Guitar Shows.

[Silence Dogood]

I'm wondering if any of you enjoy attending guitar shows?  I always like them.   I was recently at the big Amigo show in Fort Worth (usually held in Arlington, Texas and referred to as Guitarlington).  This is one of the biggest shows in the world and there are people there from many other countries. 

I made a couple observations while there this year: First off, there were pretty much no young people at the show.  It was folks my age (mid 40s) and up it seemed for the most part.  And it didn't really look like anything was moving.  Seemed like most folks were just looking.  It all makes me wonder about the future of guitar shows. 

When I was an older teen, I loved going to the shows - looking at all the gear, and watching all the great players.  I guess there are less younger people playing these days, and less interest in such things.  I would hate to see guitar shows go away. 

What are your thoughts?

[JOYCEfromNS]

Insightful observations re these shows and the guitar industry as a whole IMO. Hasn't been much a Guitar-Hero since Slash - and thats now a long time ago.

Certainly gotta wonder if the Guitar is on Death Row 

[Silence Dogood]

Bumping up an old thread (and why not?). 

I went to the Amigo Show yesterday out in Mesquite (east of Dallas).  This show has been held in Arlington for the last 40-some years, but the venue no longer wanted trade shows so it had to move.  There wasn't much going on at this show (probably a lot more activity on Saturday), and I noticed several vendors packing up a couple hours early to start the trek home. 

There was well over 100,000 guitars there and not one single solitary Larrivee to be seen!  I'm always on the lookout for them and usually at least spot one or two.  Pretty crazy!

I didn't buy a guitar but just a couple t-shirts. 

Another observation: At these shows the vendors usually have piles of stickers, picks, etc. on the tables for folks to take home.  There wasn't nearly as much of that this time around.  The economy must have a lot of stuff like that nixed from the budget for some. 

Lots of great guitars on display, and lots of nice folks.  I recommend getting out and going to a guitar show if you've not done so in a while.   It's always a fun day. 

[247hoopsfan]

There used to be a great boutique show in Healdsburg ( small town just north of San Francisco.) It was all small luthiers, just a great place to discover new luthiers and try out guitars.  It died out about 10 years ago, very sad to see it go.

[Silence Dogood]

There used to be a great boutique show in Healdsburg ( small town just north of San Francisco.) It was all small luthiers, just a great place to discover new luthiers and try out guitars.  It died out about 10 years ago, very sad to see it go.

I remember seeing the ads for that back in the day in the acoustic guitar magazines.  They always had the greatest artwork in those ads.  I now wish I'd have cut out those pages and saved them.  It would make for some great music room art. 

[StringPicker6]

We need Taylor Swift to do an "unplugged" show on Netflix, and hopefully that will renew interest in acoustic guitars, just like Clapton did in the 90's!  Anyone have her cell phone number? 

No?     No one??

[Myopic Squirrel]

When I was hanging with Jason & Travis this summer before his camp began, Travis gave me his cell and said any messages to Tay Tay go through him. I'll see if he'll take my call. 

[lackstone]

I think the fashion of guitar is sun-downing with the Boomers. No kids these days want their dad's Harley or Martin. It's just the succeeding DNA expressing its rebelliousness like all succeeding generations do.

That said, I've never had the curiosity to take in any guitar shows. My interest lies more in the making of music rather than the making of the gear, and always has been. While I do appreciate the latter I won't be found online surfing it or any related gear. I did commission a customer build once but ended up gifting it away because it did not have the sound I gambled on it having. It was a bucket list thing to do, just for the grins, so I knew going in it could go either way.

What I really do think is interesting is the departure from traditional styling, precision, and optics the small builders are taking, as well as the expansive imagination of the buying public about materials, construction, features and their differences that enhance or dampen tonal qualities. Both are ever-evolving. 

[Myopic Squirrel]

Lackstone, re: your comment about the sundowning of the guitar with the Boomers, I don't think it's rebelliousness as much as more choices in this technological age. As one born in '45 and witnessing first the exciting development of rock n roll in the 50's followed by the folk explosion & the British Invasion, other than cars, sports, and girls (not necessarily in that order) that was pretty much it. Contrast that with just today's technology distractions - Facebook, TikTok, coding, video games, YouTube, etc, IMO these are cutting into the guitar player numbers.


 

[B0WIE]

Lackstone, re: your comment about the sundowning of the guitar with the Boomers, I don't think it's rebelliousness as much as more choices in this technological age. As one born in '45 and witnessing first the exciting development of rock n roll in the 50's followed by the folk explosion & the British Invasion, other than cars, sports, and girls (not necessarily in that order) that was pretty much it. Contrast that with just today's technology distractions - Facebook, TikTok, coding, video games, YouTube, etc, IMO these are cutting into the guitar player numbers.
 

It's an interesting topic. I think the guitar is saved by the fact that it's so accessible. Small. Easy to play accurate notes and chords on. Tablature exists. Etc.
But, people are being trained (by tech companies) to become addicted to repeated dopamine hits. This may sound conspiratorial but it's very much out in the open that social media companies, game developers, etc have found that giving customers frequent mental stimulation/rewards keeps people scrolling, swiping, playing, etc. Psychologists describe it as ultimately unfulfilling and dangerous. But, much in the way that modern society became addicted to fat/sugar/salt for the benefit of industry, we willingly walk right into these traps.

 What does that have to do with guitars? Well, a brain that's addicted to constant rewards is going to have a harder time learning an instrument. Learning guitar is a process that can be extremely rewarding, but the rewards require a great investment of energy and time. If a kid wants to make a song or a music video to impress friends, AI can now do most of the work for them.
I do think guitars will survive, for the same reason camping, woodworking, and sports will survive. But, I do think the boomers represent the pinnacle in popularity of the guitar.

[Silence Dogood]

My interest lies more in the making of music rather than the making of the gear, and always has been. 

There does seem to be two camps here in many cases: the gear folks and the ones who just see the guitar as a means to and end.  I have one foot planted firmly in both camps.  I love to play and I also love to obsess over all-things guitar (I'd say most on guitar forums are like this or they'd not be reading).  For many years I knew a lot more about guitars than being a good player.  In middle age I am becoming a much better player, and that's mostly due to YouTube and being able to see things others are doing and learning from them.  I played the same stuff over and over for years before this.  I'd pick up a trick here and there from a book or from another players, but those times were few because I don't actually know many players and never have.  Anyway, I love all-things guitar, including guitar shows. 

BOWIE brings up a good point about the dopamine hits, attention spans, personal discipline, etc.  I doubt there are nearly as many kids playing guitar today as back in the day, but looking on YouTube shows me there are many who do play that are just insanely good.  But the lazy will always take the lazy way, and there's never been a easier time to be lazy. 

But there must be some kind of future for the guitar.  All the sales during the pandemic show this.  Not all those guitars sold were to boomers.  I've also heard about the "flood" of used guitars on the market post-pandemic after many of those folks gave up.  I have a friend who did this: he got a guitar (a lifelong dream) around that time, picked it up, remembered how hard it was and why he quit the first time years ago, and now the guitar is on a stand in the corner.  It looks great but remains unplayed.