Members Johansolo Posted February 28, 2011 Members Share Posted February 28, 2011 thought this could be an interesting discussion... Fender, Gibson and PRS (PRS seem to be mentioned in the same breath despite having 40?years less) pretty much take up the top 3 spot (in terms of manufacturing success?) im not wanting this discussion to be arguments about the quality of instruments or your personal preference etc More so the current companies that that are successful at outputting/producing instruments, with a name brand that is recognised beyond the guitar playing community? + making successful turnovers/company growth. Would Ibanez be no.4? squier? ESP, Jackson etcwhat do you think is the top 10? Discuss Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mesa/Kramer Posted February 28, 2011 Members Share Posted February 28, 2011 I would Say Ibanez prolly 4th for sure. Other top 10 Contenders: JacksonSchecterESP/LTDBC RichHamer?Dean?Music Man?G&L? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members fiveoclockhero Posted February 28, 2011 Members Share Posted February 28, 2011 Regardless of how anyone feels about quality, cheap guitars outsell expensive guitars by a huge, huge margin. This is because most people play guitar casually as a hobby and, for most people, guitars are toys. I don't have the statistics and can't say this with any concrete certainty but I am willing to bet Ibanez outsells PRS just due to the fact that it has such a tremendous share of the beginner and intermediate market. I am also willing to bet that one of the bigger reasons Fender is the top brand is because they're counting Squier sales in with their corporate figures. You would all be shocked to find out how many guitars Squier sells. It's outrageous. Even before they developed a reputation as a solid buy, Squiers sold by the truckloads, just because they look and feel so much like Fender-brand Fenders and they are available at a fraction of the price. Another thing that would disappoint a lot of guitar players is how many low-end units Dean and First Act sells. You won't see THOSE consumers here on these forums or at shows because those consumers are very young kids but they have spending power and cheapo guitars sell really damn well. I see Washburn attempting to move into that low-end Dean range more and more and it's just because the money is better there than it is catering to true, gigging musicians buying midrange guitars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members *BLEEP* Posted February 28, 2011 Members Share Posted February 28, 2011 I heard once, maybe 4 years ago, that Epiphone was the biggest selling brand. I have no idea if that was true then or still is the case, or if that was the world or North America, or what. I've also heard that Ibanez is the number one selling bass company (units or revenue -- don't know which). Wasn't Kramer a top brand in its day? Look what happened to them after a while. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members fiveoclockhero Posted February 28, 2011 Members Share Posted February 28, 2011 Wasn't Kramer a top brand in its day? Look what happened to them after a while. That's probably true, too. They were extremely popular in their time, despite their decline in popularity. Were they ever any good? I read an interview with Billy Sheehan that said he was approached by Kramer for an endorsement deal but the bass they sent him was absolutely so terrible he had to refuse. He went with Yamaha instead and has been happy ever since. Oh, speaking of which, I can almost guarantee that Yamaha sells big, big numbers, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members soundcreation Posted February 28, 2011 Members Share Posted February 28, 2011 NO WAY PRS out sells Ibanez....and I'd be VERY surprised if they even out sell ESP and all it's brands. Hell...cort probably out sells them as well. It also depends on how you look at it. By guitar companies do you include OEM manufactures as everything they do for other companies or just their house brands? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members *BLEEP* Posted February 28, 2011 Members Share Posted February 28, 2011 Oh, speaking of which, I can almost guarantee that Yamaha sells big, big numbers, too. Yamaha is not much of a contender in modern times with electrics, but they are certainly one of the top sellers -- or THE top seller -- in acoustic guitars. I believe I once read on their website that they are the largest musical instrument company in the world, as well as one of the oldest still in operation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members fiveoclockhero Posted February 28, 2011 Members Share Posted February 28, 2011 Yamaha is not much of a contender in modern times with electrics, but they are certainly one of the top sellers -- or THE top seller -- in acoustic guitars. I believe I once read on their website that they are the largest musical instrument company in the world, as well as one of the oldest still in operation. I assumed acoustics were inclusive. And, yes, Yamaha produces marching band instruments and pianos and keyboards and everything else you could imagine so they are absolutely the top of the food chain. If you play rock and roll music on an electric guitar and nothing else, you think Fender and Gibson are the biggest and they certainly are for that niche but they are almost specialty companies relative to Yamaha. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members D Carroll Posted February 28, 2011 Members Share Posted February 28, 2011 yep, yamahas on top for sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members the_bleeding Posted February 28, 2011 Members Share Posted February 28, 2011 RICKENBACKER their basses are immortal. but they dont sell much. But still, immortal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Unclemeat Posted February 28, 2011 Members Share Posted February 28, 2011 You gotta throw in Samick and Cort, as they seemingly make pretty much every Korean guitar for the other brands. