As a first-time shopper at Elderly Instruments in Lansing, you might think you've come across a musician's Mecca.

From one side of the main showroom comes a full-out assault of Sunburst Fender Telecasters. To the right is a rack of left-handed bass guitars that holds your attention only until your eyes are caught by beautifully crafted mandolins, fiddles and dulcimers.

From the not-so-distant electric amplifier room, the echoes of an aspiring, and possibly overly optimistic Eddie Van Halen cause your ears to twitch with the raw awkwardness of the sound as your gaze falls upon the secluded acoustic-only room.

Take a deep breath, musician. You can look and touch.

Elderly Instruments resides in the 35,000-square-foot, light brown, brick building at 1100 N. Washington Ave. in Lansing and houses not only thousands of beautiful instruments, but a full-service repair shop. Elderly carries new instruments, but specializes in used and vintage pieces.

"This place has got a great vibe," said Todd Seabert, an acoustic and electric guitarist. Seabert said he drives an hour and a half from Spring Lake to shop the store's extensive selection.

"Some guys in my band will take a day and come here for a 'guy trip,'" he said.

Elderly also offers lessons and appraisals as well as music books and rare CDs.

"We have customers from 6 years old to 90," said Ray Aleshire, the store's showroom manager. "Our experience is world-renowned."

Elderly Instruments is the largest dealer of Martin Guitars in the world and caters to customers with online and catalog services. Some customers fly in from Japan, Germany or Africa just to look at certain guitars, Aleshire said.

Famous musicians, including Brian Setzer, Ted Nugent and John Frusciante of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, have frequented the store. Other notable customers include Warren Haynes of Gov't Mule, members of the country group Diamond Rio and Jimmy Vivino, guitarist for the Max Weinberg 7 and who plays on "Late Night with Conan O'Brien."

There's nothing high-tech about the place. Old wooden display cases and vintage carpeting throughout give the divided showrooms a casual feel. Shoppers can leave Elderly with a vintage Irish accordion, a Washburn Dimebag Darrel Signature guitar - or nothing at all. Unlike some larger guitar stores in the metro Detroit area, customers say browsing at Elderly is not an obligation to buy.

Elderly owner Stan Werbin said the store's laid-back atmosphere and quality service are some of its biggest assets.

"Our original philosophy was to pretend that people are walking into your living room and treat them accordingly," he said. "If they want to try instruments, we let them."

Saturday afternoons are the store's busiest days. Jam sessions frequently break out in the crowded space as patrons and staff pick away on steel guitars, ukuleles and banjos. These mini-concerts can last up to 40 minutes, as long they don't disturb the other customers.

Young or old, Elderly provides its many loyal and awestruck patrons with more musical opportunity than most instrument warehouses. Elderly's reputation for appreciating varied forms of music and supporting its performers draws families and friends from all over.

Justin Savara, who lives in Chicago, traveled to Lansing to browse Elderly's acoustic section. He said he made the trip just to look and said he didn't feel pressured by the staff to make a purchase.

"It's more about matching people with instruments than just making sales," he said.

Werbin opened Elderly Instruments in 1972, shortly after graduating from the University of Michigan. He began buying used acoustic guitars to sell at flea markets in Ann Arbor, and when he heard about a vacant store space in East Lansing, he jumped on it.

"There were already around eight to 10 music stores in Ann Arbor, but there wasn't anything really in the Lansing area," Werbin said.

The original store was located in the 541 Building on Grand River Avenue in East Lansing, now the Campus Town Mall. In 1983, Elderly moved to its Lansing location, which was formerly the Lansing Oddfellows Hall. The 1912 building still has original features, including an old-fashioned water fountain, doors with speakeasy holes and an upstairs ballroom - now a storeroom for instrument cases.

There's plenty of work that goes on at Elderly behind the scenes. The store's showroom is relatively small compared to the areas set aside for mail orders, repairs and lessons.

Not surprisingly, just about everyone who works at Elderly is a musician.

Elderly employee Christina Schultz primarily plays the violin, but said she has picked up the guitar, banjo and mandolin since she began working at the store six months ago. Schultz, a music education freshman, is one of Elderly's 100 employees, who are required to know about every instrument up for sale.

"We don't have 20-year-old rock-wannabes working here," said Aleshire, a blues harmonica player. "We have some people who have been here since the beginning. It's like family."

The store's regular customers enhance its familial atmosphere. Some shoppers frequent the store up to six times a week.

"If you don't see certain people for a couple days, you start to worry," said Erik Simon, an electric guitarist and Elderly employee.

And the store also is a supporter of local musicians. Its entryway is papered with area bands' flyers. The front desk serves as a ticket booth for local shows and the store frequently hosts in-store concerts.

The concerts are short, but free. Currently, there are five shows planned through March. During the spring and summer months, the in-store concerts begin to occur more frequently.

This Thursday through Sunday, Elderly is presenting about 40 local and national artists in the store's suite at the Folk Alliance Showcase in San Diego.

Elderly Instruments now is the largest single music store in the state, said Werbin. With instruments valued at $110,000 coming through its doors, the store has remained true to its original philosophy.

"It's just a place for musicians to congregate," Werbin said.

Staff writer Megan Frye contributed to this report.

Maggie Bernardi is a State News intern. She can be reached at bernar41@msu.edu.