30 Mar 2025

March 2025 – Eastern Concepts and Vintage Guitars

by | posted in: History, Introduction, Observations, Opinion | 0

Prelude

HOWDY AND A HEARTY HELLO HOPEFULLY HAPPY HOMIES. Welcome to a musical spring. A whole quarter of a year down already and three more quarters left to round off 2025 – the first quarter of the 21st Century. Thank you for coming (back) to join me for the maniacally, methodical muddled, mental mumblings of an alliterative self‑confessed vintage gear junkie. I have to say that craving (sic!) for vintage guitars is a lot safer and a lot healthier than the insane expansionist power lust of deviant narcissists seeking to dominate every aspect of our very existence and remorselessly exploit whatever assets they can seize to feed their own rapacious appetites. Stop. It. Already!

Back to the point, thankfully. Things have taken a bit of an unexpected detour in recent months. It all started with ’10 Things I Love and Hate About Vintage Guitars’ (essentially now Part 1 of 3 – Universal Balance/Yin & Yang), followed by the complementary, ‘Ikigai and Vintage Guitars’ (basically now Part 2 of 3 – Reason for Living). However, that still left some material uncovered and some loose ends untied. So this month, I’ll be closing the circle and squaring the loop (yay! Maddening mixed metaphors are back too!).

So… the ramification is that, this month, we have what is effectively now Part 3 of 3 – other ‘Eastern Concepts and Vintage Guitars’. If you wish to view or review either or both of the previous articles, they can be reprised or discovered here (links open in a new tab):

January 2025 – 10 Things I Love and Hate About Vintage Guitars
February 2025 ‑ Ikigai and Vintage Guitars

As always, no AI was used in the research and writing of this article, so you can blame the author’s paltry organic grey matter for errors, omissions, wayward opines and dubious writing skills. Apologies for being a mere puny human.

Some interesting Japanese cultural concepts

In addition to ikigai, there are a number of other Japanese concepts that may help us to make sense of our life experiences. They may also help to illuminate a tiny aspect of the universal balance in everything from the infinite vastness of the cosmos to the most elusive sub‑atomic particles. As with the last two articles, each of the seven topics covered below will be introduced and then the relevance to vintage gear will be explored. For clarity, as always, the scope of vintage gear in this context includes guitars, basses, effects and amps.

Japanese Torii Gate (Courtesy Kanenori)
Japanese Torii Gate (Courtesy Kanenori)

In a slight change from the norm, instead of usual quotes, the numerous sayings littered through this month’s article comprise a selection of Japanese proverbs and idioms. These have been used to help illustrate the cultural foundations behind the subject matter.

“Good fences make good neighbours” – Japanese proverb (boundaries are important for healthy relationships)

I hasten to add that this is not an exhaustive encyclopaedia of eastern philosophical constructs, just a casual dipping of toes in the deep dark waters of some interesting (at least to me) alternative perspectives on life, the universe and everything.

“One who chases after two hares won’t even catch one!” – Japanese proverb (if you go after too many things, then you may end up with none)

Shikata ga nai (仕方がない)

In short, shikata ga nai means ‘control what you can control’. It is often translated as ‘it cannot be helped’, ‘there is no alternative’ or ‘nothing can be done about it’. The inference is that one should not waste one’s life on things over which one has no control; rather one should focus on those things that one can actually affect. In some ways, it may be regarded as similar to the modern Western onion‑like model of ‘levels or spheres of influence’. In addition, shikata ga nai emphasises acceptance and resilience in the face of external adversity. It is about rejecting resignation and weakness in favour of creating strength and tenacity. Shikata ga nai acknowledges that some things are outside of one’s ability to change and places the emphasis on motivation and finding a way to move forward despite challenges and setbacks.

Over the years, CRAVE Guitars has faced many seemingly insurmountable challenges, the most devastating being the total loss of home, career and assets (2010‑2012), which took many gruelling years to recover any sense of self‑determination. It was during this long salvage period (2012‑2019) that most CRAVE Guitars were safely stored by a close friend and any sort of growth was largely in abeyance. During this time, even though CRAVE Guitars was effectively in stasis, the opportunity was taken to launch the web site, introduce social media and create monthly blog articles. In many ways, re‑establishing stability is still a work‑in‑progress, even 13‑15 years later. There have been other hurdles but none compare to that cataclysmic event. Therefore, Shikata ga nai has been of particular relevance to CRAVE Guitars.

