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Why is the guitar dying?

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Post by Barry Tue Nov 07, 2017 4:28 pm

Doesn't anyone care anymore?

Read...Discuss

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Post by Westbone Tue Nov 07, 2017 4:53 pm

X Factor, Britain/USA got talent, you only need to warble a bit... :barf 2 :Teenagers love it and it's shoved down yer throat.
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Post by corsair Tue Nov 07, 2017 5:16 pm

Could be true. Who knows; these are industry wonks in an industry that is run by bean counters. I do know that the local music shop does a decent trade in new guitars - either high-end or budget, nothing in between - and that's in a tiny wee town like Hervey Bay.

I agree that there are not the guitar heroes with a profile like the vastly over-rated Hendrix, or Page, Clapton et al and that could well be contributing to a lack of newer, young players stepping up.

The fact that Gibson and Fender are in all kinds of financial trouble is probably not due to the falling sales of guitars; more likely to be over-extended lines of credit, poor investment advice, the falling off of manufacturing standards and stepping away from their core business and dabbling in poop that has nothing to do with guitars and  - importantly - failing to read what players wanted/liked/required over the years and just peddling the same old, retreaded crap.

Dunno. But there is most likely a grain of truth in there someplace, and perhaps - although it saddens me more than I can say - Damian's right; youth of today is attuned to whatever reality dross is on the box and interweb... that and the fact that they expect instant results and playing an instrument is NOT instant, particularly if one wants to play well!!

On a personal note, I have 3 teenagers at home presently and they all detest those poxy, all pervasive "talent shows", but they have been brought up on TV off, stereo on and live music being played....
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Post by gittarasaurus Tue Nov 07, 2017 5:23 pm

i am a native of Washington DC and read the Post frequently. now i live in San Francisco and my brother-in-law lives in the Washington DC area. he reads the Post daily and he sent me a link to this article when it first appeared. this was my response:

I think in general he (the author) has a good assessment of current world of guitars. In the second video, Vernon Reid gets it right about how in years past, a record release was a major event, how the commitment and effort involved in acquiring and experiencing a new record increased it’s impact on the listener. And contrast that with the effortless way people get music from digital downloads and thoughtlessly “listen” to the tracks. There is so much stuff available now that nothing has the same impact as the release of a new album by Hendrix or Clapton or Led Zeppelin used to have.

In terms of guitar music, there is a digital toolbox that allows most anyone to create music without the tedious years of practice required to master guitar or another instrument. That is okay for some music consumers. i guess it fits with the idea that Taylor Swift is an influential guitar player. today, it is the image that is attractive, not the technique or creativity. at least everybody still knows guitars are cool (but just too much trouble to learn how to actually play).

I was talking recently with a friend about how the age of the guitar hero was a unique thing and there is not another generation in line to carry the torch. Nobody wants to be a guitar god anymore, they want to be famous YouTube stars.

I still love my guitars and my guitar music, whatever the market does… and there are still many great players out there, it is just a bit harder to find them. live music is where it is at, because it is the only way to actually earn money these days. an artist will starve on royalties alone. live performance and direct sales is how to make money in today’s music world.
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Post by Westbone Tue Nov 07, 2017 5:52 pm

While more and more live music venues/pubs are closing rapidly in the UK. Forty odd a week apparently.
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Post by Barry Tue Nov 07, 2017 9:38 pm

I know we've touched on this subject before, here and there in several posts, but it was largely anecdotal and observational. But when you see this sort of article in a prominent publication it does tend to legitimize the gut feelings.

I was certainly witness to it first hand at Guitars n Amps in Milton. The decline was rather swift for us, within about 18 months or so. The owner and I spent many hours together in an empty store wondering just what the 'ell was going on. And this, in a relatively upper middle class area too.

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Post by corsair Wed Nov 08, 2017 12:51 am

gittarasaurus wrote: a record release was a major event, how the commitment and effort involved in acquiring and experiencing a new record increased it’s impact on the listener.

You have to remember though, that the record companies controlled what was being released, not the artists.


gittarasaurus wrote:In terms of guitar music, there is a digital toolbox that allows most anyone to create music without the tedious years of practice required to master guitar or another instrument. That is okay for some music consumers. i guess it fits with the idea that Taylor Swift is an influential guitar player. today, it is the image that is attractive, not the technique or creativity. at least everybody still knows guitars are cool (but just too much trouble to learn how to actually play).

Yep.


gittarasaurus wrote:I still love my guitars and my guitar music, whatever the market does… and there are still many great players out there, it is just a bit harder to find them.

As do we all in here, I would think!!


gittarasaurus wrote:[i]live music is where it is at, because it is the only way to actually earn money these days. an artist will starve on royalties alone. live performance and direct sales is how to make money in today’s music world.
[/i]

Irony much?! In the "old days" it was the songwriting royalties that made the artist the money!
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Post by xbarnesx Wed Nov 08, 2017 4:50 am

I think we're due a guitar based musical renaissance
something like grunge or punk before it
at some point kids will rebel against the homogenised 'product' being presented too them
hopefully
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Post by Barry Wed Nov 08, 2017 10:00 am

xbarnesx wrote:...at some point kids will rebel against the homogenised 'product' being presented too them hopefully
That can't come soon enough for me.
I am sick to death of rap crap and (shudder) the no-talent One Direction type "bands". Barf 2

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Post by The Chad Wed Nov 08, 2017 11:47 am

I think that the online secondary market has greatly affected new guitar sales.  This would be difficult to prove, it's my hypothesis.  With Craigslist, Fleabay, and Reverb offering a slew of used guitars, while offering ease of use, huge variety, and often lower prices, why bother taking time to visit an actual store for something new?  Heck, I'm sort of this way.  Though I will always frequent brick and mortar establishments to support them wherever they meet my need.  

Simmons said "Rock is dead".  He meant in the mainstream, I think.  He's very much correct, hence the guitar decline.  If it cycles around again, it'll surge.  If and when.
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Post by mortarman120gang11c Wed Nov 08, 2017 9:29 pm

I am Happy that my children chose to learn to play an instrument(any instrument) and chose the guitar, Bass, Banjo and a few others.  It seems to me that the generations of today are just to lazy to put in the time to practice and learn when they can just go to some electronic gadget or software and play whatever they want by pressing a few buttons.. We all know that music comes from the soul and we need to pass that feeling along to the younger generations.  I always enjoy it when I am playing live and a young person comes up between sets and asks about what I am playing and what type amp I am using to get my sound. They find it hard to believe that an amp from 1972 and a Bass or guitar 35+yrs old is got that cool sound.  Enjoy your music and pass it along.
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Post by xbarnesx Thu Nov 09, 2017 4:46 am

The Chad wrote:I think that the online secondary market has greatly affected new guitar sales.  This would be difficult to prove, it's my hypothesis.  With Craigslist, Fleabay, and Reverb offering a slew of used guitars, while offering ease of use, huge variety, and often lower prices, why bother taking time to visit an actual store for something new?

I see that on ebay now, items with buy it now prices over a certain amount have a 'from X amount for X number of months' offers under the buy it now price using PayPal credit
making it even easier and offering an option that some shops used to offer
as you said impossible to prove but must be a factor IMO




I've a couple of shops I'll always browse in when I'm passing and I prefer to buy guitars from, but that's all used gear as well
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