VERY Interesting article on the Guitar's Demise.....

[BboogieXVII]

Despite what is being said about music decline in general, school music sales such as woodwinds, brass and percussion are pretty steady and the digital piano market is good as well. Kids are still learning to play instruments but surely buying an electric guitar and learning to play like Eddie Van Halen is not at the top of their "to do" list. Music is more eclectic it seems these days, perhaps audiences are smaller and possibly better musically educated even than the days of yore.

Rock (featuring electric guitar) is definitely still declining in popularity but so what? It never was the pinnacle of music education it was a mass entertainment forum much like DJ driven events such as Coachella that are going on today

 

[fretter]

Is GC in debt because of a sales decline, or because of a wrong strategy and/or having been taken over by corporate raiders? A favorite strategy is to split the retail and real estate holdings, then make the retail arm rent from the real estate holdings. Then you borrow against the retail holdings and pay yourself hefty bonuses. Voila, you have a company that's heavily in debt.

 

[matante]

According to the article, acoustics are now outselling electrics. So your contention that people only want Strats and Teles is no longer true, statistically speaking. The average guitar player today is female and wants an acoustic. So there is an apparent sea-change regardless of the article's hype.

It's always been the case, in my experience, that every electric guitarist owns an acoustic, but not every acoustic player owns an electric.

 

[Sixgunn]

Rock is dead, God is dead, guitar is dead, blah, blah, blah.

 

[guy n. cognito]

Is GC in debt because of a sales decline, or because of a wrong strategy and/or having been taken over by corporate raiders?

Yes.

 

[Son of Wobble]

It's always been the case, in my experience, that every electric guitarist owns an acoustic, but not every acoustic player owns an electric.

that was then

this is now

TL, DR - Put a fork in old guys playing guitar.

 

[themarshall]

Is this about the electric guitar disappearing or the "guitar industry" fading in cultural relevance? Folks are going to continue to make music, and I, for one, will always take comfort in that.

 

[Son of Wobble]

I used to sell pianos. One of the guys I worked with in that store is a friend and still in piano sales. He gets calls every day from people wanting them to just "come get" their "grandma's piano". Most of them have been trying to sell it for months on Craigslist for even as little as $100. Many times my buddy goes to see the piano and then turns them down. He refuses to take the piano, even for free, because it is....literally....worthless. The disposal of the item costs more than the item is worth. Yes, virtually EVERY household had a piano or guitar at some point. Now they simply don't.

My 8 year old is interested in piano lessons. I wouldn't dream of getting an acoustic piano. Digitals have great actions and sound amazing. Never mind that studies have shown when children are able to practice with headphones they practice longer and stretch themselves more because they are not afraid of anyone else hearing their mistakes.

Back on the more specific topic, I taught bass lessons in the early 2000s. I had 16 slots most of the time but had to expand my lesson times and certain points because I was booked solid. The two guitar teachers were even more booked. These days, the same store still has lessons. The one guitar teacher has 10 students who no-show all the time and he teaches one bass player. That probably says as much about internet lessons as anything. But it says something.

The only thing I do know is that the new guitar/bass market can't simply keep growing. It just can't. Less people are playing guitar or bass. Of those, many of them like "old looking" guitars and basses. Reverb, Ebay, GC used, and Craiglist make it easier than ever to connect with a used guitar or bass of your dreams hundreds of miles away for hundreds less than new. Baby boomers who own a good percentage of the vintage instruments are getting to the age of no longer playing. Those guitars and basses will enter the market in a few years to a decade and we will see a small flood of vintage instruments. In my view, there are thousands and thousands of 60s, 70s and 80s guitars and basses sitting in cases in closets that haven't been touched in years. And when "Uncle Bob" passes away, or moves to the small assisted living condo, those guitars and basses will hit the market like a sledgehammer.

I see the same things happening in the firearms, model trains, vintage/tube electronics/ham radio, vintage cars, and other markets as well in the near future. "Uncle Bob" also has a 67 Nova SS, a WWII M1 Garand, an N scale model train still in the box, a vintage Yaesu tube ham radio, etc. All of these items will be in less and less demand and be "let go of" more and more. My daighter is 8 years old. Virtually NONE of her peers will EVER want a vintage Nova, old military rifle, old train set, old ham radio, old guitar, etc.

