Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1999/10/14

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Subject: Re: [Leica] cameras and guitars
From: "Ken Iisaka" <kiisaka@attglobal.net>
Date: Thu, 14 Oct 1999 20:47:56 -0700

> All this talk about where Leica should go, and digital v. analog, puts me
in
> mind of the Fender guitar company, who resurrected themselves in the 80s
> after being run into the ground by CBS - who blew the brand by churning
out
> clunky donkey guitars in the 70s - by putting out a clearly differentiated
> line of made-to-a-price guitars (Squiers) without compromising the quality
> of their top line.

CBS was very good at running venerable musical instrument manufacturers into
the ground.  Steinway was another.

> Interesting that in the musical world pretty much everything is now
digital,
> and strives to emulate analog, except the instruments themselves. Even the
> synths are analog (resistors and capacitors), or use waves derived from
> acoustic instruments, while every attempt to 'innovate' the electric
guitar
> further has turned into a blind alley.  The Fender Strat has been
> incrementally improved, but for my money (and many others) the older
guitars
> are better. Fender now makes a lot of money making semi-retro versions of
> its own product, just as Konica and Voigtlander are doing with the new RF
> stuff.

Perhaps so in the POP MUSIC WORLD, but classical instruments are very alive
:)  While electric pianos have replaced klunky, cheap pianos, real
concert-calibre grand pianos are well.  You will never see Vladmir Ashkenazy
or even Kissin to play on a Yamaha keyboard.