industry musical instruments founded 1990 headquarters 1235 s. main street las vegas nevada 89104 key people jesse and roxie amoroso owners products vintage guitars vintage amps equipment and accessories number of employees 5 website www.cowtownguitars.com cowtown guitars is a vintage guitar shop located in las vegas nevada owned by husband and wife jesse and roxie amoroso . 1 the shop is well known for having one of the largest collection of vintage guitars in north america and boasts a client list of celebrities which includes carlos santana and imagine dragons . 2 3 4 owner jesse amoroso has appeared several times as the vintage guitar expert on the history channel s hit reality television series pawn stars . 5 contents 1 history 2 owners 2.1 staff 2.2 crazy chief 3 events 3.1 exile boutique 4 philanthropy 5 awards 6 pawn stars episodes 7 references 8 external links history edit cowtown was opened in 1990 by mark chatfield in the shapter center strip mall at the corner of rt. 161 and n. meadows blvd on the north side of columbus ohio . the store was operated by chatfield who also toured as bob seger s guitarist until he sold the business to longtime employees jesse and roxie amoroso in 2011 . 6 7 8 after owning the store for less than a year jesse and roxie moved cowtown to a new location located in the arts district of downtown las vegas . the shop is now closer to the gold & silver pawn shop where amoroso continues to do appraisals for pawn stars . 7 with the success of shows like pawn stars and american restoration both of which are filmed in downtown las vegas there have also been rumors of cowtown guitars acquiring their own reality television series . 3 in 2012 cowtown became the official broker of a 1963 fender stratocaster once owned by jimi hendrix . jesse was one of three vintage guitar experts to appraise the guitar after which was authenticated by the specific modifications made by hendrix personally its unusual green pickguard and a telltale black mark on the inside of the electronics compartment . these details were confirmed by amoroso along with hendrix s brother leon who remembered seeing the guitar around the apartment he shared with jimi in the 1960s . the guitar originally belonged to studio head henry juggy murray at juggy sound . it is believed that hendrix used the guitar to record blues in and my friend for a noel redding solo album . 9 in june 2013 jesse amoroso and seymour duncan authenticate a guitar once owned by jimi hendrix . when cowtown guitars relocated in early 2012 guitarist jake e. lee agreed to cut the ribbon at the grand reopening ceremony . in june 2013 jesse and the stratocaster visited seymour duncan who had originally custom wound the pickups for hendrix in the 1960s . duncan authenticated the pickups and pickguard . 10 owners edit jesse and roxie amoroso are musicians who perform together in the las vegas based rock band crazy chief and formerly pigasus and the loud pipes . they were married in the home of roxie s parents on june 6 2006 . 11 together they have three children one of whom is named gibson felix after the famous guitar manufacturer . 12 13 self proclaimed soul mates the couple have been known to dress similarly in public while together . 13 in october 2005 jesse and roxie opened the clubhouse a large rehearsal facility that was run by the couple s production company revenge therapy productions . 14 the 3 story building contained eight rehearsal rooms of varying sizes with a single large rehearsal room on the top floor equipped with a considerable amount of amenities and a view of the las vegas strip . 14 epic records band mudvayne was a client of the clubhouse before it eventually closed when a partner of the amoroso s pulled out . 14 15 jesse amoroso is guitarist of crazy chief formerly of the loud pipes cyanide blues and most recently pigasus a band jesse once described as sounding like god screaming at the top of his lungs . 16 17 jesse is also co owner of cowtown guitars with wife roxie . his main expertise lies in vintage stringed instruments and amplifiers which he frequently appraises for the reality television series pawn stars on the history channel . when asked by the las vegas sun to comment on his marriage jesse said it s kind of a blessing and a curse because you re in a relationship with someone who s a musician and understands being in a band and stuff but you also don t have that voice of reason that some people do . 18 jennifer roxie amoroso moved to las vegas from death valley ca when she was 18 and began designing costumes for casinos around town before starting a screen printing business . 19 20 she became well known as a live music promoter who has booked for several local venues around las vegas which include boomers bar east bonanza theatre texas station casino s south padre lounge the roadhouse casino squiggy s bar the las vegas country saloon and the clubhouse . 15 21 22 her colorful personality earned her a reputation among her peers in las vegas . in january 2006 roxie made las vegas citylife s top 5 list of women in the local music scene you definitely don t want to piss off . 23 roxie is currently vice chair of the clark county animal control advisory committee in las vegas . 24 crazy chief s roxie amoroso performing live staff edit roy page amplifier repair . like jesse roy is also a recurring expert on pawn stars . as roy s repair o rama he has appraised vintage tube amplifiers on the episodes james gang rides again in season 5 and the last samurai in season 6 of the show . 