Covid empties guitar stocks?

rickster71 said:
I would like to see Gibson have a line of flat top les Paul's with with 24 frets and a Floyd rose that don't cost $5,000. Not every one is in to VINTAGE. they need to catch up to the times. or even make a killer 7 string les Paul with 24 frets and a Floyd rose.
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I think they are at a disadvantage when it comes to knowing what a contemporary musician needs.
Their income is based on the secondary market value of their historic products. All of their successful products seem to be based around that. Whenever they venture outside the “box” the combination of design and public disapproval is a resounding fail. I say this while owning no less than 10 LPs!
 
skunc said:
I think they are at a disadvantage when it comes to knowing what a contemporary musician needs.
Their income is based on the secondary market value of their historic products. All of their successful products seem to be based around that. Whenever they venture outside the “box” the combination of design and public disapproval is a resounding fail. I say this while owning no less than 10 LPs!
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eventually Gibson will go under and be bought because of that mind set. Same thing happened to Harley Davidson back in the 70's when AMF bought them. It's not like they have to end the vintage LP line they can keep that but also start a new line for the younger generation that are not in to vintage looking arch tops but still want the less Paul look but modernized.
 
I my self had owned 2 different les pauls. I hated them both. one was the a red 1995 studio and the other was the first run of the les paul Blue berry burst standard. now if they was flat topped with 24 frets and a floyd rose you bet I would had kept them both
 
jlynnb1 said:
you think it's hard to find a guitar, try to find a dumbbell or two
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Seriously, I was looking to get some quick adjustment dumbells, EVERYTHING is out of stock, I can't even imagine how buff everyone should be when we can all go about life as normal again...
 
ScotHessler said:
Seriously, I was looking to get some quick adjustment dumbells, EVERYTHING is out of stock, I can't even imagine how buff everyone should be when we can all go about life as normal again...
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or the deluge of bikes and gym equipment on the market.
 
Not just guitars. OTC medicines. I need an otc eye ointment that I could find virtually everywhere a couple of months ago.

Now we have eBay scalpers selling it for 3 times the normal price.
 
I ventured into a Guitar Center a week or so ago since their website said they had a midi controller I wanted. The website lied of course, but I was really blown away at how empty the store was. I don't know how much of it is a supply problem, or how much of it is GC just not carrying inventory since they have been on the ropes for a while.

Still though, most of the low end guitar were gone. Electric and acoustic. The used wall was barren, which honestly, I would have thought would be full, unless they are really lowballing anyone bringing anything in; or just not buying at all.

To be honest, I haven't seen the effects of the economy here. I know lots of people talking about it, leaving the state, can't get work, worried about evictions, etc, but I've seen exactly zero additional music gear hitting the used market. I'm usually on Craigslist looking for a few specific things, and if anything, see less gear than normal. I've had a guitar on there for a while though, and almost no bites, so I don't think it's a case where people are in a buying fenzy.
 
spagthorpe said:
I ventured into a Guitar Center a week or so ago since their website said they had a midi controller I wanted. The website lied of course, but I was really blown away at how empty the store was. I don't know how much of it is a supply problem, or how much of it is GC just not carrying inventory since they have been on the ropes for a while.

Still though, most of the low end guitar were gone. Electric and acoustic. The used wall was barren, which honestly, I would have thought would be full, unless they are really lowballing anyone bringing anything in; or just not buying at all.

To be honest, I haven't seen the effects of the economy here. I know lots of people talking about it, leaving the state, can't get work, worried about evictions, etc, but I've seen exactly zero additional music gear hitting the used market. I'm usually on Craigslist looking for a few specific things, and if anything, see less gear than normal. I've had a guitar on there for a while though, and almost no bites, so I don't think it's a case where people are in a buying fenzy.
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Guitar Center is about to go bankrupt anyway. hell most of their employee's could not show you what a fret is anyway. Hate dealing with them so I don't. go in and ask for F-One and they scratch their head and might as well scratch their ass.
 
spagthorpe said:
I ventured into a Guitar Center a week or so ago since their website said they had a midi controller I wanted. The website lied of course, but I was really blown away at how empty the store was. I don't know how much of it is a supply problem, or how much of it is GC just not carrying inventory since they have been on the ropes for a while.
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Was that San Marcos? In any case, it's not just GC. You can look at Sweetwater's inventory and see they don't have nearly the guitars in stock they did a year ago.
 
