A rock history museum brings together 45 legendary guitars in Spain

The Guitar Legends Hall, a museum that brings together 45 historical guitars, including some played by legendary performers such as Eric Clapton or the guitarists of groups such as AC/DC, Guns N’Roses or Metallica, opens its doors this Friday in Barcelona (Spain) to bring visitors closer to the history of rock.

Juan José Castellano, the collector behind the museum, explains to EFE that his love for these instruments began as a teenager, but it was not until about five years ago, after acquiring a piece by Guns N’Roses guitarist Slash, that he began to take his collection seriously to the point of setting up a museum.

Among his favorite pieces are a 1948 guitar that belonged to Eric Clapton, one that David Knopfler played on the first two Dire Straits albums and another that he bought directly from Paul Stanley after a Kiss concert.

The most difficult guitar to obtain was one belonging to Ritchie Blackmore, founder of the groups Deep Purple, Rainbow and Blackmore’s Night, which he obtained as compensation after discovering that a collector almost sold him a fake one by Led Zeppelin founder Jimmy Page.

It also has a replica of a Jimi Hendrix guitar and another of George Harrison, one that belonged to Joe Perry of Aerosmith or another identical to the one played by Phil Lynnot of Thin Lizzy.

The initiative arose after a talk with his son, in which they both concluded that they could not have ““All those guitars kept in suitcases in a room in the house.”

The collector contacted Grup Transversal, a cultural and tourism management company that has converted the 1,500 square meters of a building in the center of Barcelona into a rock tribute space.

The attraction, beyond showing the guitars, also lies in the immersive part of the museum, since it proposes a route through the history of rock, which begins in a blues bar set in the 60s and ends in a great concert, passing by a hippie caravan, a vinyl store or an MTV set.

An audio guide changes the soundtrack depending on where the visitor is in the museum and allows you to hear how each of the instruments on display sound.

Apart from the permanent exhibition, Castellano intends to organize between four and five temporary ones.

The first, which can be visited starting Friday, revolves around guitars from the 1930s from a French collector, while the next ones will pay tribute to Spanish rock bands.