25 davis onsite guitar repair luthier josh sales crazy chief edit along with the amorosos crazy chief includes members of previous notable bands prompting the press to refer to them as a local super group . 26 singer drew johnson also fronts mojo rising a doors cover band while drummer dan conway performed on tour with warrant and rhythm guitarist nick thompson performed in dirty somethings which became known as red feather shortly before disbanding . 27 28 in november 2012 las vegas citylife announced plans for black camaro s brian garth to move out of chrome werewolf his studio of two years and into the amoroso s house to record crazy chief s debut album . 29 events edit guitarist jake e. lee cuts the ribbon at cowtown s grand reopening ceremony in las vegas in 2012 . when cowtown guitars relocated in early 2012 guitarist jake e. lee agreed to cut the ribbon at the grand reopening ceremony . on june 1 2012 cowtown participated in the monthly first friday event held in the arts district of las vegas . the event featured echopark guitars by internationally renowned guitar builder gabriel currie . the hand crafted guitars were made famous by artists such as jakob dylan brad whitford and joe perry of aerosmith and jonny 2 bags wickersham of social distortion.the success of this event spurred the idea of bringing in more guitar makers to future events as owner jesse amoroso tells a reporter for symphony park it was great to have gabriel here in person for a meet and greet and we re excited to continue hosting new guests at cowtown every first friday . 30 on december 7 2012 cowtown hosted an event to celebrate the premiere of their episode of sailor jerry s hold fast artist documentary series . according to las vegas weekly the project seeks out individuals and businesses who have dedicated themselves to mastering their field and then fearlessly pursued its innovation like norman sailor jerry collins did with tattooing . the event featured las vegas pick your poison bake shop studio 21 tattoo and cowtown guitars . cowtown also served as the donation center for used bicycles at this event . 31 exile boutique edit on june 6 2014 roxie and jesse opened a vintage clothing and accessory boutique in the suite next to cowtown . 32 exile on main street borrows its name from the rolling stones album of the same name and is a pun on its location on main st. in las vegas . the opening night event was sponsored by sailor jerry rum with musical guest jonny 2 bags wickersham of socal punk bands social distortion and u.s. bombs performing a live set . 33 philanthropy edit in january 2011 a friend inspired roxie to host a fundraising event of which the proceeds would go towards building a well in africa . amoroso said in an interview it only takes 2 000 to build a well that will provide 900 people 900 babies mothers fathers sisters and brothers with water ... so i was like hey ... i want to build a well . along with the help of her sister at northwest nazarene university the event helped amoroso raise a total of 2500 toward the compassion for africa organization . 34 in august 2011 cowtown teamed up with title i hope and outback steakhouse for a food and hygiene products drive to benefit the vegas valley s homeless youth . jesse was featured in an interview on las vegas channel 8 news promoting the cause . 8 in a partnership between shop owners in the 18b las vegas arts district neighborhood association and autism community trust in june 2012 jesse appeared on las vegas channel 13 s morning blend in an interview with donnie osmond to promote guitars for autism a charity that benefits children with autism . cowtown serves as a drop off location for both guitar and cash donations for the charity . when asked in the interview how cowtown became involved in the charity jesse tells osmond it s something we re passionate about at the shop we have a lot of friends with kids who have autism . roxie later told the las vegas business press we re determined to collect 100 guitars ... whether we have to use guitars from my husband s collection or raise money to purchase additional guitars we ll get them . 35 awards edit best music shop 2012 vegas seven 36 best restaurant to blow your paycheck las vegas weekly 37 in july 2016 exile received a best of the city award from vegas seven magazine . 38 pawn stars episodes edit no shoes no shirt no service october 24 2013 39 hot air buffoon episode 2.5 chumdog millionaire episode 3.22 strike a chord episode 4.10 honor they father episode 4.34 face the music episode 4.38 buyer beware episode 5.5 les is more episode 5.18 kick the can episode 5.51 on guard episode 6.7 little pawn shop of horrors episode 6.17 book em rick episode 6.31 tee d off episode 8.50 ponies and phonies episode 8.55 references edit cowtown guitars under new ownership . vintage guitar magazine . july 7 2011 . retrieved 2012 04 30 . santana gets spiritually horny making shape shifter . premiere guitar . may 2012 . retrieved 2012 07 26 . a b downtown l.v. bustling with pawn stars rick s restorations count s kustoms . las vegas sun . may 8 2011 . retrieved 2012 05 08 . guitar town . vegas seven . october 6 2011 . retrieved 2012 04 30 . meet the pawn stars expert jesse amoroso . history.com . retrieved 2012 04 30 . six strings stevie nicks shams and satanic metal . vegas seven . july 7 2011 . retrieved 2012 04 30 . a b axis of axes vintage guitar seller cowtown thrives in new spot . las vegas business