30 Jun 2026

June 2026 – A Year of Notable Anniversaries

by CRAVEGuitars | posted in: Event, History, Introduction, News, Observations, Opinion | 0

Prelude

TO QUOTE THE VENERABLE BARD, “Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more”. Yup. The breach, dear friends, at least in aphorism, is your June 2026 article from CRAVE Guitars. Let’s hope the figurative wall is not “closed up with English dead”, as in the famous discourse written by English playwright William Shakespeare (1564‑1616) in Henry V, Act III, Scene I (NB. Based on the exploits of English King Henry V (1386‑1422)). Less blood and guts and more vintage guitars lies herein. I think that you might well be relieved about that. This isn’t 1599 after all; we are now in the second half of 2026 and it is officially summertime in the UK. Yay! For everyone suffering excessive heat waves this year, take care.

In the 21^st Century, we should be more civilised than in the 15^th and 16^th Centuries. Sadly, that doesn’t appear to be the case. Have we learned nothing since the combative reign of Henry V over 600 years ago? For all those who are complacently complicit by saying nothing and doing nothing to eradicate the indefensible concepts of warfare and injustice in 2026, don’t take my word for it, take a moment to ponder on the words of someone with far more moral integrity than I can muster…

“We’re all going to have to learn to live together and develop a greater tolerance and get rid of whatever our fathers gave us in the way of hatred between nations” – Joe Strummer (1952-2002)

This Month at CRAVE Guitars…

On a more everyday front… Back in July 2024, CRAVE Guitars published an article celebrating ‘The Fender Stratocaster at 70 and Counting: An Alternative Perspective’. This month’s shorter article serves as a timely companion piece to that one. If you wish to (re‑)view the Strat article, follow the link below (opens in a new browser tab)…

July 2024 – The Fender Stratocaster at 70 and Counting: An Alternative Perspective

Yes, folks, here we are now in mid‑2026 and we’re celebrating a host of anniversaries this month, well five notable ones, actually, in descending order of longevity:

The United States of America – 250 Years (declared independent in 1776)
Fender – 80 Years (founded in 1946)
Fender Telecaster – 75 Years (introduced in 1951)
Fender Precision – 75 Years (introduced in 1951)
Music Man Stingray – 50 Years (introduced in 1976)

As usual, no AI was used in the research, writing or illustrating of this article (bar the seemingly now regular appearance of the Stone Age Rock God that is The CRAVEman, who has to be 100% AI generated). Quotes of wisdom this month are all about history. Quite a few images for you this month as well as few lists. Just trying to keep everyone happy.

“The very ink with which history is written is merely fluid prejudice” – Mark Twain (1835‑1910)

The Rationale for the Article

Nothing complicated this month. There are some notable anniversaries and this is an opportunity to explore each one, albeit briefly. This exercise is much shorter than the Stratocaster anniversary, due to other, competing priorities. The Stratocaster article also had a lot of contextual material that I really didn’t feel like reiterating here. I am sure that there are many other anniversaries occurring in 2026, many of which can be covered in passing. For now, these five will provide plenty to talk about.

Without further frivolous fanfare, let’s get into a fleeting celebration of these distinguished anniversaries, starting with the establishment of the UK’s former colony, and then some of the milestones in the guitar industry that wouldn’t have taken place if it wasn’t for the founding of the USA…

“That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history” – Aldous Huxley (1894‑1963)

The United States of America at 250 and Counting

The history of the United States isn’t really the focus of this article and has nothing to do with vintage guitars. However, without the birth and evolution of the USA and its territories, modern music and musical instrument history wouldn’t be what it is today. So… we’ll start big and then take a bit of a closer look at what came after. Apologies to the American audience for whom the first segment is arguably second nature.

“Following the light of the sun, we left the Old World” – Christopher Columbus (1451‑1506)

While there is increasing evidence that explorers had set foot on the North American continent over many centuries, European exploration of North America began seriously after Italian voyager Christopher Columbus (1451‑1506) discovered the Caribbean in 1492, followed by other expeditions from England, France and Spain. After the short‑lived Roanoke Colony in 1585, established by English explorer Sir Walter Raleigh (1553‑1618) in what is modern day North Carolina, English settlers established the first permanent settlement in Jamestown, Virginia in 1607 and Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1620, marking the beginning of permanent European settlements that would form the basis of the Thirteen Colonies in the east coast of what we now call America. The thirteen British colonies along the Atlantic coast of North America (Virginia, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maryland, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Delaware, North and South Carolinas, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Georgia), were established between 1607 and 1733 as part of the British Empire.

The name America may have several origins. Probably the most likely is that it derives from Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci (1454‑1512) who believed the continent to be separate from Asia. America’s name first appeared on a German world map dating from 1507.

The formation of the United States resulted from growing political and economic tensions between the Thirteen Colonies and the British Monarchy. Key protests included taxation, trade and self-governance. These pressures escalated into armed conflict with the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War in 1775, when the union of Thirteen Colonies formed an army to fight the British and appointed George Washington (1732‑1799) as its commander.

“I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past” – Thomas Jefferson (1743‑1826)

On 2 July1776, the Second Continental Congress voted unanimously to declare the Thirteen Colonies to be independent from Great Britain. The Declaration of Independence had been drafted by a committee including John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Robert Livingston and Roger Sherman. The document set out the grievances of the Thirteen Colonies against King George III of England. On 4 July 1776, Congress formally adopted the Declaration of Independence and officially established the United States of America.

Following the Declaration of Independence, the Continental Army, led by General George Washington, with support from France, continued the American Revolutionary War (1775‑1783) against British forces. Following the Siege of Yorktown, Virginia in 1781, the Articles of Confederation were ratified. In the Treaty of Paris (1783), Britain officially recognised the United States of America as an independent country. The US Constitution was adopted formally in 1788, which established the framework of the federal government. In 1791, the US Bill of Rights was passed, which protected individual liberties and limited the power of the government.

“Observe good faith and justice toward all nations. Cultivate peace and harmony with all” – George Washington (1732‑1799)

Historically, 1776 has become widely regarded as the birth of the United States of America, founded on the principles of liberty, equality and rule of law. While independence was declared in 1776, the process to establish a stable federal government, with its fundamental structures and ideology took another 15 years. That foundation has evolved and continues to the current day, 250 years later. A 250^th anniversary is properly denoted as a ‘semiquincentennial’ (NB. half of a 500^th anniversary).

The familiar National Flag of the United States, the ‘Stars and Stripes’ or the ‘Star‑Spangled Banner’ was officially adopted in 1777. Over the years, the flag’s design has evolved with the modern version of the flag being formally adopted in 1960, following the inauguration of Hawaii as the 50^th US state. The 50 white stars on a blue field in the top left corner of the flag represent the current 50 states and the 13 horizontal red and white stripes represent the number of original founding colonies. There have been around 30 different versions of the flag over 250 years. Below are 4 incarnations of the flag (top-bottom: Continental Union 1775‑1777, Betsy Ross 1777, Star Spangled Banner 1777‑1795, Current 1960‑)

“The historian must not try to know what is truth, if he values his honesty; for if he cares for his truths, he is certain to falsify his facts” – Henry Adams (1838‑1918)

So, why make a thing about celebrating USA 250 in an article about (vintage) guitars? Well, without the federation of 50 states (as of 2026), there would not have been Gibson, Fender, Gretsch, Rickenbacker, Martin, Taylor or many of the other world famous guitar brands founded in the USA. The United States provides the wider political, social, cultural, economic and technological context within which these companies were born, grew and prospered (on and off) to become the legendary icons that they are today. As the future of American guitar making is once again under significant threat, the USA still provides the operating environment within which these companies have to compete, not only with domestic but also imported international products. It isn’t European competitors that are the greatest threat to ‘Made in USA’ guitar gear in 2026. The most significant threat comes from China as well as other Pacific Rim countries that are providing viable alternatives to home grown products with aggressive marketing, build quality and pricing strategies.

“In history, there are no accidents. If something happens, be sure it was planned that way” – Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882‑1945)

Returning to the subject of vintage guitars, Gibson celebrated the 200^th anniversary of 1776 with a reissue of the offset ‘reverse’ bodied Gibson Firebird, called the Bicentennial, which was actually produced over a period between 1976 and 1978. CRAVE Guitars is fortunate enough to be the steward of a gorgeous black and gold 1976 Gibson Firebird Bicentennial with its unique commemorative red and blue ’76 Phoenix logo on the white scratchplate. Very cool.

Feature – 1976 Gibson Firebird Bicentennial

Happy 250^th Birthday United States of America on 4 July 2026. For “We the people” (NB. “We the people…” is the brief introductory statement of the American Constitution, setting out its fundamental purposes and guiding principles), it is a reminder that the celebration of USA 250 is about every one of the 338+ million American citizens, not just the president and his acolytes, the half‑dozen or so powerful, hyper‑wealthy elite. The guiding principle of America’s Founding Fathers was of a federal republic that is based on ethical egalitarianism and not egocentric plutocracy.

“All the power’s in the hands of people rich enough to buy it” – Joe Strummer (1952‑2002)

As a casual observer looking in from outside, something seems to have gone badly awry with the fundamental belief in the ideological values underpinning the United States of America (natural rights, limited government, republicanism, separation of powers, and checks & balances) and which (should) define the relationship between the government and the people. There is arguably an imperative to re‑establish the fundamental democratic and governance tenets of America supported since 1776. Such a re‑alignment would enhance The American government’s moral and ethical role both domestically and on the global stage in 2026 and beyond. Such a re‑alignment is arguably essential if the United States of America is to survive for another 250 years. One might ask oneself, “What does America stand for in 2026?” How about, “Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” and “All men are created equal”? (NB. Both phrases taken directly from the US Declaration of Independence, 1776.) Hhmm. Sermon over.

“It takes no compromising to give people their rights. It takes no money to respect the individual. It takes no survey to remove repressions” – Harvey Milk (1930‑1978)

Fender at 80 and Counting

There is SO much detailed information on the hinterwebby thingummy about the rise and rise, then fall, then rise again of Fender, such that there is little point in dissecting the story again, so here is a potted history of the brand, as covered on the CRAVE Guitars web site and that preceding Stratocaster anniversary article. There is an element of overlap and repetition in the various sources, so I’ve tried to distil some main points.

Clarence Leonidas ‘Leo’ Fender (1909‑1991), a qualified electronics technician, opened the Fender Radio Service in, Fullerton, California, USA in 1938. The business was established to repair radios, phonograph players, home audio amplifiers, PA systems and musical instrument amplifiers.

In 1943, Leo Fender joined forces with former Rickenbacker engineer and inventor of the Vibrola tailpiece, Clayton Orr ‘Doc’ Kauffman (1901‑1990) to create K&F Manufacturing Corporation to build lap steel guitars and amplifiers in California. By 1946, Kauffman and Fender had parted ways and the latter founded a new business in Fullerton to build guitars and amplifiers, initially called Fender Manufacturing and then changing the name to Fender Electric Instrument Company. The rest, they say, is history.

Known to most people simply as Fender, the company has become one of the most widely recognised manufacturers of electric guitars, basses and amplifiers in the world. Fender is particularly important to the music industry because of its ground breaking role in bringing solid‑body electric guitars to mass markets in the 1950s. The west coast revolutionaries were getting themselves noticed, challenging the dominance of east coast manufacturers like Gibson, Gretsch and Martin.

