Arlington/New Hartford Move

[Dave Scepter]

2 hours ago, HSB0531 said:

 

I know KK has health problems, but GT might also have them and isn't touring??

KK's still touring "with KK's Priest" but GT is dealing with Parkinsons and believe no longer touring 

Edited April 6 by Dave Scepter

[HSB0531]

1 hour ago, Dave Scepter said:

KK's still touring but GT is dealing with Parkinsons and believe longer touring 

Very sad news.

[Steve Haynie]

I saw Glenn use that last custom Hamer in concert.

[HSB0531]

17 hours ago, diablo175 said:

Holy SHIT! This is the most amazing collection of Hamer employee & build photos I've EVER seen! Thank you!!!

 

Credit due to Jol Dantzig who had the foresight to document all these C/O builds.  I used to watch the Hamer Workshop blog on a daily basis to see what was going on in the shop.  What other company can any of us think of that did weekly blogs showing closeup views of current C/O's being built. Sure, many companies would add a few pictures or video on their websites and maybe a walkthrough on YouTube or an occasional gear rundown (Gibson, PRS, MusicMan, Martin, etc.) but where else could you go and see pictures and commentary on Your C/O as it was happening?  

[hamerhead]

My Junior on the bench:

I always thought the build quality of the New Hartford guitars was a cut above the early ones. Not that there's anything wrong with the early ones. They are great, too. But it's like they got the process really dialed in and fine tuned.

They went from awesome to awesomer.

[HSB0531]

4 hours ago, hamerhead said:

My Junior on the bench:

I always thought the build quality of the New Hartford guitars was a cut above the early ones. Not that there's anything wrong with the early ones. They are great, too. But it's like they got the process really dialed in and fine tuned.

They went from awesome to awesomer.

I agree 100%.  All the years of building and learning, including people like Dave Brown and Mike Shishkov who are absolute Master Craftsman, along with Todd, who Jol called, his secret weapon ( buffing, final finish, assembly, wiring, setup etc. ). There's Gary Pirro who did the finishes, and who came from the custom show car field.  There's Enrico "Frank" Glavash, who was in charge of the wood shop supply, the Millmeister, as Jol called him.  There was Tom who was often seen shaping necks, doing fretwork, neck binding filing, and neck/headstock inlays.  There was Jaimie doing neck/body joinery and finish prep. There was Mark doing final assembly and setups. "The other Mike" Mike D. - the apprentice, doing body binding, applying wood grain paste, and doing finish sanding.  So yeah it was a phenomenal inside look at the Hamer Factory and incredible craftsmen who made it was it was.  In management/design/Etc. you had Frank Rindone, Frank Untermeyer, & Jol Dantzig.  I'm sure I missed a few people here.

[HSB0531]

Found these two links....

 

 

[RobB]

7 hours ago, HSB0531 said:

That second one was hard to watch. The editing was so jumpy. Seemed very thrown-together. 

[HSB0531]

19 hours ago, RobB said:

That second one was hard to watch. The editing was so jumpy. Seemed very thrown-together. 

Yeah, I added it here, then I watched it.  It turned out to be a lot of commentary that didn't really add much for the amount of time it ran.

[HSB0531]

Sherman, Set The Wayback Machine to 2007 & Another C/O Build at the Hamer Shop. Words & Pictures by Jol Dantzig.

December 19, 2007 "Kimono Gold" Greg V Talladega Project
One of my inspirations for the Talladega came from listening to Greg V's CD Tailgate Troubadour. Introduced by a mutual friend, Greg and I developed a bond over the course of time I was immersed in the development of the Talladega and the Double D pickups. His input was instrumental in the direction I took. Our conversations about attack, decay and string separation drove me to evaluate pickup after pickup and prototype after prototype. When I shipped the first Talladega to Greg, I waited nervously for days before he called with his feedback—I wanted him to love this guitar they way I did, because it was so intertwined with our friendship. Happily, he did, and so does just about anyone else who's played one.
Of course, as is often the case, Greg wanted a second one. For an encore, I decided to make Greg an even more special guitar with a cool finish based upon an eighty year old "lost art" technology that was used on old resonator guitars. I knew Greg was a fan of Gold top guitars, so I went ahead and finished off his new axe in gold crystalized lacquer and complemented the old-school appearance with distressed nickel hardware. It's not really a Designer model, but I wanted to share it, so enjoy. Oh, and don't forget to click on the photos to see 'em up close!

[Kookaburra]

This is a great thread.

Hamerhead, a Junior like that is my dream!

[Disturber]

On 4/7/2025 at 3:34 PM, hamerhead said:

I always thought the build quality of the New Hartford guitars was a cut above the early ones. Not that there's anything wrong with the early ones. They are great, too. But it's like they got the process really dialed in and fine tuned.

 

They went from awesome to awesomer.

To me the best years are the early era with Standards, Sunburst and Specials. The 1970's Hamer's are unique and have vibe and mojo like no other. 

Then the New Harford Hamer's. They are build to perfection and are now becoming of that age to where they have aged a bit and the wood have settled etc. so my Hamer's from that era are sounding better than ever.  

The 1990's Hamer's are fantastic too. The T-51's and Daytonas, the Korina Standards and Vectors, the P90 Specials etc.

The mid 1980's ones up until around 1991 are my least favourites. The "Floyd Rose era". I think that the high production rates took a toll on the quality at times.

[HSB0531]

On 4/13/2025 at 5:01 AM, Disturber said:

To me the best years are the early era with Standards, Sunburst and Specials. The 1970's Hamer's are unique and have vibe and mojo like no other. 

Then the New Harford Hamer's. They are build to perfection and are now becoming of that age to where they have aged a bit and the wood have settled etc. so my Hamer's from that era are sounding better than ever.  

The 1990's Hamer's are fantastic too. The T-51's and Daytonas, the Korina Standards and Vectors, the P90 Specials etc.

The mid 1980's ones up until around 1991 are my least favourites. The "Floyd Rose era". I think that the high production rates took a toll on the quality at times.

I couldn't have said it any better!