ROUNDTABLE: Electric guitar market

Few instruments have inspired the type of passion as the electric guitar since the instrument’s introduction in the 1930s and subsequent evolution.

Jazz, rock, R&B, country, pop, metal – without electric guitars, our contemporary understanding of such forms of music wouldn’t exist. Even, more and more, dance music and hip-hop lean on the venerable amplified six- (or seven- or eight-) string.

While sales took a hit (as was the case for many categories) during the recent recession, retailers are reporting that numbers are bouncing back. As established guitar-heavy legends re-emerge (Guns N Roses, anyone?) and newer bands find chart success, the time may well be ripe for a full-on electric guitar takeover.

MMR recently chatted with some established brands as well as a couple up-and-comers to get an up-to-date feel for this market segment…

How would you describe the overall health of the electric guitar market in 2016?

Ken Youmans of Hoshino USA / Ibanez

Ken Youmans: The traditional side of the electric market continues to be the healthiest, and we’re answering that demand in a few ways. We’ve brought back the Talman as a simple single coil style instrument to provide an alternative to consumers in that area. Artcore and Artstar continue to be strong in the semi-hollow and hollow-body categories. Part of our strength in that market is variety. Hollowbody guitars are used in such a wide range of genres, so offering an equally wide range of specs and finishes is one of our strengths. Also we launched a more traditional version of our single cutaway ARZ and that’s getting a strong response.

The popularity of metal/progressive has always been a bit of a swinging pendulum, which is probably somewhere in the middle right now.

Brian Ball of Ernie Ball/Music Man

Brian Ball: Early indications are 2016 will be a great year for the electric guitar. Acoustics have dominated over the last five-to-six years, so hopefully this is a trend that has some staying power.

It’s been a transformational year in a lot of ways for Ernie Ball Music Man, with new artist models (St. Vincent, James Valentine, JP16), production models, passive basses, and the 40th anniversary of our flagship bass, the StingRay. We’re happy to see that the interest level in the electric guitar is making a comeback. 

Armando Vega of Yamaha Corporation of America

Armando Vega: Guitar sales are still staying strong in the current market, considering the abundance of used instruments and high unemployment rate in the prime demographic, which is under the age of 30. I think it’s interesting to note that, in 2015, shipments of electric guitars declined by 4.6 percent, while the value of this category on the retail side has only declined 0.3 percent.

Jon Donais, Adam Romine, and Joshua Travis of Legator Guitars

Adam Romine: As a relative newcomer to the market, Legator Guitars’ tide flows at a different pace than the rest of the playing field. Since our establishment in 2012, Legator has seen constant growth and has quadrupled our production. This shows the market is saturated with guitarists seeking to explore new options with focus on quality and performance. 

Silvan Küng and Pirmin Giger of Relish Guitars

Silvan Küng: The answer differs depending to the market area. The high-end guitar market is growing, as a result the average guitar prices are rising again. Musicians are spending more money for better quality.

On the other side, I guess the market itself changed the direction to prevent self-destruction on providing just cheap, uninspiring guitars in market which neither manufacturer, dealer nor guitarist make profit [from].

Have there been any recent, technology-driven trends that have been impacting the design and use of electric guitars?

BB: The advancements in DSP technology in effects pedals have been a big driver for the electric guitar. What Line 6 has done with the Helix, and the advancements brought about by engines companies like Fractal and Kemper, has made the electric guitar such an expressive instrument. I think pedals have become so much more advanced, that it’s really made the electric guitar such a diverse tool to write with. I personally bought some of the new Electro-Harmonix keyboard emulators, and the Mellotron emulator, which really blew me away. It’s just a really fun time to play the electric guitar, and there are so many things you can do on an electric that you just can’t do with an acoustic.

SK: Our job is to inspire musicians, providing them with the best possible instrument through a construction that results in a new sound experience or a design that appeals and [inspires] one to grab it even on days on which you feel not in the mood to exercise your skills, or to make your instrument personalized – that you get access to your guitar, that you can adapt, change or integrate stuff in your guitar without having the knowledge of a luthier.

People want an iPhone cause they can install any apps they want and it is so easy to handle… symbolic to our market I personally see great potential in future possibilities of electric guitar manufacturing. Our industry created great craftsmanship engineered guitars through hands as Leo Fender, Les Paul, Adolph Rickenbacker, and many more.. Those forward-thinking guys are inspiring us in getting new stuff into guitarists’ hands nowadays. 

AV: Guitar design is fundamentally steered by the current musical taste. Right now it seems to be swaying towards what we refer to as the “other” guitar style – just a little bit different and slightly offset, and not so “traditional.” On the opposite side of the spectrum, you have the growing popularity of the seven-, eight- and nine-string exotic/figured electric guitars.

AR: Ergonomics. Rather than a technology that has outright replaced or improved existing components we have seen a demand for maximum efficiency and playability in a guitars build while reinforcing and complimenting its construction.

KY: Even though Ibanez has always been an innovative guitar maker, the truth is that the technological zeitgeist has gotten so far out in front of our industry that the electric guitar has instead become, for some players, a refuge from the trappings of cutting-edge technology.

That said, I would say our most interesting “tech” driven product has been the RGKP6, which is an RG model with a built on Korg kaoss pad . In spite of the fact that sales were strong, it’s interesting that there was also a highly vocal contingent on the blogs and in our social media feed, voicing contempt for the very idea of the instrument. We assume these are the same people who criticized the 7-string guitar, and the 8-string guitar, so we’re kind of used to that by now. But that’s the guitar community – on one side those who couldn’t wait to get their hands on an interesting new idea, on the other side those who claim they wouldn’t be caught dead playing such an abomination – and then everyone else in-between.  

Look for Part II of this Roundtable in our June 2016 issue.