RockWall Guitars in Münster specializes in selling carefully selected, high-quality guitars and basses.

Specializing in Rickenbacker guitars and basses (we are an authorized Rickenbacker dealer), we also always carry instruments from other premium brands. Our motto is “Quality over quantity.”

We're based in beautiful Münster, Westphalia. Feel free to stop by to try out your dream guitar— just let us know when it's convenient for you. Personal interaction and expert advice are very important to us.

Yours
Andreas / RockWall Guitars

 

 

---

Interview with Andreas from RockWall Guitars:

 

How did RockWall Guitars actually come about?
I started making music and playing the guitar at an early age. But beyond just making music, I became increasingly fascinated by the instrument itself. I wanted to learn more about how guitars differ from one another and, above all, how they sound. Yes, and that’s how I gradually became a collector. In the process, I often had unpleasant experiences buying guitars. So I thought to myself, “There has to be a better way.” I wanted to offer guitars exactly the way I would like to buy them—not just in terms of how the guitar is presented, but also in the transaction process and everything that goes along with it. To meet this standard, I now run RockWall Guitars.

 

Why the focus on Rickenbacker, anyway?
I bought my first Rickenbacker in the mid-to-late 90s. It had always been a dream of mine back then because Per Gessle from Roxette played one. At the time, the dollar had dropped significantly, and I’d taken a summer job, so I went for it. That was actually my first really, really good guitar. It was the Rickenbacker 360 model in Jetglo (black). After that, I never really got away from these instruments and started buying more and more Rickenbackers.
In 2016, the German Rickenbacker distributor visited us and was impressed by the wide selection of Rickenbacker instruments. Today, RockWall Guitars is one of the few authorized Rickenbacker dealers in Germany.

 

But you don't just make Rickenbackers with RockWall Guitars, do you?
You're right about that. It all started with Rickenbacker in Kern back then, but there are so many other great guitar brands, whether it's Gibson, Fender, Gretsch, or Duesenberg, just to name a few of the best-known ones.

One of my guiding principles is to offer only guitars of exceptional quality that I personally love. But for that to happen, I have to feel a certain passion for the guitar in question; otherwise, it doesn’t make it into my shop at all.
I don't buy guitars just to make money; they have to be fun, and I have to be fully behind them when I offer an instrument for sale.

 

Do you also buy used guitars and basses?
Yeah, of course. All those great items have to come from somewhere. I also take guitars on consignment. Consignment means I sell guitars and basses on behalf of customers, and once a sale is made, you’ll receive your money minus the agreed-upon commission for RockWall Guitars. [More information about purchasing and consignment]

 

As a collector, how hard is it for you to part with your guitars?
It's not easy, but at least I have them sometimes (laughs).
Seriously, I’m not rich, and my uncle isn’t Uncle Ben or anything like that— I have to earn a living, too. Plus, I simply can’t and don’t want to keep every guitar I like, if only for lack of space. After all, you can’t play them all at once anyway. I have to humbly admit that I’m happy to have such a great job that brings me so much joy.

 

Why the name RockWall Guitars?
I really racked my brain over the name for a long time. Then there was this brick-wall wallpaper in my living room, with a few guitars hanging in front of it. So I started photographing the guitars in front of that brick wall wallpaper and came up with the idea of linking the company name to it. BrickWall, Wall Brick, Another Brick in the Wall… RockWall. That seemed to be the magic word, which is also reflected in the guitar photos.
Since I liked the name so much, my lawyer registered the trademark for me with the Patent and Trademark Office, and we were able to get started under the name “RockWall Guitars.”

 

Do your customers also consider guitars as an investment or a way to build wealth?
Yes, the topic of guitars as an investment has grown immensely in importance, at least since the 2008 financial crisis; the steady rise in value of premium instruments in recent years speaks for itself. The pandemic since spring 2020 has further fueled this market growth in a way I’ve never seen before. The trend is simply that more and more people want to convert their money into tangible assets, such as precious metals, classic cars, and, of course, high-quality guitars. A guitar of outstanding quality will certainly always hold a certain value, and, last but not least, it’s also fun to play.

 

What's the craziest story you've experienced with RockWall Guitars so far?
I can think of quite a few, but there’s one that’s especially nice:
A few years ago, a Gibson manager from the Netherlands named Werner came to see me to sell one of his Rickenbacker guitars. We were talking, and he asked me what my absolute dream guitar would be—the one I’d love to own. For me, at that time, it was clearly a white Rickenbacker 360 with gold pickguards, just like the one Per Gessle from Roxette used in the “Joyride” video—but it was built just once, specifically for Per Gessle.

Werner happened to know the son of Rickenbacker’s president at the time, Ben Hall, who also works at Rickenbacker. Werner asked how the white 360 with gold pickguards came to be, but unfortunately, no one at the factory could remember the guitar.
About a year after those events, I received a photo from Werner showing 25 360 models built in my dream finish. Rickenbacker had actually built this guitar based on Per Gessle’s design for the first time. Originally, they were supposed to be shipped to Germany, but unfortunately for me, they ended up going to Japan. The catch with Japan is that the Rickenbacker dealers based there aren’t allowed to ship to Europe. After endless inquiries, I finally found a way, and just under two months later, it arrived: the Rickenbacker 360 in Snowglo with a gold pickguard.

Since I was able to buy another Rickenbacker 360 Snowglo a few years later, I decided to sell that first one—"coincidentally" to a female Roxette fan. We hit it off immediately, so we drove to Sweden together to attend the "Per Gessle Unplugged" concerts. After the concert, another dream came true: We actually met Per Gessle as he came out of the stage entrance.
By the way, I'm happily married to that woman today.

By the way, years later I got in touch with Björn from Stockholm, who runs a music store there. He was the one who arranged the Rickenbacker deal for Roxette in the late ’80s. A total of four different one-of-a-kind instruments were built for Roxette. Björn is also responsible for this amazing Roxette poster that hangs in my office today—one I’d been searching for for 30 years.

Incidentally, one of the 25 Rickenbacker 360 Snowglo guitars was later signed by Per Gessle. [Click here to see photos]
I’m still in touch with Werner; I think it’s great that we’ve stayed in touch ever since.

 

Is there anything else you'd like to share with our readers?
A big thank you goes out to my family, who have always supported me when it comes to RockWall Guitars, but especially to Per Gessle, without whom this guitar shop certainly wouldn’t exist today.

~ As of November 2024 ~