“Work in the fields on a fine day, read books on a rainy day” – Japanese proverb (adapt to circumstances and enjoy life)

Gaman (我慢)

Gaman is a Zen Buddhist term that simply means to do one’s best in distressing circumstances and to maintain self‑control and discipline. Gaman roughly translates to ‘enduring the seemingly unbearable with patience and dignity’. It emphasises strength, perseverance, resilience, and self‑discipline during periods of hardship and adversity. Gaman is, therefore, similar in many ways to Shikata ga nai. Both emphasise a reactionary approach to imposed external events. Whereas Shikata ga nai is about ability to exert influence, Gaman is about rising above the immediate dangers and managing one’s approach to overcoming threats with confidence, determination and positivity.

For CRAVE Guitars, Gaman has definitely been about riding the waves of difficulty and using near‑delusional optimism to brave the stresses and pressures of everyday modern life, as well as in the context of ‘that’ incident mentioned above. CRAVE Guitars has taken many years of patient endeavour from inception to fruition, which was almost destroyed in a few fateful days. Hopefully important lessons about truth, fortitude and wisdom have been learned. When faced with significant threat, stoicism is key, as is the necessity to safeguard one’s mental health. Nuff said on that front.

“Fall down seven times, stand up eight” – Japanese proverb (keep trying until you succeed)

Wabi‑sabi (侘び寂び)

This ancient Japanese aesthetic concept literally translated means ‘subdued, austere beauty and rustic patina’. It embraces the beauty of imperfection, transience, incompletion and nature. It’s about finding beauty inherent in the flawed, the partial and the fleeting. Wabi‑sabi encourages us to step back, open one’s mind and appreciate the simple, unadorned, and natural elements of life. Wabi‑sabi comprises seven aspects, simplicity, asymmetry, subtlety, naturalness, grace, freedom from habits and tranquillity. Wabi‑sabi is something that I have mentioned many times including the two previous articles. A brief definition even features on the home page of the CRAVE Guitars’ web site.

One of the aspects of CRAVE Guitars that I have long laboured is the uniqueness and individuality of each and every vintage instrument, whether it is the near‑mint (but never perfect) guitars or the ones that many might regard as being ‘player grade’, from expensive to the budget, from the classic to the esoteric, from respected to maligned – all are welcome here. Readers will also probably be aware that I am not an advocate of modern relic treatments that aim, let’s be honest, to fake the natural wear and tear of decades of real music‑making use. Minor damage can have its own beauty. It is safe to say that wabi‑sabi is integral to the beliefs, values and norms of CRAVE Guitars.

“Flowers even bloom on grass that has been stomped on” – Japanese proverb (you can recover from your difficulties)

Kaizen (改善)

The Japanese idea of kaizen refers to the process of unceasing and unrelenting endeavours to improve in every way. Its roots lie in post‑World War II Japanese economic reform and is closely associated with the culture of the Toyota Motor Corporation. Kaizen literally means ‘improvement’. In modern businesses, kaizen embodies the approach of ‘continuous improvement’ in leadership, management, operational and organisational processes. It’s about making numerous small, incremental changes or ongoing sustainable adjustments in all aspects of life, from personal development through manufacturing to commercial procedures. Kaizen is the means while the end is achieving long‑term strategic goals and enduring success.

As mentioned in last month’s article, three essential components of ikigai are ‘starting small’, ‘harmony and sustainability’ and ‘the joy of little things’. All of these are consistent with Kaizen and the gradual evolution of CRAVE Guitars over the last 18 years. With finite funds and space, advances to CRAVE Guitars can only be achieved through continuous improvement and positive change, at least over the things that one can control (see above). Another aim is to attempt to avoid occasional, radical change, which can be damaging, disruptive and distracting. Easier said than done. Being realistic, there really could not have been an alternative approach.

