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Posts: 396
| New guitars must not be selling well. I just received another musiciansfriend additional 15% off for this weekend. This must be the 3rd or 4th such offer in the last few months. 15% off an already repectable price with free shipping, no sales tax, and a good return policy? New guitars must not be selling too well at the moment. |
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February 2002
Posts: 5750
Location: Scotland | Pretty much across the Western world nothing is selling well at the moment, especially in music retail. |
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March 2008
Posts: 2683
Location: Hot Springs, S.D. | That's for sure. Here in the Black Hills, most of us earn the larger part of our livings during the tourist season. Last summer I sold guitars to people from Canada, Germany, Denmark, and all over the States. This year has been SLOW. Lots of tourists, but they're buying T-shirts instead of guitars. Most of their money has to go in the gas tank. I'm still selling guitars, but it's to locals who come back several times before they commit. A guitar has to be THE ONE, before people spend. |
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Posts: 14127
Location: 6 String Ranch | Yes, the guitar does have to be THE ONE.
And then there's THE NEXT ONE, and the next......... |
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Posts: 318
Location: Slightly northwest of Trader Jim | Originally posted by Mauvais Beal:
Yes, the guitar does have to be THE ONE.
And then there's THE NEXT ONE, and the next......... Now I know where Trader Jim gets it! :D |
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February 2008
Posts: 747
| A guitar has to be THE ONE, before people spend. [/QB] That's the way I've always looked at it. I don't think I'd buy something sight unseen from anyone - guitars are all different to me at least - if I buy one it's because it says something and I'm keeping it till I cash in my chips..lol |
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Posts: 1634
Location: Warren,Pa. | "Sight unseen"...
I guess if I were buying a Collings or an Olson that might be true. It's less critical with Ovations. All the Ovations I've owned, including the 3 I currently have, were bought sight unseen. I've never been in the market for guitars so fine that I need to spend a lot of personal time with them before I buy.
John <>{ |
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Posts: 22
Location: Rocheter, MN | I've always wondered how big the market for guitars really is in terms of the number of players in the market. I'm always amazed at how many smaller luthiers are doing business out there these days selling high-end acoustics. How many non-professionals can really afford three or four (or five, or six) grand for a guitar? I guess as the Boomers age, they're treating themselves to high-end instruments, but still...how big can that market really be?
I think this might explain the recent move of pure-acoustic companies into the electric market. It's really the only growth area left. I don't think you'll ever see Martin produce an electric (but then I would have said the same of Taylor!), but everyone else has to hustle because they don't have Martin's name and history going for them.
As a side note: I'm sort of confused as to who buys the "hybrid" guitars. I would think that the market would mostly be professional electric-guitar players who want the occasional acoustic sound; I don't see primarily-acoustic players rushing out to buy these things. It seems to me that hybrids like the VXT and the T5 would suffer in comparison to a real acoustic because the DSP is shaping the sound. From what I've heard, the hybrids tend to make acoustic stuff sound "processed" and rather generic. |
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March 2008
Posts: 2683
Location: Hot Springs, S.D. | The saving grace in all of this, at least here in the Black Hills, is the number of kids who want to learn guitar. It seems that for a while there, there weren't many kids interested in music. Why, I don't know. Video games? TV? Skateboarding? Or maybe it was because for a while, the music they were exposed to just wasn't inspiring. In any case, it seems now that there is a huge crop of 11-13 year olds who want to be guitar gods. They are buying inexpensive guitars and signing up for lessons in droves. Some of them are going to stick with it, and those are the ones who make all of this worthwhile. These kids are good for the economy, and they are good for the future of music. I love working with them, and as the economy slows even further, I believe they are what will keep my store alive. |
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December 2006
Posts: 6268
Location: Florida Central Gulf Coast | Originally posted by CanterburyStrings:
They are buying inexpensive guitars and signing up for lessons in droves. Some of them are going to stick with it, and those are the ones who make all of this worthwhile. It's amazing how many used entry level Fender Squires are out there on the market.
I wonder what the percentage is for those kids upgrading and how many just lose interest. |
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Posts: 10777
Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | Originally posted by CanterburyStrings:
...maybe it was because for a while, the music they were exposed to just wasn't inspiring. In any case, it seems now that there is a huge crop of 11-13 year olds who want to be guitar gods. I'm thinking that alot of the "music" that kids were listening to didn't really use Real instruments. Just that 'sampling' crap...
But thinking about how weird the world is, alot of kids may be influenced by the "Guitar Hero" video game.
Hope that they stick with it... Considering that (according to Slash, and others) proficiency in that game does not readily translate to the real instrument, nor vice-versa.
Also, I think that there are a few real sing-and-play-guitar type musicians coming to the forefront in young-people's music...
(As opposed to us Old Farts who listen to dead/geriatric musicians all the time) |
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Posts: 777
Location: East Wenatchee, WA | Sorry OMA,
But at least here in Hermistonia, the kids (teens and twenties) are ALL listening to the half dead (some full dead) geriatric musicians that I used to listen to in the 70's.
