CF Martin didn’t fall until the others had gone through the cycle, and they still haven’t come back 100 percent although their better guitars are good now-but at those idiotic prices ought to be. Rickenbacker has never gone through the cycle at all because of the close family ownership and a disinclination to change-which has cost them a lot of sales but also kept them at a high quality level. Fender and Gibson have both been through this cycle twice.

It’s good for startup guitar companies because it gives them a window of opportunity. It’s bad for guitar players because there a lot of lousy guitars with famous names on them and often going for high sums of money.