“Better to ask and be embarrassed than not ask and never know” – Japanese proverb (it is OK to question, even if it is a seems humiliating)

Shu‑Ha‑Ri (守破離)

This is a concept derived from martial arts, particularly aikido and describes a three‑stage process from learning to mastery. Shu‑Ha‑Ri has extended beyond its martial arts origins and has been adapted to various disciplines, including business, education, hobbies and personal development. The three stages can be crudely paraphrased as; Shu (‘protect’ – follow the rules), Ha (‘detach’ – break the rules) and Ri (‘separate’ – transcend the rules). Shu‑Ha‑Ri emphasises the importance of following tradition and learning from others, before developing one’s own style or approach.

Founding CRAVE Guitars was definitely the start of a long process of exploring, learning and understanding the discipline associated with vintage guitars. It involved researching, corroborating and rationalising what ‘vintage guitars’ means and how the subject could be approached objectively. Evolving CRAVE Guitars meant breaking away from traditional conventions, making the entity unique, challenging prevailing views and preconceived ideas, and avoiding assumptions from a position of informed opinion. Questioning the status quo is not about conforming to existing wisdom or spouting forth with ignorant arrogance but about improving collective knowledge through better information and greater understanding. The future of CRAVE Guitars may or may not encompass mastery, which I believe is an unending process rather than an achievable absolute outcome. Personally, I believe that ‘transcendence’ can only ever be an ongoing aspiration. That doesn’t mean that one should not strive continuously to attain mastery. CRAVE Guitars has followed, and continues to follow, the path laid out by shu‑ha‑ri.

“Even a monkey can fall from a tree” – Japanese proverb (an expert can still make mistakes)

Mono no aware (物の哀れ)

This can be translated to mean, ‘the pathos of things’ and also as ‘an empathy toward things’. It is a Japanese idiom for the awareness of impermanence and transience. It also includes the idea of wistfulness, sorrow and the gentle sadness of passing, as all things must. Mono no aware describes the bittersweet feeling of appreciation for the fleeting nature of life. It is an empathy for all things and a reminder that change is an unalterable reality of existence, including joy, sadness, beauty, death and decay. It is about cherishing the here and now and living in the present moment, acknowledging its importance and feeling gratitude for the time and things one has.

An essential element of ikigai is ‘being in the here and now’ and mono no aware is very much about the Buddhist philosophy of appreciating what one has in the present moment. In last month’s article, I talked about the role of stewardship and guardianship of vintage guitars, all of which preceded me and which will hopefully long outlive me. The past cannot be affected. The best that one can do is to act in the present moment, learning from the past and creating the best environment for the future. For CRAVE Guitars, there has been plenty of mournful remorse; regret and wasted thoughts about what might have been had external events beyond my control not intervened so profoundly. Mono no aware is therefore a crucial value for CRAVE Guitars.

“Two bodies, same heart” – Japanese proverb (two people in perfect harmony)

Mottainai (勿体無い)

Mottainai is about a sense of regret over what one discards. Alternatively, it is about the spirit of valuing and respecting resources as well as avoiding unnecessary waste or extravagance. While this concept is often associated with modern‑day environmentalism and sustainability, it can also be applied to intangible resources like time, energy and money. The Western approach of ‘reduce, reuse, recycle and repair’ stresses that we should all use limited resources fully and effectively, to express gratitude, to promote respect, and to avoid wastage. Put simply in the Western vernacular, mottainai is used as the rather bland expression, ‘what a waste’, which is a typical first world dumbing down of an important idea. The implication of mottainai is that Western cultural ideals based on capitalism and growth are ultimately doomed, as they are both destructive and finite.

Ikigai also emphasises ‘harmony and sustainability’. I have proposed the importance of conserving, rather than preserving vintage guitars for the future, keeping them functional and ensuring their longevity. CRAVE Guitars is certainly not about ephemera, obsolescence and disposability. Mottainai is the antithesis of the insistent desire for shiny new gear, only for it to be summarily disposed of when something newer or better comes along. The relevance of mottainai to CRAVE Guitars is about maximising what is already in existence and wasting nothing (or at least as little as possible). My hope is that the time and effort that I have poured into CRAVE Guitars over the last 18 years has not been in vain and, in some miniscule way, has made the world a better place. I have natural concerns about mortality and legacy – what happens to CRAVE Guitars once this mortal coil has been cast off – although, realistically, that is not my call to make.

“Dumplings over flowers” – Japanese proverb (substance over style)

Final Thoughts on Eastern Philosophy and Vintage Guitars

Hopefully, the topics explored in the two previous articles and herein make some sense and that the seven complementary concepts above help to reinforce the nature of CRAVE Guitars’ reflections on the subject of vintage guitars. Whether this is expressing the ’10 Things I Love and Hate about Vintage Guitars’ or exploring’ Ikigai and Vintage Guitars’, there is a synergy about these ideas that is both fascinatingly philosophical in its own right as well as founded in pragmatic real‑life common sense.

Humans are currently in existential crisis. We currently live in a way that is unsustainable and not in harmony with our (only) world. As things are, and unless we change, we are firmly set on a course of unavoidable self‑destruction and hominid extinction. If, as some believe, life on Earth is unique in the universe, we are seemingly determined to exploit it ruthlessly until there is nothing left. That is hubris in the extreme. Tragic fact.

“Know the pain of others by pinching yourself” – Japanese proverb (always have compassion for others)

Over the years, in my research, I believe that the not‑for‑profit entity that is CRAVE Guitars is unlike anything else and its position does not fit any convenient categorisation. Part of the reason for this has, I hope, been covered in these three articles. CRAVE Guitars is not an egomaniacal accumulation of vintage gear that would be worthy of museum curatorship or an elite private collection. Neither is it a commercial enterprise striving for maximum return on investment and profit. Furthermore, CRAVE Guitars is not about hiding away these artefacts from the world. They may not be precious but they are precious to me. Neither am I a fame and fortune‑seeking individual, far from it. One unbreakable CRAVE Guitars principle is, if I cannot afford it, I cannot own it. No exceptions. While this may limit expectations and opportunity, it is a necessary code born from experience and past events.

“To lose is to win” – Japanese proverb (sometimes it is better deliberately to step away from conflict)

I hope that, through these three articles, I have been able to demonstrate that CRAVE Guitars represents a rational perspective towards vintage guitar ownership that can be appreciated and shared. I have taken a somewhat esoteric approach to get to this point and I hope that it has in some way been entertaining, interesting and informative. While the context is not unique, the viewpoints expressed over these three months are my own. Have I succeeded in applying Eastern teachings to CRAVE Guitars in a practical way? I believe and hope so. The Far Eastern concepts have been based on many centuries of accumulated learning, knowledge and wisdom, so they have substantial proven credibility and shouldn’t be immediately dismissed as irrelevant to today’s modern Western world. This isn’t the be‑all and end‑all of things; I do believe strongly that we all have a great deal still to learn and we should open our minds to possibilities and potential as yet unused. Arguably, we should be careful not to exploit those prospects for personal gain, the detriment of others or adverse impact on our environment. Greed, avarice and materialism are not on CRAVE Guitars’ agenda. We should (and need to) be wiser than that.

“If a fish is kind to the water, the water will be kind to the fish” – Japanese proverb (quid pro quo)

Thankfully, what I have discovered through my research is congruent, rather than divergent. If it was the latter, I would now be in a heck of a confused mess. There is a remarkable level of consistency. I do not think that I have fallen into the trap of positive confirmation and manipulation (only seeking evidence that support a predetermined hypothesis and disregarding what does not), rather it has been a journey of personal discovery and enlightenment. While that statement may seem overly conceited, pompous and pretentious, there is something to what has been learned over the last three months that has been practically life‑affirming.

“A pearl to a pig” – Japanese proverb (don’t waste things on those who won’t appreciate them)

Early on, I wondered if any of this would help to determine the future of CRAVE Guitars and the direction in which it should be taken. Well… sadly, there hasn’t been any sort of inspirational epiphany that will transform CRAVE Guitars into something very different from where it has been going anyway. That, in itself, is reassuring. Perhaps my research has strengthened and reinforced my approach or perhaps it might have gone that way intuitively without basing it on Oriental, rather than Occidental, philosophical leanings. In truth, though, the answer to that particular quandary is impossible to determine post‑facto.

