F-4 Mandolin: The F-4 mandolin made by Gibson is owned by prominent mandolin player David Grisman. Shown in the photo are Grisman and Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead in 1990. Grisman owns several mandolins and many of his instruments are included in the Acoustic America exhibit. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com
Acoustic America: Shown is an interior view of the public space and lobby area at the Musical Instrument Museum in Scottsdale, Ariz. The banners displayed all featured images from the Acoustic America exhibit, which will run until Sept. 15, 2024, at the museum. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com
By GARY WARREN
Photographer
Formerly of Los Alamos
We enjoy visiting museums on our travels around the country and the Phoenix, Ariz. area always has plenty to offer. We enjoy the western museums in Phoenix and Scottsdale but there is another museum in Scottsdale that we have visited a few times. That museum is the Musical Instrument Museum.
The Musical Instrument Museum (MIM) houses a large collection of instruments from countries around the world which are always fun to visit. There is a space set aside in the museum for special exhibitions and the exhibition currently showing caught my eye this week. I had to go.
The exhibition is titled “Acoustic America”, Iconic Guitars, Mandolins, and Banjos. I love guitars and guitar music. I own a couple of guitars but my ability to play them is far below the level I would like to play.
Guitars, mandolins, and banjos have been played by the greatest country, folk, blues, and bluegrass music for decades. The music and sound of these genres of music have evolved over the decades as well as the design and quality of the instruments.
The Acoustic America exhibit at MIM consists of 90 historic acoustic instruments. These instruments have inspired musicians for decades in the U.S. Instruments owned by and played by music icons such as Earl Scruggs, the Carter Family, John Sebastian, and others are represented in the exhibit.
This special exhibit is well presented and includes instruments played in prominent recordings over the last several decades. It was both very informative and entertaining as many of the instrument exhibits also included video footage of the instrument being played in concerts.
The Musical Instrument Museum is always a great museum visit and the Acoustic America exhibit was a great bonus on this visit. The Acoustic America exhibit opened in November 2023 and will continue until Sept. 15, 2024.
Editor’s note: Longtime Los Alamos photographer Gary Warren and his wife Marilyn are traveling around the country, and he shares his photographs, which appear in the “Posts from the Road” series published in the Sunday edition of the Los Alamos Daily Post.
Guitars, Mandolins and Banjos: Guitars, mandolins, and banjos are the instruments featured in the Acoustic America exhibit at the Musical Instrument Museum in Scottsdale, Ariz. The banjo in this display is an RB-Granada Banjo made by Gibson and was owned and played by Earl Scruggs for more than 50 years. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com
‘The Fish’ Guitar: ‘The Fish’ guitar was owned and played by John Sebastian. The guitar is nicknamed ‘The Fish’ because Sebastian and the instrument’s maker, Lucien Barnes, are both Pisces. When the image is enlarged, one will see the fingerboard inlays on the guitar are fish shaped. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com
Country and Folk: This 00-28 guitar has ties to the legendary Carter Family. The guitar was made by C.F. Martin Co. The Carter family’s was a very influential in early country music. The guitar on the right is a 2-18 Tenor guitar, which was played by members of the Kingston Trio for years. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com
Banjos: Shown is a group of different banjos which were all played in prominent recordings. During the early days of the phonograph, the banjo was the instrument recorded best and was used extensively in the early recordings. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com