VINTAGE TOURS: ATLANTA GRINNING ELK GUITAR SHOW

We remember Atlanta. It was a simpler time, and we were younger then. The sun was bright and hot. Everyone wore slouchy knit hats. Obama was a Senator from Illinois. The DaVinci Code ruled the box office. The Dixie Chicks were not ready to make nice and The Dead hadn’t met John Mayer.

In June, for the first time in 13 years, Atlanta, Georgia played host to a major regional guitar show. We couldn’t wait to see how much things had changed–and how much they’d stayed the same–so we hopped on the first flight down, ready to take a bite out of the Big Peach and buy big at the 2019 Atlanta Guitar Show, presented for the first time by Grinning Elk Music Company.

When we finally arrived, the sun wasn’t bright. It was gone. And it wasn’t hot, either. It was raining hard as we approached Hartsfield-Jackson, but that didn’t matter. After touching down, we picked up our manual Mustang convertible anyway, shoved our Aquemini cassette into the deck and took off on some urgent business: country fried ham with redeye gravy and a side of fresh-baked catheads.

It  wouldn’t be Atlanta without a Coke, so after our light breakfast we called up our old friend Wolf Blitzer. We talked Gibsons and Goodie Mob over a few refreshing Classics in the World of Coca-Cola Loft to get a good buzz going before we headed over to neighboring Duluth for the main event at the Infinite Energy Forum.

Our friends at Grinning Elk had packed the 50,000-square foot Forum with an incredibly well-organized array of some of the best vendors in the Southeast. With redeye gravy and a half-dozen Cokes on our side, we set about collecting the best of the bunch. As usual, we scored big with 50 of the best pieces on offer. 

Our sharp-shooting vintage buyers spotted not one but two early Recording Kings. We also made out with double the Danelectro on a crazy double-neck. And the ‘66 Olympic White Fender Precision Bass we picked up definitely won’t last long.

While the vintage hauls are always impossible to predict, we were pleased to find that the city we fell in love with is still alive and well in Georgia. There were fewer slouchy hats and Tom Hanks had traded the Vatican for a toy box and a ten-gallon, but the warm smiles and welcoming waves let us know that the same Atlanta had always been there, patiently waiting for us. And we were sure glad to be back.

If you want to learn more about our vintage buying trips or our any of our amazing Atlanta one-offs, call or stop in to speak with one of our vintage buyers or click to view some of the scores listed on our site. We’ve brought home a bit of the Big Peach just for you.