The first fact is this: high street retailers Dixons are about to start selling budget guitars and amplifiers. The second fact is this: certain specialist music shops are not surprisingly alarmed by the implications.

Dixons have already made their mark in instrument sales by championing portable home keyboards, and the move into guitars and amplifiers is a logical progression, says Dixons' purchasing director, Danny Churchill (coincidentally himself a former pro drummer).

"We'll be selling Fender Squier and Yamaha guitars and amplifiers to begin with," he told us. "But we are looking into the possibility of other makes and models, including electronic drums." Casio's guitars are another range that will definitely grace Dixon's new in-store 'Music Studio' sales areas, where musical equipment will be displayed and demonstrated. Dixons will be concentrating their efforts around the £200 mark, a price range which will almost certainly affect the established budget guitar market.

Danny was seemingly unaware of the furore Dixons' plans had created amongst the music shops. David Rushworth, President of the Music Retailers' Association, explained, "A lot of dealers are 'pretty miffed' that trade is going to be taken away from them — although we can compete with Dixons on prices, we can't match them in volume of traffic through the stores. Dixons are going to sell a lot of guitars."

"It's no good pretending it isn't going to happen, so we're trying to be aggressively positive about the Dixons move. Arbiter's have arranged an exclusive deal for their Fender dealers, providing a new line of budget guitars and amps that wil enable them to match Dixons' discount prices, and still make a good profit."

David Rushworth admits that Dixons' retailing of Casio mini-keyboards had expanded the whole portable synths market, but he was sceptical that it would have the same effect on guitar sales. Danny Churchill doesn't agree. "We see the move from keyboard to fretboard as stimulating the market, not stealing from it." He hopes that Dixons' upfront sales methods will encourage people to start playing, with more players meaning more business for everyone.

The idea of increasing the number of potential musicians has occurred to the instrument business' trade associations: David Rushworth exclusively revealed to Making Music that a "colossal promotional package" is being prepared for 1988 to promote music making as a leisure activity.

One final worry that several dealers expressed to us was that Dixons' budget guitars were simply the "thin end of the wedge," and that they would inevitably expand into hi-tech, and all other aspects of the musical instrument market. Danny Churchill has some mildly reassuring words for them.

"Although we've no plans to stock the top of the scale, it would be foolish to rule out the possibility. But our main strength lies in impulse purchases, which rules out more expensive items."