Have been saying for a few years now as i see how its harder and harder to sell my own used gear, the rise of the cell phones , new generations show a lack of interest in picking up an instrument and practicing, devoting time to music.
A guy i have known for a long time had to sell his big music store, no business.
Guitar sales have plummeted from 1,5 mil to 1 mil sold yearly. Gibson and Fender are in debt.
Guitar center faces 1,6 mil debt.
I agree with the article bellow, there are no new guitar heroes. All the older guitar heroes are now old or getting old.
The situation is bad, very bad.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/grap...f-the-electric-guitar/?utm_term=.cdd9257668eb

 

No point sitting around moaning. Teach someone? Start a gee-tar Youtube channel to inspire &/or teach? I think they've been predicting the death of R'n'R since it began...

 

Fuck do i have the time to teach someone, maybe a class but not individually.
While the situation seems bad, the good thing is only the ones who will really want to pursue music as art will pick up the instrument, posers will avoid it.
Also the prices of guitars have gone up quite a lot.

 

Not new topic, already prognosticated, so gloomy:
https://audiosex.pro/threads/is-ins...t-popular-one-on-the-way-out-and-dying.26936/

 

I've been hearing greatly exaggerated reports of the death of guitar for the past 15 years. I'm pretty sure it will be alright.

As for "no new guitar heroes", how about this guy here?

He seems to be doing pretty good for a master at a "dying craft"....

 

Im not exaggerating, one is the article above, there are dozens of articles like that with numbers and statistics, the other thing is i am noticing a big decline with the new generation and also the local market how its disappearing, even i am having a hard time selling some of the equipment compared to just a few years ago, its ridiculous to assume its all bs, its real.
Also i check out online stores regularly and see so much less models available, like only 1/3 of instruments available, a lot less to chose from and the prices have gone up quite a lot.

I doudb 7/8 string guitar players can have a big impact on the scene or the young generation, its more about songs and realy good solos
/ techniques.

 

Nothing is dying, every major instrument with unique sound is still there. They lose momentum thorough time sure, but they are all still here and that's long after most recognized names were dead. After all that electro age i'm sure it will come time, when all those instruments will be rediscovered in some form. With different style of playing, different genre or whatever. Imagine all those future youngsters when they hear for first time pure amplified electric quitar sound and how fresh will sound to them to be able to hear it in pure raw form. But of course, we should not expect electric guitar will regain position of golden time when it was mainstream. Every instrument have own golden age and since then not one has reached old glory of popularity and interest. Also with time, there is more instruments, more new ways of making music and with that, there is less and less possibilities one instrument or one way of making music will become dominant, like in past. But one thing is clear. People love to hear sound which is organic, at least partly mechanical produced like electric guitar and people love personal mechanical interaction and connected sound waves. Not single fully electronic instrument can provide this sensation. Electronic stuff is far more in danger to die, but i believe even this won't happen. There will be just reincarnations in different forms.

 

Last edited: Sep 12, 2017

@Von_Steyr

Well, I think the articles reflect more of a trend (or, more Appropriately, a LACK of a trend: a crysis) than a "death". I definetely agree that people nowadays are prone to a level of anxiety so exacerbated that they can't focus on learning a "real" instrument, but as long as music exists, there will be people trying to express themselves trough it. And some of them eventually will find that the guitar is the right vehicle for their sensibilities, no matter how unfashionable it is.

(Sorry for my english, mate. I'm rusty!

 

I agree. The guitar is in decline. There are still great young players but they are unlikely to be household names. Guthrie Govan. Mean anything? Thought not. How about Deadmaus? Thought so. I can only say that I could watch Jeff Beck on YouTube all day, while I couldn't sit through some technically brilliant guy makes beats on a NI Maschine for more than a few minutes.

 

Meh, it's coming back around.

You can't bemoan the loss of musicianship and at the same time cheer for the assholes that cut funds to school music programs.

People still play instruments but the rise of cheap keyboards and sample more/play less, video game consoles, more time sinks than you shake a saggy dried up boob at and less people being exposed to music in public schools outside of marching band put a dent in the pool of people able to play an instrument.

