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email: roadarch@outlook.com |
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| Giant Musical Instruments (page 1) |
(hit "refresh" to get the most recent version of this page; click on photos for larger images)
| Grand Guitar [gone] Bristol, TN |
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| The Grand Guitar, modeled after a Martin guitar, was three stories tall and 70 feet long. It was built in 1983 and originally housed a music store. It was later used as a radio station and country music museum with unusual instruments and Porter Waggoner outfits. The building was vacant in 2001 and deteriorating. In 2004, it reopened briefly as the Joe Morrell Grand Guitar, a music museum. These photos are from 2007. In 2014, the building was sold and there were plans to restore it but nothing ever happened. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. However, it was demolished in 2019. For more, see these websites: 1, 2, and 3. |
| South Austin Music Austin, TX |
Fender Guitar Austin, TX |
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South Austin Music opened in 1986. The rooftop guitar sign has been there since at least 2008. The other guitar was installed on a pole near the road around 2011. It revolves. For more, see this website. [map]
This Fender Guitar was modeled on a 1952 Fender Telecaster. It was built by Evan Voyles in 2015 for Austin Vintage Guitars. [map] |
| Strings & Things Memphis, TN |
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| The Strings & Things music store featured a Gibson Les Paul sign. The company was established in 1971. The store moved to a new location in 2008. A new, blue Les Paul sign was installed there. The store has closed by the sign remains. [map] |
| Sun Studio Memphis, TN |
Martin Music Memphis, TN |
Guitar Bristol, TN |
Guitar Monteagle, TN |
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Sun Studio opened here in 1950 in a former radiator repair shop. It is most famous for producing the first Elvis Presley recording. Many other blues and rock-and-roll performers recorded here as well, including Howlin' Wolf, Jerry Lee Lewis, Roy Orbison, Carl Perkins, and B.B. King. Sun Studio is still a working studio and offers tours of its space. The guitar was installed in 1999. For more, see these websites: 1, 2, and 3. [map]
Martin Music opened around 2009. This guitar is installed on top of the shop's sign. [map] The Guitar in Bristol was installed in front of the Bristol Tennessee & Virginia Chamber of Commerce in 2009. It is 20 feet tall. Bristol is known as the Birthplace of Country Music. [map] The Guitar in Monteagle is installed at Jim Oliver's Smoke House. It was installed around 2018. [map] |
| Guitar Pocatello, ID |
Guitar Bloomington, IL |
Guitar Joliet, IL |
Guitar Bloomington, IN |
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The Guitar in Pocatello is installed above the Main Street Music store. The store opened in 1994 and this Guitar was probably installed then. [map]
The Guitar in Bloomington, IL has been installed at the Six Strings Club since at least 2011. [map] This 24-foot-tall Guitar in Joliet was installed in 2023 at the Illinois Rock & Roll Museum. Known as "Gigantar," it was created by Shannon MacDonald. It was removed temporarily in 2024 while repairs were being made to the building's facade. [map] This Guitar made of street signs in Bloomington, IN was installed on the side of a parking garage around 2010. [map] |
| Guitar Bellingham, WA |
Guitar Grand Junction, CO |
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>The Guitar in Bellingham is installed on a pole next to Mojo School of Music (now B'ham School of Music). [map]
The Guitar in Grand Junction is installed above the sign at Big J Jewelry & Loan. [map] |
| Guitar Lakeville, MN |
Guitar Neck La Crosse, WI |
Guitar Neck Riverton, WY |
Guitars Harrisonville, MO |
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The Guitar in Lakeville is located at Hot Sam's Antiques. For more, see this website. [map]
This Guitar Neck in La Crosse serves as the sign for Dave's Guitar Shop. It has been here since at least 2006 and is lit at night. The sign cost more than $25,000 to build. For more, see this website. [map] This Guitar Neck in Riverton was part of Mammoth Music facade by 2015. The store closed around 2018. Although new tenants have moved in, the Guitar Neck and business name remain. The keyboard canopy has been painted over. [map] The Guitars in Harrisonville are installed at Butler Music. The sign on the left was installed by 2018 and the pair of guitars was there by 2021. [map] |
| Guitar Santa Barbara, CA |
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| This Guitar was installed inside MOXI, the Moxi Wolf Museum of Exploration + Innovation, in 2017. It is 23 feet long and interactive Visitors can strum from the outside and climb inside. The capo is adjustable. |
| Hard Rock Cafe [gone] Chicago, IL |
Hard Rock Cafe Nashville, TN |
Hard Rock Cafe Biloxi, MS |
Hard Rock Cafe Catoosa, OK |
Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Stateline, NV |
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| Hard Rock Cafe Tampa, FL |
Hard Rock Cafe Rockford, IL |
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood, FL |
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This Hard Rock Cafe location in Chicago opened in 2004. It closed in 2025 and the guitar is gone.
The Hard Rock Cafe in Nashville opened in 1994. [map] The Hard Rock Cafe in Biloxi was built in 2005. Just days before opening, the casino was demolished and the resort was damaged by Hurricane Katrina. The guitar sign survived. Hard Rock was rebuilt and opened in 2007. [map] The Hard Rock Cafe in Catoosa opened in 2009. This 65-foot-tall guitar was installed in 2021. It was designed and produced by YESCO of Las Vegas and shipped to the casino in four pieces. It has multi-colored, programmable LED tubing that can be synced to music. [map] This 26-foot-tall, metal acoustic guitar at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Stateline was installed in 2015 when the business opened. It was created by Terrence Martin when the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency objected to Hard Rock's standard neon, electric guitar design. For more, see this website. [map] The Hard Rock Cafe in Tampa opened in 2004. This guitar was installed in 2018. [map] The Hard Rock Cafe in Rockford was built in 2023 and this guitar was installed in 2024. It is a tribute to the guitar of Rick Nielsen, Cheap Trick band member. Rockford is the band's hometown. For more, see this website. [map] The Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood was built in 2004. The Guitar Hotel with 638 rooms was built in 2019. It is 450 feet tall and covered with LED tubing which is used for light shows. [map] Many of the company's other locations feature these guitar signs including these in: Los Angeles, CA, Sacramento, CA, Atlanta, GA, Atlantic City, NJ, Las Vegas, NV, and Philadelphia, PA. |
| Guitar House Fayetteville, GA |
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| The Guitar House was built in the 1970s by a country western music fan. The simulated guitar lays on its back and slopes from the body to the neck. It's difficult to tell the shape from the ground or from these photos but it is most evident from the air. [map] |
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More Guitars:
Waterford, MI Clarksdale, MS Memphis, TN Nashville, TN Nashville, TN Nashville, TN Seattle, WA: 1, 2 Sydney, AU |
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Giant Musical Instruments page 2 |
Giant Things Main Page |
| RoadsideArchitecture.com |
Copyright. All photos at this website are copyrighted and may only be used with my consent. This includes posting them at Facebook, Pinterest, blogs, other websites, personal use, etc. Tips & Updates. If you have suggestions about places that I haven't covered, historical info, or updates about places/things that have been remodeled or removed, I'd love to hear from you: roadarch@outlook.com. |