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members soundcreation Posted February 28, 2011 Members Share Posted February 28, 2011 You gotta throw in Samick and Cort, as they seemingly make pretty much every Korean guitar for the other brands. yeah for sure...it's probably like this 1)fender and it's brands2)Gibson and it's brands3)Cort4)Samick5)Ibanez6/7)ESP or Yamaha8)then MAYBE PRS Again though how do you count? Cort probably makes Korean PRS, Ibanez, and ESP if not more.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members csm Posted February 28, 2011 Members Share Posted February 28, 2011 PRS probably wouldn't rank tHat high in terms of total turnover, but I'd imagine that their US range performs fairly creditably WITHIN ITS PRICE BAND, and that both the US and Korean ranges are highly profitable. If PRS weren't doing significant business, I doubt that Gibson would've bothered to take them to court over the Singlecut series. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Rick 381 Posted February 28, 2011 Members Share Posted February 28, 2011 Rickenbacker- The only company that has sold every guitar they will make for the next 3 years. 77 or is it 78 years of building legendary guitars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members The Rossness Posted February 28, 2011 Members Share Posted February 28, 2011 What if you counted guitar coorpoorations instead of indivdual brands and all their holdings?- Fender, Squier, Jackson/ Charvel, Gretsch, Hamer Gibson, Epiphone, Kramer, Steinberger ESP, Schecter, LTD, Edwards, Navigator, Killer, Grassroots Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Cortfan Posted February 28, 2011 Members Share Posted February 28, 2011 Uh, what about Martin and Taylor? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members chqtarzan Posted February 28, 2011 Members Share Posted February 28, 2011 Fender GibsonGodin YamahaEBMM ESPIbanez PRSMartin Taylor Cort and Samick are more like contractors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members weareasmallaxe Posted February 28, 2011 Members Share Posted February 28, 2011 u talking electric or acoustic....and giants like kaman are out there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members faberbz Posted February 28, 2011 Members Share Posted February 28, 2011 What if you counted guitar coorpoorations instead of indivdual brands and all their holdings?- Fender, Squier, Jackson/ Charvel, Gretsch, Hamer Don't forget Guild. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members dowman Posted February 28, 2011 Members Share Posted February 28, 2011 Regardless of how anyone feels about quality, cheap guitars outsell expensive guitars by a huge, huge margin. This is because most people play guitar casually as a hobby and, for most people, guitars are toys. I would also suspect that a large portion of the guitar buying demographic is in the 15-25 age range. That's typically when most folks take it up, or are putting bands together. At that age your income is fairly limited, which puts a severe damper on any kid's dream of getting that '57 Reissue Goldtop Les Paul - or even an American Standard Strat. Disposable cash is in far smaller supply, which puts most high school and college kids squarely in the low- to mid-priced gear market, which is what makes that lower price point so lucrative, and so high-selling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Flintc Posted February 28, 2011 Members Share Posted February 28, 2011 Are we looking at success in terms of number of instruments sold, or success in terms of profit margins? I keep reading about how Gibson the corporation is always running at a loss, might die any day. I haven't looked up the SEC numbers, and some of these outfits are private. Or foreign. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members caveman Posted February 28, 2011 Members Share Posted February 28, 2011 I heard that Samick was the world wide guitar manufacturing champ. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members T-Pot Posted February 28, 2011 Members Share Posted February 28, 2011 I heard that Samick was the world wide guitar manufacturing champ. Yep, in terms of number of guitars sold, Samick is (or at least used to be) number one, with Cort and Yamaha being up there too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mrbrown49 Posted February 28, 2011 Members Share Posted February 28, 2011 with a name brand that is recognised beyond the guitar playing community? If that's your criteria I'm not even sure you'd get a list of 10. Some non players might recognize the name Les Paul and some might know that Gibson makes it. Some might know the name stratocaster, but IME most non players don't. If you said 'yamaha' to a non player they'd probably think motorcycles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Radar-Love Posted February 28, 2011 Members Share Posted February 28, 2011 Yep, in terms of number of guitars sold, Samick is (or at least used to be) number one, with Cort and Yamaha being up there too. Samick and Cort (Cortech?) manufacture lots of instruments because they are contract manufacturers. Yamaha is not part of that lot. Yamaha used to design and make the high-performance Celica engines for Toyota for a few years back in the mid-80s, but that's a different division. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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