to see my transcript. - Freestyle Academy of Communication Arts

Although it’s popularity has shifted throughout the years, the culture of rock
and roll has stayed the same. Rock forces people to analyze the world we live in
and ask ourselves whether we are pleased with what we see; it encourages us to
be free and express our emotions; it asks us to go crazy and have a good time.
It doesn’t matter what sub genre the music is a part of, be it delta blues, punk or
even thrash metal, these same messages can be found throughout.
Over the years, rock has resisted a definition, but one thing that can be defined
is the attitude of the people who appreciate rock and roll by playing the guitar
or any other rock instrument. The media mainly perpetuates the stereotype that
rock guitarists are mean people. If one were to look at Guns N’ Roses’ biography on Spotify, it says in the first line, “They were not nice boys, nice boys don’t
play rock and roll.”
But Brad Guesman, my close friend and an experienced guitarist,
proves
this stereotype wrong: “When you meet another guitarist who isn’t as good as
you are, you kinda feel inclined to help them... It just feels right to help them
play better,” says Guesman. Therefore, contrary to popular belief, rock guitarists
aren’t all mean people.
In the past, small guitar stores were a crucial part of supplying and repairing the
tools necessary to create the sounds of rock and roll.
Small guitar stores
provide a buying experience that is unparalleled because they take a
personal approach to helping the guitarist rather than giving them a catalog and telling them
to bring back the guitar they like most. In my personal experience, employees at small guitar
stores have always had a better way of connecting with me than large guitar store employees.
Since employees at large guitar stores usually have a larger area of the store to look over and
more customers to interact with, they won’t always have the time to sit and have a full conversation with you. Small guitar store employees are more focused on their customers rather
than just making
another sale.
Gryphon Stringed Instruments is in Palo Alto, California. When you walk
in, you are immediately greeted by the sight of a plethora of fine guitars. The
wood and glass checkout counters contain effects boxes, capos and other guitar
related accessories. The warm light reflects off of the bodies of the brand new
Martin guitars in the display cases.
Often times, there is the sweet hum of an electric Gibson being played through
a VOX amplifier coming from the small room of electric guitars in the corner.
As you continue through the shop, you can see a great number of boutique,
quirky guitars among the vast number of vintage and more mainstream guitars.
At the back counter, store attendants and customers chat about repairs and
restorations. Their conversations are unlike conversations heard at most guitar
stores, they sound like friends, not just sales associates and customers.
Gryphon Stringed Instruments was founded in 1969 by Frank Ford
and his
friend Richard Johnston. After college, Ford, a recent graduate of the University
of California at Santa Barbara, teamed up with Johnston, a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley, to repair guitars in their garage. They started
by repairing guitars and mandolins, but as they got more attention and received
guitars to sell, they decided that they should open a shop. I had a chance to
sit down with Mr. Ford and talk about the history of Gryphon, “We started in
Palo Alto, so you could say that we are a Palo Alto garage start up.” he says, “We
haven’t moved out of the garage since really. We opened a retail shop in ‘73, but
then moved to this building in ‘76.”
Gryphon specializes in selling Taylor and Martin acoustic guitars as well as
banjos, mandolins and other special stringed instruments. Its long tenure in
Palo Alto can be linked to the continual support they’ve received; among the
guitar playing community, they are considered masters at repairing acoustic,
electric, and special instruments.
People who fix stringed instruments such as guitars, mandolins, banjos and violins, are called
luthiers. The majority of luthiers are found in small guitar stores, such as Steve Peterson,
a member of the luthier team at Gryphon. Steve decided to become a luthier while he was
living in Phoenix, Arizona after realizing he was unhappy with working in the tech industry.
“In order to become a luthier, I went to the Roberto Venn School of Luthiery down in Phoenix, Arizona. The school is actually an accredited trade school,” says Peterson. He decided to
become a luthier after realizing that he was unhappy working in the tech field and wanted to
work with his hands. After graduating from the Roberto Venn School of Luthiery, he came
to work at Gryphon. While he is well versed in all forms of luthiery, he enjoys fixing acoustic
guitars the most. Just like Orville Gibson and Leo Fender, founders of Gibson Guitar Corporation and Fender Musical Instrument Corporation respectively, Peterson is practically
an engineer rather than a musician. “Instead of playing music to relax, I actually think about
and research problems that I’m facing with guitars,” he explains.
