I won’t bore you with discussion… not yet… Just read this from the Washington Post:
You can’t argue with the numbers, and you can’t argue with what’s happening in music these days. Hell! All you have to do is look at the proliferation of EDM and how DJ’s are the new rock stars. Music is such a different scene that when I and other oldsters were growing up.
Back then, as the article points out, it was all about the electric guitar. I remember the first time I heard Boston. I wanted to play like Tom Sholz. But at the same time, I wanted to play like Jimi, and Neal and Frampton. Then, of course, there was Eddie then Satch. Growing up, a different guitar god was just a turn of the tuner away!
Not so anymore. You can argue that there’s Joe Bonamassa and John Mayer. No doubt, they are some ass-kickin’ mo-fo’s on the guitar. But just how wide are their audiences? Certainly not on the scale nor breadth of the guitarists I mentioned. Sure, kids who’d attend their shows would probably instant converts to start learning guitar. I turned on one of the kids in my church band years ago to watch John Mayer. That kid came back a year later and made me look like a beginner. 🙂 I loved it!
So it’s not that these great guitars nowadays have no influence. They do. But they just don’t have the reach that others before them had, and as the article posits, that has a lot to do with the plummeting sales of our beloved instrument.
Make no bones about it: The guitar is not going anywhere. But our beloved brands that have carried the torch for guitardom are hurting. Badly.
Some of you may not care that Gibson or Fender drop by the wayside as there are tons of custom luthiers out there. But their fate should inform the rest of the industry that if they’re hurting, that pain gets distributed.
Guitar Gear 
Hi GoofyDawg!
This is Chuck from drchucksgearrants. We corresponded long ago about the EB-3 bass. Hoping you remember me. Your article intrigued me enough to pose a question. If Gibson and Fender are hurting so much by this slow down trend of guitar buying, why do they keep raising prices, especially Gibson?! Back in 1971 I bought a “just came out” cherry sunburst Les Paul Custom with case for $350.00. I realize we can not go back to those days, but $4799.00 for a black beauty that has a Richlite fingerboard and NOT Ebony? Yes, I know the problems with imported woods etc, but,…but really? So Gibson now uses Richlite on a Les Paul Custom and shamelessly keeps raising their prices so that only the 1%ers can afford,…… g-Gasp!!! RICHLITE?!!
Best wishes and thanks for reading this!
Chuck
http://drchucksgearrants.com/
Chuck, I do remember you! Hope all is well with you. To answer your question, I think it’s due to a variety of factors; one of which is just simply the law of supply and demand. Gibson may not be using the classic materials, but they’ve probably topped out on their production methodology, and there’s a cost to it. The other part of it is that they’ve started to branch out into the consumer electronics space to diversify their product offerings. This way they can maintain their premium on guitar prices while actually making money on their lower-end stuff.
As for the Black Beauty, yeah, I know… A very good friend of mine has one though and it’s a very nice playing and sounding guitar; just what you’d expect from a Custom. When he was in search of a Black Beauty, I recommended that he look at the used market, not just to find a deal, but to get a guitar that was completely made of wood. But he likes nice, shiny toys and I don’t begrudge him that. 🙂
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