The Coolest Brick-and-Mortar Guitar Stores in the U.S.

Awhile ago, Guitar World traveled the country in search of some of the coolest brick-and-mortar guitar stores every player should visit at least once.

Favorite instrument you ever had in stock
Perhaps the 1962 Fender Jazzmaster that we acquired as having belonged to Jimi Hendrix when he played with the Isley Brothers. We matched cigarette burns and other markings on the guitar to ones in photos of Jimi, and it was a righty guitar that was clearly played as a lefty. There was no way to officially confirm the history, but after extensive research and feedback from a lot of other reputable people who I showed it to through the years, I was convinced that it was, indeed, Jimi’s guitar.

Strangest request from a customer.
We received a call asking us if we would be willing to close our store in the middle of the day so that the wife of a foreign head of state could come in to buy a guitar. We obliged and shortly thereafter several limousines pulled up out front with their country’s flag flying in the wind on each of them. She emerged from her limo, flanked by bodyguards, and came in to our store to buy a guitar.Most common song people play when trying guitars
We hear a lot of John Mayer on both the acoustics and the electrics. The favorites tend to be “Gravity,” “Heart of Life” and “Stop This Train.”

Coolest instrument currently in the shop
The instruments getting the most attention are the left-handed blackguard 1954 Fender Telecaster, 1955 Gretsch White Falcon, Lloyd Loar signed 1924 Gibson F-5 mandolin and several pre-war Martin style 45 guitars including a 1940 D-45. I continue to have a keen interest in pre-war Martin D-45 guitars and I have seen many of the 91 D-45 guitars Martin made between 1933–’42.

Strangest request from a customer
We are continually baffled by customers who seem oblivious to the importance of preserving the integrity of vintage instruments. In the past week, a visitor to the shop inquired about taking a sander to the original finish on the back of a Fifties Gretsch because it “felt too rough,” and we received a call about routing a ’59 Melody Maker for humbuckers. Why anyone would want to do some of the terrible things we’ve seen, heard about, or that have been suggested confounds each and every one of us at the shop.

Elderly remains at the top of many touring musicians’ and guitar fanatics’ bucket lists—and for good reason. Stan Werbin’s 40-plus-year-old shop is legendary for its rare (and seemingly endless) inventory, awesome staff and great spaces to play. This family-owned and operated business prides itself on knowing everything there is to know about their instruments, making it easy to understand why many consider Elderly one of the finest shops on the planet.

Favorite instrument you ever sold
A couple of memorable ones would be a Prairie State 19” lower bout Super Jumbo (c. 1938) flattop guitar that we sold in 1998 to a well known musician/collector, and a 1933 Gibson RB-Granada resonator five-string banjo, original five-string neck, flathead tone ring, one-piece flange, owned and played since 1934 by Thirties country music superstar Wade Mainer that we sold in 2010.

Favorite celebrity encounter
Nicolas Sarkozy, who was the president of France at the time, called to buy a gift for his famous musician wife Carla Bruni. It seems she wanted a Seventies Jazz Bass we had that was factory Walnut finish over a Sunburst finish, which was rare in the Seventies…and the family wanted it partly because they were fans of Tom Petersson of Cheap Trick, who had traded it in to us.

Strangest request from a customer
When a customer brought in a 20-year-old Les Paul he claimed was untouched by human hands. He insisted I wear fresh white gloves to inspect his guitar before we made an offer to buy it. Best advice for a customer
A better guitar will make you a better player—you will hear more detail in your playing you can then exploit. A new guitar will have new songs in it too. And lastly, we have a mirror…take the new guitar and go look, we understand.

What can you expect from a shop whose exterior is painted in Eddie Van Halen stripes? Everything! The Guitar Store represents Seattle right with an awesome staff and a vast selection of great guitars. With an ongoing series of in-store events and appearances by notable musicians, there is always a reason to stop in. Last year the shop hosted a monthly “build your own pedal” workshop—how cool is that?

Favorite celebrity encounter
In 2012 I got a call from Ken Haas at Reverend Guitars asking if we could do an impromptu clinic with Pete Anderson because the venue Pete was supposed to play had suddenly closed. When he showed up he had a broken headstock from a stage accident in Portland the night before. We glued it back together and he played an unannounced show at the store with the guitar that night. He played in the shop the next year when on tour and has us listed as an employer on his Facebook page. I wonder if I need to get him a W-2?

