The premise of this diatribe is a post about the sagging sales of electric guitars. A friend posted a link to an article which I found interesting but lacking in vision. Or, perhaps I had nothing else better to do and felt like writing. I do this occasionally. Sometimes when I respond to an online acquaintance I do have a bit of creativeness. The resulting post sometimes leads me down a path to where I might actually have to think about something. This is an issue I’ve always had when pressured in creative writing classes. It also explains why I got mediocre grades. Stress is not my most productive motivator. In fact, it is the opposite. Stress kills. It kills many things both mentally and physically. Anyway, the following is such a post. I have since expanded on the subject with a bit of personal history.
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For the record, yes, I own a Fender Stratocaster. It is even a US Deluxe Stratocaster. It is a lithe instrument with smooth sultry lines, and horns. It has no paint just a natural blonde wood finish. I don't normally name my gear but this one is called “The Blonde”. Improper English or not, I chose blonde as it is the female gender of the word despite addressing an inanimate object. How can anyone call a guitar “inanimate”? After all it does sing. Anyway, the fact that I call it “The Blonde” should tell you something about how I consider this guitar. It has a black pick guard with a solid maple neck and fret board. Just think of Keith Richard's “Micawber” but in a Stratocaster form and you will have a good idea of its appearance, less the excessive wear and sweat stains. I also have a Telecaster. It too is a US Deluxe. But I consider this one special as it is all black finish with a very faint gold flecks (Montego Black) that matches the satin gold pick guard. It has white binding around the edge of the body and a rosewood finger board with the standard maple neck. It is a very pretty guitar. I bought these two lovelies over a short period of time after having a D'Angelico Excel DC for several years. I love playing the D'Angelico as it is lightning fast, smooth and pliable, with a warm clean tone. No Tele twang here. But it is extremely heavy. The two Fender purchases were to get different sounds than what I already had. I have a couple other odd Taylor electrics. But, I am mostly an acoustic fan. Do I play them all? Yes but not nearly as much nor as well as I would like. You see, I consider myself as a “two bit hack” when it comes to my guitar skills.
A late online acquaintance, may he rest in peace, often ranted about people plying their music for free. I always disagreed with him as it was the only way I was ever going to get my music out where people might actually listen. I understood his argument and agreed that it had merit. The merit is that free music normalized the musician from a god-like status to just a schmuck who happened to play guitar. The later is my realm. According to my late friend’s argument, those that did not charge money harmed those who did because it robbed them of listeners, fans, and customers. This begs the question; does the listener think less of the music if it is free? More importantly does free music lessen the desire to be like the musician? These are valid questions but not really pertinent to this rant. The argument here is whether the listener is driven by the performance to achieve some lofty goal? As a musician I honestly can say, “I hope so.” For my late friend’s argument I would like to say that the cost of the music has nothing to do with my goal as a guitarist.
The hypothesis here is that the music feeds the creation of new musicians. I believe this to be true. In the eyes of the listener, the ability to play holds value. Though the desire to learn to play may strike the listener, there are hurdles to overcome before they can consider themselves guitarists. Thus, it is a leap of faith to dump a lump of cash into a guitar, particularly when cash is short. Very few are willing to fork out over a grand for a Fender US made Stratocaster or Telecaster as their first purchase. They simply cannot raise the cash or are unwilling to commit such resources. But, achieving the lofty goal of “Guitar God” begins with the purchase. Even though, considering the cost of a new Fender US Deluxe Stratocaster, the real costs of playing are dedication and time. Some measure this in hours to at least 5 digits. So, regardless of the cost of the first guitar, the purchase price ends up costing much more than money. It demands commitment. Trust me with this one.
I have spent large sums of money on guitars, gear, and services; more than I will ever earn from my marketing efforts, by several orders of magnitude. Over the last couple of years, a marketing site has received about $100 of my hard earned cash to market a single song. This site markets my song to a wide variety of other sites and vendors to be either listened to as an online radio or as a purchase in a digital format. Depending on where the song is played/purchased I earn anywhere from 0.05 to 0.2 cents on each instance. Obviously, this is stored in earned credits and only paid out after accruing the proper amount of credit, meaning I never get paid. Such is the nature of online music for the artist particularly when they are not serious. Last I looked I have earned nearly 40 cents on the one song in the years I have had it on this marketing sight. As you can see, there is a degree of imbalance in this relationship. This cost ratio does not even begin to address the costs of the guitars, strings, microphones, amps, cables, digital gizmos, computers and software that have gone into what I can only call a hobby. It is a hobby as it is not paying for itself much less earning something that resembles income on a tax return. That means I cannot write off the gear as investment capitol. As I said, commitment.
