“People get tired of seeing the same guitars everywhere… I started asking custom shops to do things”: The battle to save brick-and-mortar guitar stores – and why high-end electrics are essential to their survival

A photo of Fender and PRS Guitars handing on a wall rack at a guitar store.

The rapid growth of the internet during the early 2000s drastically changed the way guitarists shop for and purchase instruments.

Today, many musicians turn to online outlets like Amazon, Musician’s Friend and Sweetwater for new guitars and eBay and Reverb for used and new instruments, which has unfortunately resulted in the near-extinction of the small, independent instrument retail stores that almost every decent-sized town used to have.