The House of Guitars has been attracting some of the most famous faces in rock 'n' roll for more than half a century and this year the legendary music store celebrate 55 years in business.

What draws big names like Motley Crue, Metallica, Ozzy Osborne, and Guns N’ Roses (to name a few) to one of the largest music store in the country are their vintage guitars, drums, keyboards, and amplifiers that produce a sound unlike anything else.

“When a lot of them come in, they like to talk music or talk guitar for a while because they want to own six of them because they all have different sounds,” said House of Guitars President Armand Schaubroeck. “When the bands come in, they get all excited. The national bands see the vintage guitars and they go crazy over those from the ‘50s and ‘60s. They have a different sound and are original.”

Aside from the instruments, it’s the history people get lost in. Every square inch of the facility is covered in memories — plus the approximately 4 million records, CDs and tapes that live within the walls of the famous guitar shop.

“An album is like a period of an artist’s life,” added Schaubroeck. “You can read all the information that explains the recording. It’s different and totally overwhelms you. These are rare, the Beatles ‘butcher’ cover (of the Yesterday and Today album). The rarest is the stereo copy; very few were made because back then everything was made in mono.”

Rochester folk and blues musician Bat McGrath will be there on April 26 for a meet and great and autograph signing. 

House of Guitars will be hosting special concerts, events and classes throughout the entire year to commemorate the milestone.