Posted on 06/22/2017 4:29:03 PM PDT by Drew68
The convention couldn’t sound less rock-and-roll — the National Association of Music Merchants Show. But when the doors open at the Anaheim Convention Center, people stream in to scour rows of Fenders, Les Pauls and the oddball, custom-built creations such as the 5-foot-4-inch mermaid guitar crafted of 15 kinds of wood.
Standing in the center of the biggest, six-string candy store in the United States, you can almost believe all is well within the guitar world.
Except if, like George Gruhn, you know better. The 71-year-old Nashville dealer has sold guitars to Eric Clapton, Neil Young, Paul McCartney and Taylor Swift. Walking through NAMM with Gruhn is like shadowing Bill Belichick at the NFL Scouting Combine. There is great love for the product and great skepticism. What others might see as a boom — the seemingly endless line of dealers showcasing instruments — Gruhn sees as two trains on a collision course.
“There are more makers now than ever before in the history of the instrument, but the market is not growing,” Gruhn says in a voice that flutters between a groan and a grumble. “I’m not all doomsday, but this — this is not sustainable.”
The numbers back him up. In the past decade, electric guitar sales have plummeted, from about 1.5 million sold annually to just over 1 million. The two biggest companies, Gibson and Fender, are in debt, and a third, PRS Guitars, had to cut staff and expand production of cheaper guitars. In April, Moody’s downgraded Guitar Center, the largest chain retailer, as it faces $1.6 billion in debt. And at Sweetwater.com, the online retailer, a brand-new, interest-free Fender can be had for as little as $8 a month.
What worries Gruhn is not simply that profits are down. That happens in business.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
I have been fearful of losing the use of my hands. I have RA and my g-mom did, too. Never thought about guitar for that. She played the organ until in her late 60’s I think. Probably not as much movement needed. I think arthritis is stress related. Tonight trying Benedryl for the first time.
Who tol' you that Snoop Doggy Dogg be puttin' an organ in his mouth? That's nasty.
Who is that?
Kids today are being sold on the notion that cars are evil. You only buy (or lease) one to get a side hustle of driving for Uber. Otherwise bike, take public transport, or live in small pocket communities.
We’ve been Bonamassa fans for many years. I’d love to go on one of his cruises. How exciting for you! Hubby just can’t walk well enough now to go.
He’s always played a little but the suggestion actually came from his doctor. Good luck.
At no time in my life did I ever feel that I could ONLY listen to what was "hip" and "current". A bit of this and a bit of that. No point in junking a hundred years of recorded sound any more than there is in junking hundreds of years of art or literature or written history.
What I like about what I play is that it merges some of my favorite motifs. Bach, Miles Davis and Deep Purple to name a few. I keep 8 different guitars tuned to different keys to be able to switch styles on the fly. All of them hot-rodded.
I still suck as a player but have fun with it.
The arena rock/stadium rock/corporate rock era was actually short blip in the history of music and it came courtesy of Bill Graham. The bands still playing the sheds today are the ones that played the stadiums in the 70s and 80s and they play to the same audiences.
“The Master and the Musician” was epic (mostly) unplugged.
And “Beyond Nature” gives great solace to the dying (which we all are) and the “living” (who are not yet aware that they are dying).l
Go into a pawn shop in any town and they are jammed with guitars for cheap.
My Gibson collection is valuable too but guitars were meant to be played and I still play them. Not every day, but when the mood strikes me. Mostly play the stuff I bought in pawn shops for next to nothing.
I haven’t read the whole thread, but I’m hoping you are both wrong. My son is in a band, and I always tell the guys they are bringing rock and roll to their generation. They are touring some, and we hope that they continue on the trajectory they are currently on. We know it’s a long shot, but the lead guitarist is massively talented. He was born to do this. They are neither divas nor fruits.
My musical talent ended in high school playing the tuba. Played the tuba because I sucked at the trumpet and we needed a tuba player.
Additionally, I am the guy at church that sings to himself so as not to throw off everyone else including the choir.
Blues is kind of that way too. But what I notice there is a different demographic characteristic. Blues was, of course, created by black artists. However, over the years, the audiences have become mostly white, with a few older black fans in the mix. Few young blacks seem to be interested in the music of their forefathers. It’s all about hip hop now. But, some new black blues artists are coming onto the scene. Some of you may know of Gary Clark, Jr. There is also a very talented teenage guitarist straight from the Mississippi Delta named Christone “Kingfish” Ingram.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7C6pL3aUSBo
I've seen him in concert twice.
Jaw dropping. The man is just impossibly good.
While I haven't seen Keaggy play live in decades, he is one of the ones that I track concerts - even if a thousand miles away.
Danny and the Juniors were wrong.
Shame.
The biggest new demographic buying guitars are teenage girls, fueled in large part by Taylor Swift.
On another note, you can get a great quality cheap guitar nowadays. Really no comparison to the low end crap of the 60s and 70s. In fact I’ve played Squire strats that are far better quality than the CBS era USA Fender I owned in the 70s. You certainly don’t get 10 times the quality for 10 times the money.
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