The Slow Death of the Electric Guitar?
- Thread starter smitty_p
- Start date
OP
Regardless......the Violin is not dead it became the FIDDLE and was known to an entirely new round of listeners.....
instruments that have been around since the cave (DRUMS) are still here..........cave writting on walls isnt----- bye bye newspapers the guitar will endure.
Exactly.
RVA
Ambassador
And I am not quite as worked up as I seem. I have a lot of extra aggression to vent lately.
I do not dislike his playing really. I just think he is a bit smug. The least he could do is be a bit humble after all his "borrowing" and quietly adding credit to original artists after the fact. And I do not think he is "bad" in the universe of guitarists. Anything I say about these renowned musidians is pure personal listening preference, or a relative comparison to all other renowned musicians (and maybe some great unknowns). My opinions stem from my status as a consumer, not as a guitarist (which should be rather obvious - I post lots of clips of my playing!).
bea
AmBASSador of the F Clef
Maybe a bit back to the original article:
Basic points:
"the guitar sales are going down. Just 1 million copies sold instead of formerly 1.5". Per year. Well, admittedly 33% reduction. But 1 million guitars per year is quite a lot, isn't it?
How many guitars may already be out in the field?
And how relevant is it when a famous musician in his 70s reduces his collection of instruments?
To the lack of heros: as long as our old heros are living an as long as they are making music and as long as they are selling music they occupy the space new musicians need to become famous.
And the late 60s/early 70s were indeed a massive musical impact. It'll take its time until something new and strong can develop beside it.
As to the electronic music: I'm pretty sure electronics will have an influence to future music. But that's a tendency noticeable throughout the last century, if You go back though all musical styles of the Western cultures.
And a guitar is quite versatile - You can do virtually everything on an acoustic, and our "Heros" always did do that.
So i am pretty sure that the guitar might lose a bit of its dominance - maybe - but probably not too much: doing a three chord song on the guitar is a lot easier than programming an arrangement on the computer.
BTW: my children also play instruments: guitar, bass, vocals, piano, flute, a little bit of drumming.
Do You notice what's missing?
Yes, the electronics...
Basic points:
"the guitar sales are going down. Just 1 million copies sold instead of formerly 1.5". Per year. Well, admittedly 33% reduction. But 1 million guitars per year is quite a lot, isn't it?
How many guitars may already be out in the field?
And how relevant is it when a famous musician in his 70s reduces his collection of instruments?
To the lack of heros: as long as our old heros are living an as long as they are making music and as long as they are selling music they occupy the space new musicians need to become famous.
And the late 60s/early 70s were indeed a massive musical impact. It'll take its time until something new and strong can develop beside it.
As to the electronic music: I'm pretty sure electronics will have an influence to future music. But that's a tendency noticeable throughout the last century, if You go back though all musical styles of the Western cultures.
And a guitar is quite versatile - You can do virtually everything on an acoustic, and our "Heros" always did do that.
So i am pretty sure that the guitar might lose a bit of its dominance - maybe - but probably not too much: doing a three chord song on the guitar is a lot easier than programming an arrangement on the computer.
BTW: my children also play instruments: guitar, bass, vocals, piano, flute, a little bit of drumming.
Do You notice what's missing?
Yes, the electronics...
RVA
Ambassador
I fear that electronics v instruments may be an either/or proposition. So this makes the unfortunate point.
And while almost anyone can play an A chord, or other three chord delight, it is will then be necessary to have folks chose that over more complex and increasingly realistic electronic options.
chilipeppermaniac
Ambassador of Decibels
Back to something Bea made me think of. Has anyone considered with sales of 1,000,000 units sold vs 1.5 in the past plus all the other millions from other years, that there are plenty of USED guitars being played and sold in the used market therefore the stats could be a bit misleading?
chilipeppermaniac
Ambassador of Decibels
Smitty, speaking of which, I made a once lowly HSS Starcaster by Fender Strat Shaped guitar, into a sweet sounding usable guitar with the addition of my new Tortoise shell Hum/HUM loaded pickguard. I took it and my Marshall JMP Head to my buddy's place.
Both AMP and Guitar sounded great
Both AMP and Guitar sounded great
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RVA
Ambassador
It helps retailers, but not all that much. It does nothing to support manufacturers.
OP
I think the theory that @chilipeppermaniac is suggesting is that new sales may be lower today because there are so many used instruments (and I'll add that they are very readily available via Craig's List, eBay, and Reverb) which take away from new electric guitar sales.
Did I get that right, chili?
chilipeppermaniac
Ambassador of Decibels
Smitty, that was partly as I intended to say. The other part of that equation is my point makes it that just because new sales from guitar manufacturers shrunk, doesn't mean the death knell to guitar based music.
eSGEe
Ferengi Ambassador of Trade
EXACTLY Chili-- the USED market is alive and well look at the used section of any retailer--- or MUSIC GO ROUND or CRAIGSLIST --- naw.....just because people arent buying big ticket new guitars does not mean the death of guitars..........folks just getting wiser with the few $$$ they have. presently I have 4 guitars that I purchased new---all are LOW $ --- all the rest are USED.
Long Live the USED market!!!!
Long Live the USED market!!!!
RVA
Ambassador
I think he was elaborating on Bea's point, and propounding on the notion that, while new guitar sales may be down 1/3, used guitars are not in that figure, so more guitars are being sold than indicated. However, f you go back to the article, the original point was that the guitar industry as a whole was not sustainable.