“Music is a Business”: A Longwinded NAMM Recovery Story

I’ll probably get some flack here, but in this case, not from the people who I usually get it from. I am making plenty of assumptions, and most of these ideas are based off of opinions and views I have seen. Having said that, I don’t feel like i’m going out on a limb here. I think i’m verbalizing things we hoped weren’t true, but I don’t feel I originated these feelings.

These are my thoughts after going to NAMM. It’s been 3 months, and it’s taken about that much time for my euphoria to wear off, and ideas to settle in, or at least have some effect on me. So lets get going.

Going to NAMM was a life changing experience for me. It really was. Being someone who wants to spend their life involved in musical instruments and music, experiencing something like NAMM was valuable and necessary. And while the experience NAMM gave me was inevitable, i’m glad it happened early in my life. Rather than dancing around it with pseudoartistic jabber, I might as well just come out and say it:

Music is a business.

You hear those words spoken – “Music Business” is household fodder for future (un)employees – but it took a very large event for it to set in.

My pre-namm experience was involved in blogs and magazines, seeing all the new gear surrounded by musical A-listers and scantily clad women who wouldn’t know a Fender from a Gibson if the booths were right next to each other. And if you’ll excuse the self-righteous NAMM booth humor (something I’ll try to avoid it from now on) you’ll get a slight glimpse at what I mean by “business.” All I knew about NAMM were in journalist pictures and magazines, but they don’t show you who is really there, and why it’s really there.

I’m going to guess that 99% of the people there are just lookers, gawkers, rubberneckers and the like, enjoying the new eye candy of musical instruments that are being created. And out of a tens of thousands of people that go to NAMM, those (we, actually) aren’t the people that matter much. We are dressed in musical oriented clothes, walking shoes, and our wallets don’t have much in mind except for the food.

And then you see the people and sights they never show you in the magazines. The suits, ties, briefcases, back rooms, two-story booths, soundproof rooms, velvet ropes, business schedules, meetings, power lunches, special areas, the entire hotel 1st floor bought by Yamaha, the Roundtables with the candy dish in the middle, the paperwork, and the nicely combed hair. Guitar World/Player/One would never show you that. Well, why would they? It’s not like it would sell issues (Re: Business).

You start to realize that the stores that sell a lot of guitars are not guitar meritocracies. The best guitars aren’t sold at Guitar Center, Samash, Musicians Friend or Music123. They are merely (I should say “probably, because this is all hearsay now) there for their name, and the amount of money they bring in. For instance, a Fender Relic, now the basis for all things overpriced in the guitar industry, costs a few thousand dollars to sell. Chances are, that guitar cost the exact same to make as the Made In Mexico 70’s reissues, and even they are overpriced.

So the manufacturers sell them wholesale to one of these big musical instrument selling companies for a low price, and then the company sells them to us for a higher price. I’m going to make an educated guess and assume the reason all of those guitars are at the big-name stores, is solely because they bring in the most money. Thus reducing your guitar buying options at the big stores to profit margins, rather than quality. Gibson, Fender, PRS, ESP, are only known brands because the people buy them, and the retailers get a good deal. You’d probably never see a Suhr or a Vigier at a big namer because they probably couldn’t turn a good profit.

I think what solidified my ideas that it’s a business was being in the ESP booth. It was all rock-and-rolled, videos playing, cool guitars on the wall. Then I standing in a certain place, and a door opened. Out of the door came around 8 men in business suits, shaking hands and smiling. Not a single one looked like a guitar player, or even a guitar player in disguise. I am in the room which is a large upstairs conference room, dressed to the nines in the finest in metal regalia, and there went what looked to be wall street’s finest. They probably just sold a couple thousand guitars in futures, or made a deal with an overseas manufacturing company to lower the manufacturing costs of parts fifteen percent.

That’s when it dawned on me to look at everything there in a different light. All of the manufacturers of cheap guitars probably couldn’t play one if handed to them. They were there for a profit, and turning plywood, lumber scraps, and cheap mass produced parts into money was why they were there.

You go to a hardware store, and there are rows and rows and rows of screws, big and small, costing a couple cents. Metal door brackets and hinges, a few dollars. Plastic knobs and plates for switches, a dollar or two. Lumberyard’s full of wood, a couple bucks for large pieces. All of these mass produced parts parallel to guitars. Tuners, bridges, knobs, switches, plates, and all of the simple things don’t add up to the cost of a Squier strat, especially when they are being mass produced. Necks, bodies, pickups, and everything but painting and assembly are automated, but we are still paying big bucks. It’s what we expect, as guitar players.