While I, by my account, have done my part in supporting the musical gear industry, particularly with regards to the guitars themselves; the sales of high end guitars are declining. Why is that? It was hard to figure from my perspective. The local shop owner loved me. You could almost see the dollar signs pop in his eyes every time I picked up a guitar. But even with my extravagant buying he went out of business. In his last couple years he stopped carrying higher end guitars like Taylor and Martin, heaven forbid he stock a Collins, and started placing Yamaha brands on the walls. Now, I have plucked enough Yamaha boxes to know that you can find a gem but you have to go through a lot of duds and wait until that good one comes along. OR you could just buy a brand that offers a better product. It is easier that way. My friend once loaned me a 12 string Yamaha for the summer in 1980. It was a wonderful guitar. It is hard to imagine that what was on the wall of the local shop was from the same manufacturer. One bit of advice here. Do not buy anything you cannot play. It may look pretty on the web but sounds like a box full of cotton balls.
My first guitar resembled Frankenstein's Monster, only in the form of a guitar. It was a Gibson J45 body with a National brand neck bought by my father sometime around 1950. The body was traditional tobacco sunburst, which I have come to love over the years, with ivory bindings. It was well used with the finish worn through to the wood on the neck at the headstock and around the hole. I guess we know where my father spent most of his playing time. Overall, the finish was checked with scratches and one very small crack in the wood. The action was very high making it hard to play up the neck toward the body which may explain the finish wear at the top of the neck. Yet, it had such a warm and mellow sound, a sound that I did not appreciate until decades later. It is also a sound that I have not been able to replicate even in a newer Gibson J45. Sadly, Frankenstein was crushed by some rough housing dorm mates; thus, prompting the lend of the Yamaha 12 string. Frankenstein now resides with the same friend, a luthier friend. I hope to revive the monster. Frankenstein gotta love it.
In the world of guitars, at least those that cost more than $500, there are brands that a player will look to. Yes, there are permanent fixtures like Martin or Taylor. But the list of reputable brands changes as the market shifts. The first guitar I bought was a Washburn Prairie Song 12 sting. I still have it after nearly 40 years. It was bought right at the time when Brazilian rosewood was banned from import to the United States. The Prairie Song 12 string is Brazilian rosewood back and sides with a (too thin) spruce top. It has maple and rosewood laminate binding, solid mahogany neck with maple and walnut triangle fret markers and MOP inlay on the headstock. The rosewood on the back and sides is beautiful. It looks like long flowing auburn hair streaked with lighter and darker strands. It is a very pretty guitar. It also sounds better than almost anything I have ever played. The action is surprisingly low and quick for a 12 string. The point is that this is a wonderful guitar made by a manufacturer with a well deserved bad reputation particularly with regard to acoustic guitars. The Prairie Song is an exception to the rule. It is almost like Washburn decided that the remaining special rosewood would be to put to market in a form worthy of the now banned wood. I got lucky. Though, decades later the too thin top warped requiring a bridge doctor. I still play it often. Its sound is not as loud as it was before the bridge doctor but it still sounds amazing.
The Prairie Song sat for many years untouched which did not help the top. After picking it up again I worried about the top. The dip at the bridge was progressively getting worse, forcing me to again set the beauty aside and buy another 12 sting guitar. I ended up with an Alvarez jumbo which has been hanging in the same place on the wall since the Prairie Song was repaired. Now, the Alvarez is not a bad guitar. It is a jumbo body mahogany back and sides with a satin antique finish. It is not a bad guitar. The action is quite good but it is not that of the Prairie Song. It also smells very weird, mahogany wood I am guessing. I do play it but only on rare occasions. It, as with most of my not well used guitars, needs strings and could benefit from a bit of tweaking on the neck. Why did I buy it? That is a good question, one I cannot answer. I liked the finish and body style. The sound was obviously good in the store. Its uniqueness did not become apparent till later. Much like my first purchase of a 6 string acoustic the experience was less than ideal.
Martin makes some of the best guitars in the world. When I was learning how to play I was always jealous of the sound of a Martin, bright, crisp, plenty of bottom end which was also crisp. This was in contrast to Frankenstein's Monster, my first guitar. With a need to start playing again and no guitar I could rely on, I went to “Ben Jacks Guitar Center”. There I found a Martin D-1932 Shenandoah, a 6 string “Martin-esque” dreadnought with laminated mahogany back and sides. It was one of the first Martins to be made outside of the US and an entry model into the mid range price markets. The guitar is built like a tank, and like a tank, it lacks a degree of delicate tonal quality. In the acoustic sound room of the store it sounded great. I had also not been playing for about 8 years so my ears were also a bit rusty. This was not the Martin I wanted. I had a mental sound of what it should sound like and this was not it. Though, it is not that it was bad. Again, it was different. Its bottom end was not what I expected, flat not dynamic, something I attribute to the laminate back and sides. It also lacks a certain clarity and definition in the high end. Perhaps lacking vibrancy and projection are the words. The medium strings ate my fingers too. Yet, I played this guitar for years, always hoping the tone would “open up”. I cut my recording teeth using the Thinline built in pickup then moved on to microphones. I still have it and use it mostly with open tunings. With a mic and open tunings the recorded sound is great. I am not sure why there is a difference.
