Capital Vintage Guitars’ Ian Stehlik, getting ready for this year’s National Vintage Guitar Expo. Photo: Region.
You can’t keep a good guitar (or player) down, and so returns the annual National Vintage Guitar Expo to the Harmonie German Club.
Now in its third consecutive year, the expo showcases guitars of all descriptions and ages from collectors and sellers, converging in Canberra from around the country.
Have you ever held a pre-World War II parlour acoustic, or given a 1962 Fender Stratocaster a blast? This could be your chance.
The day-long expo on 11 October will feature collections from all over Australia, with plenty of vintage and contemporary guitars to admire and play – and quite a few for sale.
A special feature of this year’s expo will be showcasing the fine craftsmanship of Australian luthiers, with the nation’s best guitar makers joining the event to display and sell the beautiful instruments they make.
There will even be a full luthier’s workshop set up to provide an insight into how guitars are delicately made and repaired.
The expo is presented by Capital Vintage Guitars, whose company motto is ‘Matching vintage instruments to future custodians’. It’s run by two expert guitar enthusiasts – Ian Stehlik and Simon Wilkins.
“The Australian makers showcase is a strong theme of this year’s expo,” Ian says.
“Both the historical ones like Maton, Pacific and Wayne guitars – plus some very nice vintage Australian amps – and the contemporary makers in Australia who are crafting world-class guitars.
“These luthiers tell us there are very few places these days where they can showcase their instruments and talk to guitar aficionados and potential customers in a festival-style setting.
“The Harmonie German Club is an excellent venue for this expo. There is plenty of room – two floors of guitars – and it’s a real community-minded event.
“It’s family-friendly and we find quite a few guitar-playing dads and mums come along with their teenage kids, or younger, to try and inspire them into music.
“Guitar playing is infectious and so enjoyable. And for some people, guitar collecting is an extremely rewarding pursuit.
“Mandolins and ukuleles (and maybe a violin or two) will feature in the expo a little too, particularly as to how they are made.”
At current count, there are 22 exhibitors signed up to offer a huge variety of old and new guitars, amplifiers, instruments and accessories – and even a great range of guitar-focused vinyl records for sale.
Throughout the day, some of the visiting exhibitors will stage informal demonstrations of their instruments in mini gigs and chat-style presentations.
Guest musicians will also feature in these small, informal sets, giving a preview of what this year’s expo has in store for the evening.
A special add-on to this year’s event will be a full concert in the club’s downstairs Keller room that evening.
A separately ticketed show, it’s being called the Vintage Sessions and will feature a stellar line-up of guest artists – Fiona Boyes, Jordan Thomas Trio, Don Morrison and Skip Sail.
“From what we’re being told, there’s going to be quite some magical musical moments in the Vintage Sessions on the Saturday night, so it will be well worth going along to that too,” Ian says.
“It will be the last weekend of Floriade, and we have found from past years’ experience that we get quite a few people who have come to Canberra from out of town, had planned to go to Floriade and the Vintage Guitar Expo in the same trip.”
The National Vintage Guitar Expo 2025 will be held at the Harmonie German Club, Narrabundah, on Saturday, 11 October, from 10 am to 6 pm. Day pass tickets are $10 presale and $15 at the door. Children under 13 are free. Tickets for the Vintage Sessions concert at 8 pm are $30 presale and $40 at the door.
