Guitarists with GAS? Not even close!!!

I saw this article in my local paper about music teachers getting kickbacks from music stores. Anyway, here is the relevant paragraph:

''Some of them have a good instinct for finding good instruments for
their students and from that point of view you can say it's good, but
others make a living out of it. It's a pretty murky and horrible
business frankly.

''I think the whole notion of taking a commission on an instrument to come to one of your students is immoral.''

John Simmers, a Brisbane violin maker who also refuses to
pay commissions, said it was not uncommon for school students to spend
up to $10,000 on a stringed instrument and tertiary students to pay up
to $20,000. They relied on the advice of their teachers.

''The students and their parents are so desperate to make
it that they'll do anything, so the teacher says, 'You need a new
instrument and you need this instrument worth $20,000,' and the parents
all unquestionably buy it,'' he said. ''A lot of these parents aren't
musicians themselves and … that's where the teacher becomes so
powerful.''

http://www.smh.com.au/national/education/deal-or-no-deal-music-students-swindled-20110225-1b8qz.html

Dad, can I have $20K for a new violin?