I think the guitar did have a sort of outsize influence and symbolism, due to a few factors that no longer exist, or don't have the same punch. First, it's the

I think the guitar did have a sort of outsize influence and symbolism, due to a few factors that no longer exist, or don't have the same punch. First, it's the quintessential american instrument, and it came to dominate the music world at about the same time america was coming to dominate the world world. Second, it records well. Third, it's cheap to produce. Now, a computer is much cheaper than a guitar, and a microphone is cheaper than a computer. American dominance and dynamism are sliding into a morass of nostalgia and rent seeking. With computers, anything can record well. You can make an album out of the sounds sampled from a pig being slaughtered, and people do.