Electric Guitar is Dead (your opinion)

Started by yuri, May 25, 2016, 08:51:57 AM

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Kevin M

Rumors of the guitar's demise have been greatly exaggerated. :-)

alexmcginness

Quote from: Kevin M on August 12, 2016, 12:10:52 PM
Rumors of the guitar's demise have been greatly exaggerated. :-)

    you can take that to the bank. Sadly people believe those rumors.....
VG-88V2, GR-50, GR-55, 4 X VG-99s,2 X FC-300,  2 X GP-10 AXON AX 100 MKII, FISHMAN TRIPLE PLAY,MIDX-10, MIDX-20, AVID 11 RACK, BEHRINGER FCB 1010, LIVID GUITAR WING, ROLAND US-20, 3 X GUYATONE TO-2. MARSHALL BLUESBREAKER, SERBIAN ELIMINATOR AMP. GR-33.

carlb

OK sure, it's dead.  So, what to do with all those now redundant bits of wood and metal just taking up space?

Send me all 0f your classic guitars, I'll dispose of them properly for you. Happy to be of service, anything to help here.
ES Les Paul, internal Roland GK
Boss SY-1000, Valeton Coral Amp pedal
Morningstar MC8 & MC6
QSC CP8 powered speaker

GuitarBuilder

But wait!  I collect dead electric guitars also!  Please send them to me - particularly if they were made a long. long time ago..... ;D
"There's no-one left alive, it must be a draw"  Peter Gabriel 1973

Kevin M


HecticArt

#55
Excue me.

I have to go practice now.

Be back in a couple of years.

mbenigni

Good lord!  How is Guthrie Govan even possible?   :o

lespauled

It reminded me of that old joke:

Pop musician: One note for each thousand fans
Jazz musician: Thousands of notes for one fan.

Elantric

Or as LA session player Tommy Tedesco told me:

Kid, If you want to find success in the music biz, remember there's no money above the 5th fret"

Kevin M

Quote from: Elantric on September 28, 2016, 08:17:28 AM
Or as LA session player Tommy Tedesco told me:

Kid, If you want to find success in the music biz, remember there's no money above the 5th fret"
I suspect that Guthrie will have no problem staying employed venturing across frets 6-22. :-)

Autana

Something used to help life, can never die !!


Don't You Tell Me Not To Play Guitar
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4JexykrF1M&feature=share


Awesome! although I miss there some names like Jeff Beck, Larry Carlton, Eric Johnson and others.

////  Aug 29, 2016

The Epic Guitar Solo Challenge has been created as a prostate cancer and male health awareness and fund raising campaign. Created by Aussie Hack Wanger from Guitar Gods and Masterpieces public tv show for guitar players and guitars fans. Feel free to share this on social media and even consider purchasing the song or donating a dollar or buying a t shirt. All profits go to The EJ Whitten Foundation. Remember – Don't you let anyone – Tell You Not To Play Guitar.

Please go and like THE EPIC GUITAR SOLO CHALLENGE – facebook page and Guitar Gods and Masterpieces You tube channel guitargodstv – as this is Phase 1 release – with more releases coming.

We would like to thank all these amazing artists for their time and generosity. Our global cast in order of appearance includes -
Tommy Emmanuel - Australia
Brett Garsed – John Farnham, Nelson, T. J. Helmerich -Australia
Joe Satriani – G3, Chickenfoot - USA
Steve Morse – Deep Purple, Dixie Dregs, The Flying Colors– USA
Hack Wanger – Guitar Gods & Masterpieces TV Show - Australia
Mattias Eklundh – Freak Kitchen – Sweden
Chris Cheney –The Living End - Australia
Dave Leslie – Baby Animals- -Australia
Isao – Spark 7 – Japan
Jack Thammerat Solo artist & 2009 Guitar idol winner - Thailand
Manjit Joseph – Heavens Down – India
Rabea Massaad – Dorje - UK
Benjamin Baret - Ne Obliviscaris - France
Adrian Hannan – The Song Store – song producer -Australia
Albare - Jazz Artist – Morocco ,Israel, France, Australia
Chen Lei – Tang Dynasty - China
Syu – Galneryus - Japan
Rob Chapman – Dorje, Chapman Guitars - UK
Mikio Fujioka – Kami Band - Japan
Shinichi Kobayashi, - Jigoku Quartet - Japan
Frank Gambale- Chick Corea - Australia
Irwin Thomas – Southern Sons, John Farnham - Australia
Geoff Achison –Soul Diggers – Australia
Peter Robinson – Electric Mary- Australia
Hedras Ramos - Solo Fusion/metal artist - Guatemala
Ola Englund The Haunted, Feared – Sweden



GR-55, GP-10, GI-20, Godin xtSA, GodinNylon MultiAc, Giannini classical, 3 GK-3'd gtrs, Cube 80XL, Primova GKFX-21 (x2)

Fear just pulls you out of being true to music, which is coming from a place of love. Love is the opposite of fear. I stay away from anything fear-related.
- Tal Wilkenfeld -

aliensporebomb

This was the guy who stunned me.  But he was plagued with health problems and passed away in 1993:

So lyrical yet when he wanted to burn he could really shred.

