The Greatest Guitar Collection That Ever Existed 

In this issue, we’re excited to pull the curtains back on some of the most legendary guitar collections in the world. Some of the most famous guitars ever played grace the collections of famed galleries, museums, and personal collections. We will show you where the most impressive collection of them all resides.

Also, we want to be the first to let you know that KIN has just unveiled our latest drop on our site. Stay tuned for future drops.

As a fan of rock music and its associated culture, it’s probably a dream to own a personal collection of guitars. There’s truly nothing like it.

Once you get your hands on a vintage guitar, you get a deeper sense of its capabilities. The feel is different, the smell is unique, and the sound is much richer. We all remember our first guitar, but once you start discovering the world of vintage guitars, an entirely new world is opened. The search for the next instrument in your collection occupies your dreams, thoughts, and imagination. To own one of these beauties is to also be part of a historical lineage and to be a keeper of all the action that guitar saw before you, whether on stage or tucked away in a home basement. From jamming to songwriting, you’re a caretaker of that instrument’s history until the next lucky owner holds it.

Part of the fun is the thrill of the hunt, tracking down a Country Gentleman or a Rickenbacker at a garage sale, flea market, or pawn shop. As your knowledge of these beautiful instruments grows, so does your desire to get your hands on more of them. It’s impossible to own just one.

In this world, we can all relate – once you get the guitar bug in your fingers, it’s hard to get it out. So why does someone take the time to acquire all sorts of old, vintage guitars? Well, there are a few good reasons:

• The Thrill of the Chase. If you have ever stood first in a line of 84 people deep waiting to get into an estate sale with your heart pounding about the finds you’ll soon discover inside, you know what we’re talking about. There is nothing quite like grabbing hold of a vintage guitar you’ve been searching for and walking out the door with it being yours. Whether a rummage sale, estate sale, or an online marketplace – the thrill of buying a guitar is what keeps many of us in the game.

• The Look & Feel. Craftsmanship is important, and the older guitars have a look and feel to match their storied history. Sometimes, newer is not always better.

• The Sound. A hot topic of debate between musicians and collectors, but there is no replacing the rich quality of sound from a vintage guitar that has been well-loved and taken care of.

• The Investment. Scarcity often equates to a monetary value. It’s quite simple: these vintage beauties will never be made again, and the longer you hold onto them, the more value they’ll start to accrue in the long term. Owning some vintage guitars could be a strategic financial decision, but for many of us, it’s not the most important factor – just a nice one.

Famous Guitar Collections

There are several collections around the globe that would make any collector’s heart race. Here is just a sampling of some of the great collections we could find:

• The Smithsonian, one of the most recognizable museum campuses in the country, has a wide assortment of pieces in its collection that honor and preserve guitar legacy. Including:

  • Prince’s Yellow Cloud electric guitar (at the National Museum of American History)

  • Chuck Berry’s Gibson ES-350T semi-acoustic electric guitar, Maybellene (at the National Museum of African American History and Culture)

  • Paul Reed Smith’s “Dragon I” electric guitar serial number three (National Museum of American History)

  • Eddie Van Halen’s custom Fender Masterbuilt used while on tour in 2008, a replica of Van Halen’s Frankenstein from 1977 (at the National Museum of American History)

• The Metropolitan Museum of Art features over 5,000 years of works in their collection, one piece which is the first solid-body electric Spanish guitar prototype from Leo Fender.

But there is one collection that trumps all of these. Yes, there is a massive collection of guitars (and other music ephemera) owned by a single individual that rises above some of the most cherished art museums in the world.

That collection belongs to Jim Irsay. Let’s get to know the most incredible guitar collection in the universe.

From Music to Football

Long before football and long before he became the owner of the Indianapolis Colts of the National Football League, Jim Irsay dabbled in music.

Growing up in the northern suburbs of Chicago, Irsay got an early start playing instruments, first with classical violin and then onto the classical guitar. That led him to the world of rock-n-roll, but the thing that he chased most was a career in the NFL. He inherited the Colts franchise from his father, but music remained ever-present.

“I still got involved with guitar, studied classical guitar and, of course, rock ‘n’ roll, but I was never in a band. The NFL was always the thing I chased and still is my main job, so to speak, but through it all, there was music,” he said.

Paying Homage to the Past While Living in Its Present

When some people run into mountains of money, they tend to change their spending habits while living frivolously. With Irsay, you get the sense there is a deeper purpose.

Instead of blowing through cash on luxurious items and expensive toys, Irsay makes personal connections to each item in his vast display of music history. And his sentimental and cultural connection to these artifacts goes far deeper than music.

