The Washington Post laments the death of the electric guitar

[masterhiggins]

I think the midlife crisis generation alone would be capable of keeping electric guitar manufacturers and Harley Davidson in business.

[MFXxx]

Thinks theres more chance of a tabloid paper dying of death than the legendary guitar!? At least 5000 people here think so
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwToWt_8QDI

[Karma_tba]

Dead Guitar...!!??? I think not. Tolerate the ad and listen in it's entirety...Prince is irreplaceable.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SFNW5F8K9Y

[pekbro]

I think the midlife crisis generation alone would be capable of keeping electric guitar manufacturers and Harley Davidson in business.

IME those guys mostly buy cheap guitars because they don't know anything about them.

I do know one guy who collects them and has 60 + quality and Vintage instruments. Even though, he can't play them. He is a millionaire though. The rest all buy cheapies, then quickly give up on learning and forget about them.

[incubus]

It's ridiculous. But hey, the media wants all of us to like katty purry, little vain, kuntyay worst, justin boober, tostitos, deadmouse/bored and a host of other nonsense bullshit.

In the meantime, guitarists are going stronger and stronger.

[sfxsound3]

No guitars, no pianos and no violins for me thank you! Oh, and of course no 'orchestral'. Four sounds that need to disappear from the face of the earth yesterday.

[ghettosynth]

Dead Guitar...!!??? I think not. Tolerate the ad and listen in it's entirety...Prince is irreplaceable.

Not to be morbid, but he's gone, so you're not really countering the argument in the article. People aren't buying guitars like they used to, we know that and the article is not wrong there. Before some of you respond with your anecdotal counter evidence, this isn't about small observations, it's about how many millions of dollars a year in guitars people are buying compared to what they used to buy.

People are buying modular synthesizers, DJ controllers, small synthesizers and other tools to create music. A big difference between these "easy to use tools" and the casios and wurlitzer fun machines of previous generations is that they are capable of creating music that people want to hear. The difference between what comes out of the toy and what you hear on the dance floor is nowhere near as large as it was when previous generations were using casios to make music. So, the impetus to actually learn an instrument is less than it was. That's part of what the article is trying to get at.

Instead of citing a dead hero, you need to find heros that the next generation is listening to. The article cited Taylor Swift as a guitar hero, of sorts, yeah, that's not really going to work.

[Mister Natural]

I read the WaPo article to be focused on manufacturers and dealers of new instruments. I see both a glut of used instruments on the market and a trendy fascination with "vintage" GTRs. Magnifying these factors - the aging of the Boomer generation, many of whom have collected multiple instruments and are now selling them off (at a decent profit).
No wonder new instrument sales are depressed !
I see plenty of young players out here in love with the sound of their loud GTRs
. . . now the market for guitar amplifiers on the other hand . . . totally sucks

[Hink]

I read the WaPo article to be focused on manufacturers and dealers of new instruments. I see both a glut of used instruments on the market and a trendy fascination with "vintage" GTRs. Magnifying these factors - the aging of the Boomer generation, many of whom have collected multiple instruments and are now selling them off (at a decent profit).
No wonder new instrument sales are depressed !
I see plenty of young players out here in love with the sound of their loud GTRs
. . . now the market for guitar amplifiers on the other hand . . . totally sucks

I dont think the amp market sucks tbh, nor will electric guitars go away. I do think that there has been too many boutiquecompanies for both guitars and amps that is getting absurd. I also think Fender and Gibson both have cut their own throats here with all their signature models, the article says the guitar gods are no more, I hope signature models are no more soon too.

There are good deals out there on both guitars and amps though if you avoid the big players

[ghettosynth]

I read the WaPo article to be focused on manufacturers and dealers of new instruments. I see both a glut of used instruments on the market and a trendy fascination with "vintage" GTRs. Magnifying these factors - the aging of the Boomer generation, many of whom have collected multiple instruments and are now selling them off (at a decent profit).
No wonder new instrument sales are depressed !
I see plenty of young players out here in love with the sound of their loud GTRs
. . . now the market for guitar amplifiers on the other hand . . . totally sucks

Yes, it addressed that. There would be fewer used instruments and more demand for new instruments if there were new collectors replacing the old.