James Hingston, also a member of the Gryphon team, is a fan of heavy metal and enjoys fixing up electric guitars. His passion started after he fixed the severed headstock
of his first guitar at age sixteen. Hingston can often be heard singing or humming in
Gryphon’s workshop and also enjoys playing music when he’s not working: “I play
drums for the band that we have of just Gryphon employees, but I also play guitar in
a metal band. I love playing drums in the band because its a great way for us to bond
here. As much as I love playing with them, my real passion lies in metal,” he explains.
The interaction between employees and customers represents the unique music community that convenes at Gryphon: “Everyone who comes here has their quirks; we
get a lot of fine instruments, but also some interesting people,” offers Hingston. These
“quirky people” are found mainly at small guitar stores like Gryphon, rather than
large, more robotic stores.
A disturbing trend that can be seen in the music industry is the shift towards a more corporate approach to selling music and musical instruments. Guitar players and sellers alike are
noticing that companies like Gibson Guitar Corporation and Fender Guitar Corporation are
marketing their guitars towards the older generation. “The thing is that people who grew up
watching their favorite guitar heroes like Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck are now older and wealthier than they were when they were younger. It would make sense for the guitar companies
to start selling to older people who can now afford the guitars––to make profits––rather than
sponsoring and attempting to sell guitars by showing off younger artists. Guitars can also
be seen as a status symbol among older players. They’ll pay high prices to get a guitar that
was played by their favorite guitarists, and they’ll show it off,” adds Guesman. While there
are many young, skilled guitarists performing nowadays, guitar companies wish to reap the
benefits of selling their products to the wealthier demographic, rather than showcasing new
talent. Back when guitars were first becoming popular, they were much less expensive, but
over time,companies have adjusted their prices so that anyone who wants an iconic instrument has to pay a premium price.
Take the Gibson Explorer for example. The Edge bought his Gibson Explorer in
1978 for $248.40, which would be worth about $890 in today’s money. On the
Gibson Guitar Corporation’s website, a brand new Explorer is listed at $1,999.
This new version costs $1,109 more than the original did in 1978.
Smaller guitar stores have a reputation for selling instruments that are more expensive. For
younger people who can’t afford to pay a premium for a guitar, the only option is to go to a
bigger guitar retailer, or to order guitars online. “We live in a world where discount rules,”
says Ford, “We’ve been taught as consumers that we’ll be happier when we get more stuff, so
in order to give people that illusion, big box guitar stores put heavy discounts guitars because
they know that lots of people are going to come in and buy one.” Small stores like Gryphon
can’t physically carry stocks as large as stores like Guitar Center, so they must charge a premium price for every guitar they sell.
The resulting issue is that guitar companies charge high prices that are meant to attract older
guitar players, and big box guitar stores place heavy discounts on those high prices, so that
they will attract younger consumers. This takes a significant amount of business from the
small guitar stores.
Pricing isn’t the only thing causing trouble for small guitar stores though; the other issue
is that big box guitar stores are simply getting too big. Guitar Center has moved to corner the market for buying and selling guitars by adding features to their stores that small
guitar stores simply can’t. They hope to add recording studios and large areas for music
lessons at their stores by 2017 (Wahba). Stores like Gryphon have spaces for teachers to
use, but they cannot match the sheer size of stores like Guitar Center.
Guitar companies and guitar retailers use their size, resources, and reduced prices to
increase sales. Although this capitalistic endeavor is perfectly fine economically, these
stores are taking customers from the small guitar stores. Big box stores corner the market of guitarists by offering them a one stop shop for everything that they might need.
Shopping at a small business also benefits the local economy and supports the
members of the community who work at the store. Supporting your local guitar
store by going there for repairs and for purchases not only helps the guitar
store itself, but also gives you a more personal and warm guitar buying experience. Although the discounts you will receive at larger stores might lure you in,
remember that you can’t be sure they’ll remember your name when you come
back.