Guitars the Museum

General information

GUITARS. THE MUSEUM: THE FINEST GUITAR MUSEUM IN THE WORLD.
Vasagatan. Umea. Sweden.

UMEA, the university town in northern Sweden, which has been selected as the European Cultural Capital for 2014, is home to one of the world’s finest vintage guitar collections. The collection of electric guitars and basses (some of which are valued at more than a SEK 1 million a piece) includes a Gibson Les Paul Sunburst and Switchmaster, a 1950 Fender Broadcaster (similar previously owned by Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour), a couple of 1954 Fender Stratocasters and two 1959 Gibson Flying Vs and comprises over 500 pieces in total. It is the property and brainchild of twin brothers Samuel and Mikael Ahden who’ve both been collecting guitars for over forty years. Guitars, The Museum which is set to open in February 2014 will be housed over four floors in a modification of Vasaskolan´s premises, a building that will further comprise a live stage, a music shop, restaurant and bar.

UMEA is well known as a musical hotspot having spurned popartists and rock groups like Refused, Cult of Luna, Trainspotters, Cleo, Invasionen, Tove Styrke, Caotico and Meshuggah as well as the successful nightclub Scharinska (which, incidentally, is to be re-housed in Vasaskolan), the Norrland Opera and the Umea Jazz Festival, one of the largest Scandinavian festivals for jazz. The guitar museum itself will be interactive and experience based and likely to accommodate around 30,000 visitors annually.

Anna Olofsson, marketing manager for the municipality of Umea, said:
“There is no guitar museum of this kind anywhere. Being able to show off the collection is absolutely fantastic. The guitars are important elements in a culture that is shared by so many. In a peerless fashion, they speak of contemporary history and are very much in tune with Umeå´s local music scene. Furthermore, the museum is in harmony with plans for the Scharinska rock club, a music business and other operations coming to Vasagatan."

Tourism in Umea is likely to experience a huge uplift in 2014 and Guitars - The Museum is currently in talks with some of the world’s most prominent musicians and pop-stars with a view to presentations and appearances at the venue.

Europe:
Phill Savidge
Phill Savidge PR
http://phillsavidge.com
tel/fax +44 (0)208 348 0373
Mobile +44 (0)7887 584 242
Phill@phillsavidge.com

Sweden:
Fredrik Fagerlund
www.guitarsthemuseum.com
+46(0)6325594
fredrik@guitarsthemuseum.com