Want something with a clear finish? Extra 70 bucks. Gold plated hardware? 50 bucks. Floating bridge? 200 bucks. Hollowbody? Upper range. Thin nitro finish? Upper range. Locking tuners? Extra 100 bucks. New pickups? 70 bucks. You all know this, and you’ve come to expect this.

But knowing the details is not very rock and roll. This hobby of mine was born and raised in the ear canals of rock and roll Venice, and I didn’t want it to be sold to the lowest bidder. I didn’t want to know that the reason Guitar Center had my Gibson SG was because they probably made a huge deal of money off of it. I didn’t want to know that my gear heaven known as NAMM, is really just for big businesses to make deals. I didn’t want to see the Chinese manufacturers sitting at a table, waiting for one of the big companies to come to them so they could make the most profit.

You try and justify the price you pay that there’s some guy working in a factory on your guitar. That the measly 400 dollars you spend on a Mexican Strat is worth it. Then you realize that there are a good amount of people who specialize in that part, and they spend the better part of 5 minutes on it. Bolting on a neck, clamping the sides, installing tuners, drilling holes, removing things from giant machines. They get paid wage a few bucks above minimum, if not minimum. Aside from the paint and finish drying, it probably spends very little time in someone’s hands. Probably a good 15 dollars out of the company’s pocket worth of labor, and that’s pushing it. 20 bucks total for the parts, pushing it again. Manufacturing has been paid off, so probably a dollar or two for maintenance of the machines. We’re talking anywhere from 8 to 30 times the profit for something people yearn for.

The problem is there’s no competition. I’m beating the dead horse of my ill-fated “Why I Hate Guitar Center” post, but unlike the computer industry all prices just keep going up for us while quality drops.

I saw NAMM. I saw the celebrities paid to be there. I saw the small companies trying to break into the market. I saw the new gear, the booth babes, the lights, the smells. I got the blisters from walking, I saw Johnny Demarco (!!!), I saw the elaborate booths. And I realized that none of it was for me. Any guitar player would be happy with a booth full of guitars, and had the bar not been set so high, i’m sure that’s what NAMM would’ve been like. Instead it was the largest building i’d ever been to, enormous booths, louder than hell, and it was an overload.

But what does it all mean? Will it change a thing that I know this? Nope. I’m still going to go to Guitar Center, i’m going to pay 1700 dollars for the Eric Johnson Strat (someday…) which cost probably under a hundred to make. I’m going to keep on truckin through the business part of it. Pay a dollar for a song, 2 for a ringtone,
50 for a doorknob or whatever I buy, and continue to realize that music is a business. But so is everything else, so I should shut my mouth because some day i’m going to be in this business, and you’re going to pay for my Eric Johnson strat.

The end.

I await loads of criticism, both foreign and domestic. Including the job offers from Fender and Gibson for a billion dollar a year contract for me to sit around in the Charvel office or the Gibson Supreme office being the guy who criticizes everything, but still enjoys it all.

Me and music, we have a love/hate relationship. I love all of this stuff, but I hate seeing people in suits.

Squier Affinity Strat??? Should I…

Readers, (echooooo) I am calling upon you to answer my call.

Over the last few months, I have been desiring a 3 pickup strat-style guitar. If I had my druthers, i’d be caressing an Eric Johnson Signature strat right now, but since my credit limit is not a giant infinity symbol, i’ll have to make do.

Oddly enough, in my entire time playing guitar, i’ve never owned an SSS guitar. My first electric guitar was basically a yamaha fat strat (bought from a Compusa after begging. Hey, it came with an amp and a strap! Woo!) and all electrics since then with the exception of my MIM telecaster, have been humbuckered. Ibanez, Dean, Gibson, Jackson, Yamaha; all having humbuckers in the bridge. I don’t really get to take advantage of the single coils, and coil splitting just doesn’t cut the mustard. Nothing sounds like that standard strat sound.

So, i’ve come to a crossroads, and i’m down on my knees (Had to do it…) begging the guitar deities to answer my questions intelligently, without the usual territory that comes with the guitar i’m debating on buying. It’s a Squier affinity strat. The one with the 60’s fat headstock, sunburst finish and a **GASP!** Alder body. Hell, Alder is better than cheap crappy basswood, or worse…MDF.

Here’s my rationale so far:

It’s a Fender. I’m willing to bet that the machine that cuts the bodies out of what is most likely the cheapest, B-stock Alder, uses the exact same programming as custom shops. The CNC machines Fender uses in USA to cut their monstrously overpriced models, is probably programmed identically to the ones in China, blasting out 2 bazillion squiers a day. A small exception may be the bridge pocket on the front, but i’ll check that out if I go through with this insanity. And same goes for the necks. It’s probably the same maple neck from the 70’s reissue, minus the tinted nitro finish.

