User:Iplayguitars/sandbox

Retrofret is store located in the Gowanus area of downtown Brooklyn, dealing exclusively in vintage guitars, mandolins, banjos, and other fretted instruments. It has been a cornerstone of the New York music scene for 30 years.

"Entering the serene, light-filled showroom, you are greeted by rows of Martin acoustic guitars propped on stands on a large Oriental rug. To the right is a wall of banjos, and to the left a room of electric guitars, where Fenders and Gibsons hang from the walls like so many lacquered lollipops." http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/11/nyregion/retrofret-in-gowanus-brooklyn-sells-rare-guitars.html?adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1385587016-aPbvx1dQc7LaQ6dLM78

History
Owner and founder, Steve Uhrik, moved the business to its current location in Gowanus, Brooklyn from Soho, Manhattan in 1983. The building housing Retrofret was built near the turn-of-the-century to house the first ASPCA (American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals). There is a hand-engraved plaque over the door depicting a horse being beaten by a coach driver and an angel intervening.

Neighborhood
The shop is located at 233 Butler street in the Gowanus neighorhood of downtown Brooklyn.

“The whole area has changed so radically from an industrial warehouse district in decay to a destination neighborhood of hotels, restaurants and a mecca for a cutting edge, thriving music and arts scene. Retrofret was one of the first music related businesses to put down roots along the Gowanus Canal.”

Notable Instruments
Lefty Frizzell's Bigsby/Gibson Custom SJ-200

In early 1951, as royalties for his recent hit recordings began pouring in, Lefty Frizzell bought this guitar, a 1949 sunburst Gibson SJ-200, locally in Texas. The SJ-200 is called “King of the Flat Top Guitars” and has been the guitar of choice for many prominent artists including Elvis Presley, Emmylou Harris, Gene Autry, The Everly Brothers, Pete Townsend, Roy Rodgers, Eddy Arnold, Tex Ritter, Rev. Gary Davis, and countless others. No other flat top guitar makes a visual statement like an SJ (“Super Jumbo”) 200, which was originally designed for Hollywood Cowboys of the 1930’s. In buying and playing this showy expensive instrument Lefty was telling the world he had arrived as a full-blown star.