Pittsburgh Guitars – A Love Story: Iconic MI Retailer Celebrates 45 Years

Pittsburgh Guitars is celebrating 45 years of “Rocking the ‘Burgh” in 2024 and we decided to sit down with former devoted customer and now owner John Bechtold to learn more of the store’s history.

Founded by Carl Grefenstette in 1979, Pittsburgh Guitars has become the go-to destination for both local musicians and global superstars. Notable big-name visitors include members of The Cult, Cheap Trick, Social Distortion, The Who, Nirvana, The Replacements – the list is endless!

“I started this business because I love guitars,” says Grefenstette. “I love looking at them. I love playing them. And I love studying their history. I feel grateful that over these many decades, Pittsburgh Guitars has inspired multiple generations of players. And I am equally grateful that John has carried that legacy forward.”

For his part, being steward of such a beloved local institution is a dream come true for Bechtold: “I started shopping at Pittsburgh Guitars when the shop first opened. I was in 9th grade! I was always in awe of the guitars on the walls. Here I am 45 years later, now owner of the shop and still just love looking at guitars all day! I am honored to have been able to carry on the legacy of this shop and what Carl created. I love the community vibe that this shop has and really enjoy interacting with so many great friends and customers on a daily basis.”

Pittsburgh Guitars will continue to celebrate the 45-year milestone throughout the year and looks well poised to remain a guitarist Mecca for many years to come!

Can you talk about the origins of Pittsburgh guitars? What led to Carl founding the business?

John Bechtold: Pittsburgh Guitars is a love story – a love of the guitar. Its distant origins can be traced back to February 9, 1964 when a young Carl Grefenstette saw The Beatles on Ed Sullivan. He was not only impressed by their new look and sound, he was captivated by their unusual guitars. By the1970s he was old enough to buy his own guitars and this led to a search for Beatle-related gear. In 1975, when a friend of his, Mitch Weissman, auditioned for a Beatle tribute show, Carl met with the producers and sold them the Beatle instruments he owned. Throughout 1976 and 1977 Carl sold guitars and amps to the show, which eventually became “Beatlemania!” on Broadway. Searching through hundreds of pawn shops only increased Carl’s love for the guitar. He started to buy more and more. Whenever he was in Manhattan his favorite stop was “We Buy Guitars” on 48^th street. He decided to open a “used” guitar shop back in Pittsburgh. In May 1979 Pittsburgh Guitars was born.

Walk us through from the past to the present: At the original store location, how many full-time employees were there? How big was the joint?

JB: Pittsburgh Guitars started as a one-man operation. The store was 750 sq. ft. and located in the Pittsburgh neighborhood of Bloomfield. It became a fun place for local musicians to hang out. The first actual employee was added in 1981 and a repairman, Scott R. Johnson, joined in 1983. Scott still works at the store today!

In 1986 Pittsburgh Guitars moved to a different Pittsburgh neighborhood, the South Side. At the time, it was primarily bars, antique shops, and boarded up buildings. But it had lots of potential. The new 1400 sq. ft. building provided room for growth. For a very brief time keyboards were added to the inventory, but Carl soon realized the error of his ways and stuck with his one love: guitars.

Back in Bloomfield the primary focus was used guitars. The only New guitar line was Hondo II. In the South Side, the business grew and new guitars from Guild, Rickenbacker, Martin and Fender were added to the product lines. Meanwhile, “used” guitars became “vintage” guitars

By the turn of the century there were four full-time employees and four guitar teachers.

Current store: how many employees? How big?

JB: In 2006 Carl bought a three-story building one block from the previous South Side address. The new place offered 1,600 sq. ft. of store front, plus two additional floors for repairs, lessons, inventory overflow, offices and shipping. In addition to me (John) we currently have three full-time employees, and our full-time repair person, Scott.

Can you talk about your own history with Pittsburgh Guitars? When did you come on board at the store? What have your roles been throughout the years?

JB: I started shopping here, well maybe it was more like dreaming, when the shop first opened in 1979. I was in 9^th grade then and would visit the shop pretty frequently to gawk at the walls. When I was in 10^th grade, I bought my first good guitar here and it was a 1976 Gibson Les Paul in a tobacco sunburst finish. As time went on, I started gigging out in bands and eventually bought more guitars and amps. This also became my go to shop for repairs and set-ups.

