A musical instrument display system, retrofit kit, and method of assembly is disclosed herein. The musical instrument display system is configured to illuminate a stringed instrument received by a ground supported musical instrument stand. The musical instrument display system may comprise a musical instrument stand having a pair of lower support arms for supporting an enlarged body of the musical instrument and a pair of upper support arms for stabilizing a narrow neck of the musical instrument, a plurality of illumination modules coupled to a free end of each of the pairs of lower and upper support arms and configured to project light along a front side of the musical instrument, and an electronics control module coupled to the musical instrument stand and each of the plurality of illumination modules for controlling an operational state of the plurality of illumination modules.