National Music Museum

A complete workshop with tools, templates, molds and ledgers used by guitar craftsmen, John D’Angelico and James D’Aquisto is the centerpiece of the museum’s “Great American Guitars” exhibit featuring instruments by top American guitar makers and companies, including E.F. Martin, Orvile Gibson, Fender and Grammer. Other American-made instruments showcased in the vast 15,000-instrument collection include 19th century ornate reed organs made by Packard in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and Cornish in Washington, Jew Jersey; and 500 horns and other band instruments made by the C.G. Conn Co. in Elkhart, Indiana. For lighthearted notes, the museum displays a combination crutch and electric lap steel guitar made for country artist, Barbara Mandrell, after a leg injury, and the heart-shaped trumpet from the 1978 movie, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band