Jol's Website

[ArnieZ]

Previous conversations I had with Jol led me to believe that he did sometimes read this board. He didn't say it directly but left the impression he did.

[edgar_allan_poe]

Poe is ugly and he drools.

Yeah....but my wife is *smokin* hot. LOL!!!

[elduave]

I also don't think putting out something like the "No soup for you" thing makes sense, and it is not going to warm anybody up to his new venture, but it is what it is.

That banner was for real? I thought it was someone's Photoshop joke!

[svl]

The banner was real, saw it myself on the site.

[edgar_allan_poe]

That banner was for real? I thought it was someone's Photoshop joke!

LOL!!! I thought the same thing Dave. Honestly, you can't make this stuff up.

[Mindseyes]

Previous conversations I had with Jol led me to believe that he did sometimes read this board. He didn't say it directly but left the impression he did.

He read the board for sure at least once, he replied to me about the first "V" Bass a while back.....

[marcnorth]

But it's alright to call someone out as a fool on the forum and tell them how lucky they are you don't give them a vacation from the board?

[BCR Greg]

Poe is ugly and he drools.

Yeah....but my wife is *smokin* hot. LOL!!!

..and suffers from VERY BAD JUDGMENT.

[edgar_allan_poe]

But it's alright to call someone out as a fool on the forum and tell them how lucky they are you don't give them a vacation from the board?

Not what happened....read my post. Devnor came into the thread calling people a bunch of offensive names knowing full well that his post would incite people ("flame on" at the end of his post). That is against the rules and I called him foolish for it. That is a far cry from him calling people "pricks".

Again, his opinion on this matter was never and will never be the issue, his name calling on an obviously heated thread will always be. Had he agreed with me and posted the same thing, my response would have been the same. That type of behavior is foolish and it can/will be cause for a vacation.

Any other questions?

[HSB0531]

Poe is ugly and he drools.

Yeah....but my wife is *smokin* hot. LOL!!!

Pics or it isn't so

[edgar_allan_poe]

[unfun75]

I see little value in this thread and its only going to get worse.

[Siaip Ciuvas]

...Jol?

[specialk]

...Jol?

[veatch]

[HSB0531]

Hah!

My ploy worked.

Yes she is!

[alantig]

Hah!

My ploy worked.

Yes she is!

Agreed.

But who's the chick on the right?

Alan

[edgar_allan_poe]

Agreed.

But who's the chick on the right? ohmy.gif ohmy.gif ohmy.gif

That is me on the right...my wife on the left

[The Shark]

Hey Poe:

I thought about posting a thread at TGP about the headstock, but I though the JG hounds might come to call. Good work!

I e-mailed the new company and asked for pricing on just one guitar. Crickets............................

[edgar_allan_poe]

Hey Poe:

I thought about posting a thread at TGP about the headstock, but I though the JG hounds might come to call. Good work!

I e-mailed the new company and asked for pricing on just one guitar. Crickets............................

If you look at that thread I actually defend Jol on several occasions. I don't get the idea of it being an "I hate Jol" thread. I have disagreed with him, true...but that does not mean that I don't wish him well. I don't understand why it has to be one way or the other...love him or hate him. Jol is a complicated guy and it would be foolish to just dismiss him. I have stated publicly on several occasions that he deserves a lot of the accolades he gets for his tenure at Hamer. He also deserves most of the criticism leveled at him. Do I wish him ill? Why the hell would I want to do that?

I'll also point out that we haven't seen a JD guitar so we have zero idea what it will be. We assume that it will be a solid body guitar ala Hamer. But remember that it was Jol who gave us the Improv. These could very well be archtops and that will change the ballgame completely when it comes to price point. Is a 16-24K archtop out of the question or priced absurdly? I would answer NO on both accounts. I do think that Jol would be hard pressed to get into that genre of guitar given his past association with solid bodies. But as someone has already pointed out...just look at Ken Parker. IIRC his archtops start at 30K.

I still don't get all the vitriol on this thread.

[BCR Greg]

"Vitriol".

Poser.

[BubbaVO]

"Vitriol".

I took that once. Made me the size of a door knob. But it hurt too much to do anything with it.

[The Shark]

"Vitriol". Not me. I'm just funnin' around. I am, however, the guy that made the comparison to the JG headstock. The thread on TGP takes up that question front and center. That's my point. Jol's website is extremely vague, while quite price specific. We all get it in our own way.

[gorch]

I think Bob sums it up quite well here. For what it's worth, when Hamers first hit the scene, they were priced way above market and in the area where the then current "vintage" market was. If that's indeed where he's going, well - it worked before. Maybe it is an insane tactic, maybe it is pure genius - ultimately, time will tell, not any of us.

Some commenters have had direct negative experience working with Jol, and feel that his steering of things in recent years has all but killed the brand. Others view him as a visionary in the industry and have had good working relationships with him. All of that is valid as opinion, but we're not going to let this get any more personal than it already has. Jol didn't participate on this (or the old) board apart from a couple of posts many years ago - maybe Jorge is thinking of Kim K. - but he was aware of things that were said here. I agree that from all appearances, his new direction is 100% NOT geared to people here, the "regular" gigging musician or hobbyist. I also don't think putting out something like the "No soup for you" thing makes sense, and it is not going to warm anybody up to his new venture, but it is what it is. Time will tell if it works out. In the wake of the current global economy, even multi-millioniares are changing their buying habits towards luxury items, so the timing definitely seems questionable.

...

I wouldn't agree that there is no market for high prized items. There are tons of money floating around in the world at the moment. Since we thread participants don't seem to have it, there are many out there that have even more of it and don't know what to do with it either. Jol could not find a better time start a business like this.

You guys think there is a recession? Keep in mind that there are people that did not experience a recession at all. For those people the recent market downturn was a great chance to buy cheap and receive great returns within relatively short time.

What the Google cache image concerns, every web participant should know that Google scans your site even before it is saved on the web space. For me it seems to be the classic failure of site builders thinking that demo pics would disappear once the real images are on. It's not! ...as we can see proved.

[mirrorimij]

I am posting this simultaneously on similar threads on TGP and the HFC.

It might be interpreted that Jol just raised prices for the heck of it. Actually while the prices were going up so was the level of craftsmanship in the product. Let’s take the Artist model for example. In the Arlington Heights days (97 and earlier) the f hole was simply given the appearance of an undercarve with a router bit. If you have a skinny finger stick it in there and you will feel a nasty ledge that could never be seen with the naked eye. Jol thought that was hokey and demanded a proper undercarve for the Artist model and all subsequent models (Archtop Duotone, Newport, etc). That requires a LOT of extra work in fixturing, carving, etc. To most people a 1999 Artist looks the same as a 1996 but there is no way in hell they could both be built to the same price point. Over the years an inlaid logo was added, headstock binding, etc. All of this came at a cost. My experience with him is that he was constantly trying to push the envelope. In time we will see if his latest project will be a success or not.

I nominate him for the Sully Sullenberger brass balls award for making the attempt.