Move forward to 2002 when I was a sales manager for an industrial equipment company. I wore a tie and Dockers to work every day, worked in a cubicle and just could not do it anymore. It was a really great job but I was burned out from it and did not really have much interest in what I was doing there. I had to do something career wise that I was passionate about and that was guitars and music!

Well, when one of the guys quit to go to school, that was my chance to work at my favorite guitar store. I interviewed with Carl and started right away. I had always read all of the guitar magazines, so I was up on all of the new gear that would come out. I quickly became comfortable with evaluating used instruments, taking in trades and buying used gear. As time went on, Carl gave me more and more responsibilities such as dealing with vendors, placing product orders and going to NAMM to meet with our sales reps. I was able to pick things up quickly due to my previous business background and I finally had a job that I could not wait to go to every day. Well, nine years later when Carl decided to retire, I worked out a deal with him to buy the shop. On November 1^st 2011, I became the owner of Pittsburgh Guitars, my favorite guitar shop!

Currently, what new lines does Pittsburgh Guitars carry?

JB: We carry a lot of great new lines that really fit the vibe of our store and complements the mix of used gear. We are a dealer for Rickenbacker, Gretsch, Hofner, Martin, Danelectro, Yamaha, Vox, Marshall, Ampeg, Boss, EHX, MXR, and more! As far as Hofner goes, we are actually a Hofner Premium dealer. There are only a little more than a handful of independently owned shops in The US that are premium dealers and can order the German instruments.

What would be the breakdown of the current inventory in terms of vintage vs. new?

JB: Our electric guitar inventory is always around 50% used and 50% new guitars. As far as acoustics go, we carry a lot more new instruments and that inventory is typically around 75% new vs. 25% used. We do get vintage instruments in from time to time and they typically sell pretty quickly in the shop or on Reverb when we list them. Also, used pedals move very well for us.

Can you talk about the other services offered – repairs, lessons?

JB: Our repair person Scott has been here longer than me. He is always busy and we have customers that drive long distances because of his reputation. We pride ourselves on having one of the best in the area. It is also great to have a guy like Scott here in case instruments need tweaking when they come in and before they get shipped out. When bands come to town, many contact us for emergency repairs. We do our best to accommodate them. A notable one was when Cheap Trick’s tech brought in the famous 5-neck guitar for an emergency headstock repair.

As far as lessons go, we are still conducting them virtually. That is something that transpired during the pandemic. Both of our teachers moved away during the pandemic, but one of our teachers has continued with remote virtual lessons for us. He has been able to maintain a full schedule and it has worked well for him and the store. However, we are close to hiring an in-person teacher or two.

A whole host of notable names have shopped at Pittsburgh Guitars. How important are those high-profile clientele in building and maintaining the store’s reputation?

JB: I keep a sheet of paper on the bulletin board in the hallway and we make notes on it when touring musicians stop in the shop. The list is pretty long at this point. A partial list of the musicians that have stopped in the shop would include Kurt Cobain, Tommy Emanuel, Adrian Belew, Dean & Robert of STP, Ace Frehley, Squeeze, The Fixx, Derek Trucks, Richie Havens, Ray Davies, John Entwistle, Jackson Browne, Peter Torke, G.E. Smith, Kathleen Edwards, Russell Crowe, and Woody Harrelson. The majority of musicians do the exact same thing that we do when traveling. I look up guitar shops and record stores in every city when traveling. That is what I am interested in checking out and so are they. It is very interesting to talk about their experiences with touring, recording, and what gear that they are using. Customers come in pretty frequently and ask about a famous musician that was in the shop. It is always fun to share the stories.

Any celebrations, sales, initiatives ongoing in 2024 to celebrate the 45th anniversary? I know the customer appreciation sale just happened recently.

JB: The actual anniversary date was in May and we did a lot of cool stuff that week. We had a customer appreciation sale, spin wheel to win a prize and we gave away a lot of cool gear. We also had a vintage Hofner collection on display that included over 20 instruments. We will be 45 for a full year so we will continue vintage instrument displays like that throughout the year and have more focused sales periodically.

Hopes for the future of Pittsburgh Guitars?

JB: My hope for Pittsburgh Guitars is that it continues to serve our local community as a hub for aspiring guitar players and local musicians. Our shop is a lot like the TV show Cheers for a lot of people. Friends come in to hang out and talk about music, gigs and guitars. I take great pride in helping customers find a solution to what they are looking for and I just love it when someone comes into the shop to get their very first guitar! We can take our time with the experience and even teach them a couple of chords by the time they walk out smiling with that gig bag on their shoulder. That’s what it is about for me.