“A skilled swordsman has superior manners” – Japanese proverb (noble behaviour is just as important as combat skills to a warrior)

The outcome is that nothing much is likely to change and CRAVE Guitars will continue to develop and evolve in an organic way and that is OK by me. There is no need for a strategic plan or business objectives for the next few years, which is something that would be needed for a commercial operation. To be honest here, I also don’t think that that really matters. I could be wrong but, if I am relatively content with things as they are, there seems little point in changing CRAVE Guitars to be something else with which I would not be content.

“The talented hawk hides its claws” – Japanese proverb (be modest about your abilities)

CRAVE Guitars’ ‘Album of the Month’

I’m definitely going off the well‑trodden path of previous albums of the month. After three articles delving into Eastern philosophy, it makes sense to conclude the triptych with a Japanese musical work of art as the focus this month. In a very rare move, I’m contradicting my previously declared lack of appreciation for classical music. However, it isn’t typical orchestral stuff, it is a modern interpretation of classical themes. Previously, electronic synthesizers had been used mainly in experimental and avant‑garde music. It wasn’t until Walter/Wendy Carlos released, ‘Switched‑On Bach’ (1968) that electronica was brought tentatively into the (margins of the) mainstream of popular music. While that seminal work was undeniably a key benchmark, it isn’t my choice this month. Instead, that honour goes to…

Tomita – Snowflakes are Dancing (1974) – ‘Snowflakes Are Dancing’ is the second studio album by late Japanese electronic musician Isao Tomita (1932‑2016). The original album was released by RCA Records in April 1974. The ten tracks are Tomita’s arrangements of Claude Debussy’s (1862‑1918) music with the track ‘Clair de Lune’ probably being the most familiar to those not inculcated in the classics. The pieces on ‘Snowflakes are Dancing’ were performed by Tomita on a Moog synthesizer and a Mellotron, and his approach proved ground breaking in the use of extensive studio effects, sequencer programming, complex pseudo‑polyphonic sounds and quadraphonic recording techniques. While all of this may seem archaic and pedestrian today, it was an astounding achievement back in the early 1970s. The album was not only critically acclaimed, it was also reasonably successful commercially and laid the ground for Tomita’s later career moves. More recent reissues have added bonus tracks but that is superficial icing on an already very nicely prepared cake. It’s a beautiful listen for non‑classical musos.

‘Snowflakes’ could have been a sterile facsimile of music but somehow Tomita managed to extract emotion and mood from oscillators and filters. I have previously stated that classical music really ain’t my thang. That still stands and I don’t listen to ‘Snowflakes are Dancing’ in that way, I wallow in the ambient, spacy soundscapes (called ‘tone painting’) and it is that easy‑on‑the‑ear (and brain) nature that marks the difference, at least for me, from Walter/Wendy Carlos’s earlier works.

Tomita – Snowflakes Are Dancing (1974)

BELIEVE IN MUSIC!

“What one likes, one will do well at” – Japanese proverb (do things that you enjoy and you will become more proficient at them)

Tailpiece

Thank you all for looking in once again and suffering my ceaselessly cerebral cul‑de‑sac of ceremonial contemplation. I think that, at least for now, this article concludes the triple outing of viewing the world of vintage guitars through the binoculars of Far Eastern philosophical concepts. While it could have been hard‑going, I hope it has been entertaining and informative. I have certainly learned a great deal along the way, so it has been worthwhile adventure for that reason alone.

This month, I believe that I’ve tied up loose ends and brought things to a logical conclusion and also done it relatively succinctly (for me). While there is undoubtedly plenty more to explore, that would represent diminishing returns for monthly articles, so it is time to put this particular theme to bed, at least for now. I still desperately need to make time and space for writing ‘The Distortion Diaries’, something I have singularly and woefully been unsuccessful in achieving recently. Sigh.

“Three years sitting on a rock” – Japanese proverb (the value of patience)

Next month, I will have to contrive another source of inspiration. What I can say, though, is that it will not be a nominal Part 4 of this particular journey. Unexpect the expected.

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

CRAVE Guitars’ ‘Quote of the Month’: “If money is the root of all evil, then just stop and think for a moment about who is the root of all money”

© 2025 CRAVE Guitars – Love Vintage Guitars.