My music projects online at http://www.aliensporebomb.com/

GK Devices:  Roland VG-99, Boss GP-10, Boss SY-1000.

Autana

Quote from: aliensporebomb on November 01, 2016, 05:22:35 AM
This was the guy who stunned me.  But he was plagued with health problems and passed away in 1993:

So lyrical yet when he wanted to burn he could really shred.

Absolutely,  we are talking about Shawn Lane here, a unique guitarist distinguishable from leagues away. I followed his career until his departure, and still is inspiration. Very nice video document!  points to favor guitar long life.  Jonas Hellborg at bass guitar is indeed a great musician.
GR-55, GP-10, GI-20, Godin xtSA, GodinNylon MultiAc, Giannini classical, 3 GK-3'd gtrs, Cube 80XL, Primova GKFX-21 (x2)

Fear just pulls you out of being true to music, which is coming from a place of love. Love is the opposite of fear. I stay away from anything fear-related.
- Tal Wilkenfeld -

Frank

#63
Quote from: Kevin M on September 27, 2016, 10:39:47 PM
Guitar is absolutely NOT dead:


Guthrie was my teacher back in the early 1990's (we're from the same town), he introduced me to many great players (including Bill Ruppert-from the Guitar on the edge CD's) and is a truly inspirational musician, as well as a highly amusing individual.
Incidentally that tune Bad Asteroid is from the early 90's, I think I still have a cassette demo in my attic somewhere...

Frank

Quote from: aliensporebomb on November 01, 2016, 05:22:35 AM
This was the guy who stunned me.  But he was plagued with health problems and passed away in 1993:

So lyrical yet when he wanted to burn he could really shred.


One of my early influences.
His two instructional VHS tapes (Power Licks and Power Solos) are shred-tastic (in places) and filled with useful information.

BobbyD

I just read through this thread again and watched some of the videos that were put up.

Guitar will never be dead because as someone pointed out, the new technology allowing guitarists to control the same exact hardware and soft synths as keyboard players is like saying "Keyboard is Dead".  If you had the choice of hearing the exact same chords from exact same synth, and have a choice to watch a keyboard player sitting down, or a guitarist with stage presence like Angus Young, who would you want to watch if the sounds were exactly the same? .  Only difference is when done playing MIDI guitar, we can flip a switch and lay down some heavy Rob Zombie riffs. 

Guitarists connect better with the audience. Plus going going wireless for both analog and MIDI, I can walk around a bar and really have a blast. And that's what people want. To be entertained. 

Guitar is here to stay.   Look at Joe Bonamassa filling stadiums like the late great SRV did at his peak 20 plus years ago. I am sure when Joe tours Europe, he packs the concert halls in Italy.  Pure Blues. He does use a Moog Theremin to have a little fun but he plays pure analog guitar and people love him worldwide.  The rub is that we can sound like keyboard players, but a keyboard player will never have the feel or emotion of a guitar player.

JoBoss

Quote from: BobbyD on November 12, 2016, 01:27:25 AM

Guitarists connect better with the audience. Plus going going wireless for both analog and MIDI, I can walk around a bar and really have a blast. And that's what people want. To be entertained. 

Guitar is here to stay.

The rub is that we can sound like keyboard players, but a keyboard player will never have the feel or emotion of a guitar player.

Very well put by BobbyD...and sums it all.... :)

Chumly

#67
Nothing lasts, everything changes, the guitar had a beginning and it will have an end.  Some day, somewhere, somehow, the final decay will ring out, and the guitar's song will die. I will sing the same forlorn melody, as will we all.
I think it's much more interesting to live not knowing than to have answers which might be wrong. - Richard P. Feynman

BobbyD

Quote from: Chumly on November 12, 2016, 03:14:11 PM
Nothing lasts, everything changes, the guitar had a beginning and it will have an end.  Some day, somewhere, somehow, the final decay will ring out, and the guitar's song will die. I will sing the same forlorn melody, as will we all.