Fender announced the first mass-produced solid-body electric guitar to the public in 1950, a model that would become the Telecaster as we know it today (see below). The enormously popular and revolutionary Stratocaster followed shortly after in 1954. Not sitting on its laurels, over the next decade and a bit, Fender introduced a quartet of upmarket offset guitars, the Fender Jazzmaster (1958), the Bass VI (1961), the Jaguar (1962) and the Electric XII (1966).

Fender also pioneered the large scale introduction and subsequent evolution of the electric solid‑body bass guitar. The innovative Precision bass first appeared in 1951 and the Jazz Bass followed in 1960. Fender also introduced the eccentric Bass V 5‑string bass in 1965.

“History books that contain no lies are extremely dull” – Anatole France (1844‑1924)

Once the classic Fender ‘pro’ range was established, Fender moved on to cater for beginners, by releasing four ‘student’ models, the Musicmaster (1955), Duo‑Sonic (1956), Mustang (1964) and Bronco (1967). These were later replaced by the budget Bullet series in 1981 and lasting only until 1983 before it was replaced by the low cost Squier models. The name ‘Bullet’ is still used by Fender for guitar strings.

For a while Fender toyed with the idea of semi‑acoustic electric guitars to compete with Gibson’s successful ‘ES’ (Electro‑Spanish) line of semis. Fender introduced the fully hollow Coronado (1966) and the semi‑hollow Starcaster (1975/1976). Neither model was particularly successful at the time and didn’t last long until they were discontinued (in 1972 and 1982 respectively), although both have since been reissued by Fender for the modern era.

Fender has also sustained a very successful line of guitar and bass amplifiers dating from the late 1940s to the current day, including landmark valve amps such as the Champ, Princeton, Deluxe, Bassman, Pro Reverb, Vibroverb and the mighty Twin Reverb among many others. The design aesthetics of Fender valve amps went through a number of generations including the ‘woodie’, ‘tweed’, ‘brownface’’, ‘blonde’, ‘blackface’ and ‘silverface’ iterations. Fender started building its first solid state transistor amplifiers in 1966. Fender continues to make a wide range of amplifiers and effects today.

“A small body of determined spirits fired by an unquenchable faith in their mission can alter the course of history” – Mahatma Gandhi (1869‑1948)

In early 1965, Leo Fender famously sold his company to the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) for $13m. Production quality under CBS varied during the 1970s and Fender sales suffered considerably, especially in the face of stiff Far Eastern competition. Finally, in 1985, 20 years after being sold to CBS, a management buyout initiated by CEO William Schultz (1926‑2006), created the Fender Electric Instrument Manufacturing Company. The business was acquired from CBS for $12.5m. The sale didn’t include the Fullerton factory, so production was curtailed until a factory in nearby Corona, California enabled production to resume. Schultz, along with Dan Smith are widely regarded as ‘the men who saved Fender’. The newly privatised company was renamed Fender Musical Instruments Corporation (FMIC) and remains in business as a private company today.

In 1982, Fender opened its Japanese operation to manufacture a range of Fender‑branded guitars. Early Squier models were a re‑brand of Fender Japan models sold in Europe. By 1985, Fender’s import budget brand, Squier, manufactured and sold a range of lower‑cost Fender models, which have proved massively popular over the decades. These Squier guitars were intended to compete with the influx of cheap Asian copies that were flooding the American and European markets from the late 1970s to mid‑1980s. Squier continue to market a successful range of guitars today (2026).

Fender opened a manufacturing facility in Ensenada, Mexico in 1991 to produce a range of Fender‑branded guitars, basses and amps positioned between the professional ‘Made in USA’ and the budget Far Eastern Squier ranges. In 1987, supervised by William Schultz with master luthiers John Page and Michael Stevens, Fender opened its Custom Shop operation in its Corona facility to make one‑off high‑end customised Fender models. Squier, Japan, Mexico, Corona and Custom Shop guitars form part of a comprehensive strategic approach to industry markets.

Fender was the first company to showcase a ‘relic’ guitar at the NAMM Show in 1995. Unsurprisingly, they were styled along the lines of a 1950s ‘Nocaster’ and Stratocaster. While it may not have been the first attempt to age a guitar artificially, it was the first real attempt to demonstrate and name the process in a high profile way from a major American guitar manufacturer for commercial sale. The introduction and subsequent market niche for ‘reliced’ new guitars has attracted a great deal of attention and has launched a 30+‑year debate on the matter. CRAVE Guitars will no doubt feel obliged to opine further on the subject of ‘relic’ finishes at some point.

“History is a continuous process of the creation of new ideas” – John F. Kennedy (1917‑1963)

After decades of leading the way, any further innovations have largely been few and far between since the turn of the millennium. Fender, like most American manufacturers’, has tended to rely significantly on past glories, which has proved to be both a strength and a weakness. Fender hasn’t produced any genuine all‑new designs that have provided long‑lasting commercial and critical success for (well) over a quarter of a century now. Pause and think about that a moment. All the key Fender models, revolutionary back in the 1950s and 1960s, are still in production in 2026, largely unchanged from their fundamental archetypes which, in itself, is unique and remarkable in contemporary industrial design. While FMIC does produce other models and toys continually with specifications, it relies heavily on its perennial six classic designs, the Telecaster, Stratocaster, Jaguar, Jazzmaster, Precision, and Jazz Bass. It is interesting and notable that the most recent introduction of those models dates back to 1960 (the Jazz Bass). That is 66 years ago as of 2026 and counting, also noteworthy. Fender has tinkered with other designs over the years but none have captured consumer demand and loyalty like the originals.

Fender’s headquarters are currently in Scottsdale, Arizona, with North American manufacturing facilities in Corona, California, and Ensenada in Mexico. Off‑shore production is based in Korea, Japan and China. Fender still remains a global brand with massive brand loyalty and instantly recognisable iconic models. Like all American manufacturers, Fender is facing significant challenges as we head into the second quarter of the 21^st Century. It will undoubtedly survive for decades to come in one form or another; the brand is too valuable for it not to endure. One might pause for another moment and wonder what Mr. Leo Fender would think about the preceding eight decades and, perhaps, what he would do next if he were still to be around in 2026. Strangely, Fender themselves don’t seem to be shouting from the rooftops about their 80^th anniversary, preferring to promote 75^th anniversary Telecasters and Precision basses. It seems like others are celebrating 80 years on their behalf. Happy 80^th Birthday FMIC.

CRAVE Guitars was founded in July 2007, originally intended to focus just on vintage Fender and Gibson gear. As you might Expect, CRAVE Guitars has a fair ‘collection’ of Fender guitars, basses and amps.

“Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past” – George Orwell (1903‑1950)

The Fender Telecaster at 75 and Counting

In 1949, Leo Fender and George Fullerton (1923‑2009) developed a prototype for a new solid body guitar design. One that would ultimately become an icon and industry standard. Leo Fender and co. could not possibly have imagined the legacy they were unknowingly creating back the late 1940s. Such an important part of guitar history needs a few words to acknowledge this specific point in time. One thing one can be sure of is that there will be many, many more anniversaries for the perennial Telecaster in years and decades to come.

The single pickup of the prototype was derived from the Fender Champion lap steel guitar in c.1949. The neck was unusual in that it was screwed (not bolted) on with an anchor plate, rather than the set neck of most guitars at the time. It also didn’t incorporate a truss rod to ensure that the single piece maple neck stayed straight. Initially, the headstock used 3‑a‑side tuners before being refined to a small, single‑sided design. Production bodies were made of solid ash tone wood. The bridge design used three individually adjustable saddles whose height and tuning could be set. Electrics comprised a three‑position selector switch and volume/tone controls. Distribution was organised through Don Randall’s (1917‑2008) Radio & Television Equipment Company (RTEC). By late 1950, the guitar with dual pickups and a truss rod was named the Broadcaster.

Images from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) are generally considered to be in the public domain and typically not subject to copyright restrictions, so I believe that I have the rights to publish the following 1954 patent, courtesy of the USPTO. Fender filed a patent on 23 April 1951, which was granted on 14 August 1956 to C.L. Fender for the ‘guitar’, i.e. the Telecaster as we know it. The patent represents the familiar design that formed the basis of actual manufacturing and production.

US Patent Application – Fender Telecaster 1951

The first mass produced commercially successful solid body guitar, the forerunner of the Fender Telecaster was announced in mid‑1950 as the single and dual‑pickup Fender Esquire. Fender renamed it the Broadcaster before they were forced to remove the name (the so‑called highly collectable ‘Nocaster’) in 1951, as a result of a legal dispute with Gretsch who owned the Broadkaster brand name. The model was renamed the Telecaster in August 1951 and the Esquire became a lower‑cost single pickup version until it was discontinued in 1969. Early production Telecasters had transparent butterscotch finish, a single ply black scratchplate and a maple neck with a ‘skunk stripe’ (the so‑called highly sought after ‘blackguard’ Telecasters). The Telecaster’s original retail price was set at $139.95. The original Telecaster control layout and function was eccentric to say the least and it wasn’t until the late 1960s that Fender resorted to a traditional electrical format. I still can’t get my head around why such an arcane circuit was used and retained for so long.

The Telecaster’s reputation as an industry standard workhorse was largely down to its simple yet efficient and effective modular design and hugely versatile tones. The Telecaster model has been in continuous production from 1951 to today and it doesn’t look like it’s going anywhere any time soon. The Telecaster has proved to be a truly remarkable perpetual icon created from humble origins back in the late 1940s. The Telecaster may not have been the first solid body electric guitar but it was the first to be mass produced and commercially successful.

There has been a number of key variants of the classic Telecaster over the years including the Thinline (1968), Custom (1972), Deluxe (1973) and Elite (1983). The standard model has been adapted and improved over the decades and has spawned numerous other variants. However, Fender got the original design right from the outset and many musicians still see the archetype as the only Tele worth having. Having that ‘Fender’ name on the headstock is of historical significance as well as extremely valuable in dollar terms.

Fender’s budget brand, Squier, includes several Telecaster models, which have been manufactured and imported from the Far East to America and Europe since 1985. In addition to Squier Telecasters, other lines come from Mexico, made in USA and Custom Shop models complete a ‘rags‑to‑riches’ range.

On the Fender web site at the time of writing is an in‑depth history of the Telecaster:

Fender FMIC Telecaster History

Below is a list of just some of the famous names past and present (in surname alphabetic order) who have been associated with the legendary Fender Telecaster:

Syd Barrett (Pink Floyd)
Jeff Beck
Jon Buckland (Coldplay)
James Burton
Clarence ‘Gatemouth’ Brown
Roy Buchanan
Mike Campbell (Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers)
Eric Clapton
Albert Collins
Hugh Cornwell (The Stranglers)
Graham Coxon (Blur)
Steve Cropper
Danny Gatton
David Gilmour (Pink Floyd)
Jonny Greenwood (Radiohead)
Merle Haggard
George Harrison (The Beatles)
Steve Howe (Yes)
Chrissie Hynde (Pretenders)
Christone ‘Kingfish’ Ingram
Jason Isbell
Waylon Jennings
John 5 (Marilyn Manson/Rob Zombie)
Wilko Johnson (Dr Feelgood)
B.B. King
Ritchie Kotzen
Albert Lee
J Mascis (Dinosaur Jr)
Buck Owens
Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin)
Brad Paisley
Rick Parfitt (Status Quo)
Luther Perkins
Keith Richards (Rolling Stones)
Jim Root (Slipknot)
Francis Rossi (Status Quo)
Bruce Springsteen
Joe Strummer (The Clash)
Marty Stuart
Andy Summers (the Police)
Susan Tedeschi
Pete Townshend (The Who)
Muddy Waters
Clarence White (the Byrds)

… Among many, many others

As you can imagine, CRAVE Guitars is a big fan of the Fender Telecaster, with five different models part of the CVG family. Below are some links and an image of CRAVE Guitars’ ‘collection’ of Fender Telecasters, giving a good indication of a range of variants on the original…

Feature – 1972 Fender Telecaster Thinline
Feature – 1973 Fender Telecaster Deluxe
Feature – 1974 Fender Telecaster Custom
Feature – 1983 Fender Telecaster Elite
Feature – 1988 Fender Telecaster American Standard

“We are not makers of history. We are made by history” – Martin Luther King Jr. (1929‑1968)

The Fender Precision at 75 and Counting

In the same year as Fender introduced the Telecaster, the company also introduced the revolutionary Fender Precision bass. The anniversary of the Precision Bass is often overshadowed by the prominence of the Telecaster. Arguably, though, the Precision may have been as ground-breaking, if not more so, in the history of modern music. Discuss…

Although the first solid body fretted electric bass guitar was the 1935 Audiovox ‘Model 736 Bass Fiddle’ built by Paul H. ‘Bud’ Tutmarc (1896‑1972), it was the Fender Precision that became the first commercially successful mass‑produced solid body fretted electric bass guitar. The introduction of the Precision changed the history of the bass instrument and, arguably, contemporary music forever. 1951 was a big year.

