Emerald City Guitars: Trevor Boone and the Art of the Guitar Hunt

Emerald City Guitars: Trevor Boone and the Art of the Guitar Hunt

July 28, 2026 · 1h 21m · Episode 524

About this episode

Trevor Boone shares his journey from growing up in a guitar shop to becoming a sought-after expert in vintage guitars.

Trevor Boone basically grew up inside a guitar shop. His dad started Emerald City Guitars in Seattle back in the mid-90s with a shoestring business plan, a small loan, and a whole lot of secondhand guitar-store dream dust. Trevor was the kid at the counter, surrounded by musicians, weird old guitars, shop talk, and the kind of musical obsession that tends to permanently rewire a person. In this episode, we get into Trevor’s journey from pre-eBay guitar hunts with his dad to becoming one of the people collectors call when they are searching for serious vintage pieces. We talk Bursts, Dumbles, Silvertones, funky under-a-thousand-dollar treasures, and the strange balance of loving the oddball stuff while also surviving in the high-end vintage guitar world. We also dig into how guitar retail has changed, why proper setup and authentication matter more than ever, the pressure of social media, the magic of instruments that simply make you play better, and why the best guitar shops still feel like the barbershops of the music world. There is also some Boss DM-2 love, Seattle pizza talk, Garth Brooks, Stringjoy Foxwoods, and the usual amount of beautiful guitar nonsense. Support The Show…

People in this episode

Host: Blake Wyland

Guest: Trevor Boone

Topics covered

Keywords

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Emerald City Guitars

Products: Boss DM-2, Stringjoy Foxwoods

Places: Seattle

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