By Laurie O’Neill — Laurie@concordbridge.org
Attention all strummers and shredders — this one’s for you.
A new museum dedicated to the guitar will be just a pick’s throw away in the former A New Leaf building in West Concord. Its creators hope to open it in 2026.
Wilson Schünemann, owner of Minuteman Guitars, and his wife, Jennifer, co-founder of Discover Concord magazine, are developing the property at 74 Commonwealth Avenue as a non-profit 501(c)3 initiative.
They are calling it The Guitar Museum of New England, and it will feature a core exhibit of 70 to 100 boutique, vintage, and rare instruments, both acoustic and electric, that will include basses, guitars, mandolins, harp guitars, and archtop guitars.
“A particular instrument can be one of a handful in the world,” Schünemann says.
The idea for the museum came out of Schünemann‘s passion for the instruments and his fascination with the stories behind them — not only those of the musicians themselves, he says, but those of the makers, called luthiers, the characteristics of the wood used, the innovations made possible by carbon fiber materials, and the impact on sound by innovations in instrument bracing.
“Concord is the perfect home for a museum celebrating the iconic instrument that represents such a range of American music, from bluegrass to country, blues to rock ‘n’ roll, and more,” he says.
Sharing his passion
Schünemann began playing bass and guitar and collecting instruments when he was 13. He has run Minuteman Guitars, a by-appointment studio, since 2017. His mission has been to share his love of the instruments with other musicians and “to connect musicians and collectors with them,” he says.
The studio specializes in handmade instruments, particularly Klein and Kauffman guitars, and those made by a few select luthiers in the U.S. and Europe. It also houses tools, molds, and implements used for building the instruments. There are photos and a library of guitar and bass topics.
He serves as the official archivist of Steve Klein Guitars. Klein has built instruments for Joni Mitchell, Stephen Stills, Bill Frisell, Dan Peek, Jon Mark, Michale Hedges, and Murial Anderson, among others. Schünemann helped deliver a custom-made instrument to Joe Walsh of the Eagles in 2020.
Schünemann calls the studio “a guitar immersion experience,” which is what the couple hopes the museum will be.
The instruments in the museum “will not live behind glass,” says Jennifer Schünemann. “The goal is to create an experiential museum where [they] come to life and are played regularly.” It will also feature temporary exhibits from collections around the world and will offer lectures and “small, intimate concerts,” she says.
The couple hopes to attract volunteers, donors, and board members to help guide the museum’s future. The first fundraiser for the project will be an artisan pop-up holiday fair, with live music, during the West Concord Holiday Stroll on December 14. It will be held at the future museum site.
A ‘perfect fit’
“We are at the beginning of a long road from dream to reality,” Jennifer Schünemann says. The couple has received strong community support encouraging them to pursue the project.
Says Helen Halloran, president of the West Concord Business Community, “Everyone I’ve spoken with is excited to hear that [the museum] is coming to West Concord. It will be a perfect fit.”
Kate Yoder, executive director and founder of the Concord Conservatory of Music, is equally enthusiastic about the project. Yoder says she sees “many synergies that can be explored” between her organization and the museum, such as sharing space and offering master classes.
“West Concord is a dynamic and arts-oriented neighborhood,” says Jennifer Schünemann, “and we couldn’t be more thrilled to be able to bring an exciting new cultural element to this vibrant neighborhood.”
For more information, visit GuitarMuseum.org.
