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Tuesday, 29 November 2011 14:15

Written by Diana Nelson Jones

Pittsburgh Guitars, at 1305 E. Carson St., South Side, is more than a guitar shrine; it’s a music store where you can buy other things and take lessons and get instruments repaired.

But it has been known as a mecca for guitar guys, gals and gods -- yep, Ray Davies of the Kinks has been there, along with a slew of other rock stars during stops in the 'Burgh -- during its 33 years.

On Saturday, Pittsburgh Guitars celebrates its longevity and the recent peaceful transition of power from founder Carl Grefenstette to John Bechtold, a musician who has worked at the store for years. (The photo here is of John, whose favorite guitar is a Rickenbacker 360/12V64-fireglo.)

The public is invited to an open house from 11a to 5p -- normal store hours for Saturday -- with special promotions and giveaways.

Here’s a video that sort of tells the story of how Carl's guitar collection became the foundation of this store's success:

For generations, my family has been lousy with musicians — singers, players, percussionists, song writers and hounds that bay — so I’ve always had a terribly soft spot for this breed, even the ones who demand jelly beans in their hotel suites. And I was lucky to grow up when all the guys had long hair and either played the guitar or affected playing it to songs at a careening volume that made our grandparents take cover in the bomb shelter and pray for our young souls.

Rock and roll!!!!!!!!! Yay-uh!

There is no longer any rock and roll, of course, but there’s the echo of it in a lot of popular music, and the nostalgia soundtrack is all around us. So it remains alive, if a little gray around the snout, and the guitar is still the sex symbol of all the instruments, at least until some phenomenon returns the stand-up bass to its rightful throne.

My sister played acoustic guitar and my brother plays accoustic and rock guitar, so they obviously got the magic of Guitardom, which enthralled kids from the time Dylan first shocked the folkies by plugging that baby in.

I liked the word embouchure so I gravitated to a mouthpiece instrument, the tenor sax.

It’s really sexy, too, if you like jazz. 

The sax and rock met a few times. They were introduced  notably by Blood Sweat & Tears, Chicago and other “big” bands of the rock era, but it wasn’t true love like the bond between guitar and rock, and that was really a bond between guitars and guys.

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