‘I’m living my second life,’ La Salle guitar shop owner ready to pursue lifelong dream after heart attack

After having a near-death heart attack, Terry Feldott is ready to pursue his lifelong dream.

His dream is to create a hands-on string instrument museum with all the instruments he’s collected throughout his life. Feldott wants to create a space where people can learn about string instruments and how to play them.

“I’m living my second life,” Feldott said. “My second life is all going to be for the museum.”

Feldott owns the Guitar Junkyard, a stringed instrument repair shop at 1049 Eighth St. he opened in La Salle in 1993. While it’s largely a repair business, he also sells the occasional instrument. Now he’s looking to expand and open a museum to display his collection.

Feldott collected more than 300 stringed instruments over the past 45 years. Some are new and modern, like a guitar made out of a Nintendo, while others are hundreds of years old from around the world.

As primarily a guitar and banjo player, Feldott collected many of both, ranging from new to hundreds of years in age. He also has a collection of zithers, violins, ukuleles and cellos. In his museum, he hopes to put the instruments in order chronologically to show their evolution over time.

Additionally, Feldott has a collection of international instruments, examples including a Russian balalaika, an Italian bouzouki and a Japanese koto he suspects is at least 500 to 1,000 years old. He also has a rare European harp guitar, one out of 750 of its kind ever made during the early 1900s.

It’s been his lifelong dream to put all these instruments and more on display for the education and enjoyment of other people.

“I’m not here to make money,” Feldott said. “I want the city to have a historical museum, I want to teach the kids and have an educational resource for the community.”

A GoFundMe page was created while Feldott was in the hospital to help pay the bills so his business could stay open. The money also will be used to hire an expert to digitally preserve Feldott’s collection in an online museum. Feldott then plans to use the money to create a foundation to run the business and the museum in his place.

Feldott said he’s shocked at how many people have donated to the page and expressed his thanks for their support.

“I’m flabbergasted that so many people have come out of the woodwork and put money into this thing.”

His plan is for the repair business to continue on the top floor of his building while the main shop area will be the museum. Once enough staff is hired, Feldott will fully retire, only repairing instruments from the museum when needed.

He said he wants the museum to continue on in his legacy once he passes. His health, however, delayed the progress of the museum and it will take more time for him to move the instruments and complete the remodel.

“Having this heart attack has changed the time frame a little bit,” Feldott said. “I’m looking at things a little differently. Before … I could do anything here. I could pick up the heaviest object and spend 12 hours here at a time, but now I can’t.”

Despite his struggles with his health, Feldott said he hopes to get the museum up and running by this time next year. He plans to reopen the Guitar Junkyard for repairs starting Sept. 1 for three days a week. To view or donate to the GoFundMe, visit https://gf.me/v/c/qfw3/terry-feldott-and-guitar-junkyard.