These are simply my opinions. Take them for what they are worth.

It doesn't, I suppose. But other than that and country where do you see guitar sales being driven? You and I know the prowess of Nashville guys, including stars like Brad Paisley. But do you think Brad Paisley is driving guitar sales? Most country fans don't have posters of him on their walls dreaming of the day they can chicken pick like him.

So I would argue that rock music drives guitar sales more than country.....especially if we're talking electric. That might be hard to see from where you sit....the country music mecca town with some of the best guitar shops on earth. But out here in the rest of the world Telecasters aren't exactly flying off the shelves. Most small shops won't even have one. Ours don't.

By the authority vested in me by OT....

 

[BassGH]

Guitarists are just waking up to the fact the basses are better and way more cool and hopping the fence.

I switched to bass a few years ago because the bass is a critical ingredient to way more commercially relevant entertainment than is the electric guitar. And it's much more fun than than the things that do call for guitar. I play in an Americana band that gives me room to really play, but I'd kill myself if I had so sit and strum the flat top all night.

 

[skwee]

Hang on. Aren't sales of anything that isn't "necessities" dropping because wages haven't matched inflation?

 

[Rib 13]

Hang on. Aren't sales of anything that isn't "necessities" dropping because wages haven't matched inflation?

 

[wintremute]

I'm pretty much on board with what Spazz is selling. It's not a true "death", but it does seem to really be going to a niche. Look at the history of pretty much every instrument. There's a time when they were in high demand, and then things slowed down. Music evolved and changed, and the instruments used did, too. Eventually, the electric guitar will be something that's occasionally used in the mainstream, or used by a specialist (like a violin).

 

[Son of Wobble]

I switched to bass a few years ago because the bass is a critical ingredient to way more commercially relevant entertainment than is the electric guitar. And it's much more fun than than the things that do call for guitar. I play in an Americana band that gives me room to really play, but I'd kill myself if I had so sit and strum the flat top all night.

I agree about electric bass, I don't think it is going anywhere.

 

[dan1952]

As someone who has spent my entire adult life in the music business (12 years as a full time performer and teacher, 10 years as a salesman for the Kay Guitar Company,23 years as the owner of a small guitar shop), I find it difficult to argue with the premise of the article. One of the main things I've learned is that no matter what I like, I can't dictate to the buying public what they want to buy. As a musician, I may have preferred to play "green Dolphin Street" or "Take Five,"but if the club-goers wanted to hear "Tie A Yellow Ribbon" or Donna Summer, I got paid to play those. When I sold to music stores, it made no difference that we had a warehouse full of beginner electric guitars, if the store owners wanted dreadnought acoustics, either we got some of those to sell or we sold nothing. As a retailer, if the folks coming into my shop want to buy ukuleles instead of Floyd Rose-equipped solid body electrics, I had better come up with some ukes. Just because I own a '66 P-bass with a '72 Jazz neck, and would like it to be worth $6,532.00, does not mean I can get that for it. Unfortunately for many TB'rs, as well as TDPRI members and others, just because we like guitar music does not mean that market can sustain itself. I'm glad that I'm nearly 65 years old, and won't have to keep trying to sell these accordions, er, I mean, guitars, for another 45 years...

 

[Alex Huddleston]

My city is literally flooded with bands of many different genres with members ranging from their late teens to early 30's. Everyone's trying to be in a band and in the "scene". Maybe there's a lack of interest from young people in the McDonalds county suburbs in the mid west or something, but I'm not seeing it here.

 

[Johnny Crab]

As soon as I opened the article and saw "George G" complaining, I understood where the article came from. With a zillion good and great instruments to choose from, a LOT of folks are no longer spending what a small home costs on an old guitar or bass George has for sale at a large mark-up over what he paid for it.

Semper Gumby(Always Flexible), ability to change = survival and sometimes happiness.

 

[alaskaleftybass]

I think we're seeing that MTV was both the boon and bane of guitar, and that the 60's/70's were an anomaly in music history. Part of the problem is short attention spans. Another is the education system. And finally, I can blame those pesky carrots as their orange influence on the world...

