Guitar Gallery: Tampa Red’s National steel guitar, 1928; Rickenbacker “Frying Pan” electric lap steel guitar, 1934; Seattle-made Audiovox electric lap steel guitar, 1935; Gibson’s original R&D experimental guitar, 1935; Audiovox “Bass Fiddle” (the world’s first electric bass), 1936; the earliest known K&F lap steel made by Leo Fender, circa 1945; ultrarare, handmade Bigsby electric solid-body guitar, circa 1953; Gibson Flying V prototype, 1957; Rickenbacker 12-string, formerly owned by Roger McGuinn of The Byrds, 1964; Parker Fly state-of-the-art guitar (the first off the assembly line in Y2K), 2000.
Northwest Passage: Quincy Jones’ original trumpet from his Seattle days, 1940s; Ray Charles’ debut recording, “Confession Blues,” recorded in Seattle, 1948; The Fleetwoods’ Gold Record award for “Come Softly to Me,” 1959; The Kingsmen’s original Stratocaster guitar used on “Louie Louie,” 1962; The FBI’s file investigating lyrics of “Louie Louie,” mid-1960s; Paul Revere & The Raiders’ stage uniforms and instruments, circa 1965; Heart’s stage apparel and instruments, circa 1970s; Queensryche’s stage apparel, guitars and drums, 1980s-90s; song lyrics handwritten by Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain, circa 1988; song lyrics handwritten by Chris Cornell of Soundgarden, circa 1988; song lyrics handwritten by The Presidents of the United States of America, 1995.
Hendrix Gallery: Signed contract for Woodstock rock festival performance, July 17, 1969; Fender Stratocaster played by Hendrix at Woodstock, August 18, 1969; felt hat owned and worn by Hendrix; kimono worn by Hendrix at the Newport Pop Festival, Northridge, Calif., June 1969; orange, floral, velvet jacket owned by Hendrix, late 1967; Fender Stratocaster guitar fragments smashed and burned by Hendrix at the Monterey International Pop Festival, June 1967; Electric Ladyland lyric notebook handwritten by Hendrix, 1968.
Roots of Rock ’n’ Roll: Southern Jumbo Gibson owned by Hank Williams, early 1950s; Wurlitzer Model 950 Jukebox, 1942; Chuck Berry’s Gibson ES-355, early 1970s; Elvis Presley’s black leather jacket, early 1960s; Fred Maddox’s acoustic bass, 1950s; Big Jay McNeely’s tenor saxophone, 1940s; Muddy Waters’ guitar, 1960s; Bo Diddley’s guitar, 1956; John Lee Hooker’s guitar, circa 1959.
Rock’s Next Generation: Bob Dylan’s harmonica and acoustic guitar used during his early years on the folk circuit, 1960-61; floral bell-bottom pants owned and worn by Janis Joplin, circa 1970; original artwork for Big Brother & The Holding Company’s Cheap Thrills album, by R. Crumb, 1968; more than 3,000 West Coast punk posters, ’zines and singles; the Grant Hart archive of Husker Du posters, artwork and promotional materials; original artifacts, photos and video from legendary L.A. punk club The Masque; Grandmaster Flash’s Technics SL-200 turntables, early 1980s; stage apparel worn by Afrika Bambaataa, Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five, the Fearless Four, the Cold Crush Brothers, The X-Clan, Snoop Dogg and Notorious B.I.G.; handwritten lyrics by Tupac Shakur.