I bought my first electric guitar several years later. It was a D'Angelico Excel DC, a Gibson-esque 335 style semi-hollow body arch top with smooth clean humbucker pickups and a nice tobacco sunburst finish. Little did I know that this purchase would lead me through an expensive course with stop offs at Alvarez, Seagull, Regal, Taylor, Gretsch, and Fender, and a few other nameless purchases. Note that Gibson does not appear in this list. Of course all the electric gear required amplifiers. This is not a cheap hobby. I was trying to fill the house with guitars that had unique voices. For the most part they are unique sounding. No, I do not play all of them all the time. Yes, there are some I have not touch in years. I spend most of my time on the acoustics mainly a Taylor Presentation Series jumbo style, the 614ce (Grand Auditorium style body), and the Prairie Song. If I pickup an electric it is most often the D'Angelico Excel DC.
But I digress.
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The question is; why is the electric guitar market in the toilet? The reasons for declining electric guitar market could be due to several things; saturation, over pricing, or duties and regulations on imported tone wood. There are many economical threads that could explain the market decline. I have to ask myself why are the prices so high? Over the last few years as the number of brands increased so has the costs of the more traditional brands. The costs for vintage guitars have gone off the map. Why are prices so high? One could justify it with the banning of the import of certain tone woods. But most arch top guitars are made with maple not rosewood. Very few solid bodies are made with rare tone wood. Ebony fret boards are often substituted with other durable wood like maple. Surely, the development of pickups does not see the same level of research as say a medical drug or R&D costs on some microchip. A volume pot is a volume pot, nothing earthshaking here. I suspect that most of the cost increases are due to labor costs, highly skilled labor. It has to be as there is no other explanation. Why else would Martin start making guitars in Japan, or D'Angelico in Korea? Labor costs. Does this have an effect on the quality? Perhaps, but I think that QAQC can override manufacturing location.
My D'Angelico was made in Korea but assembled in the US. I have no complaints with regards to all aspects of this guitar, except the G string will not stay in tune when I bend a note. I also have an Eastman AR-605 arch top full body guitar made in China. It is mahogany back and sides a hand carved spruce top with white body binding and trim on the f holes. It is very pretty. One cannot really compare the D'Angelico with the Eastman AR-605 with tone. They are two different beasts. The finish on both is excellent but the D'Angelico is more of a polished and smooth quality. While there is nothing wrong with the Eastman play-ability it does not stack up with the D'Angelico. I would rank it with the Telecaster or with one of the Taylor acoustics.
Costs, well that certainly is an impediment to guitar purchases. The cost of a US Deluxe Stratocaster ranges from about $1100 to $1600, new. That is a pretty big chunk of change for a teenager. A Mexican Stratocaster is about half that price. So the Squires and such are a beginner's option starting around $200. It is not like there are no guitars available in a variety of prices. There are actually many. But as the old saying goes, “You get what you pay for.” Since there is a variety guitars at a variety of prices this cannot be the reason for the decline in sales. I think the real reason for the decline in electric guitar market is much more cynical.
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The music store has changed over the years. I remember as a very young child entering Guisinger’s Music Store on the southeast corner of the town square. It was the typical pre-WWI brick building with ornate sculpted flattery adorning the edges and entrance. I remember the bathroom tile on the floor of the entrance way as being unique and cool, literally. Upon entering such stores one was faced with a wide array instruments, like the ones we band geeks used to play. The store was dominated by brass, woodwind, and orchestral stringed instruments. There were usually a couple pianos in the display windows along with the ubiquitous and every parent's nightmare drum set. There was a rack of sheet music and shelves of miscellaneous “what not” for the instruments. These were the instruments of the day. None of these had anything to plug in or hook up. Sound was made by blowing, stroking, or striking something. That sounds extremely provocative but it is the truth. In my early teens, I bought my first set of guitar strings for the Frankenstein Monster from Guisinger. I had frequented the store before purchasing saxophone reeds and grease.
Oddly enough, the electric guitar was usually a lonely item sitting off in a corner like the red headed step child. There were possibly one or two acoustic guitars of various styles nearby. These instruments did not have the behemoth reputations that they did in later years. The guitar, acoustic or electric, was considered an accompaniment instrument. It was a part of the whole, not the whole itself.
