The democratic magic of six strings, two hands and an electric current – a means of self-expression as perfect as it has ever been, says Guardian columnist John Harris
were under 24, 70% were under 45, and female users amounted to 45% of the recruits, compared with 30% pre-pandemic. Acoustic guitars were a sizeable part of the surge, but Fender also saw sales of its electric guitars soar. By November of that year, they had announced a 17% increase in trade, and the biggest year of “sales volume” in Fender history. Other manufacturers reported the same kind of uplift: late last year,that its prospects were suddenly “brighter than during the post-Beatles era.
I think I know why all this has happened. It takes me back to a Christmas 40 years ago, when my parents bowed to the inevitable and gave me a black imitation Les Paul my dad had acquired for £30. The ratio between the proficiency of the learner and the noise they are able to make made it a pleasingly accessible instrument; playing it, I quickly discovered, was a thrillingly physical experience, all taut strings and painful fingertips.
Hester Chambers and Rhian Teasdale of Wet Leg, ‘the guitar-playing duo whose songs archly deal with the trials and absurdities of modern twentysomething life.’That still holds true. Better still, the electric guitar has shaken off its once-indelible associations with male rock stars, and become something much more universal, arguably put to more interesting uses by women.
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