Softening music instrument market.

[Barry Yasika]

Guitar sales are slipping. G&L shut down and is up for sale, Sam Ash is gone (outside of online), and PRS just cut about 20% of its workforce. Imports from China, Japan, Indonesia, and Korea have gotten so good that their mid‑range guitars often outclass Fender and Gibson’s entry‑level models at the same price.

On the retail side, the big players—Amazon, Temu, Guitar Center, Sweetwater—and even Fender and Gibson themselves (selling direct now) are squeezing the market. To them, a guitar is no different than a toaster: just another product to move.

Prices have flattened, guitars sit unsold longer, and the old excitement around buying and playing seems to be fading.

Even on the forums, it feels different than five years ago. Prices have flattened, and guitars just seem to sit there longer before anyone bites. I don’t have hard numbers, just what I’ve noticed. And with steel guitar fading out of the very genre that gave it life, it makes me wonder where this all ends up. From my own (totally unscientific) view, it feels like younger players are drifting more toward digital rigs, loopers, and beat‑making than traditional instruments. Could be nothing more than my impression, but it sure adds to the sense that the guitar world is shifting under our feet..

[mtulbert]

Not sure I agree about steel guitar fading out and sales slipping. Call any steel manufacturer and try to get a new steel shipped out quickly. Waits average from 6 months to 2 years. With changing conditions in the economy there are probably a good number of people holding back on making a purchase of a steel or an instrument.

I have seen what happens when vendors start competing with their retailers. The outcome in generally not good for the vendor. Will have to watch and see where it goes.

Finally today on the For Sale area of the Forum, I noticed several guitars being sold so I think the second hand market is still somewhat viable. Again will have see how it develops.

Mark T.

[Chris Templeton]

One of the best parts about playing music is playing with other people.
I once askedJerry Byrd about today's music and he said that "music is a reflection of society".
In this light, The lack of instrument sales says that musicianship has drastically changed from spending the time learning an instrument to learning how to become a machine operator, staring and isolated behind screens,
My local music store is probably going out of business because he store can't compete with online sales coupled with having to pay commercial rent.

[Fred Treece]

Pedal steel production may be a little harder to track than guitar sales. The fact that builders are busy and wait times are long doesn’t mean overall productivity and sales are up. It’s my understanding that most builders run very small shops with no more than a handful of employees.

The sheer number of guitars in circulation versus the number of active players may be approaching a market maximum too. I own so many instruments that I could play a different one every day for two weeks, which is kind of stupid for me at this point. I know of others in my situation that could measure that metric in months.

So, maybe market saturation is the word I would use.