Famous Collectors: Jonathan Kellerman's Guitar Collection

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Jonathan Kellerman, New York Times bestselling author, houses his collection of 120 fine guitars in a humidity and temperature-controlled glass showcases which occupied two walls.

His guitar collection consists of D" Angelico, D' Aquisto and Stromberg archtops. a rare harp guitar, Hawaiin lap acoustics, classical masterpieces and a handful of electric solidbody guitars.

Kellerman started collecting guitars seriously when he first bought a 1924 Gibson L-5 guitar a label signed by Lloyd Loar. He then successfully completed collecting the four Gibson master model instruments with Loar labels by purchasing the three of the rest of the instruments namely,  1924 F-5 mandolin, then an H-5 mandola and after 15 years of actively looking for the missing piece, he finally bought the K-5 mandocello.

The most impressive piece of his guitar collection was bought from an auction at Christie's in 2007, the 1864 Antonio de Torres concert guitar. It is one of the most important guitars in the world, historically. He also has the 1903 Santos Hernandez flamenco guitar.

He first tickled the fretboards at age eight. Now in his 60's, spends a few hours a day playing classical music. He also went from rock to studying jazz to playing lap steel guitar.

Jonathan Kellerman wrote and published a book titled "With Strings Attached" which chronicles his personal tales of his quest for the ultimate tone.
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Hard Rock Cafe Memorabilia: Guitar Collection


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"Mine's as good as his any day" was the message of the note Pete Townshend of the legendary rock band The Who, sent to the owners of Hard Rock Cafe Morton and Tigrett. Townshend donated a black Gibson Les Paul with that note.

Townshend felt upstaged and somewhat annoyed by the glaring sight of Eric Clapton's Fender Lead ll guitar (mounted on the wall) when Clapton bequeathed it, unsigned as a token of his friendship and appreciation to the Hard Rock Cafe guys. More guitar players followed suit. Soon donating a guitar for display at the Hard Rock Cafe became a rock and roll rite of passage.

Forty years later Hard Rock Cafe has more than 157 venues in 52 countries. Hard Rock Cafe is the fan mecca that it is today, overflowing with rock and roll memorabilia.

Guitars remain the meat and potatoes of Hard Rock's collection

Here are some bonafide pieces in the Hard Rock Cafe Memorabilia: Guitar collection


1964 Gibson Sg Custom
Owned By: Keith Richards of The Rolling Stones
Current location: Hard Rock Cafe, Aruba



1966 Fender Jaguar
Owned by: John Frusciante of the Red Hot Chili Peppers
Current location: Hard Rock Cafe, Caracas, Venezuela




1956 Fender Stratocaster
Owned by: Joe Walsh of The Eagles
Current location: Hard Rock Cafe, Cleveland, Ohio



1958 Gibson Super 400 CES
Owned by: Albert Lee
Current location: Hard Rock Cafe, Nashville, Tennessee
 resource: Guitar Aficionado Vol 1 no.4

Famous Collectors: John Mc Enroe's Art Collection



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John Mc Enroe 80's original super brat tennis champion, guitar player and guitar collector, currently a tv sports commentator is also an art collector.

He likes Picasso, Matisse and Tintoretto but he leans toward 20th century artists. His taste in art is modern, expressive and figurative.

Mc Enroe made attempts at art dealing. He even apprenticed at an Upper East Side gallery to learn the ropes of the business. He soon decided to turn his efforts into building his own collection instead.

In his collection ( to name a few) are Andy Warhol's Electric Chair in several prints, Jean Michel Basquiat's Pegasus and wall-lengtht piece by Kara Walker.

Andy Warhol"s Electric Chair




Jean Michel Basquiat's Pegasus



Piece by Kara Walker
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Famous Collectors: Take A Peek At John Mc Enroe’s Guitar Collection





John Mc Enroe, the seven time Grand Slam singles winner and for four years was the number one ranked tennis player, is also a guitar player and guitar collector.

 John Mc Enroe is known more as an athlete. His foray into the music scene, singing and playing guitar together with his band known as the Johnny Smyth Band led him to spend many years touring and performing in several clubs around the world.

He picked up the guitar as a way to kill downtime during his tennis pro days. His first guitar was an off-the-rack black Les Paul custom. He had played alongside everyone from Carlos Santana, Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood of the Rolling Stones.
His involvement with music resulted in one of the most impressive guitar collection an individual could own.

1957 Les Paul Gold Top Left-handed





1959 Les Paul Burst
Add caption
Gretsch Anniversary Left-handed


Investment value is the main factor when it comes to buying and collecting guitars according to John. He first and foremost wants to buy something he would want to play.
Resource: Guitar Aficiionado Vol.1 no.4

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