Orphan Guitars… Adopt One Today!
Orphan Guitars is not your average guitar store. Headed by the self-described ‘smelly old rock n’ roll guy” Dwight Weeks, the store has a collection of guitars (and amplifiers, make sure to check out the back amplifier room) that is quite distinct from any other.
The guitar room itself is so unique, with classic rock posters that make you feel as if you are onstage as you demo a guitar with the massive amplifiers in the center. This is a definite must-visit place if you want to ‘adopt’ a guitar for yourself, or purchase a vintage amplifier.
Tell me a little about the store. We’ve been open now for a little over two years. The proceeds of the store go to charity. Well, it started with getting kids guitars and stuff they needed, but the pandemic kind of squashed that, ‘cause the school programs got canceled. So then we started giving the money to the CHiPs food pantry in Park Slope. And so, until I guess, the fall when school goes back to normal, we’ll keep doing that.
Can you say a little about Orphan Guitars? I started Orphan because there wasn’t a kind of guitar store that I used to go to when I was a kid. You would take your lawn-mowing money or whatever, and you’d save up, and you’d go to a used guitar store, where some smelly old rock n’ roll guy would help you pick out your first guitar. And it just didn’t seem to exist anywhere here:it’s either collector stuff, or Guitar Center; which is just demoralizing. So, I just decided to try to make one.
Why the Name Orphan Guitars? Uh, well, I had a predilection for choosing guitars that seemed like nobody was ever gonna buy them. [Laughing] Because they were just a little weird or you know homely. And I would just in my mind always call them orphans.
A lot of people have been picking up guitar during quarantine. What advice would you give to them? If you're playing because you love rock and roll, or whatever kind of music you like, and you don’t consider yourself really a musician, I would just say learn songs. As many as you can learn, that’s where all the fun is. And then as quickly as you possibly can, start playing them with someone. And the good thing about the internet for guitars, is you can learn any song in the world by hitting a button, which is unfathomable for me! The amount of times I sat down with a record and failed to learn a song is too many to count.
What About The Lion Guitar? Oh the Lioncaster - yeah. It hasn’t sold, because it has the Lion on it, and I know that. And if I change the pic guard, it would sell in like two weeks, but I just can’t do it [Laughing].
Teles Or Strats? Oh, I’m much more of a tele guy, but as I get older I begin to understand strats a little more. I’m just too much of a guerilla technique-wise to deal with a stratocaster. Plus, I don’t know, after a lifetime of dedication to Joe Strummer, telecasters are kind of magic to me.