Player's Gear LLC

Player's Gear is a small, local guitar shop located in Marion, Indiana specializing in used guitars, guitar accessories, and, most importantly, guitar repair and maintenance. Come in and check us out at 428 South Washington Street in Marion, IN or call at 765-997-8199.

Player's Gear began with the desire to enable customers to experience the joy of getting together with others and playing music.

As a young guitarist, I loved to go to Studio B, the local music store and hangout with an equal number of brilliant musicians, newbies, living room rockstars, and total hacks. It was a great place and it's where I bought all of my guitars, picks, strings, and accessories. I took lessons there for a long time. One day, the B had to close its doors due to the extremely competitive market in music retail.

The most important thing I learned from Studio B and the incredible people that worked there is this:

Making music should be fun and bring you joy.

Without this, music is the same as any other drudgery in our lives. It will have no soul, regardless of your level of skill. We've all seen it before. Bands that are technically brilliant, but unable to connect with the audience. They are not plugging into the song, choosing instead to go through the motions.

We have also seen the opposite: people with very little skill, but they have the ability to pull you into their music and feel something. That's the magic of good music.

Player's Gear is built upon the idea that enjoying making music is the single greatest catalyst to making good music. We offer guitars that play well right out of the box. Our prices may be slightly higher than other sellers at times, but we pride ourselves on selling guitars with a good setup and good tone--two things that make a major contribution to you enjoying making music.

We are not finicky when it comes to dings, dents, and cosmetic imperfections. In fact, some people (myself included) prefer a guitar with a couple of chips missing from the paint and some obvious signs of wear. Our Retish relic guitars run the gamut in their appearance from slightly scuffed to outrageous abominations of guitar abuse. They feel broken-in and ready to play with plenty of miles still left in them. We like to think of them as open-ended storytellers. Their looks encourage people to imagine where they have been and what they have done in the past.

Some folks look at relics and say it's about the player trying to fake real musician street cred. We look at relic finishes as just another option. Not everybody feels comfortable playing a new, shiney guitar. They baby it because they don't want to mar the finish. Give the same player a relic and they will treat the instrument like an instrument, not an art piece. They won't worry about scuffing the paint or putting a ding in it. They will just play and have fun. And in doing so, will make better music.

Obviously, we are a small shop. Some folks would look at that as a detriment, but we view it as an advantage. Here, it's like the good old days. It's not about convincing you to spend as much as we can possibly get you to on the flavor of the day, it's about selling you what you want and helping you define what you want better.

We value honesty, integrity, and good manners. We want to make it as easy as possible for our customers to make good music and enjoy the experience.

--Rick.

Shop Website

Tax Policies