Tennessee State Museum presents The Guitar. An American Love Story, on view from November 8, showcases more than 150 world-class guitars gathered from both private and museum collections. This is the only time in which this remarkable, assembled collection will appear together in one gallery, available to the general public.
Highlights include:
• One of the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll Elvis Presley’s personal guitars. Courtesy of Graceland,
Memphis, TN.
• Standout guitars from Grammy-winning entertainer Vince Gill’s private collection including his cherished
1942 Martin D-28.
• Three-time Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Eric Clapton’s 1958 Gibson Explorer. On loan from a private collection.
• A historically significant Lloyd Loar quartet featuring a mandola, mandocello, mandolin, and guitar. Matched set,
circa 1924. On loan from a private collection.
• The 1953 Fender Telecaster played by famed Rolling Stone band guitarist Keith Richards. On loan from a
private collection.
• Singer and actor Roy Roger’s OM-45 Deluxe guitar made by C.F. Martin & Co., circa 1930.
On loan from a private collection.
• Rickenbacker “Frying Pan” one of the very first solid body electric guitars.
• 1919 Martin 000-30-likely the only one ever made. On loan from a private collection.
• c1900 guitar and mandolin made by Orville Gibson, the founder and namesake of Gibson Guitars.
On loan from a private collection.
The Guitar: An American Love Story has been organized by the staff of the State Museum in collaboration with a group of area collectors which the museum’s Executive Director Lois Riggins-Ezzell describes as a “dream team/brain trust” of guitar aficionados. They are: Walter Carter, Joe Glaser, George Gruhn, Jay Pilzer and Paul Polycarpou.
The Guitar: An American Love Story, presented by Gibson Guitar Co. with additional funding from City National Bank, C.F. Martin & Co., PLA Media and Cotten Music Center, will be on view through December 30, 2012. For more information, visit tnmuseum.org