Granted, it’s not the Squier Japan that used to be a good name, but it’s made under Fender which means Fender parts will fit in just fine. Something goes wrong? I’ll get parts meant for a Fender, and things will be fine.

The problems it has are probably easily fixable. I’ve watched videos of Dan Erlewine do a full setup on a cheapo guitar, and make it legit. I believe it was a cheap Epiphone dot, but I could be mistaken. Fret leveling, nut shaping, saddle cleaning. All of a decent days guitar work to turn a 150 dollar guitar, into something perfectly reasonable.

A 150 dollar strat facsimile with Medium Jumbo frets, no less. Even better!

Not only that, but it’s the attachment to it. A few dings and scratches on a Squier affinity with some Dimarzio Velvets or Duncan Customs in it won’t hurt me like it would to hear the zipper on my jacket within 5 inches of an Eric Johnson signature, or my oft considered ESP strat,  Suhr classic or Vigier excalibur. **Faint**

I am considering this guitar as something I don’t feel bad customizing. New pickups and wiring, some hardware, using it to practice painting, coloring and refinishing. All of the things i’d like to do, and I haven’t felt like doing on my Ibanez Prestige.

And here’s why i’m asking:

Every place with reviews about the affinity are all new players who are unfamiliar with the guitar as an object. It’s an icon for them, and when some little buzz pops up, they throw it back like a carp, and spend the rest of their days ragging on it. But no actual reputable player or magazine has sat their ass down and reviewed the bane of the guitar industry’s existence. We all look at it as heresy. The cheap, mass produced soulless guitar from chinese sweatshops made of the wood from ransacked Tibetan villages, (please don’t sue me, Fender. I’m kidding…hopefully) pickups outsourced by Seymour Duncan to some third world country where kids wind them by hand (please don’t sue me, Seymour. I’m kidding…hopefully)  and parts and hardware made from scrapped Russian military bases. (please don’t bomb me, China. I’m kidding…hopefully). I haven’t seen Guitar World, Guitar Player, or any of the other publications sit the hell down and review it like a guitar. I can’t trust a bunch of guitar newbies to tell me if a guitar is legitimately good or bad. Hell, they’re the same people who swoon for LTD guitars **yawn**.
So, should I get one? Turn it into a semi-legitimate strat after some leveling, sanding, polishing, removing the Squier label then putting on a Gibson decal and more? Would it be worth it to have a decent framework for a project guitar cost only 150, rather than spent 1800 on one I wouldn’t dare touch?

Yes, at some point i’ll go to a Guitar Center and give my best try at actually reviewing a Squier, but for now I don’t want to leave my house, I simply want to let sparks fly on the internet.

I await comments. Like all of my other posts, I expect to get some grief for the things i’ve said. It seems I can’t say anything right here, but since i’m not running for office, it doesn’t matter. Though it seems like I am with all of the crap I seem to get thrown at me by the internet.

Please don’t sue me internet, i’m only kidding. Actually, i’m not. Some people have no sense of humor.

NAMM 2008

These are the pictures of things I found important.

Dick Dale playing a Blackbird carbon fiber guitar. He soon talked about the “Tsunami of Sound”. Impressive words.

Extreme metal from ESP’s Custom Shop.

More extreme metal.

A nice green on an ESP, an LTD, no less.

LTD continuing to impress me on looks. I have to say I was never an ESP fan, and except for the hundreds of businessmen ruining my panting in front of a guitar, they had one of the best sections.

ESP trying not to lose all their money on the short-lived Dave Mustaine Signature.

Carbon fiber mandolin. Really now?

The local newspaper had a picture of Kerry King and Marshall on the front…wow. Slayer on a newspaper front? Surprise…

I am a big fan of Charvel San Dimas without the Stratstyle headstock, but this looked pretty sweet.

Any of you who have watched Roland’s guitar gear videos has seen Johnny Demarco, the most over the top spokesman for any company ever.

True innovation, no exaggeration. This was the one thing that seriously caught my eye, and that’s what matters. The V-accordion. Very good player too.

Dream Lineup. Hughes and Kettner tone lines. Best amps i’ve ever played.

The long haired blond guy is Seymour Duncan.

Nice guitars. Very washburnesque with a little Carvin.

A BC rich your mother could love, and afford! Only like 600 for that thing.

