It might not be too surprising that it's been many years since I've taken the time to visit a music store properly. Meaning, I didn't just walk in, get some packs of strings and leave. But, I didn't see this coming? Or did I and I'm just lying to myself.
@meno.meninski A mandatory pit stop, since I truly suspect guitar stores of this size have their days counted. #guitarcenter #guitars ♬ Ain't No Rest for the Wicked - Cage The Elephant
As some of you may know, I'm in Florida again, this time it's a very short trip and I did not come to deliver a guitar for once. I'm attempting to finish a few builds I already started, but also, since it might be the last trip of the year, I'm attempting to visit old friends as well.
Yesterday my friend Mike and I decided to visit a new Guitar Center that opened up near his house in Hialeah. Truth be told the store looks great, the layout is perfect, even though it's quite smaller than the stores I worked for back in the day.
I kept looking for American made guitars, electric guitars, that is, and found myself blown away by the fact that they stocked almost none.
Ok, I admit it. There are import guitars that are quite good, and I would not minding owning some of them myself, but there was a bar, a goal, a threshold of professionalism, one strived to achieve, back in my day at least.
It must be, at least in this store, that 99% of the guitars hanging on those walls are Chinese imports. I saw, maybe 20 "made in 'murca" guitars, out of what? A thousand +
It would not bother me one bit, if it wasn't for the pricing of the imports. I'm looking at Epiphone Les Pauls, that back when It was me smiling at you as you thought of buying your next six stringer, would have been $549, selling for $1499 and nobody is thinking "WHAT THE FUCK?"
Some of it, for sure, but it just can't be the whole picture. I mean, the darn things are built in China, how is it that the production prices in China tripled? How?
Someone might jump in here, and correctly point out, that prices are what they are, and if someone is willing to pay more, they will just increase the price, and thus my point is moot, but here's where I'm plating a flag, just for us to discuss.
When I was doing this for a living nobody, and I do mean, nobody would even think about paying that much money for an import. It's not compatible with the perception of reality.
But, of course, if these are the prices. That means that people are paying for it, that the barrier, the shield, the obstacle, the voice of your mom inside your head, all that is gone, and you think it's fine to pay $1500 for something that we could speculate costed $200 to make tops.
Maybe... But I think I have a point here... and I can't be alone.
MenO
almost forgot... as I stated before... I started a TiK Tok Account, are you on there??
https://www.tiktok.com/@meno.meninski
Say hi!
