FEATURED SHOP OF THE MONTH
JUNE 2023
LIGHTNING JOE'S
GUITAR HEAVEN
100 E Branch St, Arroyo Grande, CA 93420
(805) 481-2226
lightningjoes.com
Joe Daoust watched the Beatles perform on Ed Sullivan in 1964 and has been playing guitar ever since. He’s performed on TV and radio, done session work for several studios, was a columnist for the music magazine Sound Check, been in more bands than he can remember, and in August 1983, became owner and active CEO of Lightning Joe’s Guitar Heaven in Arroyo Grande, California.
Joe earned the name “Lightning Joe” in 1980, while performing and soloing “too fast” over the verses of Henry Mancini’s “Peter Gunn Theme,” Joe’s fellow band members dubbed him “Lightning Joe,” known to “slay an entire room full of guitarists with a single lick.”
Lightning Joe’s is family owned & operated, with three generations currently working at the shop! In addition to Lightning Joe and his wife Marelene, you’ll see their son Joseph (manager and the shop’s future CEO) and their daughter Savanna; Joseph’s wife Ashley and their daughter Bry (11-year-old son Oliver can’t wait to get started); Ashley’s brother Joey; and Savanna’s husband Christian.
Customers are awestruck when they enter the shop and see the floor to ceiling guitars, including Martin, Taylor, Alkemini, Yamaha, Epiphone, Fender, Gibson, PRS, Ibanez, Jackson, Schecter, ESP, and Gretch.
Even more impressive is Lightning Joe’s personal collection of 200 guitars on display -- including a ‘59 Les Paul (Special & Junior); ‘53 Les Paul Model (all gold, not just the top); ‘58 Epiphone Emperor (only 24 in the world); Gibson ES175 (‘58); and a ‘65 Fender Jaguar Candy Apple Red (with matching headstock).
With 1800 guitars in stock, there’s sure to be something for everyone to live Lightning Joe’s mantra to “Pick Long & Prosper.”