Chumly....you are 100% correct.  One day Earth will be wiped out by Armageddon which means end of guitar and all other musical instruments. But to prophesize that one day guitar will be dead, I need your powers in Vegas because we will make a boatload of money. I will buy guitars with my winnings. 

Chumly

I'll give you a much better bet than Vegas: in 30 years the Wilshire 5000 will be substantially higher than it is now  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilshire_5000
I think it's much more interesting to live not knowing than to have answers which might be wrong. - Richard P. Feynman

admin

#70
https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2017/lifestyle/the-slow-secret-death-of-the-electric-guitar/?hpid=hp_no-name_graphic-story-a%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.36ab0577796e
Why my guitar gently weeps
The slow, secret death of the six-string electric. And why you should care.

By Geoff Edgers
June 22, 2017
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. He's concerned by the "why" behind the sales decline. When he opened his store 46 years ago, everyone wanted to be a guitar god, inspired by the men who roamed the concert stage, including Clapton, Jeff Beck, Jimi Hendrix, Carlos Santana and Jimmy Page. Now those boomers are retiring, downsizing and adjusting to fixed incomes. They're looking to shed, not add to, their collections, and the younger generation isn't stepping in to replace them.

Gruhn knows why.

"What we need is guitar heroes," he says.

[Geoff Edgers's Spotify playlist of guitar heroes you better know]

He is asked about Clapton, who himself recently downsized his collection. Gruhn sold 29 of his guitars.

"Eric Clapton is my age," he says.

How about Creed's Mark Tremonti, Joe Bonamassa, John Mayer? He shakes his head.

"John Mayer?" he asks. "You don't see a bunch of kids emulating John Mayer and listening to him and wanting to pick up a guitar because of him."

Guitar heroes. They arrived with the first wave of rock-and-roll. Chuck Berry duckwalking across the big screen. Scotty Moore's reverb-soaked Gibson on Elvis's Sun records. Link Wray, with his biker cool, blasting through "Rumble" in 1958.

'Rock is the Devil's music' Embed  Share Play Video3:31
Living Colour's Vernon Reid and The Post's Geoff Edgers deconstruct some of rock's most iconic guitar riffs, from "Cult of Personality" to "Back in Black." (Erin Patrick O'Connor/The Washington Post)
That instrumental wasn't a technical feat. It required just four chords. But four chords were enough for Jimmy Page.

"That was something that had so much profound attitude to it," Page told Jack White and the Edge in the 2009 documentary "It Might Get Loud."

The '60s brought a wave of white blues — Clapton, Jeff Beck, Keith Richards — as well as the theatrics of the guitar-smashing Pete Townshend and the sonic revolutionary Hendrix.

McCartney saw Hendrix play at the Bag O'Nails club in London in 1967. He thinks back on those days fondly and, in his sets today, picks up a left-handed Les Paul to jam through Hendrix's "Foxy Lady."

"The electric guitar was new and fascinatingly exciting in a period before Jimi and immediately after," the former Beatle says wistfully in a recent interview. "So you got loads of great players emulating guys like B.B. King and Buddy Guy, and you had a few generations there."

He pauses.

"Now, it's more electronic music and kids listen differently," McCartney says. "They don't have guitar heroes like you and I did."

[Meet the critic who panned Sgt. Pepper]

Nirvana was huge when the Black Keys' Dan Auerbach, 38, was growing up.

"And everybody wanted a guitar," he says. "This is not surprising. It has to do with what's in the Top 20."

Living Colour's Vernon Reid agrees but also speaks to a larger shift. He remembers being inspired when he heard Santana on the radio. "There was a culture of guitar playing, and music was central," adds Reid, 58. "A record would come out and you would hear about that record, and you would make the journey. There was a certain investment in time and resources."

The spell of Hendrix and Santana Embed  Share Play Video3:16
Vernon Reid found the music of Jimi Hendrix after he discovered Carlos Santana. He talks with The Post's Geoff Edgers about how the two guitar icons influenced his playing style. (Erin Patrick O'Connor/The Washington Post)
Lita Ford, also 58, remembers curling up on the couch one night in 1977 to watch Cheap Trick on "Don Kirshner's Rock Concert." She was 19 and her band, the Runaways, had played gigs with them.

"It was just a different world," Ford says. "There was 'Don Kirshner's Rock Concert,' Ed Sullivan, Dick Clark, and they would have one band on and you would wait all week to see who that band was going to be. And you could talk about it all week long with your friends — 'Saturday night, Deep Purple's going to be on, what are they going to play?' — and then everybody's around the TV like you're watching a football game."

