LeftyBassist.com

it is with remorse that I post this note sharing that apparently Hammon Engineering is no longer offering Darkstar pickups

I (and several other builders) have repeatedly attempted contact on multiple occasions via multiple channels since June, and Fred Hammon's TalkBass account hasn't been logged into since April 26 2010 as of the time of this writing. I know Fred was a busy guy, and I hope that all is well for him. Hopefully this is only a temporary sabbatical from the market, and in the near future we'll see Darkstars again appearing on new bass constructions and retrofits


FYI - my VRB-DS4 model is now discontinued until such time as I'm again able to obtain Darkstar pickups

all the best,

R

Let's hope this is only temporary and Fred's okay. I had planned on dropping a couple into my Guild B302.

If Darkstars aren't getting made any more it would be a wise move to pick up some now, they will jump in price for sure.

from what I can see, you'll need to snag them on the used market

I had one DS left in stock, and I sold it to myself this past weekend for a currently undecided future 4-string build

all the best,

R

I had a feeling this was going to happen.
There have been issues cropping up on several boards for a while now.
That is a real shame, Fred really hit on a great product and his workmanship was well respected. I had hoped to aquire a Darkstar for a project of my own, Alas.
I hope that Fred is okay, because this has the "feel" of a personal problem rather than a business one.

Sorry to hear about this. I remember reading the story on how he was starting up his business of building Darkstars, how he had done a lot of R&R to make them just like the originals etc. the industry needs his product, as another alternative to Jazz, MM's, and others that seem to permeate the market.

Whatever the reason for him laying low, I hope it's only a temporary situation, and hope he's not a casualty of the current economic crisis.

mmmm .... not looking good .... any news Stateside regarding Darkstar ?

update: Fred's webpage now bounces to Register.com ... unless he's forgotten to renew his domain, it looks like the Darkstar ship has sailed

all the best,

R

one luthier in France is making a reedition of the darkstar, same spec, but with some differences to have a smaller pickup :

http://www.daguetguitars.com/

http://www.daguetguitars.com/?gratte=29

The Luthier is speaking here :

http://forum.onlybass.com/index.php?/topic/69139-micro-type-bisonic-darkstar/page__pid__1169706#entry1169706

Note that I have no affiliation with this guy, actually I don't know him personally, but that's worth the information.