Before the Fender Precision, bass players had to contend with cumbersome acoustic, hollow body, fretless upright basses. The Precision was therefore an ergonomic godsend, especially for travelling musicians. Like a guitar, the Precision featured a fretted neck making the instrument much more accessible to beginners wanting to jump on the bandwagon of popular electric guitar music in the 1950s and 1960s.

Leo Fender was working on a working prototype back in 1950, bringing the Precision to market in 1951 and made widely available by 1952. Fender designed the Precision Bass (often shortened these days to ‘P‑Bass’) to overcome the many drawbacks of the acoustic double bass. The name, Precision, referred to the 34” scale fretted neck that enabled musicians to play in tune far more precisely than on the acoustic double bass’s fretless neck, hence the new bass’s name – Precision. Conservative double bass players may well have looked at the Precision Bass in the same way that conservative guitarists looked at the Fender Telecaster released the same year.

The Precision Bass as we now know it didn’t, however, appear fully formed. Initially, the Precision adopted many design cues from the slab body Telecaster guitar. Initial models carried one single coil pickup, a slab body, large scratchplate and a Tele‑like headstock. Significant updates in 1954 and 1957 gave the Precision the now‑familiar design features. At its most basic, the Fender Precision Bass is a solid body, 4‑string bass guitar equipped with a single pickup and a one‑piece 20‑fret maple neck with rosewood or maple fingerboard. It all sounds so very straightforward and unremarkable nowadays. Back in 1951, it was anything but.

Fender originally filed a patent for the bass guitar in November 1952, which was awarded in March 1953. The 1957 update led to another patent filed in January 1959, granted in 1961. Below are the Fender patents for both generations of the Precision’s design, courtesy of the USPTO. It is interesting to compare and contrast the fundamental approach to both.

US Patent Application – Fender Precision 1952

US Patent Application – Fender Precision 1959

After Fender introduced the Stratocaster guitar in 1954, some of its design features were migrated to the Precision including a contoured body and a Strat‑like headstock. The original pickup was replaced with a single split coil hum cancelling staggered design and a sleeker redesigned scratchplate. It is this version of the Precision from 1957 that has stayed in production largely unchanged to the current day. There have been many, many variants with numerous changes in specification over the years, including a fretless version (ironic, given the origin and intention of the Precision’s name), 5‑string versions, 22‑fret necks, active electronics, multiple pickups, and a very diverse variety of finishes.

The original pre‑1957 Precision design has been re-issued by Fender at times over the years, often called the Telecaster Bass to differentiate it from the post‑1957 Precision specification. Not resting on their laurels, Fender followed up the hugely successful Precision with the twin‑pickup offset Jazz bass in 1960. Other Fender basses followed, including the ‘student’ Mustang and Musicmaster basses, as well as the semi‑acoustic Coronado bass and budget Bullet models. The unusual and rare 5‑string, 15‑fret Bass V based around the Mustang‑style offset body was produced between 1965 and 1971 (NB. The Fender Bass V was notable as the world’s first 5‑string bass guitar).

Without doubt, the Fender Precision Bass is a major icon of contemporary music and has become an industry standard carrying with it an enviable reputation to which others can only aspire. 75 years later, the Fender Precision remains hugely popular today. Consumers can purchase genuine Precision bass models from the budget Fender‑owned offshore‑produced Squier brand, through Mexican and American‑made Fender models, to the high‑end Fender Custom Shop versions. Throughout the decades, the Precision has oft been imitated and/or blatantly copied by other manufacturers, eager to cash in on Fender’s industry‑dominant status.

Fender Precision 75th Anniversary Promotion

Below is a list of just some of the famous names past and present (in surname alphabetic order) who have been associated with the legendary Fender Precision Bass:

Bill Black (Elvis Presley)
JJ Burnel (The Stranglers)
Geezer Butler (Black Sabbath)
John Cale (Velvet Underground)
Billy Cox (Jimi Hendrix)
John Deacon (Queen)
Kim Deal (Pixies)
Mike Dirnt (Green Day)
Donald ‘Duck’ Dunn (Booker T. & The M.G.’s)
John Entwistle (The Who)
Derek Forbes (Simple Minds)
Eva Gardner (The Mars Volta)
Roger Glover (Deep Purple/Rainbow)
Colin Greenwood (Radiohead)
Jet Harris (Shadows)
Steve Harris (Iron Maiden)
Dusty Hill (ZZ Top)
Carol Kaye
James Jamerson
John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin)
John Lodge (Moody Blues)
Phil Lynott (Thin Lizzy)
Duff McKagan (Guns N’ Roses)
Nate Mendel (Foo Fighters)
Mike Mills (R.E.M.)
Pino Palladino
Suzi Quatro
Dee Dee Ramone (Ramones)
Paul Simonon (The Clash)
Sting (The Police)
Robert Trujillo (Metallica)
Roger Waters (Pink Floyd)
Pete Wentz (Fall Out Boy)
Brian Wilson (Beach Boys)

Like the Telecaster, CRAVE Guitars is not immune to the influence of the Precision bass. While a guitarist, I do dabble in the low end from time to time. CRAVE’s family of basses is, however, very small compared to guitars. Below is a link and an image of CRAVE Guitars’ wonderful 1977 Fender Precision fretless bass (owned by me for nearly 50 years!)…

Feature – 1977 Fender Precision Fretless Bass

Leo Fender, however, hadn’t finished developing his ideas for electric bass guitars. Ten years after he sold Fender to CBS, he went on to create another milestone bass guitar icon…

“A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots” – Marcus Garvey (1887‑1940)

The Music Man Stingray Bass at 50 and counting

While, for many, Music Man is a much younger company than its illustrious peers, it seems remarkable, at least to me, that the Music Man Stingray Bass has been around for five whole decades in 2026.

Music Man (a.k.a. MM) was formed in 1974 from another company, Tri‑Sonix Inc. (originally formed in 1971), by Forrest White and Tom Walker. Leo Fender was a silent partner in the venture. Leo Fender was formally named Music Man’s president after a 10‑year exclusion clause after the sale of the Fender brand to CBS in 1965 ended. Leo’s other company, CLF Research (after Clarence Leonidas Fender’s initials), was contracted by Tri‑Sonix to make Music Man guitars and basses which started appearing in 1976.

Music Man really made its name when the breakthrough Stingray bass was introduced in 1976, along with the Stingray guitar and a range of amplifiers. The instruments had many innovative features including being recognised as the first large scale production guitars and basses to include active electronics.

Like Fender, Music Man also manufactured amplifiers including innovative hybrid solid state/valve amplifiers. While being separate companies, the instruments and amps had noticeable Fender traits evidencing the direct lineage from Fender to Music Man. Music Man, unhindered by history and past glories, allowed Leo Fender to innovate and evolve his ideas.

In 1979, relationships between Music Man and CLF Research deteriorated to the point that Leo Fender left Music Man in 1979 and went on to found G&L with George Fullerton in 1980 (NB. named G&L after George and Leo). By 1984, the Music Man business was on the verge of bankruptcy and trademark designs were sold to the massive Ernie Ball Inc. Notably, Sterling Ball had been involved in the design of the original Music Man Stingray Bass so there was already a pre‑existing connection. Instruments under the new brand (EBMM – Ernie Ball Music Man) started appearing in 1985. The Music Man Stingray bass survived the transition and remains in production as a commercial success today. Sadly, the Stingray guitar and amps didn’t endure despite their many merits.

Music Man remains a strong integral part of the Ernie Ball empire in 2026. For enthusiasts, Music Man (and G&L) provide an interesting perspective on a key part of Leo Fender’s long and illustrious career. Oh, how quickly a ‘new kid on the block’ becomes part of the institution.

Ernie Ball Music Man has released two limited edition anniversary Music Man Stingray Bass guitars, Molten Gold and Liquid Gold. While flirting with copyright, I don’t think EBMM will mind publishing their promotional material here, courtesy EBMM.

Below is a list of just some of the famous names past and present (in surname alphabetic order) who have been associated with the legendary Music Man Stingray Bass:

Jeff Ament (Pearl Jam)
Rex Brown (Pantera)
Boz Burrell (Bad Company)
Justin Chancellor (Tool)
Tim Commerford (Rage Against The Machine , Audioslave, Prophets Of Rage)
Joe Dart (Vulfpeck)
John Deacon (Queen)
Paul Denman (Sade)
Gail Ann Dorsey (David Bowie)
Bernard Edwards (Chic)
Flea (Red Hot Chili Peppers)
Tom Hamilton (Aerosmith)
Mark Hoppus (Blink‑182)
Randy Jackson (Journey)
Louis Johnson (Brothers Johnson)
Tony Levin (Peter Gabriel, King Crimson)
Benjamin Orr (Cars)
Pino Palladino
Trent Reznor (Nine Inch Nails)
Steven Severin (Siouxsie and the Banshees)
Garry Tallent (Bruce Springsteen)
Cliff Williams (AC/DC)
Rick Wills (Foreigner)
Chuck Wright (Quiet Riot)

It is probably of little surprise that CRAVE Guitars is a big fan of vintage Music Man. Just a quick anecdote if I may; I was employed by Music Man’s importer into the UK in the late 1970s – Strings & Things – so I am a bit biased. CRAVE Guitars has not only the Music Man Stingray Bass but also the Stingray guitar and the hybrid 210 ‘sixty‑five’ amp as part of the CVG family. Cool.

Feature – 1978 Music Man Stingray Bass

“If you would understand anything, observe its beginning and its development” – Aristotle (384‑322BCE)

Final Thoughts on ‘A Year of Notable Anniversaries’

There are (obviously!?) many anniversaries that happen every year. However, the combination of five notable anniversaries provided an interesting take on how key elements of the musical equipment industry evolved to get us to where we are today.

Flirting with copyright (again), I don’t think Fender Musical Instrument Corporation will mind publishing their 75^th anniversary promotional material here, courtesy FMIC.

That is an awful lot of years accrued under the belts of Fender, the Fender Telecaster, Fender Precision and Music Man Stingray. Undoubtedly, these industry stalwarts will be around for many more decades to come and will probably (definitely!) outlive me. They ain’t goin’ nowhere anytime soon. This article is just a celebration of a milestone point in time, taking a retrospective of the past and a conservative view of the future.