Add to that how horrible some of the cheap acoustic and electric guitars are to play and you end up where we are. There are still plenty of people who like and play all sorts of instruments... the guitar is just one. I still run into a lot of people who are multi-instrumentalist every day. The death of the small venue and public interest in going outside of the home is more at fault for what is being pedaled (sic) to the masses. In Europe you can still get some live music here and there... but in the USA it is fucking dead - dead - dead - outside of shitty cover bands and even shittier music I can't even wrap my head around there is nothing. I have a pretty huge spectrum of appreciation and I like almost everything - but I haven't found much I like, out and about and live and most of the time it costs a couple of hundred dollars a night for a couple. I am not young so I can afford it, but how many 13-22 year old kids can drop $300 between parking, drinks, admission and then still get shitty music.

Back in the day - $15-$20 bucks was the average entry price to some band you didn't know and never heard of ... and some of the ones I saw turned out to be quite good. 311 / Rage Against the Machine / No Doubt / Sublime / The Neptunes / Timbaland... I am sure there are more than I can not recall I also remember getting to see Ray Charles, Patti LaBelle and few other for free at the Norfolk Waterside.

The only people we have to blame are the ones who stare at us back from the mirror. When you make push for anything make sure what else you are buying into when you plug for a headliner.

 

I'll see your Guthrie Govan and will raise you one Brett Campbell. There are plenty of cool young guitarists out there.

Guitar Center is doing poorly is because Guitar Center turned into a horrible place that is overtly bottom line and no longer sees a valued customers that they would like to keep for the long run. In the '94 I bought about $12,000 worth of gear at the Hollywood Blvd. store and the store manager personally worked with me, made damn sure I was happy and made a great deal to make sure I came back as repeat biz. Then they went insane and refused to work with our budget a few years later and lost an $8,000 sale to the other outfit. If they fold it will suck for their employees.

 

I would like to bet an Eric Gales

and I'll even throw in an approaching middle aged John Mayer and Rabea Massaad's afro to cover any shortfall.

 

@mozee @superliquidsunshine

How about a Gary Clark Jr, in a huge summer blockbuster soundtrack?

EDIT: it's a cover, alright, but it does feature guitar as a prominent instrument :D

 

Jesus is reborn to play guitar

 

View attachment 9132 View attachment 9133 I

 

Last edited: Sep 13, 2017

Forgot about him --- <3 --- reminds of one of my favs (Robert Cray.)

Lets not forget the ladies either ..................

 

Last edited: Sep 13, 2017

Everything comes back around in cycles. Piano, guitar and all real instruments will never go away. They're organic, and they're used in the studio by big players since day one. This is all hype and usually boasted by people who have no talent on a traditional instrument or people who do not understand that world and the advantages it offers to the artist. From prodigies in the bedroom to studio masters like STEELY DAN, tell the production and musician community in NY, LA, Hollywood, and Nashville that the guitar is dead. lol. The guitar is dead in the minds of laptop sequencing narcissists, and those with a closed mind to history. However, they cannot yet speak for the 500 year history of passionate instrumentalists and composers, imo.

The guitar is a tool, Big Fish Audio sound packs are a tool. That long foley WAV file you sampled on your ZOOM is a tool, white noise is a tool, EURORACK is a tool, VSTis are a tool, guitar pedals are a tool, sidechain compression is a tool, a microphone is a tool. We are a tool. Music is nothing but emotion, and when it becomes an ego contest and you stop asking questions, and instead proclaim your version of the facts, then we should perhaps find something else to define our life, or maybe go beat our dog or steal from our neighbor.

Always ask, "why is he/she/it/they doing it that way?" instead of "I could do it a better way".

Sorry, I strayed off-topic a bit.

P.S. - The word on the street about Musician's Friend and Guitar Center (Woodwind & Brass, Music 123), is that for years they have been in the red and they ALWAYS say it's a matter of time until they close down, but that was 10+ years ago, and yet, they're still here.

 

Last edited: Sep 13, 2017

i could swear my dick just moved a little bit

i stopped playing classic & e-guitar as-well as the drums for quite some time now, this pics make me wanna get one again
but it just doesn't sounds as good as electronic music,
its like using the same "overused" preset over & over again.
but thats just me, please be kind

is the situation really that bad ?
thinking about it, its really boring and time consuming to learn an instrument.
so, nowadays, it makes sense to me this is declining but dead? noway

 

Last edited by a moderator: Sep 13, 2017

The guitar is in good hands. Thanks to Greg Howe

 

Last edited: Sep 13, 2017