Why my guitar gently weeps (The death of the electric guitar industry -and why you should care)

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.

Awesome, thanks! One of my favorite songs from a CD I've way overplayed and he does a nice job with it.

In fact, the main reason I think the electric guitar industry is not ready for death is YouTube videos.

I've learned a lot and and get a lot of inspiration from players of all levels watching their YouTube videos.

Some of my best teachers are the younger players covering my favorite songs note for note on YouTube.

A few have their own websites and are so good that I feel like I'd be stealing from them if I didn't donate/pay for the lessons I get for free.

In fact, I wonder how life would be different now if I had had this kind of access to so much information and instruction when I was say 10 or 11 or so, instead of now many decades later.

Music has such power over and influence on the human mind, emotions and soul that the music we listen to and feed ourselves with plays a major role in determining our quality of life, both as individuals and as a society.

Observationally, the spiritual health or nature of an individual, culture or society can be seen in its music.

Learning to understand, play and think in music improves brain function and quality of thought, especially in young and growing brains, just as it does with healing damaged brains and maintaining older brains.

The act of playing music with an instrument, whether as a beginner or as a virtuoso, is demanding, both intellectually and athletically, and satisfying, especially once a person has learned and practiced enough to be able to express themselves in their playing, like he does playing Blurry.

Thanks to the internet, there's never been a better time to learn and play an instrument than right now, and it's too late to start playing, either...not unless you tell yourself it is.

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