By the '80s, when Ford went solo and cracked the Top 40, she became one of the few female guitar heroes on a playlist packed with men, including Stevie Ray Vaughan, Joe Satriani and Eddie Van Halen.

Guitar culture was pervasive, whether in movie houses ("Karate Kid" Ralph Macchio outdueling Steve Vai in the 1986 movie "Crossroads"; Michael J. Fox playing a blistering solo in "Back to the Future" and co-starring with Joan Jett in 1987's rock-band drama "Light of Day") or on MTV and the older, concert films featuring the Who and Led Zeppelin on seemingly endless repeats.

But there were already hints of the change to come, of the evolutions in music technology that would eventually compete with the guitar. In 1979, Tascam's Portastudio 144 arrived on the market, allowing anybody with a microphone and a patch chord to record with multiple tracks. (Bruce Springsteen used a Portastudio for 1982's "Nebraska.") In 1981, Oberheim introduced the DMX drum machine, revolutionizing hip-hop.

So instead of Hendrix or Santana, Linkin Park's Brad Delson drew his inspiration from Run-DMC's "Raising Hell," the crossover smash released in 1986. Delson, whose band recently landed atop the charts with an album notably light on guitar, doesn't look at the leap from ax men to DJs as a bad thing.

"Music is music," he says. "These guys are all musical heroes, whatever cool instrument they play. And today, they're gravitating toward programming beats on an Ableton. I don't think that's any less creative as playing bass. I'm open to the evolution as it unfolds. Musical genius is musical genius. It just takes different forms."

An industry responds
Tell that to Guitar Center, now $1.6 billion in debt and so fearful of publicity that a spokeswoman would only make an executive available for an interview on one condition: "He cannot discuss financials or politics under any circumstances." (No thanks.)

Richard Ash, the chief executive of Sam Ash, the largest chain of family-owned music stores in the country, isn't afraid to state the obvious.

"Our customers are getting older, and they're going to be gone soon," he says.

Over the past three years, Gibson's annual revenue has fallen from $2.1 billion to $1.7 billion, according to data gathered by Music Trades magazine. The company's 2014 purchase of Philips's audio division for $135 million led to debt — how much, the company won't say — and a Moody's downgrading last year. Fender, which had to abandon a public offering in 2012, has fallen from $675 million in revenue to $545 million. It has cut its debt in recent years, but it remains at $100 million.

[How much did this guitar story cost me? $2, 376.99.]

And starting in 2010, the industry witnessed a milestone that would have been unthinkable during the hair-metal era: Acoustic models began to outsell electric.

Still, the leaders of Gibson, Fender and PRS say they have not given up.

"The death of the guitar, to paraphrase Mark Twain, is greatly exaggerated," says Fender's chief executive, Andy Mooney.

He says that the company has a strategy designed to reach millennials. The key, Mooney says, is to get more beginners to stick with an instrument they often abandon within a year. To that end, in July the company will launch a subscription-based service it says will change the way new guitarists learn to play through a series of online tools.


Paul Reed Smith, the Maryland-based guitar designer, says the industry is just now recovering from the recession that struck in 2009. He points to PRS's sustained revenue — the company says they're between $42 million and $45 million a year — and an increased demand for guitars.

"This is a very complicated mix of economy versus market, demand versus what products are they putting out, versus are their products as good as they used to be, versus what's going on with the Internet, versus how are the big-box stores dealing with what's going on," Smith says. "But I'll tell you this: You put a magic guitar in a case and ship it to a dealer, it will sell."

Then there's Henry Juszkiewicz, the biggest and most controversial of the music instrument moguls. When he and a partner bought Gibson in 1986, for just $5 million, the onetime giant was dying.

"It was a failed company that had an iconic name, but it really was on its last legs," Ash says. "[Juszkiewicz] completely revived the Gibson line."

Juszkiewicz, 64, is known for being temperamental, ultracompetitive and difficult to work for. A former Gibson staffer recalls a company retreat in Las Vegas punctuated by a trip to a shooting range, where executives shot up a Fender Stratocaster. In recent years, Juszkiewicz has made two major pushes, both seemingly aimed at expanding a company when a product itself — the guitar — has shown a limited ability to grow its market.

In 2014, he acquired Philips's audio division to add headphones, speakers and digital recorders to Gibson's brand. The idea, Juszkiewicz says, is to recast Gibson from a guitar company to a consumer electronics company.

