Dave's Guitar Shop

Dave's Guitar Shop

Company type	Private
Industry	Musical instrument retail
Founded	1982
Founder	Dave Rogers
Headquarters	La Crosse , United States
Area served	Wisconsin, United States
Products	Guitars, amplifiers, accessories

Dave's Guitar Shop operates as a retailer of musical instruments, maintaining four outlets across Wisconsin with a focus on guitars, amplifiers, and associated accessories. The La Crosse store includes a publicly accessible museum featuring a collection of guitars and amplifiers valued in the multi-million dollar range.

History

Established in 1982 by Dave Rogers, the company initially operated from his residence before launching its inaugural retail space in La Crosse, occupying a site formerly used by Shakey's Pizza Parlor. In 2017, the La Crosse branch expanded to incorporate Coalition Drum Shop, now showcasing an inventory exceeding 3,000 guitars.

That year also marked the opening of a second location in Milwaukee, offering more than 400 guitars along with guitar repair services; this store moved to a larger facility in October 2019. The third store commenced operations in Madison in 2018, specializing in boutique acoustic guitar brands such as Goodall, Huss & Dalton, Flammang, and Collings Guitars, while continuing to provide standard products and repair services.

Locations

• La Crosse, Wisconsin, established 1982
• Milwaukee, Wisconsin, launched May 2017
• Madison, Wisconsin, opened June 1, 2018
• Marshfield, Wisconsin, inaugurated August 2022

The Museum

Located on the second floor of the original La Crosse store is a guitar and amplifier museum exhibiting over 300 vintage pieces. Certain guitars within this collection hold values up to $500,000. This museum is accessible to visitors and contributes significantly to the shop’s prestige among collectors and aficionados of vintage guitars.

See also

Warman's Vintage Guitars Field Guide: Values and Identification authored by Dave Rogers