Hamer - Miscellaneous Information

Tom Petersson’s “Schmata”

About 15 years ago there was considerable discussion about what Tom Petersson had hanging from the neck of his Hamer Quad 12-string bass during the Cheap Trick concerts at Budokan, Japan in 1978. For lack of a better term we referred to it as the “Schmata”, which is Yiddish for "rag". Many theories about its true nature were advanced including a tie-dyed scarf, a feather boa, a macrame plant holder, long fringe or a device that allowed Tom to communicate with extra-terrestrials.

It seemed clear that the Schmata was multi-segmented, perhaps like a collection of long braided lengths of tie-dyed fringe. While the scarf and boa theories were completely discredited by these photos, I stuck with my extra-terrestrial theory.

These three photos show the Schmata being used two months after the Budokan concerts. They were taken in Buffalo, New York in June of 1978. It is starting to come apart, particularly the red section at the top. It appears Tom tied this section into a bow.

We finally found proof of the actual nature of Tom's Schmata. It is a senbazuru. The senbazuru is made by the Japanese paper folding art of origami and is composed of 1,000 colored origami cranes strung in rows. Cranes are considered to be a sign of good luck, and the senbazuru is often left at a temple with hopes that a wish will be granted. While there are many different ways to fold an origami crane, it appears that the color sequence often follows a traditional pattern.

The fact that the senbazuru is made from paper explains why Tom only used this on stage for a short time. It certainly would not withstand the punishment of repeated Cheap Trick concerts.