Chicago Guitar Show

Imagine, if you will, a place where guitar players, collectors, buyers, sellers, and dreamers can all come together and feel like they are in a place that only their imagination would be able to create. This is a place I was supposed to be entering this past Saturday as I attended the Chicago Guitar Show with my good friend, Eric. It was a mere $15 just to enter the venue so chances are that this event means business and is no small order for a guitar enthusiast.

Upon entering the show from its single point of entry, I was immediately face to face with the famed guitar dealer, Chicago Music Exchange (CME). Do your research on these guys and you will see that they are highly coveted all over as one of the top vintage guitar dealers (you will find a special shout out to them as well in the liner notes of the most recent U2 album). Though I feel I understand the purpose, I was actually very disappointed with CME’s representation at the show. I’m sure the company would prefer to keep their hottest items in their store on a nice Saturday afternoon in Chicago rather than a showroom in the far western suburbs, but I think they could have brought out much better guitars for the consumer than they did. I would be surprised if they had more than a dozen guitars on their two card tables they had set up. Frankly, this was a good representation of what I would see at this show as the afternoon went on.

In the good old days of the guitar world, the shows were where the enthusiasts would come to find parts they needed, high quality vintage guitars, rare equipment, etc… Though a lot of this was to be found at the show, the prices were unrealistic and it appeared to be more of a museum than a place for someone looking to buy. There were a few booths of small luthiers making nice instruments but the rest was overpriced show pieces that seemed to be more of an attempt to show off collections than anything else.

First let’s address the topic of the people working the booths at this event. I was fairly disappointed in the friendliness of the vendors. They all looked bored and like they didn’t want people to look at their gear they had on display. It should be noted here that there are exceptions to every rule, but there seemed to be two types of people. The first was the vendor who didn’t say a word to you or make eye contact unless you engaged them first. At this point, they would be perfectly friendly and semi-helpful. The other type of person found in the vendors was someone that wanted nothing to do with anyone and was merely waiting to pack up and go home. The whole point of this event is to have your product seen and make money so I found the lack of salesmanship surprising and disappointing.

The exception? There was a HUGE booth set up toward the West side of the building and they had a lot of really nice guitars and basses. Also, they were very friendly as you entered and exited their area. The most impressive part was the cause they were representing. The vendor was handing out fliers (I lost mine) for a program to help war veterans get into music. All donations go to providing free instruments and lessons to veterans of the American military. The vendor was more concerned about pushing this cause than they were about selling their instruments which I found extremely admirable.

As far as the products, so many of the instruments and prices were really an insult to the audience and a true shame to see. Two guitars specifically jumped out at me and they were both 1973 Les Paul Customs (black). The prices were about $1200 and $1700 if memory serves. Upon spotting these two guitars, I was ready to whip out the checkbook and buy both on the spot. However, I have learned that if it’s too good to be true then it most likely is. Sure enough, the $1200 guitar was pretty beat up and Eric and I found a pretty serious repair at the neck joint. Based on the extent of the repair, the guitar had to have had a refinish. Also, the guitar looked terrible once you got up close and it all came together. On top of the $1200 for the guitar, you would have had to probably put in at least $2000 of professional work to make it respectable again. The $1700 guitar was even worse. It had MASSIVE cracks in three places through the body as well as the worst refinish job anyone has probably ever tried to spin off as a acceptable. The entire guitar had an extremely gritty feel to it in the paint and the genius who painted it didn’t understand how to use painter’s tape apparently. The control covers one the back were painted over and there were paint runs all down the body in addition to the white binding on the guitar. Again, the buyer would be looking at $2000+ to make this guitar moderately worth their while. The sad thing in both of these guitars is that the quality wasn’t even close to the “adjusted” prices that were set for their imperfections. I would have to believe that these were an investment gone wrong and the seller was just trying to stay out of the red on them.

Not all was bad at this show. I did see quite a few nice guitars and a few good deals. There was a lot of stuff I liked and was very impressed with but I just wasn’t in the market for. A vendor had a very impressive G&L lineup for good prices so that was nice to see. I also saw a rare light burst 1966 (I believe, don’t quote me on the year) Gibson non-reverse Firebird for around $4500. I haven’t seen too many of those and the price was fair. Wouldn’t mind adding that one to my collection.

What about effects, parts, and amps? There were parts here and there but I would say there two parts booths that stole the show. In retrospect, I wish I grabbed their cards. One booth had all sorts of replacement parts for all generations of gear and a little bit of vintage parts scattered in. Another booth just had loads and loads of vintage parts. Prices were decent. The vintage parts market is pretty difficult to really put prices on. Basically, it comes down to the buyer paying whatever they feel necessary to finish off that ongoing project or really make that vintage guitar scream. There were a few amps and cabs, but really not too much to choose from. It truly was a GUITAR show. Fair enough.

All in all, I wasn’t all that impressed. Yes, there was a lot of impressive stuff to be seen, but at the end of the day there were a lot of outrageous prices and just more and more of the same selection. I was talking about it with my dad over dinner and we discussed how much the internet has changed the guitar market. In today’s world, we can just jump on the internet and find better quality for lower prices. In the old days, these guitar shows were the only access that buyers had to the vintage market outside of the local stores but that has changed. It’s a double edged sword really. As consumers, we have such an advantage in getting truly great instruments at great prices but the good old days of the hunt, meeting new people, and handling the guitar before purchasing seem to be dying out. I do my best to keep it alive within myself, but I feel this World Wide Web thing completely grabbing hold of me. Try and do what you can to support a local “Mom and Pop” guitar store now and again and go back to the roots. It most likely won’t replace the internet for you but it can help keep the spirit alive. Who knows how much longer the “Mom and Pop” world will survive.