ABOUT ESW

Well, It all started in 1974! I had just turned 10 years old and my brother, gave me my first guitar; an acoustic by Estrada called "The Mama Estrada", a Spanish replica of the Gibson SJ200. I never looked back and my love for the stringed instrument began, just like that. By the time I reached middle school, I worshipped bands like "Led Zeppelin", "The Rolling Stones", "Yes" and "The Who". Get the picture of what happened? Yup, I wanted to be a rockstar and even today, I still romance the idea.

Just like most of the musicians out there, I played in as many bands as I could, and along the way I had the chance to meet and learn from some of Long Island, New York's finest guitarists. One major influence, Johnny Gale, gave me the best advice: "Learn how to play guitar but most importantly, learn about the guitar itself. Be able to identify problems, take the piece apart and resolve any issue on your own!" This still is, in my opinion, the best advice for new guitarists. This way, you seldomly have to rely on someone else to fix your gear and if something happens during a show, you're not dead in the water! The best advice EVER!

It was guitarists like Johnny Gale, Nicky Waslyn, Lou Conte and Guy Valic that influenced my playing style, and exposed me at a young age to an eclectic array of guitars. Back in the "Early Years" money was slim and guitars were still expensive so it wasn't uncommon for our close knit society to swap guitars...OFTEN! This gave me the opportunity to play and work on guitars that today would be worth a small fortune, guitars like, a 1955 Gibson Les Paul, 1962 Fender Stratocaster, 1958 Gretsch Country Gentleman. I owned guitars used on albums like Edgar Winter "Tobacco Road" and recently custom built a Telecaster that was used by a local Blues hero, Joel DaSilva in his current album release. As any guitarist will attest, we get a syndrome called "G.A.S.", Guitar Acquisition Syndrome.

So, an acoustic given to me in 1974, led to having collected and sold some of the nicest guitars around. From earliest Gibson and Fenders, to the eighties craze of Kramer, Jackson and Charvel, Paul Reed Smith and countless other name brands. And because, life happens, I don't play out much any longer, but I focus my time on searching out great guitars and gear. My mission is to bring quality and clean used/vintage guitars and equipment to musicians, at the most reasonable prices. My motto is and will remain, "I refuse to sell anything, ANYTHING, that I wouldn't use myself!"

Thanks for your visit,

Evan