Hamer Guitars - History

History

The first Hamer Guitar (a Flying V bass) was built at Northern Prairie Music, a vintage instrument shop owned by Hamer and Dantzig in Wilmette, Illinois. This shop catered to musicians who were interested in high-quality instruments. This first instrument served as the basis for a new company called Hamer Guitars.

Hamer began publicizing their instruments with small black and white ads in guitar magazines in 1974. By 1977 the company employed up to seven workers. Most of the work up to this point had been one-off custom variations on the original "Standard" and "Flying V" guitars. During this period Hamer's customers were limited to big-name touring groups such as Bad Company, Wishbone Ash, Jethro Tull, and Savoy Brown. In order to appeal to a broader market, the first "production" Hamer called the "Sunburst" debuted in 1977. Production was reportedly set at around 10 guitars per week. During this time the company undoubtedly gained more popularity with the high-profile patronage of Cheap Trick guitarist Rick Nielsen and the use of Hamer 8- and 12-string basses in their music. In 1978 Frank Untermyer joined the company, opening up the international market for Hamer Guitars, and growing the line.

In 1980, Hamer moved to larger quarters in Arlington Heights (a suburb of Chicago.) The staff had grown to 12 and Hamer Guitars continued to launch new models such as the Special, Cruisebass, Prototype, Blitz, and Phantom. Paul Hamer, the company's president, left in 1987 to pursue a career in retail. Kaman Music was then approached to handle sales while the remaining owners concentrated on manufacturing. Kaman Music agreed to purchase Hamer in late 1988.

After five years with Kaman, Dantzig departed from the company in 1993, moving to California to begin a design and consulting business.

In 1997 Kaman Music relocated the company to a small shop in New Hartford, Connecticut, home of Ovation Guitars. Ten of the top builders were relocated to New Hartford along with Dantzig, who was re-hired as technical director. Untermyer had the dual role of General Manager of both Hamer and Ovation. Hamer then began concentrating on a core of high-quality designs targeted at the burgeoning high-end and collector market.

Under its parent company Kaman Music, Hamer was acquired by guitar giant Fender Musical Instruments on December 31, 2007.

Paul Hamer lives in Chicago where he operates a retail framing business.

Jol Dantzig left Hamer/Fender in 2010 to build instruments under the Jol Dantzig Guitar Design name.

Frank Untermyer left the company in 2012.

In December 2012, it was announced that Hamer would no longer produce guitars and would end the company.