GROVE CITY, Ohio — Since the 1980s, music lovers have attended the Ohio Guitar Show to buy, sell and trade gear. Now in its 42nd year, the event will be held in Columbus this Sunday, June 14.
But the first show was organized and held in Athens in 1984. It outgrew its space and the next year, moved to the Aladdin Shrine Center in Columbus, where it remains.
“There was no internet, eBay or Reverb back then. You had pawnshops, music stores and newspaper listings, and guitar shows,” current Ohio Guitar Show co-owner Elliot John-Conry told the Independent.
Back then, Athens was still “off the beaten path,” he said, without the U.S. 33 bypasses of Lancaster and Nelsonville that now usher travelers into the area.
“The original mission was to bring local bands, musicians, and guitar shops in Athens together to buy, sell and trade guitars and to network and have a sense of community. I would say that mission is still the same, just on a larger scale,” co-owner Garrett Gannon told the Independent.
At the show, attendees mingle with vendors including musicians, guitar shop owners, collectors, pedal and amp builders, and hobbyists who sell new, used and vintage equipment “of all brands and all price points,” as well as memorabilia and records, Garrett said.
“Gibson, Fendors, and Les Pauls are common. Rarer [instruments] going back to the 50’s and 60’s can be found, too,” he said. Food trucks are also available on-site.
“It’s a great place to look and learn, even if you can’t buy,” John-Conry said.
Local roots
John-Conry has been attending guitar shows since he was 13. In his twenties, he had a guitar repair and building shop in Athens with his mentor Dan Erlewine, a renowned guitar luthier who worked at Stewart-MacDonald in Athens for decades. The pair would occasionally travel north to vend in Columbus.
When Ohio Guitar Show co-founder Marc Newman was ready to retire in 2025, he and the other founders — Newman’s wife, Brenda, and Marc and Jane Waner — gave their blessing to pass the reins officially to John-Conry, Gannon, and Steve Abele and Max Feldman
The four now coordinate both the Southern Ohio Guitar Show and the Ohio Guitar Show. The group’s combined experience and varied interests have come together to plan the June 14 Columbus event.
“It is a ton of work to put on a guitar show, lots of logistics, people and personalities to navigate. Guitar shows are definitely a labor of love,” John-Conry said.
When the COVID-19 pandemic began in early 2020, “all the guitar shows were hit pretty hard,” John-Conry said. “Things are really just now getting back to normal and picking up, in spite of the economy and guitar market being hyper-saturated.”
One audience demographic has remained steady since the show’s inception: “mostly men 45+ years old,” Garrett said. Organizers say the attendee makeup is changing over time, however.
“The crowd is mostly middle aged and older, but we have seen a noticeable increase in young people and women especially attending, which is great,” John-Conry said.
“People rarely come alone,” Gannon said. “Some come as a band.”
Important to organizers is how the guitar show gives back to the community. This year, the Ohio Guitar Show is donating an instrument for nonprofit Guitars to Vets to raffle off. In the past, proceeds have helped benefit organizations like Dublin School of Rock, and humane societies.
“Guitars for Vets is the one we have worked with the most,” John-Conry said. “We comp their booth, find a raffle guitar, create a collection when we go to other shows, and make a donation at the show. … We encourage the public and the vendors to participate [in the fundraising] and help donate at the show. Pretty much whoever has asked, we try to do something for them.”
“It’s certainly not game changing money for any of the charities or schools we worked with, but we try to do something and raise awareness,” he said.
According to Garrett, who became a co-owner in fall 2025, the show’s legacy makes future events something to look forward to. In years to come, he said they hope to up the number of vendors to over 150 to offer attendees even more variety.
“My hopes are to grow the show and engrain it into Ohio culture as something people look forward to and come to expect each year,” he said.
Admission to Sunday’s event is $10, cash only. The event will take place 11 a.m.–5 p.m. at Aladdin Shrine Center, 1801 Gateway Circle, Grove City. Find more information at ohioguitarshow.com.