There's also the line of self-tuning "robot" guitars that Gibson spent more than a decade and millions of dollars developing. In 2015, Juszkiewicz made the feature standard on most new guitars. Sales dropped so dramatically, as players and collectors questioned the added cost and value, that Gibson told dealers to slash prices. The company then abandoned making self-tuners a standard feature. You can still buy them — they call them "G Force" — but they're now simply an add-on option.

Journey's Neal Schon says he battled with Juszkiewicz when he served as a consultant to Gibson.

"I was trying to help Henry and shoo him away from areas that he was spending a whole lot of money in," Schon says. "All this electronical, robot crap. I told him, point blank, 'What you're doing, Roland and other companies are light-years in front of you, you've got this whole building you've designated to be working on this synth guitar. I've played it. And it just doesn't work.' And he refused to believe that."


Juszkiewicz says that one day, the self-tuning guitars will be recognized as a great innovation, comparing them with the advent of the television remote control. He also believes in the Philips purchase. Eventually, he says, the acquisition will be recognized as the right decision.

"Everything we do is about music," Juszkiewicz says. "It doesn't matter whether it's the making of music with instruments or the listening of music with a player. To me, we're a music company. That's what I want to be. And I want to be number one. And, you know, nobody else seems to be applying for the job right now."




admin

#71
https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2017/lifestyle/the-slow-secret-death-of-the-electric-guitar/?hpid=hp_no-name_graphic-story-a%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.9fa16eb2e02e

The search for inspiration
If there is a singular question in the guitar industry, it's no different from what drives Apple. How do you get the product into a teenager's hands? And once it's there, how do you get them to fall in love with it?

Fender's trying through lessons and a slew of online tools (Fender Tune, Fender Tone, Fender Riffstation). The Music Experience, a Florida-based company, has recruited PRS, Fender, Gibson and other companies to set up tents at festivals for people to try out guitars. There is also School of Rock, which has almost 200 branches across the country.
On a Friday night in Watertown, Mass., practice is just getting started.

Joe Pessia runs the board and coaches the band. He's 47, a guitarist who once played in a band with Extreme's Nuno Bettencourt and has worked at School of Rock since 2008.

Watching practice, it's easy to understand why.


With Pessia presiding, the school's showcase group blasts through three songs released decades before any of them were born.

The Cars' "Bye Bye Love" blends quirky, new-wave keyboards and barre chords. Journey's "Stone in Love" is classic '80s arena rock punctuated by Schon's melodic guitar line. Matt Martin, a 17-year-old guitarist wearing white sneakers, jeans and a House of Blues T-shirt, takes the lead on this.

The band's other Stratocaster is played by Mena Lemos, a 15-year-old sophomore. She takes on Rush's "The Spirit of Radio."

As they play, the teenagers dance, laugh and work to get the songs right. Their parents are also happy. Arezou Lemos, Mena's mother, sees a daughter who is confident and has two sets of friends — the kids at School of Rock and her peers at Newton South High School.

"There are a lot of not-easy times that they go through as teenagers," she says, "and having music in her life, it's been a savior."

Julie Martin says her son Matt was a quiet boy who played in Little League but never connected with sports. She and her husband bought him his first guitar when he was 6.

"It was immediate," she says. "He could play right away. It gave him confidence, in the immediate, and I think long term it helps him in every aspect of his life."

She remembers her own childhood in working-class Boston.

"I know exactly what he could be out doing," Martin says. "That enters my mind. We are so lucky to have found School of Rock. He's there Thursday, Friday and Saturday every week, all year."

Rush's prog-metal is not for beginners, with its time shifts and reggae twist.

"They've never played this before," Pessia says, turning to whisper in awe. "The first time."

So who are these kids? The future? An aberration?

It's hard to know. But Matt Martin didn't need to think long about why he wanted to play a Strat as a kid.

"Eric Clapton," he says. "He's my number one."

To Phillip McKnight, a 42-year-old guitarist and former music store owner in Arizona, the spread of School of Rock isn't surprising.

He carved out space for guitar lessons shortly after opening his music store in a strip mall in 2005. The sideline began to grow, and eventually, he founded the McKnight Music Academy. As it grew, from two rooms to eight, from 25 students to 250, McKnight noticed a curious development.

Around 2012, the gender mix of his student base shifted dramatically. The eight to 12 girls taking lessons jumped to 27 to 59 to 119, eventually outnumbering the boys. Why? He asked them.

Taylor Swift.

Nobody would confuse the pop star's chops with Bonnie Raitt's. But she does play a guitar.

Andy Mooney, the Fender CEO, calls 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."

