Among the guitars lining the walls at Podium are limited edition models made to mark the store’s 50th anniversary. Other custom models arrive this summer.

Photo by Jeremy Stratton

No, that’s not baseball manager Ron Gardenhire in the Twins cap, strumming an acoustic in front of a wall of guitars at The Podium, 425 SE 14th Ave., in Dinkytown. It’s Jeff Molde, who has owned the guitar shop for the last ten years of the five decades the store is celebrating this year.

Building on the foundation laid by the original owners, Lynn and Paulette Thompson — jazz musicians who also opened a “beatnik bar” called the Purple Goblet, a couple doors down, in the 1950s — Molde has directed the store more towards handmade guitars (not to mention web sales) and has “classed up the place a little” with the bookcases, displays and browsers he made himself.

Covering the walls of the back room are guitars by Collings, Martin, Taylor and Seward’s own Charlie Hoffman. In early March, several players wandered into the store for conversation, repairs or to pick the strings of some of The Podium’s stock.

“There aren’t too many guitar shops in the country you can go into and play this many guitars,” said Jed Germond, who does repairs at the shop.

To commemorate The Podium’s 50 years, Martin — the name in the acoustic world — is building three limited-edition models “you won’t find anywhere else in the world,” said Molde. Already, 14 of the 20 total 00-14 guitars are spoken for. In June, the first five D-28 singer-songwriter guitars should start arriving, he said, and the all-mahogany 000-15 custom model will round out the collection of commemorative guitars.

The commemorative guitars run $1,295–$2,895, giving customers a range of pricing, something Molde said he’s trying to do with the rest of his stock, especially in light of the downturn in the economy.

“I sort of saw it coming and cancelled the high-end guitars,” Molde said. “I’m playing with the idea of having more custom instruments from mid-priced producers.

“[The recession] definitely hurts our bottom line,” he said. “It has become a significant factor — keeping sales going with a tough economy … it’s not that easy.”
It helps that, after 50 years, musicians from across the world recognize Podium Guitars as one of literally a handful of dealers who sell the world’s finest custom guitars.

It’s apparently all the draw he needs to lure customers; asked if any sales or events were planned for the anniversary, Molde said, “Nope.

“Just guitars.”

last revised: April 1, 2009

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