Finally saw some Hagstroms. I wasn’t as impressed as i’d hoped, but still nice.

Oof. Warrior guitars. Thems is crazy. They are expensive, and would make you look infinitely cooler than a PRS.

Composite necks, anyone?

The bald-headed man with the space glasses is none other than Tony Levin!

Excuse me whilst I faint. John Petrucci Ernie Balls.

Ibanez Singlecut everyone! NEW!

Decent looking budget hollowbody Ibanez.

Odd looking Ibanez, but I liked it.

What you’ve all been (just me) waiting for, the new 24 Fret S-series Ibanez. It was one of the main reasons I went to the show, but that prestige neck just didn’t have the same electricity as my RG1570 had.

Those are pretty Wechters. Damn.

Finally saw some Zemaitis. 4000 dollars for metal work? Nope.

The reason this show is such a letdown. I’ve never heard about this before, but it’s the ridiculous factor. So many cheap pieces of shit overseas import companies. All making trashy knockoffs and pieces of junk. There were a LOT of them, and they had nice booths, were dressed impeccably, and made me want to smash them all.

The unique award!

I am going back tomorrow, and maybe I’ll get more pictures.

I met Thomas Nordegg. One of the, if not the most famous Tech guy ever. He will never remember, I will.

Also, I jammed with Dean Markley.

Winter NAMM 2008

I will be there, so there will be pictures.

Look for a big post on NAMM 2008 on what I find interesting or uninteresting.

Yes, there will be pictures.

Tis been quite awhile.

It has been some time since i’ve written anything here, so I figured i’d check in and give some musical instrument related thoughts on the current status of music and such.

Technology keeps getting better, but it makes us lazier.
Case and point the cyber-Gibson or whatever it’s called that tunes itself. It’s a really good idea, but I think they should limit the ownership of that to people who already know how to tune a guitar well. People who seem to never progress in the tuning area don’t need more reason to be lazy, and by giving them this guitar it’ll just mean they’ll be bad at guitar in tune, instead of retaining the somewhat redeeming quality of trying to accomplish something out of tune. Kind of harsh words, but I imagine guitarists know what i’m talking about. Either that, or make this guitar only allowed to do alternate tunings and to go to standard from alternates. It doesn’t change the fact that I want one, but I want one in a Les Paul Custom, not a studio, and not in a color that looks like it’s the background to a Bob Ross painting.

Fender, Keep Quiet for Awhile.
Every week or so, Fender releases another guitar, only making one simple adjustment which they believe qualifies them to add a few hundred dollars to the price tag. If you look at the New for 2007 page on Fender’s website, you’ll know what i’m talking about. Models from different years, signature models for people no one wants to own. For example, I love John 5, but no one will want to own that guitar of his, the Triple Tele. Anyone who would want that guitar would want to make theirs custom because NO one wants a guitar that specific unless they’ve been playing guitar for a long time, in which case they probably know about custom shops, and don’t want something like that. Tele body, 70’s headstock, 3 humbuckers, mirror pickguard, all with a tremolo? This is barely a telecaster. They should name the guitar the John 5 25% Telecaster, 25% Stratocaster, 25% Gibson 3 pickup, and 25% awful tremolo. Seriously, it needs that long name on it so the telecaster people know what it is when they put their standard teles down, look up and see this thing. It’s a cool idea, but is this really profitable?

And the J. Mascis Jazzmaster? Jazzmasters look awesome and sound awesome (feel wise and hardware wise, not so much) but is it really necessary to release a custom shop model just because it’s purple?

Gibson, Why did you Guitar Hero?                                                                                             
Why? Why? Why? Why couldn’t they have just made their guitar shapes and not haveGibson logos on them? If it’s not a musical instrument or directly connected to the use of one, then what the heck is Gibson’s name doing on it. Same goes for their flash drives! I mean, I want one of the flash drives, but really, Gibson, you’re GIBSON! Of the two household names of guitar, you’re one of them. You’re the Coca-Cola, the Hershey’s, the Gatorade of the guitar world, and you’re putting your name on a plastic guitar-shaped device which has absolutely no connection to real musical talent. 5 buttons, a switch and a stick of metal. It takes a 10 year old an hour to master Jessica by the Allman Brothers, but how long did it actually take the Allman Brothers to collectively get the musical talent to create such a song?!

Still a fun game to play though.

Alright. I’m done for now. I’m “interning” at a guitar company around here, and I want to get there early.

Your friend in bitterness,

The Guitarist!

Yes, i’m looking for things to rant about because i’m bored as hell, but there are some things that just need to be said.