Guitar shop sells instruments with unique histories

Aric Paul has viewed musical instruments with a romantic’s sensibility since he was a child. 

“I came from a house where my dad’s Strat was like, the Holy Grail,” Paul said. “So there’s still just part of me that’s ingrained that all guitars are these holy instruments that unlock our artistic creativity possibilities.”

What better place to invite the community to join him in his musings than in the Rosemary District, a slice of Sarasota increasingly embracing the city’s artistic background?

Tucked away in an unassuming corner of the district is a collection of rare guitars, such as a 2008 Gibson Holy V owned by James Root of Slipknot, at Divergent Guitar.

Paul said everyone is invited to check out the collection. 

At just 16 guitars, as of press time, what it lacks in size, the collection makes up for in the legacy of its offerings, with Paul calling it a “melding of a fine art gallery and a music store.”

“Every guitar I have has a story,” he said.

Part of Paul’s interest in the community also involves creating new stories, as he prepares to search for young people to whom he can provide high-quality guitars, free of charge. 

Guitar display

As a former record producer and performing musician, Paul has been involved in the music industry his entire life.

Born in Wisconsin and later based in Los Angeles, he has opened for Ben Folds and has performed at events including Reggae Rise Up in St. Pete.

He said some of his friends have been on tours with Slipknot and Josh Freese.

Yet after COVID-19, he decided it was time to step down from the stage, and open the doors of his space at 325 Central Ave. in Sarasota, which he has owned for a little over three years.

He moved into the ARCOS apartment complex next door, and brought the studio for his podcast, "Keep the Hotel Empty," into the space.

“I'm very grateful to have another thing to pour my energy into and try to help the next round of people," he said.

In the back of the building, you can still find his recording equipment, which he uses to produce his own work, distributed under a pen name, and to help musicians with projects that interest him.

Photo by Ian Swaby

He hopes the storefront will keep alive the experience of perusing highly prized instruments in person, something he said can't be replicated online. 

“I wanted to get back to that human experience and let people fall in love with guitars the way I do. I'm not the only one, and falling in love with guitars online, it just isn’t the same thing.”

Other music stores are closing their doors, but it's something he believes can be avoided. 

"Yeah, we need to sustain businesses, but gouging our customers and just trying to bleed artists dry is why you see big box music retail closing, it's completely unsustainable,” he said.

In May, Sam Ash, a 100-year-old retail chain, announced that it would be closing all its locations, including the one off Tamiami Trail in Sarasota.

Photo by Ian Swaby

“I'm not here to be a publicly traded company, I'm here to give tools to artists to make art," he said. 

One of his next steps will be giving away guitars to young musicians, with a starting goal of three musicians per year.

He's currently eyeing a "beautiful" Les Paul Studio that he found offered at $800.

He is also looking to partner with Music Compound in Sarasota and Bradenton and The Rock Box Music School & Stage in North Port to find the lucky winner.

“When you pick up a guitar and you feel it, you feel the song in it, it makes you want to play it," he said. "It's no wonder to me that kids don't want to play guitar anymore, because the things they play are uninspiring. If you put a quality instrument that someone cared about in their hands, they will be inspired by it. It happens 10 out of 10 times. It’s just that it happens zero out of 10 times with the wrong instrument.”

One community member that was impressed with the collection at Divergent Guitar was Daniel Shlifer.

“It’s like a diamond in the rough to have this place here,” he said. “Any guitarist in this city should know about this guy and what he does. Those guitars are really top quality, and they’re unique as can be.” 

He will likely be back. 

“I own six guitars, but only one is your favorite, so I would like to sell five of them to get one of these,” he said.