The American Guitar Museum:
One of Long Island’s lesser-known museums, The American Guitar Museum is home to countless musical treasures. What it lacks in size, it makes up for in the importance of musical instruments on display.Opened in 1992 by musician and collector Chris Ambadjes, the museum is located inside a small house ---originally a farmhouse--- in New Hyde Park. The museum also houses a music school, shop, and a guitar restoration clinic.
Step inside the guitar-shaped gates, and you’ll find unexpected, rotating exhibits including:
- The guitar played in the wedding scene of the iconic film, The Godfather. The instrument was built by John D’Angelico, who Ambadjes describes as “the Stradivarius of guitars.”
- A D’Angelico jazz ukulele built in 1932.
- The oldest instrument in the museum, a guitar built in 1840 by master Parisian guitar maker La Cote.
- A guitar crafted of Brazilian wood by Jose Ramirez in the 1960s.
- One of Les Paul’s original Gibson guitars.
- A Gibson guitar shaped like a map of the United States.
Best of all, the museum is free. Check the American Guitar Museum website or call for times.
The American Guitar Museum
1810 New Hyde Park Road
New Hyde Park
(516) 488-5000