Other Notable Anniversaries in 2026

One significant anniversary that has seemingly been totally unnoticed this year is that of the Gibson ES‑150. In November 1936 (90 years ago), Gibson introduced the historically significant ES‑150 hollow body jazz guitar. The model was the guitar industry’s first commercially successful, Electric Spanish (ES) guitar. Happy 90^th birthday, Gibson ES‑150.

Another major anniversary that has largely been overlooked this year is the introduction of the Gibson SG in 1961 (65 years ago), when it replaced the outgoing single cutaway Les Paul Standard. Now… as the model was introduced as the Les Paul SG in 1961, carrying the name of its famous endorsee until 1962, it wasn’t until 1963 that the SG (Solid Guitar) would officially be given the name it bears to the current day and which remains one of the world’s best‑selling electric guitars. Also, the SG moniker had been used for the entirely different double cutaway replacements for the Gibson Les Paul SG Special (1959‑1961). Perhaps, as a result of the nomenclature confusion between c.1958 and 1963, the anniversary hasn’t been headline news. I would dearly like to celebrate the SG as we know it, maybe on its 65^th alternative anniversary in 2028‑ish?

Perhaps, judging by the two examples above, 21^st Century Gibson is missing a trick in not jumping on the anniversary celebration bandwagon.

Another key anniversary in 2026 that has generally slipped beneath the radar is the 60^th anniversary of the Japanese giant, Yamaha Guitars. In 1966, Yamaha introduced the FG‑180 acoustic, followed by the SG‑2 and SG‑3 electric guitars (originally called the S201 and S302). It wasn’t until the mid‑1970s that Yamaha hit the mainstream western market with the now‑classic SG‑1000 and SG‑2000, the latter co‑designed with Mexican/American guitarist Carlos Santana. Yamaha Guitars is still going strong today.

There will be a LOT of other instrument anniversaries that will warrant coverage over the years. Some may well be covered in the annals of CRAVE Guitars’ articles while others are bound to miss out. For now, though, that’s it.

“History is a pack of lies about events that never happened told by people who weren’t there” – George Santayana (1863‑1952)

The CRAVEman Celebrating Anniversaries

As seems to be becoming the norm these days, el jefe, The CRAVEman is making his prehistoric presence known to the modern world through the mechanism of CRAVE Guitars’ articles. Taking the anniversaries as an excuse to put The CRAVEman onto a pedestal (literally in his case), here is the Stone Age Rock God exhibiting his great taste. Ignore the obvious specification anomalies, The CRAVEman’s versions of the classics predate the genuine articles by several thousand years!!!!

The CRAVEman American Independence Day Anniversary

The CRAVEman Fender Telecaster Anniversary

The CRAVEman Fender Precision Anniversary

The CRAVEman Music Man Stingray Bass Anniversary

“We have progressed from the Stone Age and moved on to the age of stone hearted people” – Amit Abraham (1965‑)

CRAVE Guitars’ ‘Album(s) of the Month’

Given the subject matter of this month’s article, it seems appropriate to pick a landmark piece of music history and something quintessentially American. Heck, why stop at one, why not two complementary pieces? Not only does the music evoke American culture in the 1960s but also demonstrates effectively the impact of both the Fender Telecaster and the Fender Precision Bass had on music at the time. This month’s worthy accolade(s) go to…

Johnny Cash – At Folsom Prison (1968): At Folsom Prison was recorded at Folsom State Prison, California, on 13^th January 1968 and released on Columbia Records, also in 1968. It was the first live album by American country singer/songwriter Johnny Cash. The original album comprised 16 tracks over 45 minutes with reissues comprising 19 tracks over 56 minutes. The concert was inspired by Cash’s song, ‘Folsom Prison Blues’ (1955), played as the opening track (with a running time, 2:42). The performance by Johnny Cash was backed by future wife June Carter, Carl Perkins and the Tennessee Three (Luther Perkins, Marshall Grant and W.S. Holland). The album was positively received and helped to revitalise Cash’s career. Album sales of At Folsom Prison exceeded 3.4 million back in 2003 and the recording appears in many ‘greatest albums’ rankings.

Johnny Cash – At San Quentin (1969): At Folsom Prison was supplemented by Johnny Cash’s second live penitentiary album, At San Quentin, which was recorded a year later at San Quentin State Prison, California on 24^th February 1969 and released by Columbia the same year. The album comprised 10 tracks at just over 34 minutes, including the song, ‘San Quentin’ (appearing twice due to audience demand). Cash’s band line up was essentially the same as At Folsom Prison but without Cash’s go‑to guitarist Luther Perkins who had died tragically following a fire at his home in August 1968, between the two prison concerts. Like its earlier companion album, At San Quentin exceeded 3 million sales in 2003. The concert was also filmed and several photographs have since become iconic, including Cash’s famous ‘middle finger’, which apparently was a result of Cash’s frustration with the film crew during the concert.

Johnny Cash – At Folsom Prison (1968) + At San Quentin (1969)

In many ways, the two live prison recordings are best experienced together, capturing the essence and atmosphere of the ‘Man in Black’s’ prison concerts just over a year apart. A great musical event in American cultural heritage and a brave move for Johnny Cash at the time. NB. Marshall Grant actually used an Epiphone Newport bass, rather than a Fender Precision, on the latter recording (the headstock of which can be seen in the cover photo).

BELIEVE IN MUSIC!

“Events in the past may be roughly divided into those which probably never happened and those which do not matter” – William Ralph Inge (1860‑1954)

Tailpiece

Well, that’s quite a bit on anniversaries for 2026, all crammed into one article. Some of the information is available elsewhere on the CRAVE Guitars web site and in other CRAVE articles. Some of it is entirely new, so it’s not all contrived and derivative. Thankfully, the vast majority of the information across sources is consistent and corroborative. Phew! Rather than dig around for relevant bits and pieces, I hope bringing them all together here has provided just a bit of learning and, more importantly, provided just a bit of idle entertainment.

Next month’s article will, if all goes to plan, I hope, be a bit more frivolous and less fact based. Why not come back and join me the other side of ‘USA 250’.

Truth, peace, love, and guitar music be with you always. The CRAVEman, signing off for now. Until next time…

CRAVE Guitars’ ‘Quote of the Month’: “All that really matters to you is you and the unique journey you are on. Savour it and don’t betray the opportunity”

Like it? Why not share it?

30 Jan 2026

January 2026 – CRAVE Guitars Articles: The First 100 and More

by CRAVEGuitars | posted in: History, Introduction, News, Opinion | 0

Prelude

GRACIOUS GREETINGS GENIAL GENTLEFOLK. Here we are again. A warm and wonderful welcome to the shiny new Gregorian year of two thousand and twenty six, albeit almost a month old at the time of writing. I hope the lavish lustre hasn’t been tarnished too soon. The ebullient optimism ignited by the prospect of New Year doesn’t last anywhere near long enough, resulting in the inevitable anti‑climax of the dreaded January blues. One might believe that a new year and a new quarter century should hold a whole host of opportunity and potential. The trick is to find where that opportunity and potential can be tapped into, in order to achieve whatever goals one might set oneself. Simple?! No. Not really. Shame. Don’t you think?

So, what objectives does CRAVE Guitars have in store for the start of 2026. To be honest, given punitive previous experience, it makes sense to be selective within an external environment of prevailing global uncertainty and volatility. There are several personal ‘projects’ from which I have selected four priorities. The first and probably most obvious is to acquire some more cool and rare vintage gear to share with everyone. The second is to publish ‘The Distortion Diaries’ at long last. The third is to develop further the stalwart stories of ‘el jefe’, The CRAVEman. The fourth and least likely to succeed is to make some progress on the much‑needed, much‑delayed CRAVEcave – to convert the house’s cold, dark, damp cellar into a warm, lit and dry CRAVE Guitars emporium of sorts (showcase, not retail). So, that is four declared objectives. I think that three of the priorities are achievable and one is a tad over‑ambitious, so I don’t think they are unreasonable as aspirations for the next eleven months.

This Month at CRAVE Guitars…

The subject matter for the first gleaming, glittery article of 2026 is to celebrate an achievement that will have gone totally unnoticed. The topic this month comprises a cursory retrospective of CRAVE Guitars’ articles (a.k.a. Musings) so far and what that might mean for the future. The rationale underpinning this exemplary epic episode is hitting the milestone of 100 articles published on the web site. Even though CRAVE Guitars has been around in some form or other since 2007, blog articles published on the website only began seven years later in 2014. Even then it wasn’t all smooth sailing, as we shall see.

This month’s ‘quotes of wisdom’ are, perhaps unsurprisingly, about the achievement of life’s milestones. For alliteration aficionados, all perfectly present and passionately precise! Very few images this month I’m afraid, as this is another one for avid list‑o‑philes. As usual, no AI was used in researching or writing this article just Real Stoopid (RS) hooman ‘blood, sweat and tears’ (NB. although widely attributed to Winston Churchill’s speech in 1940, the idiom derives from, “’tis in vaine to dew, or mollifie it with thy teares, or sweat, or blood,” appearing in the poem, ‘First Anniversary: An Anatomy Of The World’ (1611) by John Donne (1571‑1631)).

The First 100 Articles

I am sure that it wasn’t at all obvious to readers that CRAVE Guitars’ December 2025 Musing was the 100^th article published on the web site but it was.

It all started so very innocent and naïve, way back in November 2014, eleven years and two months ago at the time of typing. The embryonic web site had just gone live and the first blog was just two introductory paragraphs and a paltry 186 words. December 2014 wasn’t much stronger, still two paragraphs and just 263 words. At that time, I had no idea where this was going, if anywhere. The catalyst for writing blogs was simply a result of the IT platform used – WordPress – which began as a blogging tool before it also became a web site design tool. WordPress required a ‘blog’ post page at the time. One thing that was clear right from the start was that I couldn’t blog continuously, like many others do. In 2014, I was in full time paid employment, as well as an unpaid carer; I simply could not commit to the pressures of a blogger’s traditional online presence.

“Life isn’t a matter of milestones, but of moments” – Rose Kennedy (1890‑1995)

Over the years, the length and complexity of articles grew significantly. There were multi‑part articles, like ‘A Potted History of the Guitar’ (9 parts – March 2018 to November 2018) and the even more ambitious ‘The Story of Modern Music in 1,500+ Facts’ (14 parts – March 2019 to May 2020) – the longest series so far. Both of these series have unfortunately since suffered from the imposed retroactive removal of illustrative images (see ‘Things I Have Learned’ below for more on that).

Some while later, came CRAVE Guitars’ shortest blog in September 2020, the ‘Hiatus’, a heart‑breaking statement at just one paragraph and 62 words. I only intended for there to be a short break but it lasted three years (!) until August 2023 when abnormal service was resumed with, perhaps my favourite article so far, ‘Dub Reggae Revelation’.

As a result of the hiatus, it has taken much longer to reach the 100 mark than originally intended. Since the hiatus, I have kept up the discipline of publishing monthly articles covering a diverse range of subject matter. I have tried very hard to vary the material over the years to keep things fresh and interesting.

“Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence” – Helen Keller (1880‑1968)

I haven’t regretted anything I’ve written so far, whether agreeable or not. That is, I think, called integrity. I am certain that I could have done things better but that benefit results from hindsight, evolution and learning (see below). I have enjoyed some articles more than others. I’ve already mentioned, ‘Dub Reggae Revelation’ as the zenith and the extremely short, ‘Hiatus’ (also aforementioned) as the nadir.

