Keith Richards has over 3000 guitars. Where does he get them? He can't just go to Guitar Center and pick one up off the rack

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1995 Fender Mustang

Au contraire......Guitar Center in Beverly Hills caters to a very select clientele that likely includes such glitterati as Keith Richards.

Gruhn's does a lot of business with the stars as well.

Arjay

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"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY

Mandolin Brothers on Staten Island caters to this crowd.

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You dig?

A lot of times when the star's toured they would hit the local shops in whatever town they were in looking for the old and unsold. A lot of times the shop owners had some of their personal private stock they would sell for a price. Even the stars guitar tech would scour the area looking for a good deal.

A lot of guitars were just given to them by producers, managers, even fans.

Gruhn's is a neat place to walk around in for a minute... they've got my dream guitar there, CAR early 60s jaguar with matching headstock.... if i had the 3k it'd be mine.
did you hear they're moving up the street?
http://blogs.tennessean.com/tunein/2012/12/22/fed-up-gruhn-guitars-is-moving-off-broadway-after-42-years/

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~Dan

Last month when I saw Little Ed & the Imperials, Ed came over and chatted with us during the break. I commented on his ES 335 Gibson and he told me it was a Heritage H535. I hadn't yet heard of Heritage Guitars and Ed told me all about they were made in the old Kalamazoo Gibson Factory by former Gibson workers.

I asked where he got it and he said that it was new, only 2 days old. That he walked into the Guitar Works in Evanston, IL (Chgo.) and sat and started playing it. He said that after 4 hours, the salesman came up and asked if he was buying it or what... that the store closed in 5 min.

I use to live in Chgo. 1 blk. from Evanston and went down on Main St. often and knew the Guitar Works... just a small local shop.

cheers!

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'11 FSR Am. Vtg. Ltd. Ed. CAR '57 Stratocaster (SN# LE02639)
'14 American Deluxe Ash Stratocaster
'12 Telebration Empress Telecaster
'99 Deluxe Nashville Telecaster
'12 FSR Telecaster HH
'10 Heritage H-535
'99 Martin DC-1E
'13 Lanikai Tenor Ukulele

You'd be surprised who drops into local music shops to poke around at gear when they're out and about - we had quite a few 'celebrities' drop by when I spent a couple of years working at a small music store.

Never treated them any different to anyone else, personally. Worked with enough of them over the years to not even raise an eyebrow any more.

There were a couple who were complete idiots and gave the whole 'Don't you know who I am?' routine a try. I just normally said 'Yes.' in my most apathetic voice and went off to do something else.

I bought my Stratocaster at a small shop - Willies American Guitars - www.williesguitars.com . While they sell new guitars, and are an authorized Fender Dealer, Willie's real passion is vintage guitars.

Anyway, my barber (who plays Classical and Flamenco guitar for 25+ years) is just around the corner from Willies. Last month he told me that he was walking past Willies to go open his shop and saw Joe Walsh coming out carrying an old Fender hard case (not likely empty).

cheers!

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'11 FSR Am. Vtg. Ltd. Ed. CAR '57 Stratocaster (SN# LE02639)
'14 American Deluxe Ash Stratocaster
'12 Telebration Empress Telecaster
'99 Deluxe Nashville Telecaster
'12 FSR Telecaster HH
'10 Heritage H-535
'99 Martin DC-1E
'13 Lanikai Tenor Ukulele

.....Gruhns.....With an open check book.....I mean you would or!?.....

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In NYC, Manny's used to be the point of interest for players. Gilmour's Black Strat started out there, not to mention scores of other artists. Across the street, Rudy's Music Stop is still in business. Mark Knopfler's Pensa-Suhr guitars came out of there. Then there's Matt Umanov's place down in Greenwhich Village. Clapton's Blackie started out as a clutch of used Strats in a shop called ShoBud down South. Stories abound about one's offs done for artists. Among them, in these pages was George Harrison's rosewood Tele. Todd Krause of Fender has done many idea guitars for Clapton, some of which we've seen at his auctions.

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"Another day in paradise!"

There's not actually a GC in B.Hills. Hollywood GC would be the most likely choice of big names. They have a large and well stocked Vintage Room. My eyes pretty much glaze over every time I go in there.

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'10 American Deluxe HSS Sunset Metallic
'10 JA-90 Thinline Telecaster
'15 Music Man JP-15 Blueberry Burst
'07 Les Paul Standard Faded LCPG #82
'14 Carvin ST300
'12 Carvin CS424S
'66 Guild Starfire IV w/Bigsby
'14 Warmouth Partscaster Daphne Blue

Well, stars get "piled" with guitars from manufacturers for free. It's good advertisement.

Some interviews say "a friend gave it to me", which means another star.
Like Yngwie Malmsteen who just got a 50's strat that way. (dunno the exact year)

Well, I guess when earning millions of dollars it's like if we give away one of our picks!?!?

Furthermore I agree with some other posters above (searching stores).
If you're on the road for 30 or 40 years, you pile up guitars at home, I guess.

They often get the whole equipment sponsored by lokal music stores as well.
Music Professional in Cologne, Germany, does that a lot and I bet that some of the stuff just is given away to the stars for free as well.

Just like artists who get clothes for free. It's nothing but PR!

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Kindest regards from Germany, Dee
My recordings --> http://www.soundclick.com/bands/page_mu ... dID=564337
STRATS ROCK!!! but Teles and Firebirds, too!

Thanks for the correction, Drew.

I knew it was *somewhere* in the vicinity.



Arjay

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"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY