Although Carter Vintage Guitars is a relatively new addition to the Nashville music scene, Co-Owners Walter and Christie Carter have been involved in the music business for 25 years. Since moving to Nashville straight out of college in 1971, Walter worked as a musician, songwriter and journalist, not to mention having authored a dozen books on vintage guitars and guitar companies. Christie worked at a vintage guitar dealer for 25 years, first serving as Bookkeeper and, eventually, becoming the Business Manager, who was responsible for 40 to 50 percent of the company’s guitar sales. So, by November 2012, Walter Carter recalled, “we were long overdue to go out on our own.”
The business started out of the family living room, with a handful of the Carters’ personal instruments and another 20 or so that they’d bought or consigned; it quickly grew from there. “In the five months between the time we put up a Web site and the time we opened our doors, our inventory had grown to around 75 instruments,” said Carter, who acquired and renovated the 8,000-square-foot building at 625 8th Ave. S., located on one of downtown Nashville’s main traffic arteries. Carter Vintage Guitars eventually opened its doors in June 2013 and, although the Carters were no longer working out of their living room, they worked hard to maintain a similarly welcoming vibe in the store—something Carter feels is key to the store’s success.
Carter Vintage Guitars
625 8th Ave. S.
Nashville TN 37203
(615) 915-1851
www.cartervintage.com
Mon.-Sat. 10:30am-6:30pm
Sun. 1pm-5pm
Walter Carter, Co-Owner
“From the moment we began thinking about our own business, we knew that providing a friendly, comfortable atmosphere would set us apart from our competition. I’ve been going into guitar stores since before I could drive a car, and I’ve never forgotten the ones that were friendly. Conversely, I’ve tried my best to avoid doing business with those that made me feel like an intruder in their store,” said Carter.
“So, when we opened the store, we simply brought our living room into the business,” he continued. “We have plenty of comfortable benches: not only for guitar players, but also for friends and family who may be tagging along. We offer everyone something to drink, and we try to make everyone feel special…like guests in our home.”
The effort certainly paid off. Thanks to a strong reputation among industry contacts and the ensuing word-of-mouth buzz, Carter Vintage Guitars quickly took off. So much so, in fact, that, one year later, “we had over 600 instruments and very little available display space,” Carter remarked.
The positive buzz surrounding the store was key to overcoming some major competition from “one of the most prominent vintage guitar dealers,” which, Carter said, relocated about a mile down the street from his store only a few weeks after the grand opening.
“We felt our experience, our contacts and our attitude would give us the edge we needed” to stave off that competition, said Carter. To further attract customers, Carter and his wife painted a pair of murals outside the store. On one side is a 125-foot Les Paul Standard; the other side includes a 12-foot-high image of Mother Maybelle Carter.
“They’ve made our store a destination and a backdrop for tourist photos as well as music videos,” said Carter, who has also continued to cement his store’s reputation on the inside with an incredible selection, as well as noteworthy events designed to build the customer base once they’ve entered the store. Carter Vintage Guitars’ inventory runs the gamut “from inexpensive utility instruments with no collectible value to high-dollar vintage pieces, and there are buyers at every price point,” said Carter, who prides himself on the fact that “customers at Carter Vintage are invited to play instruments rather than being told not to touch them or to ask for assistance.”
Carter continued, “We still need a competitive inventory, of course, and the personality of the store helped in that respect, too. Instrument owners felt comfortable selling to us. And, if they were consigning, they felt that their instrument would be more likely to sell in our environment.”
In fact, Carter has seen many interesting and storied instruments come through his door. One that he recalled in particular was “a 1935 Martin D-28—a highly sought-after model in its own right—that had been played hard and had the initials ‘SC’ inlaid in the fingerboard,” said Carter, who noted that the instrument belonged to Sid Campbell, who played the guitar on records with bluegrass legend Don Reno in the 1960s. “Two different customers in our store, upon hearing the story, said they had parents who had played music with Campbell. They recognized the guitar and it brought back childhood memories.”
He continued, “We have our share of celebrity-connected instruments, but, sometimes, it’s the lesser-known instruments that have the most interesting stories.”
In the almost two years since opening, the Carters have cultivated a knowledgeable staff to help guide customers through the store’s ever-changing stock, all within the friendly, hands-on atmosphere to which they’ve become accustomed. They have also built a lessons program that augments the customer experience by featuring highly regarded area musicians who were not known as teachers, such as guitarists Guthrie Trapp and J.D. Simo.
“We wanted our lessons to attract the same clientele that our instruments attract, so we enlisted top musicians so that every lesson would be a master class,” he said. “Our revenue from the classes is insignificant as compared to the good feeling that comes from being able to take a lesson from a great musician.”
With its knowledgeable staff, friendly atmosphere and rotating display of high-quality instruments, Carter Vintage Guitars has found a recipe for success within the highly competitive Nashville music scene.
“Our primary goal when we opened, of course, was to be profitable, and we achieved that right away,” concluded Carter. “Now, our goal is to maintain profitability as we grow [and to] maintain our reputation as a friendly, comfortable place for guitars and the people who love them.”
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