Up to now, there has been no comprehensive list of CRAVE Guitars’ articles in one place. The only other way to catalogue them is to wade through nine pages of Musings. In order to correct that particular shortcoming, here – without further ado – is ‘The First 100 Articles List’ (each link opens in a new tab)…

2014 (articles 1-2)

November	Welcome to CRAVE Guitars
December	Hi Everybody

2015 (articles 3-14)

January	Old Versus New Guitars
February	CRAVE Guitars Web Site Launch
March	Last and Next
April	New in at CRAVE Guitars
May	More ‘new in’ at CRAVE Guitars
June	From then to now (and back again)
July	Designs for Life
August	Vintage Guitar Supply and Demand
September	My Top 10 Vintage Guitars (So Far)
October	What’s New at CRAVE Guitars
November	What’s New at CRAVE Guitars (again)
December	What’s New at CRAVE Guitars (yet again)

2016 (articles 15-26)

January	The Guitarist’s Friends: Amplifiers and Effects
February	Why Do You Play Guitar?
March	A Temporary Change of Direction
April	A Matter of Personal Taste
May	New Stuff at CRAVE Guitars
June	What Does the (Digital) Future Hold?
July	Personal Top 20 Most Influential Guitar Albums
August	Guitars are Everywhere
September	Sitting in a Field Listening to Music
October	The South of England Guitar Show 2016
November	Where to Start with Vintage Guitars
December	A Year of Gains, Change, Losses and Optimism

2017 (articles 27-38)

January	Why music affects us in the way it does
February	Favourite Guitarists and Why
March	A Time of Change
April	How Much Music Theory Do You Need To Play Guitar?
May	50 Albums of the Last Half-Century(-ish)
June	At Last… New in at CRAVE Guitars
July	Happy Birthday: 10 Years of CRAVE Guitars
August	A Peak into the Pandora’s Box of Guitars
September	A Map Leads to Some Hidden Gems
October	What Qualifies as a CRAVE Guitar?
November	New In: Underdog Vintage Guitars
December	That Time for Guitar Lists and Stuff

2018 (articles 39-50)

January	The State of the Village
February	Dear Editor
March	A Potted History of the Guitar Part I
April	A Potted History of the Guitar Part II
May	A Potted History of the Guitar Part III
June	A Potted History of the Guitar Part IV
July	A Potted History of the Guitar Part V
August	A Potted History of the Guitar Part VI
September	A Potted History of the Guitar Part VII
October	A Potted History of the Guitar Part VIII
November	A Potted History of the Guitar: Epilogue
December	What A [Deleted] Year That Was

2019 (articles 51-62)

January	Old and New In at CRAVE Guitars
February	A General Update
March	The Story of Modern Music in 1,500+ Facts – Part I
April	The Story of Modern Music in 1,500+ Facts – Part II
May	The Story of Modern Music in 1,500+ Facts – Part III
June	The Story of Modern Music in 1,500+ Facts – Part IV
July	The Story of Modern Music in 1,500+ Facts – Part V
August	The Story of Modern Music in 1,500+ Facts – Part VI
September	The Story of Modern Music in 1,500+ Facts – Part VII
October	The Story of Modern Music in 1,500+ Facts – Part VIII
November	The Story of Modern Music in 1,500+ Facts – Part IX
December	Out With the Old, In With the Old

2020 (articles 63-71)

January	The Story of Modern Music in 1,500+ Facts – Part X
February	The Story of Modern Music in 1,500+ Facts – Part XI
March	The Story of Modern Music in 1,500+ Facts – Part XII
April	The Story of Modern Music in 1,500+ Facts – Part XIII
May	The Story of Modern Music in 1,500+ Facts – Part XIV
June	Whazzup at CRAVE Guitars
July	More Whazzup at CRAVE Guitars
August	Even More Whazzup at CRAVE Guitars
September	Hiatus

The Hiatus – There were no articles published between October 2020 and July 2023 inclusive.

2023 (articles 72-76)

August	Dub Reggae Revelation
September	Adventures in Ambient: Music of Another Dimension
October	Return to and from Obscurity
November	Musical Machinations
December	CRAVE Guitars: Three Years in Review

2024 (articles 77-88)

January	A Brief History of the Bass Guitar
February	Zen and the Art of CRAVE Guitars Design
March	Artificial Intelligence takes on Vintage Guitars: Part I
April	Artificial Intelligence takes on Vintage Guitars: Part II
May	Artificial Intelligence takes on Vintage Guitars: Part III
June	Heavy Metal: A Periodic Table
July	The Fender Stratocaster at 70 and Counting: An Alternative Perspective
August	Get Up and Dance to the Music! Part I
September	Get Up and Dance to the Music! Part II
October	CRAVE Guitars Writing: An Introspective Inquiry
November	A Virtual Decade of CRAVE Guitars
December	CRAVE Guitars 2024 In Review

2025 (articles 89-100)

January	10 Things I Love and Hate about Vintage Guitars
February	Ikigai and Vintage Guitars
March	Eastern Concepts and Vintage Guitars
April	An A‑Z of Vintage Guitar Gear: in 150 Snippets
May	The Compulsion to Collect Vintage Guitars
June	Challenging Vintage Guitar Snobbery: A Cautionary Tale
July	The CRAVEman Cometh
August	‘The Distortion Diaries’: A Teaser Trailer
September	Vintage Guitar Gear Collections Within A Collection: Part I – CRAVE Guitars & CRAVE Basses
October	Vintage Guitar Gear Collections Within A Collection: Part II – CRAVE Effects
November	The CRAVEman Cometh… Back
December	It’s That Time of Year Again: CRAVE Guitars 2025 in Review

This ‘directory’ will probably re‑appear in due course under the CRAVE Guitars’ web site’s ‘Resources’ pages as an easy reference.

“Remember to celebrate milestones as you prepare for the road ahead” – Nelson Mandela (1918‑2023)

Things I Have Learned

After 11 years and 100 articles (and goodness knows how many tens of thousands of words), you’d think I should have learned something, right? I also would hope that my skills as an author should have improved somewhat over last decade or so. Whether my abilities have indeed improved or not, I have no idea. Sometimes, though, it can be productive to take a step back, review, assess, reflect, learn and develop. The general rule is that incremental improvement is better than radical change.

The length and complexity of articles varies considerably. I have learned that more doesn’t always mean more and that brevity is something that I should seek to improve. However, I just can’t help my naïve, inexpert verbosity and tendency for pretentious flowery prose. Sorry.

“It’s when ordinary people rise above the expectations and seize the opportunity that milestones truly are reached” – Mike Huckabee (1955‑)

The content does need to have its prime focus on vintage guitars, although I have learned that focusing more and more forensically can be a rabbit hole down which it is difficult to retain objectivity and interest. There is only so much geekiness in nerd city that one can write about vintage gear before it becomes, well, dull and boring. American philosopher Nicholas Butler (1862‑1947) once said, “An expert is one who knows more and more about less and less until he knows absolutely everything about nothing”. I have regarded that as sage advice, so I try to nurture a broad intellect as a result. The mix of subject matter, I hope, counteracts the risk of dry factual content and inevitable repetitiveness. Did I mention repetitiveness? LoL. Variety also makes things a bit more interesting for me as well.

CRAVE Guitars’ approach has been, and still is, to publish one in‑depth article per month. Many bloggers publish much shorter excerpts far more frequently. My methodology is a personal preference and, therefore, a conscious choice. It is the way I work… and it is serious work as far as I am concerned, albeit unpaid. It is not a trivial hobby and it is not an idle pastime. I would, however, struggle to do anything more prolific.

For high frequency posts, CRAVE Guitars is active on social media, with at least one relevant post every day (except during the 3‑year hiatus). CRAVE Guitars’ social media presence kicked off in December 2014, shortly after the web site went live.

“Nothing behind me, everything ahead of me, as it is ever so on the road” – Jack Kerouac (1922‑1969)

The multi‑part series approach is one way to present a large volume of material in a digestible format. However, it also takes up a huge amount of time and energy to research, corroborate and write. Internet resources are – surprise, surprise – notoriously unreliable and inaccurate. Sometimes it is easier (but not necessarily better) to write a lot and to split it into a series. The problem with brevity for its own sake is that some potentially interesting material has to be omitted. Balance is therefore important. Duh! Splitting material over several articles is a matter of pragmatism as well as a concern for readers’ patience… and my own sanity.

I much prefer to use images in my articles. It breaks up the narrative and looks far more inviting to prospective readers. However, one component of the perfect storm that resulted in the hiatus was the aftermath of using images from Google Images to illustrate articles, only to fall foul of using copyrighted material. As a result, all non‑CRAVE produced images were removed from the web site and, retrospectively, from all CRAVE articles. This is not ideal but it is a harsh reality of 21^st Century litigatory culture and a key learning point. As ‘they’ say, ‘once bitten, twice shy’. (NB. A phrase that first appeared in the novel, ‘The History of Miss Betsy Thoughtless’ (1751) by Eliza Haywood (1693‑1756))

“Life isn’t about finding yourself. It’s about creating yourself” – George Bernard Shaw

Regular readers will know that I also like to use credible quotes from wise people to help illustrate the narrative. I think this works well and adds some colour to an otherwise monochrome palate. Contrary to what you might think, it isn’t just an immature tacky expedient.

Regular readers will also know that each article ends with a CRAVE ‘Quote of the Month’. These are my own original pontifications on life, the universe and everything (thank you Douglas Adams). The first CRAVE quote appeared in November 2015 and one quote has been present in every article since (making 89 in total including this month – another 11 to go before that particular list also gets to 100). I hope that the quality of these amateur observations has also improved over the years. I particularly like this month’s quote btw. Some snippets may be controversial but, then again, aren’t the most insightful observations about the human condition often provocative and potentially divisive? I will continue to poke ‘the hornet’s nest’ (NB. A term first documented in ‘A Compleat History of Europe’ (1705) by David Jones) when I believe that a positive prod is needed.

“It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit” – Harry S. Truman (1884‑1972)

Arguably, one of my most irritating tendencies is probably my peculiar penchant for pathetically puerile alliteration. It is one of my go‑to literary techniques and I will continue to be childish and silly. Sorry again.

Possibly also irritating are my frequent nota bene (NB. Latin, literally meaning ‘note well’) references, often relating to obscure European literature. I find words and their etymological derivations fascinating, so I try to litter articles with random interesting non sequiturs (NB. from the Latin, ‘it doesn’t follow’). Sic! (NB. from the Latin adverb, ‘so’ and meaning in English ‘intentionally so written’, dating from c.1856). There ya go.

“Learning never exhausts the mind” – Leonardo da Vinci (1452‑1519)

Another irritating tendency for readers is probably my very robust opinions about the need to improve civilisation, society and our environment, which I strongly believe is essential for the longevity and prosperity of mankind and our dependency on the planet’s finite and fragile natural ecosystems. When will humanity come to its senses and establish a civilisation with a strong future that is peaceful, just and sustainable? I cannot come to terms with the utter insanity of destructive global geopolitics at the start of 2026 and, sadly, I can’t see it getting better any time soon. If there is one thing in this irrational world that I could possibly influence, that would be it.

Back to writing; some general structural, presentational and consistency needs improving, such as title capitalisation, blog format and grammatical style. These have evolved over time and are much better than they used to be. Probably best described as work‑in‑progress. My late wife (her passing was another contributor to the hiatus) used to proof read articles before publication. Sadly, that last‑minute check & balance is no longer available to me, so errors may well be present.

“Your time is limited, don’t waste it living someone else’s life” – Steve Jobs (1955‑2011)

I hope that one thing comes through loud and proud is my unwavering passion for music – playing it (badly!), listening to it, amassing music CDs and attending live music events. The vintage guitar gear collection manifested directly from these cravings (sic!). While my main hankering for music collecting is roots and dub reggae, my contemporary musical listening tastes are very diverse.

One thing is for sure, I have learned a great deal from all the in‑depth investigation that goes into compiling content for the articles. That includes the process as well as the outcome. So, even if no‑one else reads anything, I now have a much better understanding of many things that are of interest to me and hopefully to readers. It has also made me think quite profoundly and fundamentally about a wide range of things. The result is that I have become a bit of a ‘jack of all trades’ (NB. an expression dating from the 16^th Century, regarded as a negative abbreviation of the more balanced ‘jack of all trades, master of none but oftentimes better than master of one’, suggesting a more versatile and adaptable skillset – the origin dates back at least to 1592 and Robert Greene referring to William Shakespeare as a ‘Johannes factotum’). I regard ‘generalist’ and ‘expert’ as opposing ends of a continuum and, arguably, the ideal position being at some point along the continuum depending on context – they are not mutually exclusive.

“The best way to predict the future is to create it” – Peter Drucker (1909‑2005)

AI will undoubtedly impact on all forms of creative industry in the future, including writing, music and art, either directly or indirectly, whether we like it or not. I covered the implications of the evolving technology in the 3‑part series, ‘Artificial Intelligence Takes on Vintage Guitars’ (March to May 2024). That is the only occasion where I have used AI narrative to prove a point – AI doesn’t give a flying fig what the subject matter is – it is a process tool but nothing more at the moment. AI, for instance, has no idea and doesn’t care what a vintage guitar is, what it is used for, why it is valued or its relevance to anything else. AI algorithms can manipulate data but it has no real insight – it does not have original ideas about anything at all – it can harvest data and output information but it cannot provide knowledge. All other CRAVE articles are the hard work of my inadequate, fallible, spongy hooman brainium.

I have, however, used AI for images, particularly for The CRAVEman articles, as this is the only way that I can bring him to artificial ‘life’ and produce artwork about him, even with all its inconsistencies and errors. Also, copyright currently resides with the end‑user (‘the creator’) inputting prompts that are then interpreted by AI algorithms (‘processing’) to produce static images, video, text, audio, etc. (‘output’). So, for the time being at least, I am on safe ground copyright‑wise. Once again, I have learned that judicious balance is the key here.

While on the subject of The CRAVEman; he has become the outward looking face of CRAVE Guitars while the author’s identity remains private and intentionally enigmatic. Who I am matters not. No‑one wants or needs or cares to know who I am.

Wow! That is quite a lot of learning. I hope, though, it gives a bit of an understanding into the process of bringing content to the customer. So, will these learning points change CRAVE Guitars’ articles going forward? Probably not a great deal because of the inescapable, finite, common constant and constraint – the human element, i.e. me. That, I am afraid, you are stuck with, like it or not. Apologies again.

“Sometimes milestones are not measured by the accomplishments of society, but by those of integrity” – Tamara Ecclestone (1984‑)

The Next 100 Articles

When it comes to future articles, I usually try to work on ideas about three months in advance, if possible. I also try to get around to drafting at least one article ahead of schedule while still editing the imminent article to be published. This takes a lot of the deadline pressure off writing. Sometimes, I run into a blank and have to come up with something I wasn’t expecting, often at short notice, which can actually prove to be quite satisfying. Sometimes, the material prescribes an agenda, for instance, the aforementioned 14‑part ‘Story of Modern Music’, which effectively dictated subject matter for more than a whole year.

One of the problems of not buying much in the way of ‘new’ vintage guitar gear recently is that I don’t have a great deal of topical vintage gear acquisitions to write about at the moment, which is a shame. Writing a web site feature is one thing. However, it tends to take things out of context and sometimes it is nice to write about vintage gear within a broader canvas.

“The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today” – Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882‑1945)

I have stated on many occasions that the work involved in writing comprehensive articles means that I do not have sufficient time to write/edit, ‘The Distortion Diaries’. I still haven’t been able to balance the workload to enable both in a way that I feel comfortable about. The pressure of deadlines mean that monthly articles tend to get priority over the novel, which is very, very, very frustrating. I must try to simplify and streamline article writing, so I can finally publish the fictional novel. Unfortunately, temporal manipulation (time travel) isn’t within my skill set to affect.

Some regular thematic content will prevail, such as alliteration, quotes, campaigning for a better world, musicology, etc. Some subject matter will prevail, such as The CRAVEman adventures and annual end‑of‑year reviews. When there is some vintage guitar gear to write about, that will take absolute top priority.

“Every accomplishment starts with the decision to try” – John F. Kennedy (1917‑1963)

I still have a question, which I kinda covered in my October 2024 article, ‘CRAVE Guitars Writing: An Introspective Inquiry’, so apologies for the reprise. Does anyone read the articles and are they worth doing? Now that is a very difficult pair of questions to answer. As far as stats go, it seems as though the volume of readership is very, very small. So, if the audience is so tiny, why bother? Ultimately, I do it because I want to write about these things, not because I want other people to read them (believe it or not) – there is a distinction, honest. As for the perceived intellectual or entertainment value deriving from the process, that is really not up to me to judge. I am self‑critical and I set myself very high standards but that doesn’t mean that what I write has any merit. Fundamentally, whether the content is ‘good’ or ‘bad’ has absolutely nothing to do with numbers reading something and, ultimately, valuing it. I don’t believe that there is an undeniable correlation.

Article writing is not ‘fun’ and it requires a substantial amount of work for zero return but, for some unknown reason, I feel compelled to do it anyway. I have tried over and over again to fathom where that compulsion comes from and, so far, I have failed to quantify the subjective cost/benefit attributes of doing it. I view writing in all its forms as work, regardless of whether the output is woefully under‑appreciated (Ed: a bit like paid work then!).

Will I run out of material? Yes, I will. Eventually. At which time, I will admit scraping an empty barrel (and mixing metaphors), accept it, and stop writing, rather than labour the point with disappointingly diminishing returns. Until then, it is business‑as‑usual. Whether the famine of inspiration dries up before article 200, we’ll just have to wait and see. At the current rate of one article per month, 100 articles takes 8 years, 4 months. That equates to mid‑2034 for article 200 ceteris paribus, so you might have to wait awhile to be certain. Having just passed one milestone, it is time to move onto the next goal; the journey starts here folks, with article (not room) #101 (NB. Room 101 was the torture chamber within Oceania’s Ministry of Love in which a prisoner’s worst fear was manifested, as described in the classic dystopian novel, ‘1984’ (1949) by George Orwell).

“Without a plan, even the most brilliant business can get lost. You need to have goals, create milestones and have a strategy in place to set yourself up for success” – Yogi Berra (1925‑2015)

Final Thoughts on the First 100 Articles

I want to stress at this point that I am not in any way an ‘influencer’ and I do not want to be whatever one of those is. I am not trying to be clever or to influence anyone and have zero ambition to be thus labelled. Unlike many is such a role, I do not have the right to preach. Just to be clear.

So then, one might ask, what am I? Just a regular nerdy old dude is the answer. Oh, and with the hurly‑burly The CRAVEman as my alter ego, guitar god and all round superhero. Duh! (NB. Hurly‑burly is an English ‘reduplicated phrase’ originating in the 16^th Century, as in the translation from Latin of, ‘The Despisyng of the Worlde’ (1532) by Christian theologian, Erasmus (1466‑1536)).

I believe I have two fundamental contrasting outputs. One is diligently researched factual objectivity regarding vintage guitars, basses, effects and amps, as well as a passion for contemporary musicology. The other is subjective flights of fanciful fictional escapism. ‘The CRAVEman’ and ‘The Distortion Diaries’ both fall into the latter category.

“The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step” – Laozi (6^th Century BCE)

The writing process varies considerably depending on what is being covered. Frequent short social media posts, infrequent long monthly blog articles, feature pages for vintage gear on the website and, of course, the long-gestating fictional novel. I strive very hard to be adequately competent at all four, which can be quite challenging while also attempting to eke out an everyday existence in this inexplicably irrational world. Ever the idealist.

Some of this I’ve mentioned before; so please forgive the repetition. So, what is my motivation? Why do I work SO hard at CRAVE Guitars et al? It certainly isn’t for pecuniary reward – there is none. Nada. Zilch. Rien. Nichts. Well, I’d like to be remembered for something, in terms of a lasting legacy. Such a legacy, however, requires sufficient numbers of people to recognise something to differentiate someone from all the other someones, who are possibly seeking similar somethings (if you get my intentionally convoluted drift!).

Will CRAVE Guitars ever realise some recognisable measure of success? I’m not getting into a definition of ‘success’ here. It hasn’t yet. Nothing happens overnight, right? Well CRAVE Guitars has been around for nineteen years and online for twelve. I don’t think it’s going to take off now, so I am resigned to a modest profile, which is OK, as I don’t actually sell anything. I am ambitious but I also recognise when something has reached its practicable equilibrium. Ever the optimist.

“We are what we do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act but a habit” – Aristotle (384‑322BCE)

I am, sadly, not privileged with an abundance of wealth, which is something that so many worthless people rely on to make themselves visible (and vacuous). It is SO hard to be good at something different, as there is SO little original thought or action these days. Hard work does ≠ appreciable success. I do not seek fame and the idea of ‘celebrity’ status is a total anathema to me. It would be nice, though, if there is some hard‑earned recognition for my efforts. I certainly do not want to be like everyone else and I am content with my harmless and unique misanthropic deviance from societal norms. However, all that is simply not enough in 2026, with nearly 9 billion souls on the planet, all wanting ‘more’ of everything. Greed and avarice are repugnant traits of innumerable immoral individuals. Ever the humblest.

One thing is for sure, I have every intention to carry on writing articles until the time comes when I can no longer do so, for whatever reason. I hope you’ll find that encouraging. I would like to understand what readers would like to see in terms of content. If anyone wishes to suggest relevant material, I would welcome it and, perhaps, even see whether I can do a good job at it, as a challenge.

I don’t usually believe in coincidences but publishing the 100^th article just happened to coincide with publishing the 200^th page on the web site.

“Listing your personal milestones is like storing a pocketful of sunshine for a rainy day. Sometimes our best is simply not enough…. We have to do what is required” – Winston Churchill (1874‑1965)

A Short Update on ‘The Distortion Diaries’

Reflecting on the past decade of article writing for CRAVE Guitars got me thinking again about my work‑in‑progress side project. With ‘The Distortion Diaries’, (TDD for short – not the International Airport Code for Trinidad), I have only latterly come to realise just why the novel is dissimilar from my other writing and why it has become so important to me. It may be blooming obvious but it simply hadn’t occurred to me.

“Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished” – Laozi (6^th Century BCE)

Until now, excepting all my past writing as part of my paid profession, my unpaid amateur writing over the past decade or so has been available entirely via Internet‑based channels, such as web site features, blog articles and social media. Surprise, surprise, they are all digital media, only accessible on that thar hinterwebby thingummy. Thus far, nothing actually tangible.

‘The Distortion Diaries’ is, I believe, different. I want TDD to be read (primarily) in traditional physical book form, something palpable for people to hold, printed with ink on paper, one of mankind’s oldest means of widely sharing ideas, imagination and knowledge. TDD has the potential to become an expression of my creative spirit. Somehow, more ‘real’, genuine and authentic simply because of its physicality. Perhaps, this explains why I do not want TDD to become just another random record of an online opus made up entirely of binary ‘1’s and ‘0’s. How very ‘old school’ (NB. The term, ‘old school’ may originate from a pamphlet, ‘The Reply of the Country Gentleman to the Answer of His Military Arguments’ (1758) by Thomas Potter).