Today, Irsay owns Kerouac’s famous typed manuscript for the iconic On the Road – a 120-foot scroll that Kerouac hammered out on a caffeine-fueled binge on a typewriter in twenty days and the novel that would help define the Beat Generation in America. He bought it for $2.43 million and almost immediately put it on display for the folks in Indianapolis and sent it on a museum tour, too.

“It certainly wasn’t something where I’m going to buy this because someday it will go up in value or I’m going to buy this because I want to sit and look at it,” Irsay explained in an interview. “I was drawn towards it.”

He has also purchased items that relate to his own experiences. Irsay bought a manuscript of The Big Book (Alcoholics Anonymous) for $2.4 million and has cited his battles with addiction and how this book and its famous 12-step program saved his life and millions of others.

Irsay is intentional about what items he adds to his collection – procuring items with deep sentimental connections and timeless symbols and instruments of change that have impacted our culture and, in many cases, have shifted and impacted counterculture.

He also recognizes the timeless nature of these items. Sure, Irsay owns them in his collection at this precise moment. Still, it’s not about the ownership of the items – it’s about honoring their place in creativity, music, and history, allowing others to see and experience them, and then passing them along to someone else.

“Possessions I hold very lightly in the sense that they’re kind of like temporary borrowings,” he said. “This will be someone else’s and someone else’s.”

Even now, Irsay ensures his items are front-and-center and visible to his employees and fans around the country. He also makes a point to get these instruments into the hands of musicians. Whether they are worth tens or hundreds of thousands, many of the instruments in his collection routinely get to be used by musicians.

At a spur-of-the-moment concert in Indianapolis in 2021, Irsay and his band jammed on guitars plucked from his collection. Irsay led vocals, Kenny Wayne Shepherd got to jam on Kenny Wayn’es Black Strat, and Kenny Wayne Shepherd got to clutch Bob Dylan’s Stratocaster used at the Newport Folk Festival. Together, those two guitars command just shy of 5 million dollars of value.

But, the value means nothing to Irsay if these instruments cannot be held and used as intended.

Marvel at the Irsay Collection

These days, the Irsay collection is spread across several places, including his home and the headquarters and practice facilities for the Colts.

Other components of the collection travel around the country to museums and tours. The most recent tour wrapped up with a stop in Las Vegas, bringing memorabilia and his band.

Among the favorite items you can find:

David Gilmour Black Stratocaster

Purchase Price: $3,900,000

There are very few guitars that can match up with the history of the Black Strat – David Gilmour’s heavily modified black beauty that has risen to legendary status. Gilmour’s collection of guitars is sizable, but the black Strat was a part of his musical journey, from recording to performance. It also appeared on every Pink Floyd album for over a decade, 1970-1983, and four of his solo albums. If you’ve grown alongside Gilmour and Pink Floyd over nearly five decades, you’ve spent countless hours with this legendary guitar.

Jerry Garcia’s Tiger

Purchase Price: $957,000

From 1979 to 1989, Jerry Garcia relied on his old trusty, Tiger – a guitar designed by Sonoma County luthier Doug Irwin. Initially dubbed “The Garcia,” the name “Tiger” stuck due to the inlaid on the pre-amp on the top of the guitar, just behind the tailpiece. The weight of Tiger came in at just over 13.5 pounds due to the different types of wood, brass, and hardware that were assembled. For more than a decade, Tiger was Garcia’s trusty go-to shredder, but he went with another Irwin masterpiece starting in 1989 that he called Rosebud. During the Grateful Dead’s final infamous show at the Winterland, an issue arose with the Rosebud, and Gracia picked up Tiger – for one last final time in public.

Bob Dylan Stratocaster

Purchase Price: $965,000

Backstory: This guitar was used by Dylan at the 1965 edition of the famed Newport Folk Festival. His set garnered some initial controversy but has become a legendary timestamp in Dylan and rock history. Wedged between Cousin Emmy and the Sea Island Singers, Dylan featured a fully electric set and amped band, drawing Newport organizers' ire. Festival-goers were caught in the middle, it was famously stated that “half the audience was electrified and the other half was electrocuted.” There was debate about whether the fans were shocked at the amplified display or whether the sound quality was difficult to hear. Either way, Dylan would not return to the festival for 37 years. After the set, he left his Strat on an airplane. Little is known about the subsequent chain of ownership, which is perhaps, fitting, based on the poet-musician who delighted some and frustrated others at a set that will forever live on in music history.

George Harrison’s Gibson SG

Purchase Price: $567,000 

The 1964 Gibson SG Standard was George Harrison’s guitar featured throughout many of the Beatles' late 1960s recordings. In addition, it was also featured in the band’s last UK concert, the 1966 NME Poll Winner concert, and the Revolver recording session. The Gibson SG was also played by Harrison for two Beatles movies “Paperback Writer” and “Rain” and also played by John Lennon in the White Album sessions.