When McKnight launched a video series on YouTube, he did an episode called "Is Taylor Swift the next Eddie Van Halen?" He wasn't talking about technique. He was talking about inspiring younger players. The video series, in the end, grew faster than guitar sales or lessons. Earlier this year, McKnight shut down his store.

The videos? He'll keep doing them. They're making money.

Guitar videos by Erin O'Connor / The Washington Post filmed with assistance from Arlington County Fire Department. Design and development by Matthew Callahan.


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It's long been the dominant style of American pop, but this year, the music's sweep feels astonishing.


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Tish Ciravolo
12:56 PM PDT
No mention of girl guitars and the fact that my company, Daisy Rock Girl Guitars invited a new demography into the music store/space and grew the industry? And that is what we will continue to do, just as T. Swift has proven. Rock and Roll Camp for Girls, so much out there NOT mentioned in how the industry is changing because more females play guitar today than ever before in history. Alas, another article written for a male, by a male...Viva The Girl Guitar Revolution!
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Geoff Edgers
1:14 PM PDT
I'm sorry you feel that way, Tish. We obviously talk about Taylor Swift and I spoke with Lita Ford. I'm open to hearing from you... who are the women you would say are guitar gods?
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Santi Claws
1:14 PM PDT
Wait....your idea of empowering women is to make dainty stereotypically "female" guitars? Seriously? A pink flower, butterfly? As a female guitarist that is the LAST thing I would want for me or my daughters! A female guitarist is just the same as a male, and what we want is a QUALITY instrument! The last thing we want is to perpetuate the female stereotype of , "oh girls only like pink and make-up and butterflies" . Its not that far away from doing something like making a watermelon shaped guitar and saying its for "blacks" cuz "thats what black people like" . The irony! that you actually think you are empowering women by boxing them in the oldest stereotype possible. Also, taylor swift is given credit in this article for being the biggest modern day guitar hero, why doesnt she play a tampon shaped daisy rock guitar? Oh yeah, because that is limiting and embarrassing, your comment here is proof that you think virtue signaling will sell your cheap guitars....it won't.
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Marc J. Fagel
12:45 PM PDT
Guitar Gods still walk the earth, you just need to know where to look. Ira Kaplan of Yo La Tengo, for one...
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Marc J. Fagel
12:51 PM PDT
Sorry... better to go with this one:

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Geoff Edgers
1:16 PM PDT
Well, Ira Kaplan. Now we're getting into whether this is a Guitar God or a guitarist we admire. So for example... Malkmus. He's one of my GGs. But I'm not sure he qualifies - or wants to qualify - in the traditional sense. Slash does. And I'm much less of a fan. Do kids run around picking up guitars because of Ira Kaplan? I don't think so.
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Karl Martini
12:35 PM PDT
First off, this has to be said. When I started playing this wonderful instrument some 40+ years ago, the best Gibsons and Fenders were at the $500 mark. Now, you can't touch a Gibson of the same quality for under 3 grand! That's 6 times what they cost in the 70's and 80's!!!! Fenders aren't as bad, but still close to 2 grand for a really good one. I have a made in Mexico Strat and it sounds and plays wonderfully. Paid $650 for it. Most people can't afford an American made PRS so they go with the ones made in Korea. Still a quality instrument as they are checked and gone over by the Maryland facility. Secondly, with all of this garbage music sampling (yes I said garbage), who wants or needs to spend any time learning to play and honing their talent? Just go on the computer and sample everything you need. I'm not saying it doesn't have it's place, but as an extra...not the main source of the music. There are tons of great guitarists out there but it seems that no one is interested. They would rather listen to the sampled variety. Seems as long as it has a catchy beat, that's all these kids want....and please don't get me started with the rap stuff!!!!! my own boys wanted a guitar, but when I got them one and tried to teach them they both wanted to go from knowing nothing right to Jimi Hendrix....overnight! With the apparent lack of interest and the cost of upper end guitars, I am not surprised.
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garbage721
12:38 PM PDT
American Idol killed off instrument-based music as well. Every popular song these days that isn't EDM sounds like a person trying to win a singing contest, with a bland drum track barely droning on in the background.
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David90
12:00 PM PDT
OK, two separate points. First, Online sales and big boxes like Guitar Center have affected the industry in a way not mentioned in the article. By cutting prices so much they have eliminated the part of the margin that music stores used to spend on having someone properly set up the instruments before they hit the sales floor. Acoustic guitars come from the factory mostly ready to play, but a cheap electric needs someone who knows what they are doing to set the neck relief right, get the string height correct, and clean up the intonation. I have bought guitars and a mandolin for my kids, and they were basically unplayable when they first arrived. I'd think a poorly performing instrument could force a lot of kids to quit playing.

