Maple Street Guitars is a family guitar business, founded in 1981 by George and Claire Petsch. The two had met as aspiring classical guitarists while working at John Sutherland’s House of Guitars in Atlanta. Romance and marriage ensued, and after George completed his degree in music performance at the University of Georgia, he and Claire opened a guitar studio of their own, naming it Atlanta Guitar Center. Located in a tiny three-room office suite, it soon developed a small retail trade in classical guitars, strings and sheet music as students demonstrated a need for knowledgeable help in procuring good instruments and accessories. Soon former colleagues and guitar teacher friends asked to join the new studio. At this point other acoustic and electric styles began to play a part in the enterprise. More space being urgently needed, Atlanta Guitar center moved—twice— finally settling in 1987 at a genuine retail location: 3199 Maple Drive.
1997 brought the Guitar Center chain to Atlanta, and in 1998 our Atlanta Guitar Center became Maple Street Guitars. In 2000, son Lindsay – who had been part of the store from its earliest incarnation – officially joined the staff, and now serves as general manager.
Growing from the development of trust that exists between student and teacher, we sought to achieve similar relationships with our customers. As our customer base grew, and we began to serve a second generation, these relationships became the source of our greatest pleasure and satisfaction in the music business. We are still faithful to this early emphasis on forming strong relationships with our customers in addition to delivering the highest quality in service.
Because everyone at Maple Street plays the guitar and has a genuine love of the instrument, our sales staff has an important perspective in helping customers find the right solution to their guitar needs. Our teachers have years of experience performing and teaching, and in most cases have formal music education. Today we have a repair shop manned by experienced technicians to maintain our large inventory and to repair outside instruments brought to us by our customers. In other words, our early goals remain paramount – to help the aspiring guitar player in every possible way – with a great instrument, good instruction, inspiring music to play and every imaginable accessory to make guitar playing easier and more fun!