What what any one of us sees won't amount to what's responsible for millions of dollars in sales.

The theory is that there aren't really any new guitar heroes to drive interest in guitar. That may be true, I suppose, or it may be that guitar heroes are just an outdated idea. There are plenty of DJ heroes. At one point the accordion was ostensibly the most popular instrument in America.

[Mister Natural]

I dont think the amp market sucks tbh. . .

Hink, take a look at your Portland CraigsList to see how many amplifiers are available there. So many guys have gone to Pods, Zooms, AmpSims considering all the apartment dwellers who can't crank it up to 11 any longer

peace

[ghettosynth]

I dont think the amp market sucks tbh. . .

Hink, take a look at your Portland CraigsList to see how many amplifiers are available there. So many guys have gone to Pods, Zooms, AmpSims considering all the apartment dwellers who can't crank it up to 11 any longer

peace

Clearly this is a part of the changing landscape. Perhaps people don't need amps because far fewer are playing live? Also though, before good amp sims you need amps to record as well. Not so much anymore.

There are still a lot of small garage bands but there demand for cover bands and working bands has definitely declined.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/these-days ... e=facebook

I think part of this shifting landscape is the shift in DJ landscape as well. In the 90s you still had to buy vinyl and have a large passive PA to DJ. Even when CDJs came on strong it was still not as easy and inexpensive as it is today.

Today every kid has a laptop, tons of music, and one can easily and inexpensively get into DJing with a cheap controller and some lightweight inexpensive powered speakers. Yesterday's stupid deal of the day was a 12" powered speaker for $99.

So, as it becomes much easier to enter the DJ market, and kids are more interested in electronic music, the price of DJs goes down and proms, weddings, sweet 16s, corporate parties, and small bars are choosing DJs instead of bands.

[Hink]

I dont think the amp market sucks tbh. . .

Hink, take a look at your Portland CraigsList to see how many amplifiers are available there. So many guys have gone to Pods, Zooms, AmpSims considering all the apartment dwellers who can't crank it up to 11 any longer

peace

but wouldn't that improve the market on used amps though? Republic, Frenezl and a few others I cant think of off the top of my head are selling awesome hand wired, point to point tube amps at great prices. Imo that's where the market also doesn't suck and I hope the trend continues...btw until last oct I was an apartment dweller and look at my amps...it can be done. However another factor is not so many bands like back in the day, no one needs a stack anymore so I do see your point and I do get it. I just think the market is changing, 1,2 and 5 watt tube amps are getting more popular than 50 or 100 watt stacks and I think that is awesome, I hope that trend continues.

Oh ftr my portland is no where near me and in fact is about as close to Boston as it is to me

[ghettosynth]

1,2 and 5 watt tube amps are getting more popular than 50 or 100 watt stacks and I think that is awesome, I hope that trend continues.

Yes, but, you can only sell those for so much to the masses, so that's going to affect the "market."

It's more than need though, it's become uncool to own a giant guitar amp, and, it's very much like the synth market, kids don't care as much about digital vs pure analog. That kind of imagery is just not as prevalent in popular culture.

Hell, even I don't care. I have a 57 Magnatone that I rebuilt, it's cool as hell, and an early 70s champ that needs some work that I can't be bothered to do. Even though they're both little tube amps, I prefer my little fender mustang amp that my neighbor pulled out of the trash and gave to me. It's a lot more flexible and it's close enough to just jam with. I can assure you that if I played out again, I would use a lightweight solid state amp.

God there was a time when you couldn't pay me to play through a solid state amp, but these days the differences just aren't as big as they used to be.

[SODDI]

Guitar heroes... like Ted Nugent?