Modern Guitars Magazine Visits the Big Apple

by Rick Landers.

Modern Guitars visited New York City in July to touch bases with venerable guitarist and electronics innovator Les Paul at his Monday night home, the Iridium Jazz Club. As usual, Les was a delight and the city offered up some interesting guitar sites and sights. We visited several guitar shops at Time’s Square and one in Chelsea, and stopped in at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) and the Metropolitan Museum of Art across from Central Park.

Of the best known shops like Manny’s, Rudy Pensa’s and Sam Ash, only Rudy's Music Stop had a solid offering of vintage gear - a sweet array of guitars from the ‘50s and ‘60s and a cool Stratocaster that bore the autographs of New York Yankee baseball legends like Yogi Berra, Whitey Ford and Reggie Jackson.

Upstairs in Rudy's Vintage Room, Kevin Vey talked about some of the more interesting vintage guitars for sale, including a cool vintage Epiphone signed by the Troggs, the Glitters, the Tremelos, the Swinging Blue Jeans, Herman’s Hermits, Mike Pender and the Searchers, the Merseys, Wayne Fontana, Marmalade, and other British Invasion artists.

Manny’s Music, where Buddy Holly and Jimi Hendrix bought guitars and Jeff "Skunk" Baxter once worked, had only four vintage guitars on display. We did, however, pause to have a look at Old Yellow, a beat-up Danolectro that was used by Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, George Harrison and other customers to test-drive amps. Harrison apparently offered $200 for the trusty old axe, but Manny's refused the low-ball figure.

While rummaging through Chelsea’s antique district we discovered Steve Uhrik’s Musurgia annex that carried a small, yet impressive array of instruments including a beautifully-inlaid 1785 romance guitar, a ’47 Martin, a ’54 Gibson and an array of oddball and vintage gear.

Inside the Museum of Modern Art, we discovered Pablo Picasso’s sheet-metal-and-wire sculpture titled La Guitare, a dramatic abstraction of a simple classical design. Many of his paintings at both MoMA and the Metropolitan Museum of Art included guitars in various states of artistic reconfiguration. The museum also houses a sleek stainless steel Allan Gittler guitar made in 1975.

Our hotel was at Time’s Square in the Theater District where musical expression was promoted by the Hard Rock Café, Planet Hollywood, B.B. King’s nightclub and a store front window where passersbys could watch a TV show being filmed and catch a glimpse of controversial Australian singer Ben Lee and his band.

Photo Gallery

Rudy Pensa holding his favorite Pensa Custom Guitar. Photo by Rick Landers.

Display of vintage Fenders at Rudy's Music Stop. Photo by Rick Landers.

Vintage Gibsons on display at Rudy's Music Stop. Photo by Rick Landers.

Kevin Vey of Rudy's Music Stop holding very rare mid-60s Silvertone guitar. Photo by Rick Landers.

Stratocaster signed by famous New York Yankee players on display at Rudy's Music Stop. Photo by Rick Landers.

Epiphone guitar signed by '60s artists on display at Rudy's Music Stop. Photo by Rick Landers.

Early '70s Guitar Lab guitar on display at Rudy's Music Stop. Photo by Rick Landers.

Rare '60s Hofner double-neck guitar on display at Rudy's Music Stop. Photo by Rick Landers.

1964 psychedelic relic Strat on display at Rudy's Music Stop. Photo by Rick Landers.

Old Yellow on display at Manny's. Photo by Rick Landers.

Vintage instruments on display at Steve Uhrik’s Musurgia annex. Photo by Rick Landers.

Picasso sculpture titled La Guitare on display at MoMA. Photo by Rick Landers.

Picasso painting titled Lapin Agile (Nimble Rabbit - the name of a bistro in Montmarte) also known as Harlequin with a Glass on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Photo by Rick Landers.

1975 Stainless Steel Guitar by Allan Gittler on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Photo by Rick Landers.

Les Paul (left) and Rick Landers share a beer at the Iridium Jazz Club. Photo © Joseph A. Rosen.

Related Links
Musurgia
Rudy’s Music Stop
Manny’s Music
The Museum of Modern Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Les Paul Interview (2005)
The Iridium Jazz Club