Divergent Guitars' owner Aric Paul.
In the heart of Sarasota, Florida, a unique fusion art and music has taken shape at Divergent Guitars. Aric Paul, the store’s owner, has created a space that not only celebrates the beauty of rare and iconic instruments but also redefines what a music store can be.
Divergent Guitars is not just a place to buy instruments; it’s a gallery where the legacy of music lives and breathes through its carefully curated collection of rare guitars.
Divergent Guitars is home to some legacy guitars, such as the Gibson Holy V guitar from Slipknot’s Jim Root and a guitar owned by Josh Freese of Foo Fighters. Among the treasures housed at Divergent Guitars are the Redwood Les Paul that is “unique in the world of guitars” according to Paul, as well as a Gibson Les Paul Sunken Treasure that contains wood dredged from lagoons in Belize.
“The celebrity owned instruments are, of course, a big point of pride and a big point of attraction for people to come in and see the juju that comes off them,” Paul said. “Every guitar that I keep in stock is one of a kind, one off, celebrity-owned. Everything here, regardless of it’s a guitar or a pedal or a piece of memorabilia, has to have a story. I’m very much in the vein of a boutique, a high-end art gallery. I’m only part music store. I’m redefining music stores. I’m telling everybody around here that Sarasota’s music stores are not dying, they’re just being reborn.”
Paul describes being born in a recording studio where he’s spent most of his life working as an audio engineer and record producer. Over the years, Paul has built a strong network of musicians, from local bands to national acts, that have helped source the rare guitars. This network has become an invaluable resource in sourcing the rare and unique guitars that fill the walls of Divergent Guitars.
“When you come into this environment, I want it to immediately reek of the fact that I care as much about these instruments as I hope the customers do,” Paul said. “I really romanticize these instruments a lot. They mean a lot to me personally and have for my whole life. I want people to take away from this that passion counts, passion matters.”
In Paul’s hands, Sarasota’s music scene is not just surviving — it’s thriving, with each guitar telling a story and every visitor leaving with a piece of history. MI