Secondly, in a not too surprising development, a writer for the Post has failed to look outside of his bubble. Guitars still rule on the Country charts, and Country features a number of "Guitar Heroes" these days - from Brad Paisley to Kieth Urban, to whichever Osbourne Brother it is who plays the leads. I don't know the market share numbers, but Country is a big market.
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Scuromondo
11:59 AM PDT [Edited]
Things change. 

Before 1960, the accordion was king. There were dozens of accordion manufacturers in Italy alone, producing hundreds of thousands of squeezeboxes a year and they still could not keep up with demand. Accordion schools popped up in all the major cities, and every little town had an accordion teacher. This is impossible to imagine today.

...And then came the electric guitar and rock-and-roll, and that was the end of that!
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pecos45
11:58 AM PDT
The baby boomers fueled the market, and now they are dying.
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Ed Cardenas
11:56 AM PDT
The electric guitar is dead? Don't confuse trouble on the business end with the guitar playing community. A trip to YouTube will show people of all levels, from beginner to professional, are still very much committed.
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Jeff Biesiadecki
1:07 PM PDT
Absolutely. Just because GC is dying (and pulling Fender and Gibson with it) doesn't mean the overall industry is dying. Sales ebb and flow, and yes: acoustics have been outselling electrics for awhile. So? It's still a guitar. People are taking an interest in other stringed instruments too, like the ukulele and even the banjo. Everything's not all EDM music made on a Mac. 
The author makes some good points, but I don't think went far enough beyond talking to the tip of the iceberg here. 

I know of small shops that survived the GC and Sam Ash onslaught that are now thriving, due to fair prices and most importantly, great service from people who know WTF they're talking about (something you rarely find in a GC).
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garbage721
11:50 AM PDT
I started playing 35 years ago because of Jimmy Page really, and I still play every day. When my son was born I tried and tried to get him to appreciate SRV, and for a while he did, and he even got a Strat for his birthday. But it was a lot harder to play than it looked when I did it plus there's no peer support to learn so he listens now to electronic music like all his friends. Me? I'm in the market right now for a new Telecaster.
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JavaJunkie88
11:49 AM PDT [Edited]
Personally as a guitarist who has played for more years than I care to admit to
I think the industry needs the following:

1) Stop destroying the brand by making cheap garbage guitars in Asia 

2) Stop destroying the brand by making cheap garbage guitars in the USA 
My first guitar was a beat to heck previously owned '68 Gibson Les Paul - The guy who owned it before me bought it off some down on his luck touring musician It had been used and abused - but you know what it still worked and played very well - 
Today's guitars - when I go to a store and pick them up all feel like some accountant has found a way to save .05 cents making them. Necks not wide enough etc etc 
I understand every guitar player wants something different but at $1500 and up you should feel quality even if you don't think the guitar is "right for you"

3) Understand the Baby Boom is over and that the "dip" means there will be appox. 11 million less consumers for your products

4) Find some way to bring rock and roll music back - 
Where the heck did it go?
Where is the next Eric Clapton, Bob Seger, Bruce Springstein, BTO Journey(early stuff) Kansas, Styx,Skynyrd, Alllman Bro's... etc etc.. not to even mention Rolling Stones or Led Zep... 

Holy smoke I went on line the other day and google'd top new rock bands
Found a music magazine site that had a top 50 list from 2016 Not one of them actually played rock
(3 or 4 heavy metal bands made the list) All the non metal bands were essentially the same auto tune kiddy pop electronic dance music junk.
Not ONE here's a band with a kick @ss drummer and a smokin guitarist and a singer who can actually
Wait for it ... SING!
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garbage721
11:56 AM PDT
I generally agree but there are some great cheap guitars coming out of Asia, like Fender Classic Vibes. Bang-for-the-buck in the low-end guitar market is a lot higher now than a decade or two ago.
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2x2_2x3
12:16 PM PDT
"4) Find some way to bring rock and roll music back"

People reacted to 50's R&R by dancing their butts off. Today's zombie audience stare toward stage and whoever's playing is embarrassing and boring.
Get out the way...Folks want to DANCE!
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Mister Kamikaze Mister DNA
11:27 AM PDT [Edited]
Guitar solos killed the electric guitar. Mega-hours of endless, pointless, self indulgent noodlings by guitarists with no artistic vision or taste made the whole form irredeemable. 

