The slow, secret death of the six-string electric.

[el diablo]

Actually - I just looked at the Billboard pop charts. Not a single guitar driven song on the list. In fact almost all of it is lame, forgettable, weak ass R&B flavored ear shit. What little guitar is there is buried.

Yet somehow, Coachella, Burning Man, Bonnaroo, Lightning in a Bottle etc etc grab an enormous amount of people to see geetar heavy bands. Sure, there is the mindless techno dance for the stoners, but it has hardly if ever made the main stages as a top act. Almost always in the outlying tents (Coachella) or during the day.

 

[Peen Simmons]

Yet somehow, Coachella, Burning Man, Bonnaroo, Lightning in a Bottle etc etc grab an enormous amount of people to see geetar heavy bands. Sure, there is the mindless techno dance for the stoners, but it has hardly if ever made the main stages as a top act. Almost always in the outlying tents (Coachella) or during the day.

The live business is heavily weighted toward heritage (read "old") acts. And Coachalollaroo is mostly about the experience. The fest is the "star." The acts are just filling time. For example, Lolla is happening in my city. I've seen ads. I'm on the mailing list. I don't know who the headliners are.

 

[vonbladet]

The live business is heavily weighted toward heritage (read "old") acts. And Coachalollaroo is mostly about the experience. The fest is the "star." The acts are just filling time. For example, Lolla is happening in my city. I've seen ads. I'm on the mailing list. I don't know who the headliners are.

Not everything that goes around comes around, but I think of those festivals as a reboot of the old variety touring bills:

Only with the Beatles replaced by the Quintessential Alt Beige-Rock of the Foo Fighters. (It is always the Foo Fighters. You might think you went and you don't remember the Foo Fighters, but what does that prove? Nobody ever remembers the Foo Fighters.)

 

[pmc100]

The guitar companies have been producing high quality instruments for decades and now with the internet you can easily find the ones that have sat in lofts for years and are mint, for half the price of buying new. The problem isn't lack of demand, it's too much supply.

 

[shoeless]

I thought this was an interesting point, from the article:

Andy Mooney, the Fender CEO, calls (Taylor) Swift “the most influential guitarist of recent years.”

“I don’t think that young girls looked at Taylor and said, ‘I’m really impressed by the way she plays G major arpeggios.’ ” Mooney says. “They liked how she looked, and they wanted to emulate her.”​

Kind of hard to argue with that. I mean...isn't that why so many pick up the instrument in the first place?

 

[Flamencology]

The guitar companies have been producing high quality instruments for decades and now with the internet you can easily find the ones that have sat in lofts for years and are mint, for half the price of buying new. The problem isn't lack of demand, it's too much supply.

Good point.

Doesn't even have to be mint. A guitar that's well-taken care-of can absolutely sustain decades of daily play without abuse or deterioration.

Of course, it's probably more about the first-time buyers more than anything, and those who have a legit buy-and-sell addiction.

 

[pmc100]

Good point.

Doesn't even have to be mint. A guitar that's well-taken care-of can absolutely sustain decades of daily play without abuse or deterioration.

Of course, it's probably more about the first-time buyers more than anything, and those who have a legit buy-and-sell addiction.

I'd go so far as to say it's the internet that's the biggest part of the problem. Henry J says it himself "we’re a music company". And like all the other music companies they've had their market squeezed by the internet changing consumer behaviour.

 

[TomcatMF]

Good point about the used guitar market, and the internet has made it far easier to find exactly what you want on said used market too.

Like all music forms that came before, there is a peak and then it is relegated to something that only a niche audience enjoys. Guitar rock hit its peak in the 90's, and it really hasn't had anywhere new to go since then. Now everything is a rehash of what came before.

Hip hop, rap and techno have really taken over in terms of what the masses like.

Country music has had a major resurgence in the last 25 years, but I think it is headed to where rock and metal were in the 80's.

And to be honest ever since MTV it has been more about a bands image than anything. All the music industry cares about now is eye candy, but at least it's much easier now to find music you like outside of the traditional media outlets.

 

[JC777]

I just read that article this morning. It has some good points but a lot of speculation that seems to miss the mark.
He doesn't mention that many people lost expendable income during and after the great recession and many more who never recovered from that period.
It touches but it doesn't expand on the glut. Fender doesn't need 27 Stratocaster models. Not to mention all of the other companies offering a Strat.
There will probably be a market correction, just like the stock market. Some smaller manufacturers will disappear. Other brands will go, only to reboot later, like Gretsch did.
Will it go away, I don't believe that. Will it shrink, definitely.

 

[surfsteve]

NEVAR!

 

[bsman]

NEVAR!

 

[rhino]

The guitar companies have been producing high quality instruments for decades and now with the internet you can easily find the ones that have sat in lofts for years and are mint, for half the price of buying new. The problem isn't lack of demand, it's too much supply.

This

I play guitar everyday, gig a couple times a week, do studio work, and can't afford new guitar prices. Even if I could, I don't know that I'd want new gear when I can wait and get a deal on a Gibson gold top for $600.