Best words to describe the situation. Instead of guitars kids are reaching for their phones constantly. Wanna see if their friends just had a burger or a beer. And real guitars? Too much work to learn how to play! Those who are learning to play are buying acoustic and trying to emulate the latest garbage the industry is spitting out-- ballads with acoustic strummers. The industry made every attempt after 2000 to kill the guitar gods scene and have succeeded quite nicely.

Play a guitar? Sure-- with Guitar Hero!

When I was a kid -- before MTV-- we had a band, and the only place to socialize, party, dance was the weekly dances we put on in our small town. Everyone met, caught up on news, and visited. How nice! Even danced! And I can't remember how many times we had people from the audience step up and sit in on a song. Seems like everyone played back then.

Today is about electronic music and DJ's. No wonder the band scene is dying. Rant over.

 

[cdef]

Just some scattered remarks:

My musical life has been shaped mostly by American guitar playing. Robert Johnson, Blind Blake, Leadbelly, Tampa Red, Fahey, Cooder, Kottke, Captain Beefheart's bands, etc. - generally, what's now called Americana. I had the fortune of seeing Jimi Hendrix live, and how he virtually reinvented the Fender Stratocaster, which was thought of as a twang/surf guitar before he burst on the scene. His liberating approach opened the way for the likes of EVH and technique-oriented "shredding" in general, including still current virtuoso "metal" styles. The one guy I wish I'd been aware of when it mattered was the fantastic and under-recorded Arthur Rhames, who died so young.

But contrary to monetary thinking, nothing can grow forever. It's obvious that the heady guitar era in popular music has been in decline for quite some time. With developing electronics, the world is going abstract. Digital technology "democratized" recording, so that anyone can now piece together something surprising and personal, if not actually musical. Postmodernism decrees that there be no real truths and no valid authorities on anything, so you don't need to woodshed or acquire any skills to be taken seriously. Art is as art does these days.

As for acoustics outselling electrics, I heard the same from my local guy, who has run his import business since 1980. He thought Taylor, a notable long-time builder, had really hit gold lately - because of Taylor Swift.

1970-ish, the British guitar educator Bert Weedon opined in the Melody Maker: "The guitar is the instrument of the '70s and '80s." I recall reading that and thinking, well, old man, it might go much farther than you think. But on reflection, I guess he was right in the main.

Accordion shop? Wow. Don't think I have ever heard of one in North America. ...

Chicago, for instance, used to have several accordion importers catering to the Italian immigrant community. In the mid-'60s, when The Beatles had hit the planet, most diverged into electric guitars - produced by erstwhile accordion manufacturers in Italy, who continued using their traditional pearloid materials for finishes.

 

[Son of Wobble]

My city is literally flooded with bands of many different genres with members ranging from their late teens to early 30's. Everyone's trying to be in a band and in the "scene". Maybe there's a lack of interest from young people in the McDonalds county suburbs in the mid west or something, but I'm not seeing it here.

I have lived in Portland, played music in Portland and remain a fan of the town. But I think it is definitely an outlier in terms of its continued enthusiasm for rock clubs, rock music and the "rock dream." For that matter, Portland is resting on its laurels in terms of bands that have managed to transcend the scene and go national or international. Stumptown's biggest bands, such as Pink Martini, Decemberists or Dandy Warhols, all happened one or two decades ago.

 

[fhm555]

Didn't read the article but i'm sure it's about the same message as the one i read in an issue of Guitar Player when MIDI was just becoming a thing. That issue featured Allan Holdworth and his latest toy, an electric six string modded to be a MIDI controller. Back then it was the rise of devices producing computer generated music that would be the death of traditional pop music instruments. I'm not sure how we managed to screw that up, but i'm betting we'll screw it up this time as well. I figure as long as we have live wall outlets there will be people willing to stick amp plugs in them. I certainly know i will keep wasting current making the neighborhood cats howl in anguish for as long as possible, but that is strictly one ham and eggers opinion, and for now it's not been made illegal. Not like i'd give a tinker's damn if it became illegal though. Living up in the sticks offers certain advantages, one of which is no nosy neighbors obsessed with "what's he doing in there".