Welcome to Lightning Joe’s Guitar Heaven
Celebrating over 41 years in business, Lightning Joe’s is family owned and operated. We pride ourselves in giving the best customer service around and treat all of our customers like family. We strive to help all musicians find the right instrument, gear, and accessories so you can leave our one-stop-shop ready to rock.
We are home to over 1,700 new, used and vintage guitars and fretted instruments serving San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties and beyond. Your excellent hosts, Lightning Joe, Marelene, Joseph, Ashley, Joseph (no, not a typo, there is another Joseph), Jordan, Megan, Bry, Dayvon and Savanna look forward to helping you on your quest for tone. You might even find a few lil’ lightnings bopping around the shop helping out on Tuesday’s and Saturday’s, trying to sell you things; we’re all about family here!
Lightning Joe’s is located in the Historic Village of Arroyo Grande, CA and is conveniently right off the 101 Freeway, just twenty minutes south of San Luis Obispo and twenty minutes north of Santa Maria. Visit us today to experience what it feels like in ‘Guitar Heaven.’
“Pick Long & Prosper” - Lightning Joe
Featured Brand
We are so excited to now carry .strandberg* Guitars in our shop! With its progressive guitar design, ergonomics, headless style and lightweight body, .strandberg* strives to please modern musicians. Take a look at our current stock and stay tuned for more models in the near future!
Martin Custom Shop Dealer
Lightning Joe’s is honored to be experienced in helping you create the Martin guitar of your dreams. As a Martin Custom Shop dealer, we pledge to offer you leading representation of this historic and iconic brand. Our extensive knowledge of Martin guitars allows us to find the perfect guitar for you, even if you’ve never seen it or even dreamed of what it might look like. We can help you design the guitar down to the smallest details, both visually and sonically. Your happiness is ours, so we always strive to help you on your way to the perfect custom guitar. Ready to build your custom Martin Guitar? Reach out to us today to set up a consultation or build session.
Lessons
Lightning Joe’s Guitar Heaven offers private, one-on-one lessons with an instructor on the top floor of our shop. We have spacious rooms that offer a comfortable and rockin’ environment for each student to reach their preferred level of learning. Our teachers have years of experience, both as working musicians and as instructors, and can tailor each of their student’s lessons to their needs. We offer beginner, intermediate and advanced lessons from guitar to bass to ukulele and more.
The benefit of buying from Lightning Joe’s
One of the primary benefits of buying an instrument from Lightning Joe's is the free lifetime setup service that we offer. After you purchase a new guitar, bass or folk instrument from us, we will continue to provide setups for as long as you own it, even if that's a lifetime. This service includes, but is not limited to, neck adjustments, saddle shaping, nut shaping, intonation and bridge adjustments. When a customer requests any of these services for their personal instruments, the cost can range anywhere from $20-$50 for individual services and $50-$100 for setups. But if you purchased your instrument from us, it's free every time you need an adjustment!
*This free lifetime service is non-transferable and only applies to instruments purchased when brand new. Certain exclusions apply. Please inquire for more details.
…and we carry many more! Come on in and check out our wide selection of brands and products. And if you don’t see something you want or need, ask us! We likely can order it for you. We have a Wish List submission, too, for anything you may be wishing for.
Need an instrument or amplifier appraised? Bring it in!
We offer gift cards!
