NO ELECTRIC GUITARS

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30426, 28 April 1964, Page 1

NO ELECTRIC GUITARS

Imports This Year Electric guitars, one of the biggest selling musical instruments in- New Zealand at present and the instruments which have -replaced the saxophone, drum and double bass as the music for moderns, will hot be allowed as imports in the current year. There are two Auckland manufacturers of electric guitars, but retailers doubt whether, they can meet tfie demand, and are certain they cannot produce- the range of instruments which have been imported in large numbers from America, Germany, and other places in recent , years. The : instruments were allowed in freely up to this year’s import licensing schedule. Their retail cost was anything between £l6 10s and £4OO. The Shadows, a group which visited New Zealand about two years ago, began the craze locally. The Beatles have accentuated the demand. . . That demand is likely to lead to representations being made to the Government for a change in the licensing schedule unless it can be shown that locally-made electric guitars come up to the standard expected by the younger generation and in sufficient numbers.