In an industry filled with entire platoons of very smart people, Paul Reed Smith’s rapid-fire, ever-so-slightly defiant, and spot-on missives about tone, guitars, and music making are always thought...
In an industry filled with entire platoons of very smart people, Paul Reed Smith’s rapid-fire, ever-so-slightly defiant, and spot-on missives about tone, guitars, and music making are always thought provoking, educational, and inspirational. Here, he shares some astute intel on the state of guitar.
What is PRS doing to ensure its guitar business stays strong?
How many guitars have you bought in your life?
Me? Probably upwards of 50.
Okay. Do you pay for something that’s not worth the money?
I do not.
Right. Now we’re talking. My experience is that this is not a dead market. People are simply being unbelievably careful with their money. They’ll argue over 50 bucks if that makes a difference. But when they think something is worth it, they’ll hand over the money. When we have quality meetings with the PRS managers, my number-one question is, “Did the player get their money’s worth?” When you do that, all hell breaks loose. I mean, how many Priuses have they sold? It’s unbelievable. When car sales were bad, they were lining up at Toyota dealerships to buy Priuses. People were getting their money’s worth.
So I believe that the money and desire are just sitting there. For example, I went to a vintage-guitar show that was packed, but nobody was selling anything. Then, a ’57 Strat came up for sale for 20 grand, and I never saw stacks of hundred-dollar bills come out so fast in my whole life! I learned something important right then—everybody is watching, and they’re waiting for the right thing to wet their whistle.
Do you think the watchers are somewhat frozen by the sheer amount of data they have to absorb before they find that “right thing?”
Possibly. There’s just so much stuff out there. There used