Favorite instrument you ever sold
We got in a 1966 Rickenbacker 360 in Fireglo that was a beauty. It was amazingly clean—like it had been under a bed for 40 or 50 years. We had it posted online and it caught the eye of one of our guitar students, a young guy who has been shopping at the store for years and has a great appreciation for cool guitars. It was love at first sight. Turns out he was coming up on his 18th birthday and graduating from high school, and we worked out a deal with him and his amazingly supportive parents, and he got the guitar! We still smile at the idea of him getting that guitar; it went to a good home.

Favorite celebrity encounter
Here’s one good story: Robert and Dean DeLeo of Stone Temple Pilots have stopped in a number of times. One time, there was a kid in the back corner of the store playing a guitar. We were having a conversation, and Robert noticed that the kid was playing some STP riffs. His ears perked up and he was like, “Excuse me. I’ll be back in a minute.” Robert spent about 45 minutes giving that lucky kid a Stone Temple Pilots guitar lesson.

Favorite instrument you ever sold
Probably an extremely well-loved/worn late-1956 Les Paul Jr., that we lovingly referred to as “The ’56”. In all honesty, I secretly hoped we’d never sell it, and even placed it on the highest spot of our main wall—a spot where even I (being the tallest) could only reach standing on the top rung of our tallest ladder—if for nothing else, just to make sure that I’d have a chance to screen any new potential owner to assure their worthiness.

Highest price paid for a guitar in the shop
Since we opened our doors we’ve sold an incredible number of vintage pieces, ranging from lower priced Fifties and Sixties Harmony, Airline and Danelectros to more expensive Fifties and Sixties Gibson and Fender guitars and amps. To date, our sweet-spot seems to be in the $8,000–20,000 range, but is definitely creeping upward as the word gets out about us.

Most sought-after instrument by customers
Definitely vintage Gibsons and Fenders. Les Pauls, Strats and Teles make up the bulk of our sales, but we are seeing a rise in popularity of some of the traditionally more obscure brands such as Supro and Airline. On the amp side, our customers are big fans of vintage Valco-made amps, such as Supro, Kay and Gretsch. We also have just launched our own Walt Grace Amplification line of vintage-inspired amps that are selling better than we ever could have dreamed.

One fact everyone should know about Walt Grace Vintage
We are doing this because we love doing this. We are fanatically passionate about both vintage guitars and vintage cars, and after years of stolen moments to indulge our passions, we finally made it our business to make it our business! As much as we love selling our cars and guitars, we love it just as much when people come in just to hang out and talk about our shared love for these works of art.

Strangest request from a customer
The one that comes instantly to mind was a customer who asked us to open the control covers of a guitar he was about to purchase so he could inspect the wires that were used. Upon seeing the vintage wax coated, original pushback wire and original untouched solder joints, he asked if we could rewire the whole guitar with modern plastic coated wire and a new toggle switch. Of course we explained that the value of the guitar would be effected, as well as the sound, but he was unwavering in his request, and insisted that if he was going to buy the guitar, we would have to perform the work. Not saying if we did it or not, but let’s just say, I hate myself.

One fact everyone should know about Wildwood Guitars
Despite our massive inventory, we’re still the same family owned and operated shop that humbly opened its doors 32 years ago. At Wildwood, we truly believe our relationship with our customers has been paramount to our success and will continue to be so well into the future. From the moment an instrument enters our shops, it’s painstakingly inspected, weighed, photographed, and set up by our fantastic techs. Every instrument we sell is photographed by serial number, allowing our customers to choose the exact instrument they’re looking for.

Strangest request from a customer
So, one of the things we do here at Wildwood is label our guitars with a blue piece of tape, indicating the serial number, weight, neck dimensions, etc. We recently discovered that one of our incredible customers in Germany actually collects these pieces of tape, almost like sentimental trophies. Well, one guitar shipped his way without this magical blue tape, and needless to say, we had to write up and mail him a new piece of tape!

Most common song people play when trying guitars
We recently had a small child, probably around five or six years old, rocking out on a vintage SG playing the main riff from AC/DC’s “Back in Black.” That’s just so special. We’ve all been there; we’ve all had that moment when we first fell in love with the instrument and to see that in this young man’s eyes was just phenomenal. So I’d say, as of right now, “Back in Black” is easily the best song to put a guitar through its paces.

Best advice for a customer
The key is to be informed. At Wildwood, we want you to know every aspect of the instrument you’re buying, from the weight, to the unique tonal profile, to the neck dimensions—we believe you should know it all. More importantly, you should be inspired to make incredible music. There’s a magic to discovering the right instrument that speaks to you. We have a saying here: “At Wildwood, it’s not just any guitar, it’s your guitar.” I think that statement really tells the story of who we are and what we believe in.

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