Dallas International Guitar Festival

[Jthompson48]

Its next weekend. I have never been to a guitar show. Just wondering if it's worth going looking for a deal on an archtop or if these things area dominated by Strats and Les Pauls. I would have to take a couple days off work and drive about 4 hours each way.

[Jim Soloway]

I've done dozens of guitar shows as a vendor. Dallas was probably my least favorite. The noise level was out of control and the behavior of some of the vintage dealers was really aggressive. I never considered going back a second time.

[skykomishone]

Archtop representation in today's guitar shows has dwindled to a small percentage of the guitars presented at them, as compared to 10 to 20 years ago, I've witnessed around the Puget Sound region. The relationship of amount of noise experienced could be inversely proportional to their decrease in numbers maybe. That would be an interesting sociological research study.

[Gitterbug]

Regrettably, archtops seem to be a rarity at every show. There used to be an archtops-only event in Germany. Once postponed around 2018, it never came back. Only one archtop exhibitor (Lottonen) at the 2026 Finland Tonefest.

[MiniMerckx.22]

Baseline asking prices at shows tend to lean upwards of ridiculous. Bartering at the end of the last day night lead to more real world prices. If you live fairly close it can be an enjoyable afternoon gawking and there can be decent deals to be had. I wouldn't travel a great distance thinking I am going to find what I want and buy it. People tend to be friendly, you'll likely have some good conversations with other patrons and vendors. Bring CASH; it's one thing to make an offer, another thing to calmly pull out 35 $100 bills 2 hours before the show ends and the dealer has to drive back home with carrying as much gear as they drove in with.