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The slow death of the electric guitar

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Re: The slow death of the electric guitar

#301

Post by thatwebdude »

markeroon wrote: post #202
coldtea wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Diplo and TSwift are as legit as SRV and Dylan. Rock on. First, if they are, then that's part of the focus of the article. That guitar and guitar rock is waning -- and surely Diplo and TSwift are not bringing it back. Second, no Diplo and TSwift are not as legit as SRV and Dylan. Not because they are different genres, but because they are inferior artistically (regardless of genre). They might be equally entertaini…

If you want to argue that Taylor Swift is technically inferior then that's fine, but tens of millions of young women disagree with assertions of her "artistic inferiority", and I'd be curious to know why your opinion matters more than theirs.

OP values Dylan over Tay-Tay. That's okay. My daughter thinks the opposite. That's also okay, and evolution of popular music.

Re: The slow death of the electric guitar

#302

Post by scrumper »

thatwebdude wrote: post #300

When I was teaching guitar, the overarching trend I saw again and again, from the South the Midwest (so not a complete profile, but one large enough) was an interest in playing guitar but no real influences to latch onto. My first question to a prospective student was "who are some of your favorite bands?". With enough blank stares I changed it to "what is some of your favorite music" with equal stares. Kids (and adu…

Well for one, Bieber is doing quite a bit of guitar stuff these days. I've actually been surprised by the amount of very obvious guitar sounds in pop in the last ~12-18 months or so. Try your local top 40 station with fresh ears, it's really quite prevalent.

You can argue about whether it's influential of course. Guitar isn't really being used in these songs in a way that carries the entire production, so tough to play on your own with any degree of satisfaction (again though Justin Bieber is an exception).

Re: The slow death of the electric guitar

#303

Post by thatwebdude »

elihu wrote: post #50

My opinion is that it's a good time for electric guitar buyers, because factory-made guitars are pretty good and relatively inexpensive. They also last a long time, which means there's a lot of great used guitars out there. I don't think there will be any major technological advances that make factory-made guitars significantly cheaper and better than they are now. I think a more interesting direction is for guitars…

Fender and Gibson are iconic, classic brands. They'll never deviate from what they do; because when they do (look at the double-cutaway Les Paul they just tried to hawk) they get torn to pieces.

If anyone wants to innovate in the industry, they have to come out of nowhere. Strandberg is doing well at this, with concepts you mention. Kiesel/Carvin kinda is too. Line 6 almost did, but cheap-ified the digital transition which made way for Kemper and Fractal (boutique digital brands, LOL, so funny to say) to take the stage and actually change some minds.

Because we all play guitars designed 50-60 years ago we're naturally going to resist change.

Re: The slow death of the electric guitar

#304

Post by thatwebdude »

quadrangle wrote: post #22

When you peak as the most popular instrument in the world and get tons of obsessive people to collect/hoard instruments, there's only one way to go from that peak. Thinking the downturn is death is worthless hype.

Almost every collector I've met usually collects with the market. Not all of them hoard as much as you'd traditionally think. They're always buying/selling trying to get that Holy Grail First Run Sunburst Les Paul. There's plenty of room in the market for everyone willing to put some skin in the game.

Plus, I think the mention of all the boutique brands at NAMM helps with this. We all can't afford a magnificent '55 strat, but with far fewer dollars d'Pergo (or some other amazing strat perfectionist) can make something equally as stunning.

And, with enough time these instruments will hit the market again. When enough of them do; we'll make them affordable again; once everyone is play 7+ strings and doesn't want anything to do with 50's guitar technology.

I bet we'll see that with amplifiers, first.

Re: The slow death of the electric guitar

#305

Post by thatwebdude »

pizzicato7 wrote: post #8

I think this article misses a key point. It's not all just about a lack of relevant role models. Today, there are so many things competing for a kids' time - social media and messaging, mobile apps, video games, Netflix - that kids are choosing other activities instead of solitary, frustrating hours practicing guitar technique. To become a proficient amateur-level guitarist, it takes around 2,000 hours of practice. T…

> 90% of kids learning guitar quit in the first 2 months (according to Fender)

True, just ask anyone who's ever had a teaching career in guitar (or music).