The San Marcos store always looks sadder than La Mesa, so it’s probably a depressing sight right now. I haven’t been in there since this all started.

I suspect the lack of an upswing in CL activity is due to people not wanting to engage in gear transactions in person. Similar to the way brick and mortar businesses are suffering but online retailers are thriving. That Pizza Place on ECR just closed their doors after 40 years.
 
Even the higher end guitars are hard to find. Sweetwater has been out of stock of early all Core model PRS guitars for a while. I’ve been considering a McCarty 594 but they’re hard to find. Alternatively I was considering a Pete Thorn signature Suhr, also very scarce.
 
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deathbyguitar said:
I'm honestly surprised that the market is able to support as many guitars being produced as they are. The conservationist in me kinda wishes they would just stop making guitars for a year or two and save some trees and reduce carbon emissions. There are soooo many perfectly good guitars sitting up in pawn shops or guitar center or whatever that would suit someone perfectly.
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That can’t happen for the same reason Hollywood does remake after reboot after re-imagin8ng. That’s a lot of mouths need feeding. You can’t just shut things down and then flick a switch and they suddenly reappear. That’s magical thinking.
A good example is the F-22. They made 103 of them. When older F-15’s started snapping in half because of airframe fatigue, the seemingly obvious answer of “just make more F-22’s” becomes impossible. Complex production lines were dismantled, key personnel moved on or retired, hundreds of suppliers No longer exist and/or can no longer support long logistical chains, and a thousand other reasons. The same goes for literally everything. Nothing in the world is as easy as we all wish it could be. If all this factories stop making guitars and start making furniture, they’re not going back to guitars.

Going back to my analogy, you know what the best answer to needing more F-22’s was? The F-35. See how easy that’s been?
 
skunc said:
Demand and public perception insist that a one piece neck is “better.” That is why the large companies Gibson, Fender, PRS continue this tradition.
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I know, This is why I say things how like ISIS and Al Qaida are more progressive then guitar players.

USMC_Trev said:
That can’t happen for the same reason Hollywood does remake after reboot after re-imagin8ng. That’s a lot of mouths need feeding. You can’t just shut things down and then flick a switch and they suddenly reappear. That’s magical thinking.
A good example is the F-22. They made 103 of them. When older F-15’s started snapping in half because of airframe fatigue, the seemingly obvious answer of “just make more F-22’s” becomes impossible. Complex production lines were dismantled, key personnel moved on or retired, hundreds of suppliers No longer exist and/or can no longer support long logistical chains, and a thousand other reasons. The same goes for literally everything. Nothing in the world is as easy as we all wish it could be. If all this factories stop making guitars and start making furniture, they’re not going back to guitars.
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Hollywood makes reboots because they are creatively bankrupt and because blockbusters need to make almost half a billion or even more before they start turning in a profit. When you don't have any good new ideas, or movies are too expensive to take a chance on something new, going the safe surefire way to make a profit by making a reboot becomes VERY tempting. Until the market becomes so damn fed up with them. And then they will really be in trouble.

As for the F-22 analogy, thing is, while the production line of the F-22 was ended and it's no longer possible to make new ones, the US Chair Force could easily buy new F-15's to replace their aging fleet. That production line still exists and the aircraft has been upgraded significantly to make it as close as gen 4,5 as possible. Just like with the F-16 by the way.

Going back to my analogy, you know what the best answer to needing more F-22’s was? The F-35. See how easy that’s been?
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The F-35 is a glorified bomb truck, not an air superiority fighter like the F-15 and F-22. It's an F-16 and early F/A-18 replacement, not a F-15, late F/A-18 replacement. I wouldn't put it up against the SU-35 or SU-57 in an one on one dogfight or when your network advantages have been negated by enemy jamming. And I don't mean jamming as in an epic Jimi Hendrix jam. Although it would be cool if enemy jamming would consist of Russian or Chinese guitar players having a major jam session through your headset.
 
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