Marc Kitter(AB Deluxe) must have done something wrong!!!

The real Henry · Post by **The real Henry** » Mon Apr 24, 2006 2:49 pm

Hey Folks here's my story:
Some of you maybe remember, that I totally destroyed the look of my Federation with trying to get the taper out of it!
Here are the pics-

Beside that the bow, the lining and the sweatband were broken!

So I decided to sent the Hat(if I could still have called it like that) to Marc Kitter to fix all of those Problems, BUT he did something I would'n have exspected! He sent me a Herbert Johnson from 1981!

I don't know if he calls that humour?!

No, Serious!What Marc has done with my Akubra, by giving it a 'new Face', can really be called art!

binkmeisterRick · Post by **binkmeisterRick** » Mon Apr 24, 2006 2:55 pm

Talk about an overhaul! Well done, Marc!!!

bink

Indy_Railok · Post by **Indy_Railok** » Mon Apr 24, 2006 2:57 pm

Extreme Fedora Makeover.

Great hat!

JAN · Post by **JAN** » Mon Apr 24, 2006 2:59 pm

Come on, guys... it´s not the same hat

Wow.. great looking!

Best regards

JAN

Post by **Michaelson** » Mon Apr 24, 2006 3:01 pm

Now THAT'S what I call a REBUILD!!!!

Brother, you have a reason to smile in that first photo!

HIGH regards! Michaelson

Feraud · Post by **Feraud** » Mon Apr 24, 2006 3:03 pm

Wow! It is amazing what our hatters can do with a apparently "dead" lid!
I remember looking at these pictures when you posted them and thinking how you had destroyed a good hat.
It looks as good as new!

The real Henry · Post by **The real Henry** » Mon Apr 24, 2006 3:08 pm

In fact it looks better than new!

BendingOak · Post by **BendingOak** » Mon Apr 24, 2006 3:42 pm

what you you say to that but, wow

.

G-MANN · Post by **G-MANN** » Mon Apr 24, 2006 4:23 pm

It is things like this that make me so happy that I ordered my hat from Marc as soon as he announced that he would be making the Deluxe.

You still amaze me Marc! Just Fantastic.

Best Wishes,
John

Pitfall Harry · Post by **Pitfall Harry** » Mon Apr 24, 2006 4:53 pm

Wow....Fantastic job.

Now was that hat a Fed. or Fed. Deluxe? Your hat looks brand new if you want to call it that. I almost thought he sent you a new hat.

How much did it cost to send it and have him reblock it or I should say "preform that miracle"?

J_Weaver · Post by **J_Weaver** » Mon Apr 24, 2006 5:13 pm

I think that the first time I've ever seen anyone turn a lugnut into a hat.

Seriously though, it looks wonderful Henry!

Hemingway Jones · Post by **Hemingway Jones** » Mon Apr 24, 2006 5:18 pm

What an amazing styling and blocking job. Unbelievable!
I am thoroughly impressed.

Canyon · Post by **Canyon** » Mon Apr 24, 2006 5:33 pm

Wow, just wow! I am astounded at the job that Marc as done! Incredible!

Indy_Railok wrote:Extreme Fedora Makeover.

hehe, this sounds like a television show

"Hello, and welcome to Extreme Fedora Makover. Today, we're going to meet three fedora owners who say that their hats have reached the end. By the end of the show, we show you how we transform a dead hat into a brand new one!"

agent5 · Post by **agent5** » Mon Apr 24, 2006 6:58 pm

WOW! I'd have used the hat in the old pics to light my barbeque grill with but after the overhaul I'd wear it myself.

Best worst case to best case scenario I can ever remember.

Floribama Steve · Post by **Floribama Steve** » Mon Apr 24, 2006 6:58 pm

Canyon wrote:Wow, just wow! I am astounded at the job that Marc as done! Incredible!

Indy_Railok wrote:Extreme Fedora Makeover.
hehe, this sounds like a television show

"Hello, and welcome to Extreme Fedora Makover. Today, we're going to meet three fedora owners who say that their hats have reached the end. By the end of the show, we show you how we transform a dead hat into a brand new one!"

"It'll look so alive you'll swear it could build a d a m!"

Dwighty0815 · Post by **Dwighty0815** » Mon Apr 24, 2006 7:34 pm

I said it before and I say it again: He's the man!

Congrats, Henry & Marc!

Strider · Post by **Strider** » Mon Apr 24, 2006 9:38 pm

WOW!! Great looking fed!! I totally know how you feel when you think you've ruined something that's very important to you. To see it turn out this well for you warms my heart!

Great job, Marc! Congrats, TRH!

Marc · Post by **Marc** » Tue Apr 25, 2006 3:43 am

Thanks everyone! Boy, I'm getting a bit touchy with the kind words from you

Great job on creasing that crown Henry!

Regards,

Marc

Post by **Ken** » Tue Apr 25, 2006 7:03 am

That gear looks great and Marc did a good job. Marc is a great guy - when I needed to totally reblock my Keppler for a photoshoot the next day without prior experuience he stayed onlien to talk me through every step and ensure it worked - and he it did thanks to his instructions.

Ken

Garzo · Post by **Garzo** » Tue Apr 25, 2006 8:40 am

Wow, that truly is a remarkable feat.

If I didn't know better, I'd say Marc was dabbling with magic.

Makes me all the more excited about my order

Congrats Henry!

By the way, that's a nice-fitting jacket you got there. Is that the so-called 80's Cut Wested??

The real Henry · Post by **The real Henry** » Tue Apr 25, 2006 8:55 am

Actually it's called 'Getting-a-wested-for-50$-and-let-the-arms-be-made-longer'-cut!

