It has been extremely difficult to find a way to put this into words. After 10 years of business at 4123 Butler Street in Lawrenceville, I have made the decision to close our doors and refocus our efforts and talents. Our new direction will focus on guitar and electronics repair and lessons for guitar, bass, drums, ukulele, and piano. The retail portion of the shop will be closed.

At the beginning of the year, the building we leased and called home since 2009 was purchased by a new owner. Our lease ends in 2019, just 6 months after our 10-year anniversary, and no reasonable option was made available for a lease extension by the new ownership.

The cost of relocating the retail portion of our business along with the rising rent in the neighborhood we worked so hard to promote and grow made it unreasonable to continue with our current business model in this area. This isn’t an uncommon fate for small brick-and-mortar retail shops across the city, let alone one as niche as a guitar shop.

The silver lining is that over the past 10 years we found what we really excel at and enjoy, and we now have the perfect opportunity to focus on those aspects of Backstage Guitars. Our guitar and electronics repair shop has been overflowing for years, and our lesson membership has doubled in the last year alone.

Moving into a new space with a bigger and more capable repair shop will allow us to expedite repair turnarounds and add services such as workshops and seminars. We’ll be able to offer appointments for repairs and cater to touring, gigging, and new musicians alike. I am also excited to be able to focus more time on building custom instruments.

We will continue to offer private lesson studios much like what we already have at Backstage Guitars. A new place will also allow us to explore group lessons and other types of music education.

Our hours are changing in June (see below). There is no official announcement yet on where our new location will be, but keep an eye on our social media and website for updates. We’re not going far.

Until then, we plan to operate the shop on a “flea-market style” bartering system. What that means is: no big closing sale, no clearance event — we just want to offer some good deals for some good customers who have supported us for so long. If you’re a regular, you have probably already noticed that we have been thinning out our inventory. All of our remaining guitars, amps, and pedals must go. If you see something you like, don’t hesitate to make us an offer. Anything unsold by the time we move will be listed online or remain in my basement for eternity. Trades and used gear are no longer accepted.

Please Note:

ACTIVE GIFT CARDS must be redeemed before August 1st. If you would like to use your gift card for future repair services, please bring it in so that we can determine your card balance and keep it on file. We will be switching to a less expensive POS system and will no longer be able to use those cards. If you do not bring your card in before August 1st, it will be void.

LESSSONS will not be affected by these changes. Current students will be let in and out of the building during ‘closed’ shop hours by their instructors. We are still scheduling new students. If interested, please email us at backstageguitars@gmail.com.

REPAIRS can be picked up or dropped off during our open hours listed below or by appointment. If you can’t make it in during our regular hours, arrangements can be made via text, email, or phone to meet at a more convenient time. Our new text/call number is 412-837-9193.