thatwebdude

Laser disc never died either; just ask my 8th grade science teacher and his collection of documentaries. Still (!) evidence of use today.

The remote people don't get to take their eyes off the screen...

It would be a lot better without karma.

This occurs mostly in private student loans vs. federal ones. Private offers even fewer options than the federally mandated ones provide.

I was really good at parks & rec basketball. I was so good that sometimes I'd score for the other team, too.

There's still an idea of wearing the pitcher out in the majors. Of course, if you're an ace throwing no-nos then you can routinely go 110+ pitches per game. Most pitchers go about 60-70. The bullpen is stacked with varying arms and pitch types to throw off hitters their 3rd+ time through.

I was speaking more about "riffage" over presence, but I'll keep an ear out for it. If anything to say, "here, listen to this".

8. The answer is 8. 7 was so late-90's/early-00's. 9 string still gets laughs. But wait long enough and everyone will want to get lower.

I ponder GC's choices. It was like a cancer in my major metropolitan area. Within 5-10 years all the mom-and-pop stores with a good solution of beginner and high-end equipment left and these things moved in. Coming from a millennial, it really isn't he way it used to be. Sad.

Slightly related, and assuming you like Blues, have you seen Joe Bonamassa's videos and tours of his collection? Very cool, too. Emphasis on Fender/Gibson, but still quite entertaining. I appreciate player-collectors.

The parallels to technology careers and music backgrounds is staggering, for sure.

> Confession: I've been playing since I was 16 years old, and I didn't buy a new guitar (an acoustic) until I was over 30 years old. There was no need to.

When I started playing guitar, and took it seriously, my teachers always insisted to buy up and used, instead of something you can afford new. Now, with the salary of a software engineer, I still do it today.

When no one will buy a new car they have blowout sales on the lot. Perhaps that's what we're trying to force, here :) Sadly it doesn't work that way.

This is evolution in the industry. It opens itself up to another whole population that wasn't seriously marketed before (Pink cheap guitars, Guitar World Swimsuit edition buyers' guides, "really good for a girl" comments)

I didn't downvote, but pegging the guitar as something with a "terrible user interface" was probably your problem.

LOL, $1k on a new Les Paul.

Serious players will still spend serious money on stuff. I think it has a lot do with oversaturation of the market.

In the beginning, when White Stripes/Black keys was still regional and people were getting these unique sounds out of old, unwanted gear the cost was cheap. But that drove Silvertone's/Sears/etc prices out of the ballpark when enough people got the read on where that market was going.

Long-lasting alloys/coatings/technology will skew your results. Especially considering all they had back in the heydey was Nickel (soft). But that's a great idea!

They're an investment, plain and simple. The holy grails outlasted their original owners, and with enough care (even playing!) they'll outlast the current owners.

I mean, it's very common to play a 150+-year-old violin. I see what you're saying here. Electric guitar is so new, saturation of the market is only just happening.

> 90% of kids learning guitar quit in the first 2 months (according to Fender)

True, just ask anyone who's ever had a teaching career in guitar (or music).

It's hard, everything about it is hard. And I'm not only saying that because I feel confident with my skills; it's quite true. Only with lots of time do callouses form where it doesn't hurt your fingers every time you play. Volume and feedback is another beast to manage. And if you're playing an acoustic, you really need some light gauge strings and good action to ever have hopes for that thing to not feel like a knife to your hands.

My method with beginners was simply to keep them entertained. So many potential Guitar Gods walk out because they go up against a Hal Leonard method book and have all the fun of guitar sucked out of them. If you can get them playing music they want to play; they're much more likely to continue playing it, even through pain, so that they can learn the fundamentals over time.

Your method works really well too, one-finger chords is a great way to get people playing the strummy music they like without the frustration of coordinating all the fingers. In the same light, it's why I've tuned my 4-year-olds guitar to an open D, so that she can "write music and sing" without having to worry about getting a sound of the guitar. If the interest is there, the perseverance will continue.

Almost every collector I've met usually collects with the market. Not all of them hoard as much as you'd traditionally think. They're always buying/selling trying to get that Holy Grail First Run Sunburst Les Paul. There's plenty of room in the market for everyone willing to put some skin in the game.

Plus, I think the mention of all the boutique brands at NAMM helps with this. We all can't afford a magnificent '55 strat, but with far fewer dollars d'Pergo (or some other amazing strat perfectionist) can make something equally as stunning.

And, with enough time these instruments will hit the market again. When enough of them do; we'll make them affordable again; once everyone is play 7+ strings and doesn't want anything to do with 50's guitar technology.

I bet we'll see that with amplifiers, first.

Fender and Gibson are iconic, classic brands. They'll never deviate from what they do; because when they do (look at the double-cutaway Les Paul they just tried to hawk) they get torn to pieces.

If anyone wants to innovate in the industry, they have to come out of nowhere. Strandberg is doing well at this, with concepts you mention. Kiesel/Carvin kinda is too. Line 6 almost did, but cheap-ified the digital transition which made way for Kemper and Fractal (boutique digital brands, LOL, so funny to say) to take the stage and actually change some minds.

Because we all play guitars designed 50-60 years ago we're naturally going to resist change.

OP values Dylan over Tay-Tay. That's okay. My daughter thinks the opposite. That's also okay, and evolution of popular music.

When I was teaching guitar, the overarching trend I saw again and again, from the South the Midwest (so not a complete profile, but one large enough) was an interest in playing guitar but no real influences to latch onto.

My first question to a prospective student was "who are some of your favorite bands?". With enough blank stares I changed it to "what is some of your favorite music" with equal stares.

Kids (and adults) want to play guitar, but the initial excitement and rush comes and goes fast as they have no real guitar music to get into anymore.

Pop music has changed, and that's fine. It gets hard to find a memorable or "cool" guitar part in pop music. The last one I can think of is "Party in the USA", and that, of course, is subjective (and quite old now).

They're not dead, yet.

Or position yourself in a market that's competitive where you can demand higher wages and still benefit from tax/mental/equity-based benefits of having a stable home. If stable is what you want, that is.

Yes, if your financial advisor isn't doing their job you can fire them. Many of them (used to) have skin in the game with your money, too.

Also, lots of folks who lost out on the last recession would be in an equal place post-recession had they left them money to recoup the losses. It wouldn't have been gains, but it wouldn't have been the kind of losses they experienced either. Much easier said than done, though. I don't blame them.

> Will it ever see those levels again? I can't answer that. You can accumulate wealth extremely quickly with those kind of rates.

Doubt it. When the average savings account is <1%. I think that became permanent.

Agreed. You still have great buying power (locally) when every other merchant out there is demanding their piece of the pie.

Yes, exactly. The marketing local used to be "certified pre-owned" = "smart cars". The terms were used interchangeably, usually by differing brands.

If you're handy, and your housing market isn't super-hot right now (read: unaffordable), consider rentals. With the right tenants in a good market, it's quite passive income. And the build up of equity will provide a cash-out option later in life you may benefit from (if you choose to use it).

But don't rely on it, and don't overextend yourself. Traditional investment strategy is still a very good, solid one.

When I bought my car I noticed a "Start Up Volume" feature. I could be blaring the stereo on my way home, turn off the truck, then come back out in the morning to go to work. I wouldn't be deafened by the sudden jump in volume. It always starts at an adjustable level for that input source.

I don't understand why everything else that has a speaker doesn't have this feature.