Normal reblocking costs 50 Euro, but I got two meters of the orginal Raiders ribbon on the fedora for 20 extra, so I ended up with 70 Euro!

@Canyon: " Welcome to : Pimp my Fedora! Hey gangstas, here we got Henry and his crappy piece of headwear! It once was a nice lid , but it ended up like this!

Let's see what the buddies over at AB customs can do!" After some weeks: " Here ya are Henry, ya got a brand new HJ ribbon and broad 5 inch crown! Take it on and you officially got pimped!"

Henry: "Thanks AB Customs for pimping MY Lid!"

Strider · Post by **Strider** » Tue Apr 25, 2006 9:27 am

That seems really expensive to reblock a hat and replace a ribbon. Steve charges 10.00 USD for a reblock, plus shipping, so usually for me it comes out to be about 30 bucks, all told. Marc charges 50 euros? That's about 63.00 USD. Wow. For about 10 more euros, you could have gotten a brand new Federation std. I admit, it wouldn't look that good, though!

Marc · Post by **Marc** » Tue Apr 25, 2006 10:24 am

In this particular case, all the trimmings had to be re-newed, plus Henry requested the hat to be blocked two sizes bigger than it originally was (not to mention the condition). I knew that this hat would give me MUCH of trouble from the get go and set the price according to that.

On this hat, I spent the same time as on making one of my own from the very start. If I count the hours and devide them by the actuall leftover (after the trimmings were substracted), I'd more than probably get a better payed job, by moving my neightbors yard

Granted, money is not the motivation behind this, nor should it be. Neither Steve nor I could make a living from our work. But for the time used on this hat, I could as well have made one of my own hats, for one of the guys desperately waiting on it.

Regards,

Marc

The real Henry · Post by **The real Henry** » Tue Apr 25, 2006 11:40 am

I'm very pleased with my new hat and your prices, but what Strider said is not false, because 50€ is your standard price for reblocking. I think that's what he cannot really understand! (Don't take this as critic, but it's worth an answer.)

@Strider: I think it's because prices in Euro are usually higher, especialy here in Germany! I asked another hatter in my town and he would have taken 60 Euro without replacing the ribbon, the sweatband and the lining!( And man, you should have seen his blocks!

Indiana_Tom · Post by **Indiana_Tom** » Mon May 01, 2006 4:50 am

Henry, your hat looks absolutely cool now. Can't believe it nearly was "destroyed"

Your hat is now officially pimped!

The real Henry · Post by **The real Henry** » Mon May 01, 2006 9:28 am

Thanks much Tom! And if you don't mind, I'll take that pics as my new wallpaper!

It would look nice on Marc's website, wouldn't it?

The real Henry · Post by **The real Henry** » Fri Jun 23, 2006 5:44 pm

I thought I should just show you how my lid held up:

Full gear pics will follow soon!

J_Weaver · Post by **J_Weaver** » Fri Jun 23, 2006 5:45 pm

It really looks great! I still get a big laugh out of those original pics!

Fedora · Post by **Fedora** » Fri Jun 23, 2006 11:55 pm

On this hat, I spent the same time as on making one of my own from the very start. If I count the hours and devide them by the actuall leftover (after the trimmings were substracted), I'd more than probably get a better payed job, by moving my neightbors yard Granted, money is not the motivation behind this, nor should it be. Neither Steve nor I could make a living from our work. But for the time used on this hat, I could as well have made one of my own hats, for one of the guys desperately waiting on it.

So true Marc. I had to stop doing none AB reblocks because a reblock done correctly takes just as long as making a brand new hat!! I have reblocks stacked up to my ceiling and then other stacks as well. 32 waiting on reblocks, and these are the non ABs. The reblocks were killing my turnaround times on my own hats and I had to make the decision to stop. I hated it, because I love working those vintage hats!!!

By the time you pay taxes on the income from the hats, you discover you work for minimum wage!!! Or less.

Still, we are not in this for the money, I can assure you that. Marc's hats cost more than mine retail, but with the tax system the way it is in Germany, he makes less per hat than I do!! No, I could not do this for a living. That is what sets us apart from other hatters. They have to charge more so they can have a livlihood. I am talking the small custom hatters here. We are not giving these hats away, but darn near it. Believe it or not, we are in this for another reason. We are nuts about the Raiders fedora. Neither could ever find one that satisfied us, so we started doing them ourselves for ourselves. Now we sell them, at a fraction of what a pure beaver hat would cost from another hatter. But, we only specialize in one hat. The Raiders fedora. So, we don't hurt other hatters much at all with our prices. A very defined market we are in. Fedora

The real Henry · Post by **The real Henry** » Sat Jun 24, 2006 8:24 am

erri_wan wrote:Very cool new pictures Henry

Indiana_Tom wrote:Henry, your hat looks absolutely cool now. Can't believe it nearly was "destroyed"

Your hat is now officially pimped!

A great one, isn't it?

Have you read my text about it?

@Fedora: You're right, you ARE nuts, but a lot lot people apreciate you for that!

BTW- I've seen wool hats which cost as much as your fedoras!

T.E. Lawrence · Post by **T.E. Lawrence** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 1:59 am

I am impressed. Hmmmmmm Ya may be getting a lid from me, marc.

Erri · Post by **Erri** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 3:12 am

is it normal that I'm still laughing about the Pimp My Lid banner?

VP · Post by VP » Tue Jun 27, 2006 3:47 am

T.E. Lawrence · Post by **T.E. Lawrence** » Wed Jun 28, 2006 9:55 pm

Yes - Darn Funny

Marc Kitter(AB Deluxe) must have done something wrong!!!

Marc Kitter(AB Deluxe) must have done something wrong!!!

indy