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January 2009
Posts: 4535
Location: Flahdaw | Oh yeah, there will always be people willing to spend lots of money for the real thing, but can a company survive on those select buyers. Martin would quickly go out of business trying to only sell D-45 retros, even at $10 grand a piece. I have to suspect that if Fender is in as much financial trouble as it is, that Martin, Taylor and Gibson can't be fairing too much better. |
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Joined:
January 2006
Posts: 5881
Location: Colorado Rocky Mountains | Does anybody know if there is a guitar manufacturer out there that is doing well financially, and if so, why? Guitars do not represent a necessary commodity for most consumers, so when the economy turns south, consumers are more interested in bread, milk and gasoline. I also think the message in Fillhixx's comment was spot on. Kids nowadays have little interest in anything that can't be downloaded on their iDevice. |
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May 2003
Posts: 4389
Location: Capital District, NY, USA Minor Outlying Islands | Apropos of Fillhix's comment ... I recently read the book Guitar Zero, about a brain scientist who learned guitar later in life, and he had a section about people even wanting to learn the art of music today given all the games, internet distractions etc; there's something so poignantly human about the desire to make, and making, music. |
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August 2007
Posts: 1008
Location: Tuscany, Italy | Also Ovation back in the days break the traditional guitar market introducing something radically new in the way it looks, sounds and is manufactured, including the on-board amplification sistem. It moved forward. Don't misunderstand me, I like the real thing not the i-substitute  |
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Joined:
December 2001
Posts: 7232
Location: The Great Pacific Northwest | Interestingly enough the Guitar Manufacturers that are doing well are the boutique guitar makers. For the most part, they have a small staff and small shop. They mostly build to spec with down-payments and such. They do not have an inventory to speak of. In general (not just for guitars) this is a great model. Also, I suspect folks like Carvin are doing well. It's essentially the same model. Most guitars are ordered to spec. The only inventory is really at the couple of Carvin stores, but the key is... they only build what they need to sell. |
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August 2012
Posts: 227
| Can the core of Ovation stay in business making custom instruments ?
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January 2009
Posts: 4535
Location: Flahdaw | I wonder how the "in-betweeners" (not boutique but not large production) like Collings, Santa Cruz, Merrill, McPherson are doing |
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April 2008
Posts: 2985
Location: Sydney, Australia | My local music store burnt down the other day - I wonder if it was intentional to collect insurance? |
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Joined:
March 2005
Posts: 5567
Location: Blue Ridge Mountains | Folks, it's really systemic:the economy sucks....everybody in business is suffering with few exceptions...Brad nails it: guitars are luxury items for the most part and are not flourishing in this economy...Here in SW VA it is alarming how many businesses have folded: the number of empty buildings is alarming and sad to see...there are lots of reasons for the stagnation in MI sales and Brad also identifies one of the main reasons- kids are too busy pushing keypads to play keyboards and fret guitar cords esp. when there are apps for that...still, those of us that love the instruments will continue to appreciate them but even here sales have become almost non existent but for the occasional buy...eBay is flat as is Craigs list...hopefully it will get better soon...
Edited by MusicMishka 2012-10-05 7:00 AM
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Fender article from NY Times
