Guarding the extensive collection, which is located in New York City's SoHo area, is a priority. Guards with Motorola radios and chic black suits man their posts, while shatter-resistant transparent casings surround many items (though not the 1957 owned by Bruce Springsteen .

Keeping an eye on nearly every inch of the display collection is a networked with more than 40 discretely placed Mobotix cameras integrated into the larger IT control room at the museum. Motion detectors are in place, too.

"Some artifacts are particularly valuable," said David Waggett, general manager at the museum, which opened about a year ago as the annex to the main Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland.

Not only does the Annex hold Bruce Springsteen's famous Bel Air, but also there's the 1964 album "Meet the Beatles" signed by all members of the band a few days after their historic TV appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show. There's also John Lennon's Vox prototype, a special guitar/organ hybrid and a piano he used, plus Ringo Star's drumhead from 1964 used in the film "Help." Exhibits also hold the colorful jumpsuits worn in concert by Mick Jagger and Elvis Presley and much more.