Rumble Seat Music — Attraction in Nashville-Davidson

I was met by a friendly staff. I was able to play a few guitars. I kinda got the impression that there's a limit of time to be spent with guitars and playing them. I've thought about my experience all day and let the whole experience soak in and process.

First, they have some really cool guitars - like royalty level guitars. Now, I'm fairly new to the guitar world, but I have jumped in as wholeheartedly as I possibly can. So, when I walk into a store like this, I'm like a moth on a dark night who just found a porch light. To see guitars from an era I have only learned about in some youtube videos is just simply amazing. To touch, feel, and play something that is 100%, the real deal history of electric guitars gets me excited. Today, I'm thankful for that experience and the kind staff that set me up with an amp and made me feel welcome, answered questions, and were just generally cool dudes.

Now, to address some of the concerns or gripes expressed in other reviews. Yeah, the strings on the guitars I played were a bit old and crusty. Maybe it's worth a little gripe, but in the big picture, I'm not terribly worried about $20 strings when it comes to considering buying some $2k to $5k vintage guitar. (That is indeed the cheaper end of what is available here.) These are vintage, they have been played, and they do have some dings and wear. So, I would expect that to some degree on most of the guitars in the store, although I'm sure there are some exquisite examples in the store.

5 guitar limit... 5 minute limit... I'm not sure if these rules are set in stone and may be more of a situation by situation basis. I went in the store excited. I did my best to be respectful of the place. I was allowed to play for who knows how long? I played a couple of guitars and truly spent some time with them. I was interested in playing a third, and while the answer wasn't a no, and the answer wasn't rude, it was clear that there were some limitations they hoped to have in place. I didn't come into the store to impose, so I kindly and graciously backed off of checking out that 3rd guitar. To be clear, no one was rude to me, but I will be honest and say I was a bit bummed. However, if I'm even more honest, I would play almost every guitar in the store if they would let me, then I would play them all through every amp, and then I would start back over at the beginning lol. I mean, I think therein lies the issue, and that's not really all that fair to the store if we're honest. There's gotta be some kind of line somewhere, I suppose. Selfishly, I do want to play in there for hours and hours, but I understand there's a limit.

All in all, I enjoyed the store. The employees were all nice. I definitely hope to visit again. I'm not sure what to expect from repeated visits, but I always hope...

I was in Nashville recently for a few days and hit up my good buddy Robert Kearns (Sheryl Crow, Lynyrd Skynyrd) for some good guitar shop recommendations. Rumble Seat Music was on a list of 3 he sent me. Although it was the smallest shop of the 3, the staff was friendly, knowledgeable and low pressure. They had a good selection of electric guitars that I personally find appealing and, except for a few behind glass, they were quick to let me know I could grab whatever I wanted to try and make myself at home. They had two Gibson R9’s that caught my eye but the 2014 “Vic’s Old School ‘59” was the one I came back to, two days in a row. I pulled the trigger but being from Boston, that meant shipping would be involved. Well, about 5 days later the guitar showed up at my house packed the way you want to see a $10,000 guitar packed… thoughtfully and as bulletproof as I’ve ever seen one arrive. If you’re a guitarist and happen to be in Nashville, these guys are the real deal. The kind of locally owned & operated shop that are a dying breed even in my neck of the woods. Definitely worth putting...

For my trip to Nashville with my dad, I went to the newly opened Gibson Garage. In addition to planning to go to that store, I was looking for another local guitar shop to go to and I found this one. The main reason I picked this shop over other guitar stores was because it has a real 1959 Gibson Les Paul Standard, which is my dream guitar. Walking inside the store, I only expected to just look at it in a display case. To my surprise, one of the employees there took it out of the display case and let me hold on to it, and even play it! I never thought that I would play such a valuable guitar, even for a little bit. The employees there are very nice and didn’t mind at all that my original intention was to go to their store just to look at one guitar. They have more vintage guitars and amps as well. If you want to look at some truly amazing and very special guitars that you cannot find anywhere else and even get the chance to play some, then I highly recommend...