Death of USA made guitars

[Spook410]

Ahem, you mean The Straits Times, Spook. Even so, they are known to bend to the will of the People's Action Party. Not exactly a disinteresred and fair press where the politics of the island state is concerned.

It's not that the media in Singapore is less influenced by their elites. It's that they are politically and economically on the fence in between China and the US. So the way they spin world events can be interesting. This is true in a few other places as well but being a westerner I can relate to Singapore culture a bit more.

[Spook410]

I neither know nor care what you mean by a source. It will be my pleasure never to converse with you again.

But.. we'll always have Paris..

[JazzIsGood]

There's this guy on YouTube who explains all this manfactuing stuff and all the trends with it. His name is Phillip McKnight. Very interesting to listen to, even if you don't need to buy a guitar any time soon.

He basically says that there's plenty of brands being made in the USA although the gap is closing and foreign made guitars are getting better and better.

Here's my question- Why do we need ANY new guitars??? There's tens of millions of them already out there and it's not like they really degrade very much. Even a squire from the 80s is still a viable option for a beginner or intermediate player, might need a few new parts and a clean up. Seems to me that most people try it for a few months and then put the guitar in a case under the bed for a decade or more. Is there really an increase in the amount of people actively playing the guitar? I'm an archtop player, if I needed a guitar there's so many options for used or vintage guitar that I would never really need a brand new guitar.

Interesting trend I heard about, there are guitar "collectors" that buy all the newest signature model guitars from Fender and Gibson. These guys will have 50+ guitars in their house. They don't really gig or play all that much. When the new "Slash Les Paul" comes out they jump on it. There's now a zillion signature endorsed guitars out there- Dave Grohl, Slash, even guys who never did anything special as a guitar player like the Blink 182 guy. I mean it's a cool band but there's no innovative guitar playing going on there. Someone in the audience at my gig was telling me about this, and he has 35 guitars, and he doesn't play much. He wife is getting super pissed at him as they continue to pile up. I cannot imagine LOL, I have played probably over 2000 gigs in my life and I own 5 guitars and I play 3.

Is the guitar a bit of an art object or collectible now? As a life long guitar player, I guess it's a good thing the public takes an interest in the instrument.

[Jazz4Four]

Is the guitar a bit of an art object or collectible now? As a life long guitar player, I guess it's a good thing the public takes an interest in the instrument.

You make a good point. I too have wondered where all of the guitars go, since it's not like they wear out easily.

As to being a collectable, the way I see it is that playing and collecting are different hobbies. Guitars are fun instruments, and having more than one can be part of that. But let's face it, nobody needs 50 guitars... or even 30. It's the same as the rock players who have 20 distortion pedals... A lot of that "tone chasing" could be spent practicing. But instead, guys buy more pedals and add another Strat or Ibanez to the pile. And then there's the people who cycle through 75 Les Pauls to try to find "The One That Speaks To Them." Personally, I find that weird.

The other aspect of it is why people need multiple examples of the same inexpensive guitar. For example, instead of having a slew of sub-$1000 guitars, why not have a few really nice ones? The former is a collector mentality, while the later is the player mentality. Nothing wrong with either.

[RJVB]

The thing for jazz instruments is finding a reliable source for carved solid wood archtops with high quality hardware and electronics. This seems to remain a MIA thing.

I'll never understand why someone wants an exquisite carved instrument (which are definitely not solely a MIA thing) and then play it through a lo-fi chain...

Here's my question- Why do we need ANY new guitars??? There's tens of millions of them already out there and it's not like they really degrade very much. Even a squire from the 80s [...]

That last bit suggests you're thinking of plank e-guitars, and for those I would indeed expect that they hardly degrade beyond the usual wear of frets, nut and what-have-you. Acoustics are a somewhat different matter. But for both types, do you expect everyone to start on the instrument they'll grow old with? Or that they find a suitable 2nd-hand upgrade when they're ready for one?

I'd rephrase the question (why do we need new guitar models?) but even that question probably answers itself with "because there's a demand".

[pan60]

the way i see it you only need one a good acoustic, but maybe we want to play an electric so now we need two.
maybe i want something with humbuckers now i also want something with single coils now i have three?
how about a couple solid bodies a arch top a flat top? now we have four.
maybe a parlar and a dreadnought? five?
not to mention something that would go with what i am wearing? red. white, blue?
and on and on. i have maybe far to many guitars but i could maybe find an excuse for a few more.
LOL

[Spook410]

I'll never understand why someone wants an exquisite carved instrument (which are definitely not solely a MIA thing) and then play it through a lo-fi chain...

Was thinking more factory and boutique. And I don't know of many hand carved guitars coming from factories or boutique manufacturers in the US. Heritage, Gibson, and Collings. Not sure who I'm leaving out. Include Campellone and Benedetto I suppose. Then there are many custom makers.

Can't think of any in Europe though I'm likely not well informed.

In China there is Eastman and Yunzhi and not sure who else. Wu is sort of custom.. sort of boutique.

Eastman is pretty good and probably the best starting point for many. Would swap the pickup though. Yunzhi makes great stuff if you can fix finish and hardware. At least that used to be the case. Wu guitars are great but better if purchased without electronics.

Not sure what you meant by 'lo fi chain'? A humbucker into a twin maybe? While I use a Schertler Roy, I can hear the difference between a Gibson L5 CES (carved but mainly an electric guitar) and a laminate even with a standard guitar amp. On the other hand the archtops I have set up for a more acoustic sound are a great pleasure to play through a higher fidelity signal chain.

[Alter]

If you do session work, even at a very basic pro level you can easily need 20-30 guitars. And if you are a name player, you do need to get into vintage territory for the authenticity of sound, so things get really expensive..

Couple of strats, a tele, one with humbuckers, one with P90s, couple of 335s with different pickups styles, at least one Les Paul or Sg, a metal guitar, a seven string metal guitar, couple of jazz boxes if you do jazz, then acoustics, you need some in Taylor and some in Martin or Gibson style, dreadnought, smaller fingerstyle, 12string, resonator, slide guitar.. Then nylon strings, you need a classical, maybe a flamenco, electric versions of these, you'll probably buy a couple of Godin style guitars for acoustic and nylon gigs. Then for real life touring you need to have some medium priced versions of all that, cause you don't want to be in airports and here and there with 3000$ instruments.. They pile up and you never know when you're going to need next even a guitar you haven't used for years.

I mean, I've lost gigs and especially recording sessions in the past cause I didn't have the appropriate guitar. And being lefty you can't always borrow/rent one easily.

Same with effects. I must have about 15-20 drive pedals and hardly ever play with drive. Sold a few these last few months though.. Nothing would make me happier than being able to play all the music I like on one guitar only, but it ain't gonna happen..

[pan60]

i bet i have 30 nice guitars here in the studio if not 30 really really close and although i have had a few i dont have any nice dreadnoughts sold that last one i had to a guy that loved it and wanted it bad enough its no longer here.
so i will be replacing it and i just ordered a nice 1 size guitar from my luthier so it seems to me it never ends.
i am also looking for a es175 i can afford or at least one i can aford and repair?