With enough plastic surgery, airbrushing and face paint, they think they are a new band.
Cleared the break room the other day when they were discussing someone like the stones, and I suggested they were older than me.....one called me a liar until we did a "name that tune" contest. YIKES....I didn't even listen to or like the stones. |
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June 2004
Posts: 580
Location: NW NJ | Originally posted by 2ifbyC:
Originally posted by CanterburyStrings:
They are buying inexpensive guitars and signing up for lessons in droves. Some of them are going to stick with it, and those are the ones who make all of this worthwhile. It's amazing how many used entry level Fender Squires are out there on the market.
I wonder what the percentage is for those kids upgrading and how many just lose interest. |
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January 2006
Posts: 5881
Location: Colorado Rocky Mountains | Originally posted by CanterburyStrings:
A guitar has to be THE ONE, before people spend. I agree. THE ONE for this purpose, anoTHEer ONE for another purpose, oTHEr ONEs each for their own other specific purpose . . . |
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Posts: 10777
Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | Originally posted by JeffreyD:
...Cleared the break room the other day when they were discussing someone like the stones, and I suggested they were older than me.....one called me a liar until we did a "name that tune" contest. YIKES....I didn't even listen to or like the stones. Oooo! :eek: You were talking about 'Their' music!?!
You obviously can Not know what you are talking about. And the concept of Mick Jagger being old enough to collect Social Security is a bit hard to take. :D
(Scary arithmetic... I'm 51... I listened to the Stones (didn't like 'em then) and the Beatles and Beach Boys when I was 8 or 9... That makes them... ?) |
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Location: Florida Central Gulf Coast | Originally posted by ProfessorBB:
THE ONE for this purpose, anoTHEer ONE for another purpose, oTHEr ONEs each for their own other specific purpose . . . This one for this G-baby, another for that G-baby, other ones for those G-babies...
Oh, wait!. I like this one for Grandpa (aka Iffy)...  |
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Posts: 370
Location: Isle of Man, UK | Originally posted by Old Man Arthur:
But thinking about how weird the world is, alot of kids may be influenced by the "Guitar Hero" video game.
Hope that they stick with it... Considering that (according to Slash, and others) proficiency in that game does not readily translate to the real instrument, nor vice-versa.
Trust me, it doesn't. There's a song in GH2 that I can play in "real life" in three different keys, in two different styles, all pretty darn well. In GH? I just can't touch it.
I think it may also provide a bit of false hope - you play GH, you get the recorded sound. Sounds great, to be honest, when you nail a song. You then pick up a real guitar, and it sounds like a car going to the toilet through a sewn-up bum.
Or is that just me? Anyway...
If only one kid who buys a Squier starter pack sticks with it, and that helps keep him clean/find his religion/upgrade his karma/make some people happy for a while* that has to be a good thing.
JB
*delete as reauired. |
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Posts: 10777
Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | Unfortunately, if I believe a Squier review that I just read...
The Squier is responsible for thousands of kids giving-up on the guitar. Apparently they are 90% junk.
(The teacher who wrote this said they should get a used Real Fender for around the same price...)
But I also believe that the popularity of rap was due to the fact... You don't have to Learn to play Anything!
No Talent Involved!
So if a game leads them to play Real Guitar, Cool.
Point-out that you can get one of the last US T's or Balladeers for about the price of a Guitar Hero game,
plus the X-Box to play it on...
And you can make a living with a Guitar! |
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Location: Colorado Rocky Mountains | I think the high end stuff is still pretty much in demand. Hamer's waiting list hasn't gone down much in the past year. |
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Posts: 4081
Location: Utah | Originally posted by Old Man Arthur:
And you can make a living with a Guitar! Where? Aww, never mind. That must have been the generic "you". Some people can make a living with guitar, the rest of us can dream. |
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Posts: 2683
Location: Hot Springs, S.D. | I agree that 90% of Squires are junk. The same is true for a lot of cheap acoustics. (Johnson, Kona, First Act, and of course the infamous Esteban) What blows my mind is the way parents don't want to spend a lot in case their kid doesn't stick with it, so they buy them cheap guitars that GUARANTEE they won't stick with it. If they would only find a reputable dealer in used guitars, they could find something inexpensive that WORKS. |
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Posts: 10777
Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | Originally posted by FlySig:
Originally posted by Old Man Arthur:
And you can make a living with a Guitar! Where? Aww, never mind. That must have been the generic "you". Some people can make a living with guitar, the rest of us can dream.  |
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Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | Back to beating on Squiers and other cheap guitars...
I have a two Washburn pseudo-strats, both of them are 'okay' but I got lucky. ($99 each)
But I bought a phony SG online, and had to sent two back before I got one that works. (Tom has it, SG's don't impress me)
The dude who sold me the Oscar Schmidt said that he also sent two back before he got the one that I have.
[My Daddy said, "Buy the Best you can afford... You won't be disappointed!"]
If those parents would only realize that if you get a GOOD guitar, the child will be Proud to own it!
