Orphan Guitars

Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn – Long known as a charming but quiet enclave better suited to families with children than rockers, Carroll Gardens has recently gained new musical offerings. Just off Hamilton Parkway near the corner of Clinton Street is a shop with altruistic aspirations: Orphan Guitars.

Musician and proprietor Dwight Weeks has a vision: to sell cool guitars at a fair price with profits going to kids in need. Though his retail experience is minimal, his background with bands and desire to do good drive his enterprise.

Weeks explains, “I’ve been playing rock and roll for almost thirty years. Made some records, toured the States and Europe a bunch. Had the most success with The Bamboo Kids. I don’t have much retail experience. I was in marketing for a department store for a bunch of years. As I once wrote in a song, ‘I spent a little time in a cubicle. Left my brains empty and my wallet full.’ Besides that, I’m a dad in the neighborhood. I live a block away from the store.”

Initially Weeks had hot dogs on the brain. Luckily his wife intervened and now local musicians and kids can buy guitars instead of weenies. However, tube steaks may still be on the horizon.

“About four months ago, my family and I were on a little walk around the ‘hood and we passed the old Brooklyn Hot Dogs place on 9th that’s been shuttered for a while. I stopped in my tracks and said, ‘I’m going to open a guitar store in there and sell hot dogs too, and it will be called Hot Dog Guitars.’ (I love hot dogs.) And that was it! Except the guy wouldn’t rent that space to me and my business-savvy wife said forget the hot dogs. So, I replaced hot dogs with deciding to use the proceeds to help underserved kids get some music lessons,” explains Weeks.

So how does it all work? Weeks seeks recommendations from middle school music teachers in the area for students who could benefit from music lessons but might not be able to afford the cost. “Beyond that I’d like to put together a few laptops with the right software for producing things more in the hip-hop vein and let some kids use my space as a sort of supervised junior collective on the days I’m not open,” he adds.

In addition to helping kids, Weeks says, “I always wanted a guitar store that sold awesome guitars for around $500 to exist in NYC. Everything is crazy overpriced and collector-driven or hipster-driven. I wanted it to be like when I was young, a relaxed place with an old rocker putzing around (me) where kids could come and hang and play and get the great guitars they need to start out. Grown-ups too. I won’t hang anything on the wall that couldn’t be a working guitar for a musician.”

Indeed, Weeks’s walls are what caught my eye in the first place. A large window facing the parkway reveals classic rock posters and beautiful “orphan” guitars. The arresting effect enticed me to me pull over and enter Dwight’s shop immediately where I ran into buddy and bassist Dan Green, who sometimes works there. Bumping into old friends, gawking at guitars, and geeking out on music is a great feeling that’s welcome in Carroll Gardens. With Almost Ready Records right next door, it’s clear there’s something cool happening in this little corner of Brooklyn.

For those interested in buying, Orphan Guitars has a great quality-to-price ratio. My buddy Dan scored a cherry red Fender Squire P-Bass with stock pickups for $200. A cool bass and a good deal. I tried a cool Telecaster knockoff and an imitation Les Paul, both of which played and sounded great.

For those who want to contribute, Weeks says, “We take donations of any kind of guitars or amps. It all goes to the kids.” And for the hungry he adds, “There’s still a real good chance I’m gonna grill up some hot dogs on nice days.”

What’s not to love?

Mike Cobb