It's hard, everything about it is hard. And I'm not only saying that because I feel confident with my skills; it's quite true. Only with lots of time do callouses form where it doesn't hurt your fingers every time you play. Volume and feedback is another beast to manage. And if you're playing an acoustic, you really need some light gauge strings and good action to ever have hopes for that thing to not feel like a knife to your hands.

My method with beginners was simply to keep them entertained. So many potential Guitar Gods walk out because they go up against a Hal Leonard method book and have all the fun of guitar sucked out of them. If you can get them playing music they want to play; they're much more likely to continue playing it, even through pain, so that they can learn the fundamentals over time.

Your method works really well too, one-finger chords is a great way to get people playing the strummy music they like without the frustration of coordinating all the fingers. In the same light, it's why I've tuned my 4-year-olds guitar to an open D, so that she can "write music and sing" without having to worry about getting a sound of the guitar. If the interest is there, the perseverance will continue.

Re: The slow death of the electric guitar

#306

Post by [deleted] »

SwellJoe wrote: post #284
KhanMahGretsch wrote: post #277

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Absolutely, content matters, and so does context. Take the solo in Living Colour's "Cult of Personality", a gibberish mess of seemingly random notes; he abuses that instrument like it owes him a lot of money! It works perfectly in the song however, so I suppose it's all a matter of taste. p.s. Aja is an absolute classic :)

Here's the problem with talking about guitar solos, especially saying, "I hate guitar solos, in the general case": Everyone immediately thinks of their favorite guitar solo, and gets defensive. How am I supposed to argue against a Vernon Reid solo? Vernon Reid is a brilliant musician. I've loved his playing since I was a kid. He was one of my earliest musical heroes, and unlike a lot of musicians I liked when I was a…

[deleted]

Re: The slow death of the electric guitar

#307

Post by thatwebdude »

akytt wrote: post #9

Hands up if you have actually ever thrown away a guitar? It's rather big it's bulky and there's few things that can go badly wrong. You sell it or hand it down. I've just rescued a kickass guitar from a pawn shop and it'll be serving me probably as long as i play. Basically, there are enough guitars out there. The average lifetime of an instrument is going up and that's a trend that is the opposite of what the rest o…

They're an investment, plain and simple. The holy grails outlasted their original owners, and with enough care (even playing!) they'll outlast the current owners.

I mean, it's very common to play a 150+-year-old violin. I see what you're saying here. Electric guitar is so new, saturation of the market is only just happening.

Re: The slow death of the electric guitar

#308

Post by thatwebdude »

fredley wrote: post #105
ojosilva wrote: post #101

One can't just look at revenue, debt and Moody's rating of guitar makers and dealers and proclaim the guitar, the most popular instrument today by a huge margin, is dying. But the lack of prominence of the guitar in the top charts and the way social pop culture influences people today does have a significant impact in new guitar purchases. When I was a kid learning the guitar, dad's old Fender wouldn't do. I HAD to h…

Really what you want to look at is sales of guitar strings as an indicator of how much guitar is being played.

Long-lasting alloys/coatings/technology will skew your results. Especially considering all they had back in the heydey was Nickel (soft). But that's a great idea!

Re: The slow death of the electric guitar

#309

Post by thatwebdude »

Joeboy wrote: post #36

Not necessarily saying the electric guitar isn't dying, but the economic argument isn't very convincing. There are a lot of guitars in the world now and we keep making more, consequently people aren't prepared to spend as much money on them. The people who are willing and able to spend $1000 on a new Les Paul or USA Strat are an aging generation for sure, but maybe their grandchildren are just playing guitars that co…

LOL, $1k on a new Les Paul.

Serious players will still spend serious money on stuff. I think it has a lot do with oversaturation of the market.

In the beginning, when White Stripes/Black keys was still regional and people were getting these unique sounds out of old, unwanted gear the cost was cheap. But that drove Silvertone's/Sears/etc prices out of the ballpark when enough people got the read on where that market was going.

Re: The slow death of the electric guitar

#310

Post by thatwebdude »

rwmj wrote: post #98

Put simply, guitars have a terrible user interface. I have "taught" Korg Kaossilator to a dozen people and they have all picked it up and started making not-terrible electronic dance music within an hour of first using it. Edit: Maybe explain why I'm supposedly wrong instead of downvoting?

I didn't downvote, but pegging the guitar as something with a "terrible user interface" was probably your problem.
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