Sometime in the early 1970's I found a “Ben Jacks Guitar” in my hometown. They did not sell recorded music, only instruments and gear. But this was a welcome gift as I now had a much larger selection of strings and picks than Guisinger's ever had. Guisinger's represented old school, traditional classical needs. Ben Jack's was for the kid dreamers. Guitars? I was in heaven. Being deprived at that age has its advantages. The feeling of elation with the large selection of instruments was grand. The only reason I did not camp out in the acoustic guitar space is that I could not afford one.
Also in the 1970's a new type of music store began to crop up selling the offerings of the new Rock 'n Roll genres to the baby boomers. These stores were in contrast to those that sold instruments, gear and sheet music. These new stores reveled in vinyl, and tape recordings, and later in optical media. Only one of these two stores really exists anymore, the one selling musical instruments. Though, even those are struggling now. Now days the only shops selling recorded media are selling used vintage recordings with most new music being sold over the internet in digital formats. The only way a teenager of today can experience the mood of the vinyl search is if they are looking for old fart music.
For those of us old enough and fortunate enough not to have dementia; we remember dropping by the local music store to graze over the latest offerings from the performers of the day. I say performers as a reflection of the people who played the music. Note this does not include all the good and talented folk that went into making of the song, not the least of which is the song writer. Most often it was the singer that got all the glory while the rhythm section, sound engineers, and producers got little or no recognition. A song had a support group large enough to fill several AA meetings. But in the end there was often only one name on the record label, i.e. Stevie Ray Vaughn. While Stevie was a great guitarist, he was made so first by those that wrote and first published the songs he so often covered. He also owed his success to the backing group “Double Trouble”. These guys really punched up Stevie's music. Compare the SRV works with the SRV and Double Trouble works. You can hear and feel the difference. Yet, Stevie got all the recognition.
For decades Chet Atkins was relegated to obscurity as a background tool in studio work. He played for many famous singers of the day. Then, he was not “Mr. Guitar” as he was later dubbed. One could assume that Chet was one of the many that brought electric guitar to the fore front of the music industry. But despite being a true master in several genres he was not one of the key figures that were responsible for the explosion of the electric guitar popularity. That would come over the years with the likes of Chuck Barry and Jimi Hendrix and a whole group of others I will not name here due to space and reader attention span.
Monochromatic stores that sold only recorded music were proceeded by the new multiple themed styled pre “Wal-Mart” stores. I spent many an hour in “Gibson's” flipping vinyl looking for something of interest. It is not like there was nothing that interested me. It was more because there was so much to took through, most of which I had no idea of the music. Thoughts flashed through my mind as I flipped; thoughts like, “Ooo, neat cover”, “Never heard of this group, are they any good?', “Will this album be as good as the last?”. After all I rarely had enough to buy one album, a single disc that is. Double albums were difficult to obtain. I hated buying an unknown album/artist and later feeling like I wasted the four or so bucks. Now, I wish I have bought them all, not from a collector’s point of view but more because my tastes have expanded with age. I used to hate Led Zeppelin, except for “Stairway to Heaven”, and loved the likes of CSN&Y and Cat Stevens. Now, I think Blind Faith had the keys to Rock 'n Roll, and ELP is vastly misunderstood. It was a progression that continues to this day. Never get stuck.
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Here is where the decline in the electric guitar market has its roots. Buying that album or tape meant that we were invested in that artist. We were young kids learning about the world; a world that was confusing and often did not make sense, one that appeared to be brutal and cruel, a world that needed changing. We were looking for a voice to show us where to go and what to do. We were looking for someone to tell us what it all meant and, for many, another way to think and live. These jokers had the answers for many of us. We invested our money, time and attention into these artists. These were our teachers, our priests, our moral governing body. By sharing their visions, our investments taught many of us that there was a world beyond our nose. That we did not have to accept what we saw as wrong. What a wonderful way to live your life, to enlighten others in such a manner. This is why these people can be considered as god-like. They gave us direction and reason. Do you want proof? Search for the photograph “Clapton is God”. This is the degree to which these people were, shall I say, worshiped.
At the risk of sounding like the old fart that I am, I don't think the god-like people of today are guitarists or even musicians. The gods don't seem to be poets, or novelist. Is there a Bob Dylan for this generation? I think Bob Dylan being awarded the Nobel Prize is a wonderful thing. He has given us his vision of what the world is and should be. His songs have remained of great value to countless people over decades. He advocates peace, harmony, and thoughtful introspect to billions. Who else can claim that? Does he qualify as a god-like object? Well, IMaHO, no one qualifies as that. Does he have my respect and gratitude? Absolutely! That leads us to a question, a question I cannot answer. Who leads the current generation? Who are those that this generation respects? Who do they want to emulate? Who provides the moral compass? I haven't a clue. I just know that youthful enlightenment no longer comes from a pretty piece of wood with strings and a gifted player. Sorry Jimi, Stevie, Eric(s), David, et. al. You are all now mere mortals.