And if she/he loses interest, the could recoup most of their investment!
Or they could learn to play it themselves.
But as to the economy of selling guitars...
Now people have a choice... Buy a Guitar, or buy gas for a week and get to work :mad:
Which kinda sucks, cuz I have a few mediocre guitars I wanna sell...
That ain't happening this week! |
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April 2008
Posts: 2985
Location: Sydney, Australia | Originally posted by CanterburyStrings:
What blows my mind is the way parents don't want to spend a lot in case their kid doesn't stick with it, so they buy them cheap guitars that GUARANTEE they won't stick with it. If they would only find a reputable dealer in used guitars, they could find something inexpensive that WORKS. I can vouch for this. When I sold/gave my legend to my sister in law, her son, who had been dabbling at playing her Maton (which has an action like a truck) dove into the Ovation and now plays brilliantly. The Maton has dust on it. |
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Posts: 10583
Location: NJ | I need to stay away from this topic |
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January 2004
Posts: 627
Location: Cherry Hill, NJ | The lower priced guitars are gaining on sales, and their quality is improving. The import lines of Fender, Ibanez, and all Epiphones, put out decent guitars for the price. When these kids upgrade to a Gibson, PRS or other expensive guitars, at 3 times the price, will the quality be 3 times better? |
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April 2008
Posts: 2985
Location: Sydney, Australia | The quality of the lower end ovations looks like it's improving. I had a few minutes to kill this morning at a guitar shop that actually has ovations (even a Ute!) and played the Chinese made Celebrity CC44. It was much nicer to play than every other guitar I tried (the Ute was out of reach) and the neck grain looked quite attractive (my 12 string celebrity has a black neck, which looks cheap).
In terms of action and slickness of play, it was just as good as my W597 (shock horror!) although the tone was not up there, but was not bad - a bit dead for my liking. This would make a great practice guitar or one to take somewhere where you would worry about what might happen to a high end guitar. I think the blue top looks a bit cheap (I'm trying to be an Adamas) and would be better in natural (I'm trying to look like an elite). |
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March 2007
Posts: 843
Location: CA | My parents — bless 'em — bought me a cheapo Kay guitar as my first electric. It looked dumb, played worse and sounded terrible. My interest waned, even in the cheapo nylon acoustic I'd learned on. Luckily for me, some friends had nicer instruments, and through them I got my first 'real' guitar, a '62 Strat. Still kick myself for selling that for $150 (made $50 over what I paid), but the lesson was obvious — nicer instruments do inspire budding players to keep at it. So I second the advice to buy as much guitar as you can right out of the starting gate.
And just to clarify, those Squires you're talking about are the new ones, right? Because I have an '89 Squire Strat that (IMHO) can stand up to any 'Murcan made one. It's made in Japan, has incredible action, lively pickups and, well, just a really nice ax. Plus it's endured a lot. Boss got it for his kid who lost interest. Sat in the corner of the office for years then the ex-wife's house, then — tremble — the trunk of her car. For YEARS. When I asked one day whatever became of that guitar, she said "You want it?" She marched me outside, opened the trunk, dug through a bunch of crap and handed me the dustiest gig bag I've ever seen. I thought the strat would be a pretzel from the heat, but opened it up and wow, it looked nice. She just handed it over and for the price of a pro setup and new strings, I've had a sweet electric for years now. FWIW I have noodled a few new Squire teles and strats and they seem like clunky toys compared with the real deal. |
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March 2008
Posts: 2683
Location: Hot Springs, S.D. | It's true that the older Squires are better than the new. Same for Epiphone. I at one time had two Epi SG's in the store. The older one had Gibson on the truss rod cover, the new one did not. (I have heard that Epi's are now being made by Sammick.) The older SG was MUCH better than the new one. I guess that pretty much holds true for most guitars.So many companies are changing where their guitars are made, lowering costs by saving on labor, and I believe, materials. It's no wonder quality has gone down.
That being said, it is still possible to get a good starter guitar at a low price if you shop with reputable used dealer, and don't be too concerned with looks. (If the kid cares more about how a guitar looks than how it plays and sounds, he doesn't really want to learn anyway.) I have found (and given) good deals on guitars with scratches and dings that have no effect on sound or playability. As a matter of fact, I at one time had a Washburn electric that a guy sold me for 20 bucks. He owns an apartment building and some tenant left it there after trashing the place. It was banana yellow with a black binding. It had dents, scratches, cigarette burns, writing, and any other aesthetic defect you could think of. Without a doubt, the ugliest guitar I've ever seen. BUT, it also had replacement pick-ups (P90's), a replacement bridge, and was the best sounding and playing electric guitar I've ever met. I sold it to one of my students for a REALLY low price, AFTER I made him bring his parents in to see/hear it. They agreed it was ugly, but when they heard it they were blown away. They let the kid buy it with their hearty blessing. A year and 1/2 later the kid still loves his guitar and he's playing very well. |
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New guitars must not be selling well