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April 25, 2007

Dallas Guitar Festival Vendors Pose with Favorite Instrument

by Tom Watson; photos by Melody Syer.

Paul Reed Smith

Paul Reed Smith poses with Private Stock Modern Eagle at the 30th Annual Dallas International Guitar Festival

Modern Guitars correspondent Melody Syer faced a difficult problem: Which of the literally thousands of guitars on the main floor of the 30th Annual Dallas International Guitar Festival (April 20-22, 2007), should she photograph? Syer's solution was simple and elegant: Let an exhibitor or attendee pick his favorite guitar and pose. The resulting choices are as varied as the nature of the show itself, ranging from the internationally known Paul Reed Smith with his Private Stock Modern Eagle to the 1965 Hofner bass picked by local vintage hound John Gasperik, whose front porch statue of Elvis Presley lets visitors know they've found Shake Rag, Gasperik's home that doubles as his vintage gear shop in the Lower Greenville area of Dallas.

What fuels the hoopla surrounding a three-day guitar event that attracts hundreds of exhibitors and thousands of visitors from around the world? The answer is easy: high octane G.A.S. (gear acquisition syndrome). To collectors looking for a '52 Tele, a '54 Strat, a '59 Burst, or other rare six-string, the annual Dallas Guitar Festival is a must-see event, which is not to say the show's only about old used guitars (though they're there in abundance).

Over the years since the festival's birth in a small meeting room of a Dallas hotel in 1978, the scope of the event has expanded to the 140,000-square-foot Dallas Market Hall venue and a three-day fiesta of guitar trading, playing, and ogling. Today, exhibition booths range from the strictly vintage to modern manufacturers eager to introduce and promote new instruments that, like the aluminum electric guitars from Branch, are a world removed from vintage Martins.

Related articles
Roundup: 30th Dallas Int'l Guitar Festival
Guitar Celebs Perform at 30th Annual Dallas Guitar Festival

Jimmy Wallace

Dallas Guitar Festival Co-founder Jimmy Wallace with Gibson Les Paul. Photo by Melody Syer.


Paul Reed Smith

Paul Reed Smith with Private Stock Modern Eagle. Photo by Melody Syer.


Peter Wolf

Peter Wolf, PRS Director of Sales and Marketing, with PRS 513. Photo by Melody Syer.


Gary Bury (L) and Gary Hernandez (Guitars West, California) with Gibson SG Junior

Gary Bury (L) and Gary Hernandez (Guitars West, California) with Gibson SG Junior. Photo by Melody Syer.


Hash Brown (L) and Bob Opdyke (Bob's Lone Star Guitars, Dallas) with 1969 Gretsch White Falcon

Hash Brown (L) and Bob Opdyke (Bob's Lone Star Guitars, Dallas) with 1969 Gretsch White Falcon (owned and played by Lowell Fulson for 20 years). Photo by Melody Syer.


Jeff Dayton (JFC Guitars) with JFC Golden Age Tele

Jeff Dayton (JFC Guitars) with JFC Golden Age Tele. Photo by Melody Syer.


Dallas-based Guitarist Jackie Don Loe with Gretsch

Dallas-based Guitarist Jackie Don Loe with Gretsch. Photo by Melody Syer.


Jim Spanos (Lace Music Products, California) with Lace Guitar

Jim Spanos (Lace Music Products, California) with Lace Guitar. Photo by Melody Syer.


Darrell with Kendrick Townhouse Guitar

Darrell with Kendrick Townhouse Guitar. Photo by Melody Syer.


John Gasperik (Shake Rag Music, Dallas) with 1965 Hofner Bass

John Gasperik (Shake Rag Music, Dallas) with 1965 Hofner Bass. Photo by Melody Syer.


Show attendee with his favorite Gibson acoustic at the Gibson booth

Show attendee with his favorite Gibson acoustic at the Gibson booth. Photo by Melody Syer.


Steven Cooper (Charley's Guitar Shop, Dallas) with Michael Collins City Limits Guitar

Steven Cooper (Charley's Guitar Shop, Dallas) with Michael Collins City Limits Guitar. Photo by Melody Syer.


Christian Harold (Cool Ass Guitars, Los Angeles) with Buddy Guy Stratocaster

Christian Harold (Cool Ass Guitars, Los Angeles) with Buddy Guy Stratocaster. Photo by Melody Syer.


Gordon Branch (Branch Guitars, California) with Branch Aluminum Guitar

Gordon Branch (Branch Guitars, California) with Branch Aluminum Guitar. Photo by Melody Syer.


Dewey Bowen (Freedom Guitar, California) with Epiphone Acoustic

Dewey Bowen (Freedom Guitar, California) with Epiphone Acoustic. Photo by Melody Syer.


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