And of course, guitar culture as whole ignoring truly innovative guitar players like Robert Fripp does not lend to guitar culture's credibility.
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yeahwecool1
11:00 AM PDT
Not one mention of Prince? The absolute best of them all.
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Vinslom Bardy
11:17 AM PDT
Thanks for the chuckle, yeahwecool1. I needed a good laugh today!
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pecos45
11:57 AM PDT
Dude, don't diss Prince's guitar playing. The man was a beast on the six-string.
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Geoff Edgers
12:31 PM PDT
I think we couldn't name 'em all. But obviously, Prince is the man. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/arts-and-enter...
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wtw2
11:00 AM PDT
Gibson and Fender are charging far too much for their American made instruments. Epiphone and Fenders made in Mexico are providing excellent instruments at realistic prices, and they are even better bargains on the used market. Being made in America doesn't justify the minimum $1000 (all the way to $4000+) premium being charged by Gibson and Fender. Until they realize this, they will continue to have cash flow problems.
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Jeffrey T Hatcher
10:52 AM PDT
I'm not certain how much contribution it makes to the decline of the sales of new electrics, but the used market is, to put it mildly, robust. Craiglist, Ebay, Reverb, and Pawn Shops are bursting with comparatively inexpensive used instruments. It's been a while since I purchased a "new" electric.
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charley3
10:50 AM PDT [Edited]
How is this "demise" any different from that of the real piano? or any other instrument. If one takes to heart the desription of millennials, "it requires too much effort' would probably be the answer. And it does require a lot of time and that means no iphone, to internet and maybe a lot of other no. whatever.
Technology, a boon on the one hand, is, on the other, nearly destroying everything. It has made people lazy, too connected and too uninetersted. Maybe if you had guitar players who wore fewer pieces of clothing or see thru pants or more women playing in similar attire. We are at a point in time where breasts the more cleraly seen, the better are de riguer for any kind of success--or a big bumm". Billy Buttocks" of the guitar set maybe.
when I first started in music, it was with the accordion and I had to lug that thing A LONG WAY to the studio where the teacher was--no parent with a car to drive me there. You really had to want to play music when I grew up. fortunately, I had a flash of insight--get a clarinet and ditch the accordion.
Hobbies are losing ground, crafts are losing ground and it is largely lack of time away from technology that is the cause. The trend is downward so enjoy the music while you can. Guitars form China are 50$
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Geoff Edgers
12:31 PM PDT
Your point is excellent. But all I'd say is that I wasn't writing about the piano. That would be one long article!
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Herman Blount
10:40 AM PDT
It used to be that what was heavily promoted and became popular cycled between dance-oriented styles and more listening-oriented styles. At some point that cycle broke down. It has less to do with people's natural tastes, I think, than what gets mass exposure. Teens in particular are very susceptible to this. Only the more individualistic ones will seek out something different. The good thing is it's much easier to find almost anything now, and try it out, whether it's Led Zeppelin, Buxtehude, or Sun Ra. I hope more kids will pick up real instruments of any kind... it doesn't have to be electric guitar.
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aliensporebomb

Kim Mitchell from Canada is still rocking.

4 minutes on he reprises his stair-stepping solo from Max Webster's "Beyond the Moon".

My music projects online at http://www.aliensporebomb.com/

GK Devices:  Roland VG-99, Boss GP-10, Boss SY-1000.

Pete1959

Thanks for posting the Kim Mitchell video.
Great guitar player whom I have seen in concert many times from his days in Max Webster to his solo work in the 80's.
Inventive and memorable riffs such as the intro in "Go for Soda".
Great Canadian guitar player of which there are many... Alex Leifson, Bruce Cockburn, Rick Emmett, Frank Marino to name a few I have always enjoyed.

Hurricane

 8)

It's the times - stress is making the negative subject the popular topic .

During the Vietnam years it was the same [Older Gen Establishment ] crud vs hippys - civil rights - woman's lib -the whole enchilada

AGAIN time's are stressing the holly $hit  :o outta the masses - young - middle - old are all reacting to it .

It appears to many as a new thing , like we have never been down this road before  :'( - au contraire -  ::) same  $hit different day .

The lute - and oud and the evolution says a beautiful sounding instrument and the craftsman who make them insure
it will continue - to evolve and ebb and flow .....congas to rotary Remo's , that which stays the same stagnates .

I'm good , what matters is I have my music , talent and gear - . The gear will last longer than I will be able to play so I'm kickin it
, diggin it and continuing knowing in the final it was all worth it , as in my athletic days that came and done gone - the empty cup is as sweet as the punch

With electronic media storage as it is now the preservation of music will/has made it immortal in the archives of humanity .

EZ :

HR