“The goal, and the ultimate achievement, is to make people feel as well as think” – Saul Bass (1920‑1996)

I desperately hope that someone, somewhere may (eventually) get to read The Distortion Diaries and it may even have the power to change their life, just a tiny little bit. This is an earnest wish. This epiphany is very recent and quite illuminating (and possibly a touch conceited). Apologies (again) for the soul bearing.

As final editing of TDD edges closer, any external assistance guiding me through the self‑publishing process that results in an actual physical book would be very gratefully received. A production run will be very low numbers, at least initially.

“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us” – Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803‑1882)

CRAVE Guitars’ ‘Album of the Month’

Much has been said in CRAVE Guitars articles about my predilection for reggae, particularly roots and dub reggae. Most of the genre derived from the small Caribbean island of Jamaica during the 1970s. However, the ‘Windrush Generation’ (NB. named after the passenger ship HMT Empire Windrush in 1948) resulted in immigrants from the West Indies arriving in the UK from the 1940s to the 1970s. This influx meant that a significant Caribbean influence was present in the communities of major British cities such as London, Birmingham and Bristol. This vibrant culture led to a surge in British reggae built on the back of Jamaican popularity and the global phenomenon that was Bob Marley. Often overlooked, British reggae at its best was on a par with reggae from further afield. Consequentially, this month’s accolade goes to…

Pablo Gad – Trafalgar Square (1979):

Pablo Gad was born in Jamaica (date not known) and moved to the United Kingdom in 1974. He toured regularly with the London‑based reggae band Black Slate, becoming one of the most socially conscious and often outspoken UK‑based roots reggae singers. In 1979, he released his debut solo studio album, ‘Trafalgar Square’. The current CD release of the album on Secret Records comprises 11 tracks over 50 minutes including his most well‑known track, ‘Blood Suckers’ in both vocal and dub versions. It’s not a challenging listen and it may not be an exemplar of the genre but it stands out to my ears.

Pablo Gad may not be a familiar name to those whose interest lies mainly in mainstream pop reggae. However, ‘Trafalgar Square’ is, in my opinion, a hidden gem of the effervescent British reggae movement in the 1970s and 1980s. There are plenty of UK reggae artists and bands to discover, should you be so inclined. There is a growing interest in conserving the important musical heritage of that period with several homespun record labels dedicated to the task. Great stuff, worth checking out as complementary to the wealth of authentic Jamaican reggae.

BELIEVE IN MUSIC!

“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams” – Eleanor Roosevelt (1884‑1962)

Tailpiece

Well, that’s the first article of 2026 done and dusted. For next month, I think I will be returning to a back‑to‑basics article. That will rely on some preparatory work to be done before I can confirm. I hope you’ll come back to visit at the end of February to find out what’s in prospect. In the meantime, the nagging ‘call of stuff’ beckons.

“The moon is the first milestone on the road to the stars” – Arthur C. Clarke (1917‑2008)

Truth, peace, love, and guitar music be with you always. The CRAVEman, signing off for now. Until next time…

CRAVE Guitars’ ‘Quote of the Month’: “I don’t pray for a miracle. I pray that we become wise enough that we do not need miracles”

Like it? Why not share it?

30 Dec 2024

December 2024 – CRAVE Guitars 2024 In Review

by CRAVEGuitars | posted in: Event, History, Introduction, News, Observations, Opinion | 0

Prelude

YES FOLKS, “THE END IS NIGH” (no, not the video game). The clichéd idiom of woeful doomsayers is the pessimistic prediction of impending Armageddon – the end of the world according to God’s final judgement enshrined in religious belief. Not here though. In this instance, I’m referring to the far less fatalistic but probably more imminent finale to the Gregorian calendar year of two thousand and twenty four (NB. The Gregorian calendar was established as a reform of the Julian calendar in 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII). While ‘The End Is Nigh’ may also represent the rallying cry for the biblical apocalypse, that is not my intention or implication, just my peculiar sense of absurdity.

“This is the way the world ends, not with a bang, but a whimper” – T.S. Eliot (1888‑1965)

You are probably tired of all the usual end‑of‑year retrospectives. For those few who aren’t weary of looking back, I am using the hackneyed ‘annual review’ as a convenient mechanism to conclude this particular 12 months of our collective existence. For the list‑o‑philes out there, this is probably the article for you.

Thus far, despite best endeavours, I have singularly failed to make sufficient time and space to work on the novel, ‘The Distortion Diaries’ announced in November 2024, so it looks like shorter articles will be the way of CRAVE Guitars’ regular output going into 2025.

So, without further ado, let’s take a swift look back at 2024 through the languid lenticular lens of CRAVE Guitars…

CRAVE Guitars Gear 2024 (0)

Sadly, and with great disappointment, there have been zero guitars, zero basses, zero effect pedals and zero amplifiers added or sold during 2024. Nothing. Nada. Rien. Nichts. Nulla. Zilch. Ma. Ning. Nihil. Sin. Nichto. Inga. To put it in the western euphemistic vernacular, f‑all ‘new’ old stuff. Sigh.

There have been three on‑going primary reasons for this:

Funds – As the author is on a low, fixed income and CRAVE Guitars is a non‑profit entity, there has simply been insufficient capital to invest in my preferred pastime
Space – CRAVE Guitars exists in an ordinary (small) family home, in which there is insufficient space to accommodate any more gear. The long-frustrating inability to convert the house’s dark damp cellar into a suitable CRAVE Guitars emporium is still on‑going and unlikely to change any time soon (see first reason!)
Competing priorities – In addition to a shortage of funds and space, some other things in life cannot be avoided and require priority attention. Such mundane obligations serve to divert precious funds and consume available space (see first two reasons!)

“Communism doesn’t work because people like to own stuff” – Frank Zappa (1940‑1993)

2024 was the first year since CRAVE Guitars was established in 2007 that there has been no change whatsoever to the ‘collection’. The assemblage of assorted artefacts, it seems, has reached an uneasy equilibrium. It is not my intention for this stagnant state of affairs to continue. Other things, therefore, must change in one, two or all three of the factors above before there is a substantial change to either the quantity or quality of CRAVE Guitars’ vintage gear. Don’t get me wrong, I would dearly love for the ‘collection’ to change and/or grow but, as political economists fail to understand, growth is finite.

After all is said and done, I have to declare that I am massively grateful and eternally thankful for what I have in CRAVE Guitars. It may be modest and humble but, with the dire state of the modern world, I am indeed lucky to be in this fortunate position. As ‘they’ say, things could be a whole lot worse.

“Happiness will never come to those who fail to appreciate what they already have” – Buddha (Siddhārtha Gautama – c.480 400BCE)

Some of those that left the building in 2024 (20):

As with every year that passes, sadly, there has been a number of notable music artists that have thrown off the mortal coil. Here, in memoriam, are just a few souls that we lost this year:

4 January: David Soul, aged 80
11 January: Anne Nightingale (BBC radio and television presenter), aged 83
23 January: Melanie (Melanie Anne Safka Schekeryk), aged 76
2 February: Wayne Kramer (MC5), aged 75
3 February: Aston ‘Family Man’ Barrett (Bob Marley & The Wailers and The Upsetters), aged 77
17 March: Steve Harley (Cockney Rebel), aged 73
14 April: Dickey Betts (The Allman Brothers Band), aged 80
30 April: Duane Eddy, aged 86
7 May: Steve Albini (Shellac and record producer), aged 61
22 July: John Mayall (The Bluesbreakers), aged 90
5 September: Herbie Flowers, aged 86
5 September: Sergio Mendes, aged 83
28 September: Kris Kristofferson, aged 88
15 October: Tito Jackson (Jackson 5), aged 70
16 October: Liam Payne (One Direction), aged 31
25 October: Phil Lesh (Grateful Dead), aged 84
21 October: Paul Di’Anno (Iron Maiden), aged 66
3 November: Quincy Jones, aged 91
14 November: Vic Flick, aged 87
15 December: Zakir Hussain, aged 73

“Even death is not to be feared by one who lived wisely” – Buddha

2024 album releases purchased (27):

After a prodigious injection of creativity during and immediately after the Covid pandemic, there seem to have been fewer ‘great’ albums to tempt one to part with one’s filthy lucre this last year. More mediocre musical material manifested. Over the last 12 months, there have been only a few new releases to add to the music library – just over one per fortnight. Sigh. As regularly mentioned through this platform, despite embracing music streaming, I still prefer to go ‘old skool’ and buy physical media (on CD, I no longer have vinyl). The 27 new releases purchased in 2024 were:

The Aristocrats – DUCK
Caribou – Honey
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – Wild God
Cigarettes After Sex – X’s
Culture – Good Things (reissue)
The Cure – Songs Of A Lost World
The Cure – Songs Of A Live World: Troxy London MMXXIV (live)
Dreadzone – 9
Billie Eilish – Hit Me Hard And Soft
Fat Freddy’s Drop – Slo Mo
Floating Points – Cascade
Four Tet – Three
Beth Gibbons – Lives Outgrown
Jamie xx – In Waves
Jon Hopkins – Ritual
The Jesus And Mary Chain – Glasgow Eyes
Melts – Field Theory
Niney & The Observers – Tubby’s Want The Channel: Dubbing With The Observer 1976‑1978
Opeth – The Last Will And Testament
Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry – King Perry
Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry & Youth – Spaceship To Mars
The Smile – Wall of Eyes
Linval Thompson – Ganja Man
Chelsea Wolfe – She Reaches Out To She Reaches Out To She
Various Artists – Jon Savage’s Ambient 90s
Various Artists – Niney The Observer Presents Jah Fire: The Observer 7″ Singles Collection 1976‑1977
Waxahatchee – Tigers Blood

The list above doesn’t include all the other pre‑2024 CDs added to the library over the last 12 months, which run into the several hundreds‑ish.

“If music be the food of love, play on, give me excess of it; that surfeiting, the appetite may sicken, and so die” – William Shakespeare (1564-1616)

2024 major gigs (2)

As with vintage guitar gear and creative new music, it’s also been a pretty moribund year for experiencing live music, with only two sizeable concerts attended, sadly. Thankfully, both concerts were terrific:

The Australian Pink Floyd Show (November)
Baroness (support: Pallbearer, Graveyard) (November)

Even local pub band gigs have been sparse this year. The local ‘weekender’ event featured largely cover bands and artists dishing out popular hits from the past with little, if any, original material. This paralysing trend has been commented on before. While it is good that live music is out there, it is not so good that very little fresh, new material appears to be coming up from the grass roots.

“After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music” – Aldous Huxley (1894-1963)

KEEP MUSIC LIVE!

Various tangential observations about 2024

It is that time of year, with 2025 on the proximate horizon, to round up a few random things together into some sort of convenient (if incoherent) package.

The market prices of vintage guitars and gear has increased significantly over the last 12 months within the context of volatile operating environments across the globe. Many collectors are turning their sights to previously under‑the‑radar models as the economics of supply and demand inflate the so‑called ‘golden era’ vintage guitars beyond belief. The effect of such inflation is that it is putting many ‘cool and rare vintage electric guitars’ out of reach enthusiasts (like me!). Many emerging value‑for‑money vintage guitars that were previously just about affordable, no longer are. The relative shortage and price of vintage guitars presents a difficult challenge for the future of CRAVE Guitars. As a result, I won’t be proclaiming a prioritised list of gear to look for and acquire in 2025.

My aim for 2025 is to attract 50k visits on the web site. At the time of writing, there were 43k visits in 2024. To reach 50K, it will take nearly 150 visits pre day on average. That target doesn’t seem to challenging but, believe me, it is. With the fall off in visitor numbers to the web site (probably also due to the lack of gear turnover), I will need to pay a bit more attention to promotion and social media output, including on Bluesky Social. Currently, at the end of 2024, there is very little in the way of vintage guitar content on Bluesky, so CRAVE Guitars is kinda leading the way in that respect. Bring it!

CRAVE Guitars on Bluesky Social (@crave-guitars.bsky.social)

Reflecting a seriously worrying trend with the economics of the music industry, we lost all 42 Sam Ash Music Stores in the US in May 2024. This loss is the tip of a worrying iceberg and signifies at best a stagnant musical equipment industry and, at worst, a shrinking one. The switch to Internet procurement provides some commercial compensation, although is that really the best way to purchase the gear musicians want and need?

In a similar vein, the owners of the famous Sam Goody entertainment chain announced that it will close its final music stores in 2025, after nearly 75 years of business (founded in 1951). Adios to both Sams.

Mirroring a trend of migrating from printing to virtual publishing, ‘Total Guitar’ magazine sadly met its physical demise in October 2024 after 30 years on the newsagents’ shelves.

Commercially successful bands also seem to be in decline judging by the number of single and album chart successes performed by ‘real’ bands being at a considerably lower level than that of solo artists. Streaming has also demonstrated that ‘the album’ now has less significance than curated playlists and popular single tracks. So… one conclusion that might be drawn from this is that serious music creativity might be under threat (although hasn’t it always been thus?).

Perhaps the comeback of physical media (see below) might reinvigorate greater interest in bands and albums. One band that released a successful studio album in 2024, thereby bucking the otherwise inevitable trend, gets CRAVE Guitars’ Album of the Month (and Year).

As an avid buyer of new and used physical music media, the author has noticed that the market for CDs seems to have experienced an upturn during the last year. According to some sources, 2024 is likely to be the second year in a row that CD sales have shown signs of a resurgence, following the example of vinyl. Coincidentally, according to some research, this turnaround may also be a sign that demand for music digital streaming may have peaked and digital downloads are definitely in decline. The almost‑trend of CD growth, assuming it continues, could potentially match the vinyl revival in demonstrating that music lovers appreciate and value the ownership of tangible media.

The indication is that the availability of second hand CDs has decreased slightly at the same time that the price of used CDs has increased – once again demonstrating the inevitable dynamics of economic supply and demand. Ultimately, though, the method of listening is less important than the fact that people are actually listening to more music in the post‑Covid, pre‑dystopian world.

On the subject of physical media, readers may know about my particular proclivity for reggae and especially dub reggae. I am now finding it quite hard to find and buy quality dub reggae CDs at a reasonable price. The diminishing returns effect means I’m beginning to get into rare and collectable dub reggae CDs, which is competing for finite funds that could be used on vintage guitars. Decisions, decisions, decisions.

Final thoughts on the end of 2024: the future starts here

The world seems increasingly to be descending irretrievably towards society’s End of Times (see top of the article), driven by just a few maladjusted, misguided maniacal, malevolent, malignant, megalomaniacs, seemingly sanctioned by the compliant acquiescence of copious complicit citizens. Critical questioning seems to have been replaced by indolent, possibly ignorant, apathetic obeyance. Harmony, stability and security are fundamental imperatives for human survival and we seem conveniently to have forgotten this, or worse, not to care a jot. Why should I care; no‑one else seems to?

“Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn” – Rhett Butler played by Clark Gable in the film ‘Gone with the Wind’ (1939)

Now, the thing is… I do care. War is repugnant and indefensible in the 21^st Century. ALL countries need to STOP and reflect on the insanity of where we are heading. Fighting Is Utterly Futile. Fact!

“Hatred does not cease by hatred, but only by love; that is the eternal rule” – Buddha

If we do not wake up soon to this pervasive and insidious threat, I fear it will be too late. The human extinction process has begun and appears to be irreversible without an urgent call to action to create a better civilisation and sustainable future. Peace has to be the first step to global co‑operation, which would then release the potential, ability and resources to tackle global issues in a truly united way.

“We set sail on this new sea because there is new knowledge to be gained, and new rights to be won, and they must be won and used for the progress of all people” – John F. Kennedy (1917‑1963)

How to do that? My (vain) suggestion would be that the United Nations (UN) should be transformed into a potent force that is empowered to act in the interests of all species on our little planet. A strengthened UN could intervene to curtail existing conflicts and counteract new ones through diplomacy and negotiation, using force only as a last resort. The UN is ideally placed to do so but it needs to become much, much more than the impotent talking shop that it is now. It could, and perhaps should, become a genuine peace‑making and peace‑keeping force that is mandated by the collective of all non‑pariah states to supersede unilateral national interests and intercede where necessary for the long‑term sake of humanity as a whole. That, after all, was what the UN was set up to do post‑WWII.

If realised, the UN could also become an international rescue organisation to assist after natural disasters and an aid distribution organisation to help victims of misfortune. However, given that national interests will continue to overwhelm efforts towards collective agreements, sadly, I cannot see that happening, at least not in my lifetime.

“We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organise and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too” – John F. Kennedy (1917‑1963)

Military conflict, though, is only for starters. We also need to guard against unrestrained population growth, catastrophic deforestation, critical food insecurity, irrevocable climate change, unbridled economic migration, uninhibited ideological extremism, perilous habitat erosion, acute ecological pollution of air land and water, and devastating social division. All are perilous global crises created by humans. Only humans can act together to resolve them. Only the ignorant can sit idly by and ignore them. No biggies then! Perhaps the end is nigher than we think after all.

“The world will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who watch them without doing anything” – Albert Einstein (1879‑1955)

I am, by nature a romantic optimist, almost to the point of hapless delusion. So, I guess we have to retain some sense of belief, purpose and positivity about the future in order to avoid cataclysm and improve our, and future generations’, chances of survival and salvation, starting in 2025.

“We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope” – Martin Luther King Jr (1929‑1968)

I propose to you a simple but profound premise – Hope is based on progress resulting in a future that will be better than the past and the present. I don’t pray for a miracle. I pray that we become wise enough that we do not need miracles. Time will tell but will there be anyone around to listen? Apologies folks. Soap box over. Again.

“I Have a Dream…” – Martin Luther King Jr

CRAVE Guitars’ ‘Album of the Month (and Year)’

As we are at the end of the year, it only seems fair to select an album from this year’s new releases. Full disclosure here, on this occasion I am biased, as the band has been one of my go‑to favourite bands for nearly five decades.

The Cure – Songs of a Lost World (2024). After 16 long years since the flawed, ‘4:13 Dream’ (2008), The Cure released their 14^th studio album, ‘Songs of a Lost World’ on 1 November on the Fiction record label. SoaLW was The Cure’s first album to reach number 1 in the UK album chart since, ‘Wish’ (1992) – a gap of 32 years! It is also their best since, ‘Disintegration’ (1989), up there with, ‘Bloodflowers’ (2000), ‘Pornography’ (1982) and, ‘Faith’ (1981). In its first week, SoaLW outsold all other chart albums in the top 5 combined, a rarity for a band album these days (see above). As it turns out, it is a rare thing and well worth waiting for.

Hyperbole like ‘triumphant’ and ‘monumental’ are regularly thrown about but rarely well‑deserved. SoaLW is high on atmosphere and represents a tremendously powerful achievement, ably showing that there is life in the old dogs yet. There is not much in the way of happy, catchy sing‑along commercial material but, thankfully, The Cure remain true to no‑one but themselves. It is a densely layered intricate and immersive ‘wall of sound’ best experienced in a single sitting; certainly not easily accessible for a casual listener. Rather than selling out to marketable popularism, the band has released a deeply personal and affecting collection of 8 tracks covering just 49 minutes. Robert Smith also took an unusual step in publically thanking everyone for their support and loyalty. SoaLW was also accompanied by live recording of the launch concert, ‘Songs of a Live World: Troxy London MMXXIV’.

At this stage in their career, The Cure didn’t have to release an album of such laboured, tortured quality. They could easily have phoned in a profitable release with little effort (see, ‘Wild Mood Swings’ (1996) and ‘The Cure’ (2004)). Such integrity and creativity is rare for a band that has been around for so long, admittedly not always consistently great. Thankfully, Robert Smith and his band have delivered an astonishing late‑career masterpiece (apologies for more hyperbole) that bucks the trend of 2020s popular music.

In other news, The Cure has been a hard‑working band, still touring for a large part of each year as well as fighting against the abhorrent avarice of ‘dynamic ticket pricing’, so that fans can get a fair deal. No wonder that The Cure were recipients of NME’s Godlike Genius Award in 2009 and inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2019. SoaLW took years in the making but it turned out to be a good end to 2024. See, I said I was biased.

“If I go back to how I was when I was a younger man, my plan was to keep doing this till I fall over, my idea of when I fell over wasn’t this old” – Robert Smith (1959-)

BELIEVE IN MUSIC!

Tailpiece

So, there you have it. Another calendar year comes to an end and passes into history. Gone, never to return. For those of us in existence today, it represents another year closer to us all attending that great gig in the sky. However, it’s probably best not to dwell on that particular inevitability.

It has been another full year of CRAVE Guitars articles. With the lack of productivity regarding gear acquisitions, monthly articles have tended to be less focused on old instruments, effects and amps that are the mainstay of CRAVE Guitars. However, this has provided an opportunity to explore other, more holistic, facets of vintage guitars, the wider music industry and cultural musicology.

With the need to make time and space for ‘The Distortion Diaries’ novel (first hinted at December 2023 and covered in more detail in October 2024), we’ll just have to wait and see what CRAVE Guitars articles will be like in 2025. Let us hope 2024+1 proves to be a positive year and that there will be plenty of interest to sustain attention.

Wishing y’all a Happy New Year and thanks for looking in. P.S. I hope you enjoyed the postponed (for now) End of Days! The end, it seems, might not be quite so nigh after all. Hopefully.

“I am here, alone, at the end of the world. I reach out and touch nothing” – Haruki Murakami (1949‑)

Truth, peace, love, and guitar music be with you always. See ya next year. Until next time…

CRAVE Guitars’ ‘Quote of the Month’: “If nowhere actually exists, how can you possibly know when you are in the middle of it?”

Like it? Why not share it?

John F Kennedy

Prelude

This Month at CRAVE Guitars…

The Rationale for the Article

The United States of America at 250 and Counting

Fender at 80 and Counting

The Fender Telecaster at 75 and Counting

The Fender Precision at 75 and Counting

The Music Man Stingray Bass at 50 and counting

Final Thoughts on ‘A Year of Notable Anniversaries’

Other Notable Anniversaries in 2026

The CRAVEman Celebrating Anniversaries

CRAVE Guitars’ ‘Album(s) of the Month’

Tailpiece

Prelude

This Month at CRAVE Guitars…

The First 100 Articles

Things I Have Learned

The Next 100 Articles

Final Thoughts on the First 100 Articles

A Short Update on ‘The Distortion Diaries’

CRAVE Guitars’ ‘Album of the Month’

Tailpiece

Prelude

CRAVE Guitars Gear 2024 (0)

Some of those that left the building in 2024 (20):

2024 album releases purchased (27):

2024 major gigs (2)

Various tangential observations about 2024

Final thoughts on the end of 2024: the future starts here

CRAVE Guitars’ ‘Album of the Month (and Year)’

Tailpiece