Still a year or so from opening at the Chattanooga Choo Choo, Songbirds – A Collection of Timeless Guitars, already has a leg up on any other such display of music hardware in the world, according to its curator and the man responsible for putting it together.
“Without a doubt, it is the most premiere and complete collection in the world,” said David Davidson, general partner with We Buy Guitars in New York City.
Davidson is part of Songbirds Investments Group, the business behind the collection, which is slated to open in the fall of 2016 in the 7,500-square-foot space once occupied by the miniature train museum at the Choo Choo. Davidson said the group vetted several other cities, including Nashville and New York, before deciding to locate the collection of more than 1,500 guitars, including acoustic, electric, jazz, bass, mandolin, banjo and mandocello models.
“With what is happening at the Choo Choo and its history and the exciting things happening in Chattanooga, we felt like this was the perfect place and we want to be a part of the future,” he said.
Organizers declined to give a total dollar value of the collection, but did say the least expensive instrument is valued at around $10,000 and the more expensive ones – and there are several – are valued at $1 million each. We Buy Guitars clients, which it lists on its website, include everyone from the Beatles to Led Zeppelin and AC/DC, from Bruce Springsteen to the Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton and Pat Metheny.
Though many of the guitars were once owned or played by someone famous, Davidson said the pieces were collected because of their rarity or historical significance. Among the collection are 16 1959 Les Paul Standards – better known as Sunbursts – which Davidson described as “the Holy Grail of guitars.” Some of these guitars have sold for more than $1 million, depending on who owned it or played it, according to the website of Gibson, which made the instruments.
Two of the rarest pieces are 1957 Fenders made specifically for a ’50s sister act called the Tweedle-Dee’s, Davidson said. The sisters wanted matching sunburst-patterned axes, but one played left-handed and one played right-handed, which was the only way Fender made them at the time. Not only did they make a left-handed version for the leftie sister, they contoured the back to fit her voluptuous shape.
While the collection doesn’t include the famous first 1954 Fender Stratocaster bearing the 0101 serial number, it does include 0102 and 0103. Fans of Gibson sound engineer and guitar maker Lloyd Loar will also get to see a set containing a guitar, mandolin and mandocello he completed on the same day.
“His name on a mandolin increases the value dramatically,” Davidson said. “If you see someone playing a Lloyd Loar mandolin at the Grand Ol’ Opry, I promise you there is a whole security team backstage.”
Songbirds President Johnny E. Smith, a local musician and businessman, said the space will be animated not only with about 300 guitars at one time, they will be displayed in vignette fashion surrounded by period-era items such as toys that were popular when the guitar was released.
Because of the size and completeness of the collection, it can be configured any number of ways, he said. For example, guitars on display at any one time could be grouped by brand, time frame, linear progression or color.
“Custom colors were such a big deal,” he said. “We are still figuring out all the things that we can do.
“It’s not going to be just for guitar enthusiasts,” he said. “We want this to be historically accurate and educational and fun for not just guitar fans but people who aren’t necessarily into guitars.”
Smith said he thinks admission tickets will be under $20 and seasonal passes or memberships will be offered.
Davidson stays clear of calling Songbirds a museum, “because that sounds old. This is a collection and it is new and growing.”
He has been putting the collection together for 17 years, primarily for a private individual who wishes to remain anonymous, and has spent the last several years “filling in holes and rounding out the collection.”
“We have prototypes, originals, complete sets and guitars made by Martin, Fender or Gibson employees who were making them for themselves or for some company VIP as a gift.”
In addition to the main showroom, Songbirds also will have private spaces for visiting dignitaries, which could include famous guitarists who want a chance to look at the instruments. It will have a room with a drum kit and guitars, though not the expensive ones, that visitors can play.
Songbirds general manager Monica Kinsey said she believes it will be an attraction for acts who play at newly opened Revelry Room or at Track 29, both Choo Choo music venues and both of which she oversees.
“I definitely think acts will to come to see it, and I hope we can work with them to come in early and do a workshop or a meet-and-greet. We see this as an international tourist draw.”
Plans also call for hosting clinics and workshops, as well as VIP events. And patrons will be able to have their own guitar evaluated on site, Davidson said.
Contact Barry Courter at bcourter@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6354.