|
Misguided Brand Loyalty Is A Huge Problem.
There are millions of blinded consumers who
seek out the brand of that they are used to or have
heard of.
Any evil corporation can
simply go out and buy a bunch of brand names.
For Example
Today old high quality perception
names like Gibson, Epiphone, Steinberger, Oberheim,
Wurlitzer, Dobro, Slingerland, Valley Arts,
Baldwin Piano's, Kramer, Maestro and many more can
simply be bought up by one corporation. The names I
have just listed are in fact all owned owned by one
large conglomerate.
They used to be called CMI (Consolidated Musical
Inst.) Recently they
changed their name to Gibson USA
This conglomerate takes advantage of consumers who are
not aware of what is really going on. They have set
their sights on people aged 40 to 60 thus encompassing
most of the baby boomers & the only people who are
working enough hours not to have time to get hip to
the real story.
Fender, Jackson, Hamer, Gretsch, SWR, Takamine,
Ovation, Squire, Tacoma, Guild, Gibraltar, Applause,
Celebrity & others are all owned by FMIC. This
conglomerate seems to be made up of many musically
oriented people and they tend to be better than almost
all other corporate guitar companies.
Here's a picture of a Hamer
Californian when Hamer was a small independent guitar
shop
Here's The same guitar after
Kaman Corporation (A Helicopter Company) bought the
Brand Name
|
The Basic Differences
Hamer is the example because of
almost all the corporate guitars available.
They are still one of the absolute very best.
|
| The Original One was handbuilt
entirely in the USA:
The new one is a Korean
import. |
| The Original One incorporated
USA Duncan's: The
new one uses imported pickups by Duncan. |
| The Original One used real
ebony on the fingerboard:
The new one uses
rosewood like most corp. guitars. |
| The Original One used a real
German Floyd Rose Tremolo:
The new one uses a
Chinese Floyd Rose. |
| The Original One came in any
color you wanted: The
new one come is 2 colors amber and black. |
| The Original One came with
beautiful looking woods: The
new one comes in alder. |
| The Original One offered
awesomely beautiful paint jobs:
The new one does
not offer that. |
| The Original One also came in
a neck through body model: The
new one does not offer that. |
| The Original One used real
abalone or mother of pearl for the inlays:
The new one uses
plastic inlays. |
| The Original One could be
special ordered with almost anything you could
think of. Not The
New One. |
| The Original One was a real
work of art and had a real potential to be
collectable and increase in value |
| The
New One will never attain any real intrinsic
value. It will probably never be used by a full on
professional unless of course he is paid to play
it. and if that happens it will be more than
likely that the guitar will be custom made. |
Now Remember This Is Important
The new corporately
made one Is still actually a very decent guitar,
I used the best
corporate guitars I could find for this article!!!
Watch out for The new Kramer's, Epiphone's, LTD's,
Steinberger's & other corporate guitars.
Here's The Test, Were you
paying attention
Which of these three
Explorer Shaped
Wanderer
Shaped Guitars is the
corporate guitar
The answer at the bottom of the page.
AGAIN I MUST STRESS.
HAMER CORPORATE GUITARS ARE
among the BEST ONES I could
think of !!!!
THE IMPORTED JACKSON & IBANEZ CORPORATE GUITARS ARE
ALSO EXCELLENT.
In 2009 BC Rich is offering unbelievably good neck
through imports for excellent prices.
They also have some pretty crappy ones too so be
careful who you deal with.
JUST DON'T PAY TOO MUCH FOR ONE AND YOU'LL BE OK.
Be careful of foreign companies who try to fool you
into thinking they are made in the USA
Be careful of overpriced
brands like Epiphone, ESP, LTD, Schecter.
Hamer still builds a beautiful
handmade guitar.
The only problem is this is really the only body shape
you can get it in.
Not necessarily a bad thing as long as you don't fall for the imported
lookalike below
This is my own Hamer, It is
probably close to 30 years old.
It was originally owned by Mark Hitt of Ratrace Choir.
It was given to me by Tom Hughes a longtime customer
and good friend.
Tom knows how much of a Mark Hitt fan I am.
We restored it to mint in my shop !!!!
|
