5 Feb 2015

February 2015 – CRAVE Guitars Web Site Launch

by CRAVEGuitars | posted in: Introduction | 0

Hip-Hip-Hooray! After nearly 8 long years of gestation, the CRAVE Guitars web site is finally up and running.

It has been a very difficult journey but that’s not what is important right now. It is all about celebrating the moment and contemplating the future. Maybe, just maybe, this is the start of something. I have no great ambition (I’ll never be a millionaire, although I admit that I wouldn’t mind if I was!) and I have no idea what would represent success for CRAVE Guitars. Just being here is a positive step in the right direction. The new site is modest and the focus is where it should be, on showcasing Cool & Rare American Vintage Electric Guitars from Fender and Gibson. I haven’t seen many other sites like it but I’m sure they exist.

Why do it? I am doing it partly because I want to share the joy of Cool and Rare Vintage Electric Guitars and partly because it is something that I need to do for myself. I hope someone out there appreciates what CRAVE Guitars is trying to do. Who’s it for? It is for anyone else who understands or is curious about what the addiction to the beauty of vintage instruments is all about. Ever the optimist, I hope the site will grow in both scope and content and the next stage of development is already under way.

I value cool ideas about what could make it a great web site, so contact me if there is something relevant that you’d like to see added and I’ll consider it. I aim to post debate‑provoking narrative on the site monthly. Why not also check out the CRAVE Guitars pages on social media. On Twitter and Facebook, I try to post something lighter in tone that may be of interest to aficionados, daily if I can. Just connect via the social media links at the bottom of every page. Thanks for looking in. Until next time, love great players, love great music. Thanks for reading.

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14 Dec 2014

December 2014 – Hi Everybody

by CRAVEGuitars | posted in: Introduction | 0

A bit of background this month for anyone who might be interested. CRAVE has only been in existence as a concept since 2007. It didn’t come ready-formed and it wasn’t a planned hobby. I have been playing guitar (badly) for what seems like a zillion years since I was 14, when my father gave me a used nylon-strung acoustic. I had (and still have) a few ‘personal’ guitars since the ’70s but any idea of doing anything coherent was dormant due to being a ‘responsible adult’. I then started playing and buying again in the ‘noughties’ but mostly new instruments from a range of brands. While they were OK, something ‘inspirational’ was missing. Then the epiphany hit and I got interested in bringing together a bunch of nice old Fenders and Gibsons that I could afford and, more importantly, that I wanted to play.

CRAVE Guitars was thus born, albeit more of an aspiration and a notion than a reality. Then the 2008 recession struck and everything went on hold again. Now, in late 2014 and into 2015, I want to share some of the delights and frustrations that these few bits of old wood, plastic and metal can bring. Fundamentally, CRAVE guitars are musical instruments that demand to be played (albeit badly!). Yes they are lovely objects in their own right, resulting from a prolific period of great creative design and experimental manufacturing. Looks are, though, often in the eye of the beholder. I won’t get into values now – more of the arguable threat of vintage electric guitar ‘investments’ in future posts.

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30 Nov 2014

November 2014 – Welcome to CRAVE Guitars

by CRAVEGuitars | posted in: Introduction | 0

Hello and welcome everyone. Even though CRAVE Guitars has been around since 2007, this is my first ever Internet post, so it may be timely to say where I’m coming from. Factoid – vintage guitars are great. Like every person on the planet, I know what I like and what I don’t – that works for vintage guitars too! Mythology can tend to prevail, with some ‘holy grails’, ‘sacred cows’ and ‘pontifications’ dictating what people buy and the prices people pay. It isn’t just the economics of supply and demand (although it doesn’t help), it is an inherent class system that drives vintage guitar values.

Over time, I hope to question and challenge the status quo (no, not the band!) and, hopefully provoke some thought and suggest an alternative perspective to the usual assumptions. I guarantee you will disagree and that’s fine; the good thing about opinion is that it is just that, opinion. I could have gone for ‘blog’, ‘news’ or ‘what’s on’ but everyone else does that, so welcome and I hope you enjoy my ‘observations, opinions, musings and happenings’ as our collective unknown future unravels.

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