Vintage Gibson Basses at the Songbirds Guitar Museum

Grog · April 18, 2019, 05:35:09 PM

My wife & I took another road trip down south. Heading back, we circled up to Chattanooga TN. Last time we were there we were caught in a flood & really didn't get to see anything. Since then, the Songbirds Guitar Museum opened. That gave me another excuse to go back. They have a main room that you can see for a general admission, these basses were in there...............

They also had some nice original T-Bird basses that I must not of photographed.
For an extra fee, they will take you on a tour of their vault. If I have the story right, they have about three sets of displays that they rotate from time to time. Many of the guitars are special orders or one of a kinds that might have been made by an employee etc... The display they are showing now, consists of Gibson ES Models & some unique Fenders. They had one 1959 EB-2 on display in that collection. It was well worth the time to go through it.

dadagoboi · April 18, 2019, 06:06:54 PM

Thanks, nice group of basses!

Chris P. · April 19, 2019, 01:58:38 AM

Nice!

Basvarken · April 19, 2019, 11:00:26 AM

beautiful!

4stringer77 · April 19, 2019, 11:37:13 AM

It's surprising to see so many flawless examples of vintage instruments. Could some of those be restorations or refins?

ajkula66 · April 19, 2019, 11:38:00 AM

Delicious. I am not going there in order not to get arrested for attempting to walk out with a case of these beauties...

westen44 · April 19, 2019, 12:04:10 PM

I've been there several times. I wish that museum had been there. Sometimes I cross over into Georgia and go to the Chickamauga battlefield. One of the best preserved Civil War battlefields--even better than Vicksburg, Shiloh, etc., IMO. In all honesty, I often found it difficult to find anything very interesting in Chattannooga itself. That museum will be at the top of my list if I ever do go back.

Grog · April 19, 2019, 12:17:45 PM

Quote from: 4stringer77 on April 19, 2019, 11:37:13 AM
It's surprising to see so many flawless examples of vintage instruments. Could some of those be restorations or refins?

Many of them were "under the bed" mint. They had several in Alpine White that had no yellowing.

Dave W · April 19, 2019, 03:04:21 PM

Very nice. They must have looked far and wide to assemble those groups.

Grog · April 19, 2019, 03:56:45 PM

Quote from: westen44 on April 19, 2019, 12:04:10 PM
I've been there several times. I wish that museum had been there. Sometimes I cross over into Georgia and go to the Chickamauga battlefield. One of the best preserved Civil War battlefields--even better than Vicksburg, Shiloh, etc., IMO. In all honesty, I often found it difficult to find anything very interesting in Chattannooga itself. That museum will be at the top of my list if I ever do go back.

I haven't been to too many Civil War museums. The monument & cannons on Lookout Mountain was interesting. Nice view of the city.

Grog · April 19, 2019, 04:15:43 PM

Quote from: Dave W on April 19, 2019, 03:04:21 PM
Very nice. They must have looked far and wide to assemble those groups.

Each guitar in the vault has a story. They do a good job of keeping the memories of the deceased owners alive. These matching Telecasters were owned by two sisters that performed together. The Museum owner had acquired the right handed one & was interested in buying the lefty also. The daughter of the deceased owner wasn't ready to sell it for a long time. He said whenever you are ready to sell, check with me last & I'll top anyone's price. When she found out what he wanted it for, she offered to give it to him. She was more interested in keeping her Mother's legacy alive than receiving money for it. The tours in the vault area tell story's about most of the guitars in the room. There must be worst things than getting a tax deduction for buying vintage guitars!

westen44 · April 19, 2019, 04:56:28 PM

Quote from: Grog on April 19, 2019, 04:15:43 PM
Each guitar in the vault has a story. They do a good job of keeping the memories of the deceased owners alive. These matching Telecasters were owned by two sisters that performed together. The Museum owner had acquired the right handed one & was interested in buying the lefty also. The daughter of the deceased owner wasn't ready to sell it for a long time. He said whenever you are ready to sell, check with me last & I'll top anyone's price. When she found out what he wanted it for, she offered to give it to him. She was more interested in keeping her Mother's legacy alive than receiving money for it. The tours in the vault area tell story's about most of the guitars in the room. There must be worst things than getting a tax deduction for buying vintage guitars!

You're really making that museum sound like it must be unique. When I think of Chattanooga, I mostly think of the Brainerd Road area where I ended up a whole lot through the years. Chattanooga isn't necessarily known for traffic jams, but I did once end up in one where I was stuck for four hours. News about that traffic jam was on the newspaper headlines the next day. Anyway, going to the museum and then taking a trip out to Chickamauga 8 miles away into Georgia would most likely be a trip worth taking for someone.

Grog · April 19, 2019, 05:45:57 PM

When we were there about four years ago, they were having a nasty storm. We just checked into our hotel & went across the street to eat. This photo of streets flooded was on the news. I didn't realize until the next morning that it was right outside of our hotel, blocking our freeway entrance ramp.....

If it hadn't been for that, I likely would have never gone back again.

Dave's Guitar Shop in La Crosse WI has Dave's personal collection on display, taking up the entire second floor. It is open to the public for free. That is an awesome collection also......

amptech · April 20, 2019, 01:03:21 AM

Very nice Gibson bass collection. Made my morning