thru bass that cops the T-bird sound and vibe but in a different physical package. Such a platform would also better lend itself to a 5-string version.
 
#137
Exactly.

Hamer is not going to reissue a bass that we can all buy for $500-$800 any day of the week on eBay.

I really don't think we're looking at a bass that is going to be priced less than $2,500-$3k (to start), and I'm also 99.99% sure you aren't going to get a bolt-on of ANY variety. I liked the Tbird influenced idea - not necessarily in the looks department, since most builders who have gone down that path have just produced a weak TBird copy - but I'd dig something that got that TBird sound and vibe.

Think a bass for BASS players, not a bass version of a guitar. I could be wrong, but that's my read.
 
#138
cmatthes said:
Exactly.

Hamer is not going to reissue a bass that we can all buy for $500-$800 any day of the week on eBay.

I really don't think we're looking at a bass that is going to be priced less than $2,500-$3k (to start), and I'm also 99.99% sure you aren't going to get a bolt-on of ANY variety. I liked the Tbird influenced idea - not necessarily in the looks department, since most builders who have gone down that path have just produced a weak TBird copy - but I'd dig something that got that TBird sound and vibe.

Think a bass for BASS players, not a bass version of a guitar. I could be wrong, but that's my read.
Click to expand...

I feel you're leaning towards the right direction....on many fronts.
 
#139
They will already make you this.
IMG_0336.gif

northcuttdk.gif

DSC03424.gif


Or this if you want it.
V8full.gif

All you have to do is pay the price.

There's already a bunch of people making Jazz and P Basses, I still think Fender makes the best one.
I would like to see a TBird type in a medium scale with the forked headstock. If not I think a hollowbody like Jacks would be cool.
 
#140
brett7276 said:
I'd like to see a reissue of the Jack Baldes bass....

<SNIP>
Click to expand...

I guess you mean Jack Blades?

I agree. +1

That was a nice bass. Don't make a P.O.S. reissue. Make a nice bass along those lines.

I'm old enough to remember the old Hamer stuff. It was top notch. My brother had an Explorer that was made of rosewood or something crazy like that. It was GREAT! That's what Hamer should aim for. The Slammer stuff means nothing to me. Go for a higher line. It's OK to be traditionalist in the form of the instruments that put Hamer on the map in the first place.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back