Southside Guitars

Profile

When owners (and brothers) Sam and Ben Taylor were fixing up this Williamsburg space for Southside Guitars, they uncovered a stash of stale drugs in a crawlspace and a rusted police revolver buried in the backyard. These discoveries lent the place nearly as much rock-and-roll cred as the storied instruments inside. Behind its wrought-iron gateway, Southside’s high-ceiling showroom walls are hung with all manner of used axes, each one with its own vintage-chic aesthetic: deco, pastel-colored acoustics from the fifties that smack of rhinestones and rockabilly; Hallmark swept-wing electrics for that retro-futuristic Bowie effect; and even a few sitars, ukuleles, and banjos for esoteric pluckers. The Taylors have a keen eye for the rare and remarkable like old Martins and Italian Wandrés, most from the late fifties through the early seventies. Southside also specializes in used pedals and stomp boxes, offers repair services, and buys used guitars to add to its classic collection. — Alex Littlefield