POPUP! Monaro Arts Space has welcomed the small Bungendore boutique store Bungendore Guitars into the heart of Queanbeyan this week, with some beautiful old and new stringed instruments on display.
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Bungendore local Adam Easton has been the main port of call in his town for repairs, accessories and new instrument sales since opening on Gibraltar Street in February 2011, and said he was looking forward to talking all things guitar with locals over the coming weeks.
"When I heard about the pop-up I thought it was a great idea. I like that it makes use of vacant space in the CBD for artists and musos to come in and use," he said.
It was a particularly good fit for the part-time, grass roots ethos of Bungendore Guitars, Mr Easton said.
"There's quite a few shops out in Bungendore now that only open on the weekends, and my shop fits into that funky little shop category that the town's becoming renowned for," he said.
There are also some more off-beat instruments on display, such as a 1930s era hybrid banjo/ukulele and a perspex stratocaster.
Mr Easton will also be showcasing a couple of rarer items from his collection, like an Australian-made 1950s acoustic manufactured out of plywood by Wayne guitars (now defunct.)
He's started a collection of vintage Australian instruments along with Canberra Times' journalist and local guitar man Chris Johnson.The two men hope to build a historical catalogue of some of the weird and wonderful guitars produced in Australia during the last century.
So far they've collected around 30 guitars."Everyone knows everything about old Fenders and Gibsons, but not a lot about Australian guitars," Mr Easton said.
"So we're hoping to build a collection of some of these old guitars. It's not about making money; it's about preserving these old guitars. They're part of Australia's cultural heritage," he said.
* You can catch Adam and Rick from Bungendore Guitars at PopUp! On Friday afternoons from 1-5pm and Saturdays from 10am-2pm.