mc2

Regarding MT's Hamer Bass. I tried to buy it from him but it was already gone. But he told me the neck had gine bad, which is why h sold it. I happen to know it was SN#001 and used real 60s Gibson TBird PUPs and parts. I believe the neck was also an actual recycled 60s Gibson/Epiphone neck.

Perhaps a Leduc Logabass (on left) or a Kubicki ExFactor (right) ? http://s1359.photobucket.com/user/mc2NYNO/media/__hr_Leduc4ampKhellipkiExFactor_zps38f676b8.jpg.html?sort=3&o=511

[quote name='Joel McIver' timestamp='1341383351' post='1717895'] Hi all Just a quick note to say hello. I recently became the editor of Bass Guitar Magazine and have been reading the posts here about the magazine with interest. I've noticed a few complaints about the content and some queries about why we do certain things, so I thought I'd better post here and if you have any questions, you can put them to me directly. Thanks to Bass Chat for letting me do this, it's an amazing forum. Cheers Joel McIver [/quote] Hey! I was actually up for that gig back in the mid-late '90s...but wouldn't move from NY to CA. Congrats! -jon

WOW....a TON of misinformation here. 1) Fender bought Kaman mainly for its distribution network. Hamer, Ovation, etc. were just part of its brands. 2) Hamer is on "hiatus," with all the Hamer/Ovation builders still working at the same actory in CT. Fender had them doing double-duty building Guilds for them since they took over. 3) Fender, like Gibson and many other companies in the MI buisiness are hurting from the long recession and weak US/global markets. In restructuring to stay afloat, apparently they shifted the Hamer builders onto Guilds virtually full-time for now (once they have finished up the back-order of custom Hamers.) 4) Since Fender took over, Hamer became a "custom order only" brand and had returned to building virtually any style custom order...as was Hamer's rep in it's 1980s-early 90s reputation. In the last year they had done quite a few amazing builds, such as Firebirds/Thunderbirds. revived some of it's classic metal/shredders like Californians, Virtuosos, Chaparalls, SSII's and Watsons and even made an actual mythical Thunderbolt. [url="http://hamerworkshop.wordpress.com/"]http://hamerworkshop.wordpress.com/[/url] 5) Since Fender now owns the Hamer brand...and Hamer started out repairing vintage Gibsons and has a looooong relationship with Gibson...and is the only brand that has been able to build several Gibson-ish models (except of better quality) and NOT be sued up the wazoo by Gibson for trademark infringement (as Gibson is well known for)......do you think Fender would be stupid enough to kill the one brand allowed to copy its biggest competitor's classic body styles? Hamer's Monaco dances circles around Gibson Les pauls; Hamer's Firebird/Tbird/V builds surpass Gibson Custom Shop versions; Hamer's Tele bulds rival or surpass the best Fender Custom Shop builds...plus it has a good number of it's own original designs from 30+ years that it is again building. IMO...the real value of Hamer to Fender is that it is Fender's "trojan horse" inside of Gibson. 6) Hamer was not put on "hiatus" for lack of orders. They gave ZERO notice that they would not be taking further custom orders and I hear turned down enough new order to have backed them up for a good part of 2013. They are also still doing Hamer warranty work and repairs. They are not liquidating parts, etc. Femder just decided it needed to push Guilds in this down market, rather than $3500-10,000 custom Hamers and shifted the crew onto that. Gibson, on the other hand, has been scrambling the same way and also has been cutting custom orders and cutting worker hours, ending endorsement deals, etc. 7) A large part of Fender's and Gibson's business is through Guitar Center, which is overburdoned by huge debt...plus other dealrs who are struggling after the last few years of bad economy and possibly more, with increased U.S. taxes and new government imposed expenses. So, I guess we shuld all hope things get better, economically, or else the entire MI industry could implode. So, while Hamer is officially on "hiatus" as of mid-Dec 2012, it is still building custom back-orders with word to be ready to re-up on short notice, if Fender gives the word. But for now, they are all also building Guilds. etc. for Fender. ....which also brings up another interesting point. Wouldn't this seem like a GREAT time to buy a U.S.-made Guild, if you know that the guys who build the U.S. custom Hamers and Ovations are building them? 8) BTW....The long-awaited definitive book on the history of Hamer Guitars is actually FINALLY coming out in a couple of months!!! I think that will also be a bit of a catalyst to re-spark interest in Hamers. I shot some of the photos [url="http://www.schifferbooks.com/newschiffer/book_template.php?isbn=9780764343520"]http://www.schifferb...n=9780764343520[/url]

[quote name='alexclaber' post='444822' date='Mar 25 2009, 06:52 AM']Ampeg did some isobaric cabs a while back as did EA (though theirs may have only been pre-production). Should go very deep for their size but will be very quiet for their speaker complement. IIRC an isobaric 4x10" will have the same sensitivity as a 1x10" though the excursion limited power handling will be twice as high. They do look cute! Alex[/quote] I actually still own one of those Ampeg Isovent Cabs. I wrote one of the original magazine reviews of it around 1993 or so and Ampeg let me hang onto it. Great cab but HEAVY. Short and beefy like a pittbull. 2x10 with a horn on the top that is angled up and two 15's down the bottom that are mounted face-to-face and wired in reverse polarity to each other, so as one moves in the other moves out -- like a giant bass piston. I believe Ampeg later changed the design and cheaped out with just one normal 15 front-loaded on the bottom.