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I was in Chattanooga recently for some family time and a high school reunion (10th--LOL!). We had the opportunity to visit the Songbirds Guitar collection at the Choo-Choo hotel and restaurant complex.
The admission price was a little high IMO (~$16), but it was still worth the visit. The collection focuses on hardtops but also includes some archies as noted below.
There are Teles and Strats from the first years of production, guitars played by Roy Orbison, Dick Dale and Don Rich, among others. The picture below shows 2 D'Angelicos made for Eugene Krupa, as well as a 1956 Stromberg.
The last picture is a 1924 Gibson Loar mandolin and L5, in pristine condition. Wow!
There were also some of the first Hofner electric guitars George Harrison and John Lennon played with the Beatles.
Well worth the trip. Interesting to compare to Dave Roger's collection...I suspect Dave has as many if not more guitars from the early years of production, but maybe not the guitars personally played by famous guitarists. However DR's is free (unless you can't resist buying a new guitar, LOL...).
Apparently there's a "vault" with even more rare guitars you can only visit with a guided tour. Oh for next time...
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10-07-2019 07:07 PM
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Very cool but... Shouldn't those be played?
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I think ideally great guitars should be played, but sometimes the historical/personal value exceeds the actual performance value, e.g., Lennon's Hofner solid body.
In any event, we can view these as works of art, as well as musical tools.
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A lot of thin lines
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If those archtops are not taken out and used at least some of the time I highly object to this type of display. I have no idea but those archtop guitars the Stromberg and D'angelicos need to get played and the more the better. If all the do is sit in the case it is a complete missuse of what those guitars are about. So if not...............please someone send them a nasty letter.
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Here's some more on the collection: The story behind the ultra-rare vintage guitars of the Songbirds Guitar Museum | MusicRadar. Apparently there is a back room with the top shelf guitars. (As Joe Bonamassa once told an acquaintance of mine who runs a guitar store, "This stuff is OK, but when are you gonna show me the really good stuff?") Some of the guitars are taken out of the display and played. I don't know if this applies to the rare archtops. One would hope so. While they looked very playable, maybe that is not the case. As far as which is better: in a case where thousands of people can seen the beauty, vs owned by a dot.com multimillionaire who might pick on it once a year, I would probably come down with the former.
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Well the good thing is Gibson and Fender can have access to original versions to base their historic models. But I do agree it's really a shame these guitars aren't played regularly.
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30 bursts?
That's a lot, and I'm not sure what's to be gained by having more than a few in a museum, but I guess if you have the coin no one can stop you.
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They may as well have fascimiles, none would be the wiser. They need to be played and heard to have any value. As it is, just a display of painted wooden boxes. I don't care how that Stromberg looks; I care how it sounds in the hands of a good player.
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Well again, I don't disagree with you, but what is the chance of my HEARING a Stromberg being played? MUCH LESS than seeing it in a museum. Nobody who has one now would take it on tour. I have never seen either a Stromberg or a D'A being played. Benson did some famous recordings with his D'A but doesn't tour with it now, in fact I think he even commented how it wasn't practical to own vintage guitars and sold it (later restored by Monteleone). I think there's an interesting discussion to be had about what's collectible and how it should be kept and maintained and "used". I imagine like the Stradivarii and Guarneris in various museums (MIM in Phoenix for instance), these are taken out every now and then and played for special shows. I wish I had thought to ask while I was there.
Originally Posted by Jabberwocky
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Update: I gave them a call, and the associate told me that they change out the exhibits on a regular basis--what they display is about half of their collection. When they do change them out, they tune them up and play them. For special occasions and concerts at the museum they lend guitars out to accomplished musicians. He didn't think they did that with the acoustics much, though. Maybe that's not ideal from some people's perspective, but it might be preferable to a rich guy owning one and taking it out once a year to impress his friends. Originally Posted by Doctor Jeff
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Great thread. The Songbirds Guitar Museum reminds me of Phoenix, Arizona's Musical Instrument Museum (MIM). They take out some of the displayed guitars (and other stuff) out and use them in their lectures, mini concerts and exhibits.
Home - Musical Instrument Museum
Here's a brief video of George Benson chatting and vamping on Charlie Christian's actual ES-250...
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I've been there--it's a GREAT museum and a great experience. TBH I would have been more stoked if George had taken out his Johnny Smith with which he recorded Breezin'--displayed at the museum--and played that! Originally Posted by Gitfiddler
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