“Do you have the time
to listen to me whine
about nothing and everything all at once?”
No, we do not. Busy day.
But let’s take a moment to talk Broken Guitars—the new vintage-guitar shop from Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong and longtime friend Bill Schneider, now open (but closed Mondays) in Oakland. Here’s a slideshow.
The small, hometown-y shop is unassuming from the outside, but inside’s jam-packed with everything you’d need as a music lover/guitar player/effects-pedal collector.
It sort of feels like a garage band’s practice space, with mismatched rugs and local punk-rock-band fliers on the wall. Plop down in an armchair in front and talk music with Schneider—he’s been in bands with Billie Joe (among other bands), he’s toured with Green Day, and he’s running the place.
Maybe strum something on one of the used guitars that line the walls. (Really. Strumming is encouraged here.) You’ll find a mahogany Fender Tim Armstrong, a yellow 1960 Gibson Les Paul Junior and a cream-colored mid-’90s Telecaster in the 80-guitar collection. Some are even from Bill’s and Billie Joe’s personal collections.
They’ll also do trade-ins and guitar and amp repairs, and there’s an in-house luthier.
In case you don’t have one on retainer.
to listen to me whine
about nothing and everything all at once?”
No, we do not. Busy day.
But let’s take a moment to talk Broken Guitars—the new vintage-guitar shop from Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong and longtime friend Bill Schneider, now open (but closed Mondays) in Oakland. Here’s a slideshow.
The small, hometown-y shop is unassuming from the outside, but inside’s jam-packed with everything you’d need as a music lover/guitar player/effects-pedal collector.
It sort of feels like a garage band’s practice space, with mismatched rugs and local punk-rock-band fliers on the wall. Plop down in an armchair in front and talk music with Schneider—he’s been in bands with Billie Joe (among other bands), he’s toured with Green Day, and he’s running the place.
Maybe strum something on one of the used guitars that line the walls. (Really. Strumming is encouraged here.) You’ll find a mahogany Fender Tim Armstrong, a yellow 1960 Gibson Les Paul Junior and a cream-colored mid-’90s Telecaster in the 80-guitar collection. Some are even from Bill’s and Billie Joe’s personal collections.
They’ll also do trade-ins and guitar and amp repairs, and there’s an in-house luthier.
In case you don’t have one on retainer.