Community Partnership & Media

Community Partnership & Media | Quimper Sound Records and Guitars

Community Partnership & Media

The Olympic Peninsula's largest music store — and one of its most recognized brands.

We've been here since 1974. We're not looking for donations — we're looking for partners who want to build something together. Our reach is real, our audience is engaged, and our goal is mutual growth for our partners and our community.

★
"One of the 10 Guitar Stores in the United States to Visit Before You Die"
— Guitar World Magazine  ·  The Guitar Store, now fully integrated into Quimper Sound

By the numbers

50K
Email subscribers
40K+
Organic Meta followers
60M+
YouTube collab views
50K+
Vinyl records in stock
200K+
Monk Williams shirts printed
Est.
1974
Port Townsend, WA

Who we are

Quimper Sound Records and Guitars is the largest music store on the Olympic Peninsula, operating from our 60-foot corner flagship at 1002 Lawrence Street in Uptown Port Townsend — directly across from the Saturday Farmers Market — and a satellite location at Brocante Mall in Port Angeles. Founded in 1974 as a record shop on Water Street, we have grown into a full-service music destination drawing customers weekly from across Western Washington: Seattle, Tacoma, Olympia, and throughout Jefferson and Clallam counties.

In 2020, owner James Schultz merged The Guitar Store — his Seattle institution founded in 2011 and named by Guitar World as one of the 10 guitar stores in the US to visit before you die — fully into the Quimper Sound brand, bringing that legacy, reputation, and national recognition to the Olympic Peninsula.

We carry over 50,000 vinyl records in stock and buy tens of thousands of records every year, paying cash for collections and estates of any size. On the instrument side, we stock Gibson Custom Shop, Paul Reed Smith Wood Library, Mesa/Boogie, Soldano, Dunable, LSL Instruments, Nash Guitars, Eastman, and Keeley Electronics — for whom we produce exclusive products. We are a Reverb.com Top 100 dealer and compete directly with national chain prices.

Quimper Sound is the largest independent PRS dealer west of the Rocky Mountains.

Our staff carries over 100 years of combined music retail experience. We are members of the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) with board-level involvement — we don't just participate in the industry, we help shape it.


James Schultz — Owner & Curator

James Schultz
Owner & Curator · 35+ years in music retail, performance, and vintage guitar expertise
James bought Quimper Sound in 2018 and in 2020 merged his Seattle operation — The Guitar Store, founded in 2011 and named by Guitar World as one of the 10 US guitar stores to visit before you die — into the Quimper Sound brand. Prior to founding The Guitar Store, James managed Emerald City Guitars and spent decades as an on-air DJ in Eugene and Seattle, touring musician (saxophone, guitar, drums, bass), guitar tech, and tour manager. He is a nationally recognized vintage guitar expert whose opinions and appraisals have been sought by major music publications and broadcast media.
Published & cited by
Premier Guitar Vintage Guitar Guitar World Music Trades Maximum Rock and Roll The Rocket CBS World News

YouTube reach & community impact

Our YouTube channel publishes 5–7 videos per week and has built an engaged national audience through collaborations with some of the platform's most recognized guitar personalities. Videos produced in partnership with Fluff (Riffs and Beards) and Jared Dines have accumulated over 60 million combined views.

The day we gave away 80 guitars to kids from Jefferson County

In one of our most memorable moments, Quimper Sound partnered with YouTube guitarist Jared Dines — who raised over 2,500 donations from his audience — to fund 80 shopping sprees worth $750 each for children. We arranged special pricing from Yamaha, Jackson, PRS, Gretsch, and Orange to stretch every dollar further, and covered the sales tax ourselves. Kids came in groups of 20 and picked out whatever they wanted: a guitar, a bass, an amp, pedals, accessories. Every single one left with something in their hands. It was, in James's words, "the most enjoyable day I could have imagined."

Watch the video →

Brand recognition

Quimper Sound has built genuine cultural recognition across the Pacific Northwest and beyond. Our logo character — Monk Williams — has appeared on over 200,000 printed t-shirts and hundreds of thousands of stickers over the years, making him a familiar face well beyond Port Townsend. That level of ambient brand presence takes decades to build and can't be bought.


