Truetone Music, the nearly three-decade-old guitar shop where Gracie Abrams picked the Martin acoustic she later played on Saturday Night Live, has settled into its new home at 1102 Broadway after leaving its original 714 Santa Monica Blvd. storefront.

The move fills another commercial space in a city working to address persistent retail vacancies. Santa Monica's City Council approved a $3 million economic development fund on March 26 specifically aimed at filling empty storefronts. Truetone chose to expand its physical footprint rather than shift to online-only sales.

"A big part of why we didn't go warehouse-only is simple," co-owner Sunir Patel told the Santa Monica Sun. "We like having people come in. We like the interaction. We like the community."

A recently retired regular named Bill still shows up every other day just to hold the door open, Patel said.

Patel joined Truetone around 2018, when the business was nearing collapse. He'd previously worked at Fender Musical Instruments. What he calls "Truetone 2.0" blends old-school guitar shop culture with e-commerce that now accounts for roughly half the store's revenue. The other half happens face-to-face.

The new Broadway location is a full-scale facility with retail floor space, a repair shop, lesson rooms, a warehouse, offices, and photo and video studios. Co-founder Paul Flynn, who started the shop in the late 1990s with Ken Daniels, still runs the repair operation. Most of the staff has been there more than a decade, according to Patel.

The celebrity clientele helps explain the shop's reputation. Paul McCartney's guitarists prep for world tours at Truetone. Prince, Tom Petty, Billy Gibbons, and Steely Dan have all been customers over the years, Patel said on The Conduit podcast in September 2024. Abrams visited the Broadway space while workers were still installing light fixtures overhead, tried several Martins in a cleared-out corner, and walked out with the guitar she'd later bring to Studio 8H.

A recent in-store event drew Ben Harper and Jackson Browne for an unplanned joint performance. Harper was releasing a signature guitar model and suggested the store as a venue. Browne, already planning to stop by, decided to stay. About 50 customers, invited through an email list, watched the two play together.

The relocation itself was no small feat. Hundreds of guitars, amplifiers, and nearly 1,000 pedals had to be packed and transported while the business kept running. For weeks, Truetone operated while closed to the public but still sold gear out of boxes.

Truetone Music is open at 1102 Broadway, Santa Monica, CA 90401. The store can be reached at (310) 393-8232.