It all started with a Fender Jazz Bass lead…
Back in the summer of 1983 on a weekend trek to check out an old Fender Jazz bass that I was told some guy had at a swap meet in Nipomo, California....
I wasn’t convinced that this “tip” was 100% legit - yet something most excellent did happen.
The double garage building had pile after pile of assorted junk stacked to the ceiling and mounds of bric-a-brac and stacks of assorted musical instruments in cases and many of them just thrown about in much need of repair. It was mostly band instruments, woodwinds and brass, percussion instruments including several drum kits, string instruments like violins and guitars. I sheepishly asked the proprietor if he would be interested in hiring me to restore some of them or at least clean them up a bit, maybe get them playable again. At that time I’d been playing for nearly 20 years but really wasn’t capable of restoring a guitar or really any type of lutherie.
He was a big man trapped in a wheelchair and after hearing my plea he said, “I’m getting too old for this and I would like to get out”. He suggested we separate all the musical stuff we were interested in. He then added up the dollar amount he wanted for it all and much to our surprise the total was $12,000.00. We did not have that kind of money, but we had just sold our mobile home in San Luis Obispo, California and had $6,000.00. He then said how about you give me $6,000.00 for everything but you’ll have to move all my belongings into a smaller garage near by.
That's when my wife and I decided to do something impetuous and brash... we gave him every penny we had for his piles of broken horns and guitars and from that, Lightning Joe's was born.
Unfortunately the Jazz bass was just a myth, it ended up being an old beat up 3/4 size Musicmaster bass, but hey, it was a start. From that humble beginning we set out to clean up the space and began a new chapter in our lives. The business grew slowly at first, but after the first year we could see it improving. Within the first five years we had outgrown the swap meet and opened a second location in the Village of Arroyo Grande, about nine miles north of Nipomo. That was in 1988. After several successful years with both locations we noticed the swap meet was losing it’s charm and the Village location was doing very well. So in 1992 we decided to close the Nipomo location so we could concentrate on our preferred Arroyo Grande store.
Today it's simply a story of a passion and a hobby that’s nearly gone out of control.
It's just too much fun! With such a humble beginning, who knew it would go this far
and with all the support, encouragement, and positive feedback we are constantly receiving, there's no end in sight.
My wife and I are now thrilled that our son and his wife will be carrying on the legacy of Lightning Joe’s in the future. So thanks for all your continued support and as always... pic long and prosper!