Our footprint

Port Townsend — Flagship
1002 Lawrence St., Uptown
60-foot corner storefront
Across from Saturday Farmers Market
Jefferson County, WA
Port Angeles — Satellite
Brocante Mall
Cross-peninsula traffic driver
Clallam County, WA
Peninsula-wide advertising network

We advertise throughout the broader Olympic Peninsula through community partner networks and invest $1,000 per month in targeted Google advertising reaching local and national buyers.


Industry credentials

Guitar World Top 10 — US stores to visit before you die
The Guitar Store (founded 2011, now Quimper Sound) was named one of the 10 coolest brick-and-mortar guitar stores in the United States.
Northwest Magazine — Best of Western Washington
Best musical instrument store, awarded three times.
Largest independent PRS dealer west of the Rocky Mountains
Authorized Paul Reed Smith dealer carrying Core, Wood Library, CE, S2, and SE lines.
Reverb.com Top 100 dealer
Nationally ranked on the world's largest musical instrument marketplace.
NAMM member with board experience
National Association of Music Merchants — active at the industry leadership level.
50,000+ vinyl records in stock — buying year-round
We buy tens of thousands of records annually. Cash paid for collections and estates of any size.
Nationally cited vintage guitar expertise
Owner James Schultz has been published and cited by Premier Guitar, Vintage Guitar, Guitar World, CBS World News, and others.
200,000+ Monk Williams shirts in circulation
Our brand character has achieved genuine cultural recognition across the Pacific Northwest and beyond.

Our media reach

We are an active content and marketing operation — not just a store. When you partner with Quimper Sound, you reach an audience that is already engaged, local, and spending.

Email newsletter
50,000 subscribers
Meta (Records + Guitars)
40,000+ organic
YouTube collab views
60M+ combined
YouTube output
5–7 videos/week
Google Ads
$1,000/month
Brand merchandise
200K+ shirts · 100K+ stickers

Partnership tiers — in-kind exchange only

All partnerships are in-kind. We offer genuine marketing reach in exchange for value that supports our business, our team, and our community — tickets, recognition, booth space, or reciprocal promotion. No cash sponsorship is requested or expected.

Community friend
  • Flier placement in store
  • 1 social post (Meta)
  • Instagram story mention
In return: 2 tickets or program recognition
Local partner
  • Dedicated email to 50,000 subscribers
  • 3 posts across Meta channels
  • Window & entry display
  • Website blog mention
In return: logo placement, tickets, booth or demo opportunity, reciprocal promotion
Presenting sponsor
  • 2-email campaign (50,000 subscribers)
  • 6+ posts across all channels
  • YouTube video mention
  • Storefront display
  • Google Ads co-mention
  • Named on our website
In return: naming rights, booth presence, full co-marketing agreement

Flier & display policy

Our storefront windows are open to the community. Priority placement goes to confirmed in-kind partners. We also welcome fliers from local nonprofits, music teachers, and community events as a free service, space permitting. Window space is also available to rent for event promotion and short-term campaigns — a local permit may be required depending on scope. Contact us to discuss availability.

We're here to build the community, not bill it.

Our goal isn't to profit from partnerships. It's to use in-kind trade to bring greater authority, visibility, and audience presence to everyone involved — our partners as much as ourselves. When a local event, nonprofit, or organization succeeds, Port Townsend succeeds. When Quimper Sound reaches a wider audience, so do the people we work with. We believe the strongest communities are built by institutions that show up for each other — and we've been showing up here since 1974.

Reach out and let's talk.

Tell us about your event or organization, what you're hoping for, and what you can offer in return. We respond to all genuine partnership inquiries.

Monk@quimpersound.com   ·   (360) 385-2454   ·   quimpersound.com

Quimper Sound Records and Guitars · Est. 1974 · 1002 Lawrence St., Port Townsend, WA 98368 · Brocante Mall, Port Angeles, WA · quimpersound.com · Incorporates the legacy of The Guitar Store (Seattle, est. 2011) · Guitar World Top 10 US Guitar Stores · Northwest Magazine Best of Western Washington — 3x Winner · Member, National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) · Reverb.com Top 100 Dealer · Largest independent PRS dealer west of the Rocky Mountains · Authorized Gibson Custom Shop, Paul Reed Smith, Mesa/Boogie, and Soldano dealer · Keeley Electronics exclusive products · Owner James Schultz cited by Premier Guitar, Vintage Guitar, Guitar World, CBS World News · Vintage guitar appraisal and consultation available · We buy records, CDs, and guitars — cash paid for collections and estates of any size