It is time for something different.

^{Amigo Nashville Guitar Show was huge and expensive for dealers.}

^{When they said “Nashville,” they meant Franklin, Tennessee.}

^{That’s 35 miles outside of Nashville in a County AgExpo building.}

^{This is a normal guitar show. Most guitar shows are held on county fairgrounds or livestock buildings away from the population. They are a destination event. You are not going to be in the neighborhood and just stop by.}

^{The KC Guitar Show, October 11-12, is rethinking the status quo.}

^{The contracts are in place for a 6200 square foot space in The Ward Parkway Shopping Center. The show will be in great company with Target, Trader Joe’s, AMC Theater, Home Goods, Old Navy, T. J. Maxx, Bath & Body Works as well as nearly a dozen eateries.}

^{The two day show will be inside the beautiful mall. It is set up for 20 guitar dealers from across the country. Dealers will experience white glove service that unloads and loads for them. The public will experience a chance to buy rare instruments or sell their instruments to the dealers. The savvy ones will trade gear they no longer love for something more useful without spending a dime.}

^{“Every Guitar Has A Story” will be videotaping both days. Do you have a cool axe with a story? This is your moment.}

^{Mark Valentine will answer all questions. 816-520-8430.}

^{Dealers go here now: https://www.kcguitarshow.com/event-details/dealer-ticket}

^{Watch our latest episode with Max Groove:}

^{https://youtu.be/Jw-tt1U7zOU?si=Oyecarnq1an23x7v}

1976 Les Paul Custom Max Groove

A well known jazz keyboard player tells the tragic story

of how he came to own a vintage Les Paul.

1976 Les Paul Custom

Watch this episode of Every Guitar Has A Story

American Guitar Marketing

Americans did not invent the guitar.

They did invent the electric guitar.

They invented guitar effects and guitar pedals.

What part of the cultural impact do we always leave out? Marketing.

The agreement between Gibson and Montgomery Ward dates to 1929. Without Wards, Gibson would have died during the Great Depression. Montgomery Ward’s 1934-’35 Fall-Winter catalog listed five Gibson-built instruments including two banjos, two flat-top guitars, and a mandolin, with every instrument in the $10-$25 price range. As a result, in 1935, Gibson shipped almost 1,000 instruments – 12 percent of Gibson’s output – to nine Montgomery Ward locations around the country and none of the instruments carried the Gibson name.

Gibson Made Wards Guitars

The relationship continued. We see these instruments at guitar shows occasionally.They are very collectable.

Here is a 1959 offering:

Gibson Made Wards Guitars

We love the innovation. We love the craftsmanship.

We always overlook the marketing even though the impact is huge.

I look forward to the day when a vintage Wards guitar gets in front of our cameras. Please subscribe to our YouTube channel and watch this episode featuring the first electric guitar.