 

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28 Jan 2025

January 2025 – 10 Things I Love and Hate about Vintage Guitars

by | posted in: History, Introduction, Observations, Opinion | 0

Prelude

HERALDING A HEARTY “HELLO” to y’all for the first time in 2025. Welcome one and all this fresh, shiny New Year, albeit nearly a month old now. Personally, I dislike January. It is cold, dark, wet and definitely inclement. In addition, due to the preceding festive season, January is a month of self‑imposed financial austerity. Almost unbelievably, this year (2025) represents a quarter of the way into the first century of the second millennium already. Where does time go and, more importantly for each of us, uniquely, is where did our time go? One thing is for sure, once it’s gone, it’s gone and it can never be recycled for any purpose other than memory and, perhaps, reminiscence. As one gets older and nearer to the long rest of inevitable mortality, time becomes disproportionately more precious and ephemeral.

Now, ‘they’ say that those who can’t do, teach, those who can’t teach, teach teachers and those who can’t teach teachers write about the things they can’t do or teach. So here I am writing about stuff that I don’t really feel qualified to discuss. Again. Some readers will know way more about vintage guitars than I ever will. Wait… hold on a sec… that’s never stopped me. Oh, what the heck, let’s do this.

This month, I’d like to get back to the subject close to my heart, vintage guitars. It’s been a while because I’ve been writing about other things. This month, while I’m still trying (and not getting far) to work on ‘The Distortion Diaries’, I was thinking about what I like about vintage guitars and what I don’t like about them. One might think that my experience might be entirely positive. However, the reality is a great deal more pragmatic.

The free‑ranging thought processes led me to this month’s article, ‘Ten Things…’ In previous articles, I have attempted to understand the appeal of vintage guitars compared to modern instruments and other old stuff. However, this was inherently a predisposed approach, using positive reinforcement to justify a lifelong preoccupation. Time then, I thought, to take a more contemplative, critical and non‑prejudicial approach by questioning what I love about vintage guitars and the polar opposite of what I hate about vintage guitars.

For info, the majority of the quotes this month are from William Shakespeare’s ‘Taming of the Shrew’ (c.1590‑1594) and a romantic comedy film loosely based on the play, ‘10 Things I Hate About You’ (1999). This is intentional and fitting.

“You can’t just buy me a guitar every time you mess up, you know” – Kat from the film, ‘10 Things I Hate About You’

Understanding universal balance

Before we start, please bear with me while I take a bit of an existential ‘helicopter view’, then we’ll get to the point. Like most things in the universe (at least our universe if you believe in multiverses), there exists a natural balance that, overall, maintains a steady state of equilibrium over time while also allowing for chaotic fluctuations.

Once again, I’m looking to the east for cultural inspiration. In ancient Chinese philosophy, the concept regarding opposite but complementary, interconnected and self‑perpetuating cycle is known as yin and yang. The opposing forces of yin and yang interact to form a dynamic system in which the whole is greater than the parts and the parts are integral to the whole. The concept is represented by the Taijitu (the familiar diagram of the ‘supreme ultimate’, c.3rd Century BCE) with black representing yin (the female/passive/negative) and white representing yang (the male/active/positive). The contrasting dots in the Taijitu represent the one co‑existing within the other. Yin and yang are co‑dependent – they cannot exist in isolation, only in perpetual, infinite duality (called a unity of opposites). With yin & yang, the duality exists between the opposing cosmological forces of order and chaos. In human socio‑political terms, the duality is signified by the tension between order and disorder, good and evil, etc. The concept of universal balance applies equally to the past, the present, and the future of existence. Put simply, opposites exist for a reason. Right, that’s the mind‑bending bit over. Deep breath time.

Taijitu

“You’re 18, you don’t know what you want. And you won’t know what you want ’til you’re 45, and even if you get it, you’ll be too old to use it” – Walter from the film, ‘10 Things I Hate About You’

Applying universal balance

So… balance is important. The fundamental and elemental ‘rules of engagement’ represented by yin and yang are applicable to every aspect of “life, the universe and everything” (NB. A reference from ‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’ (1979) by author Douglas Adams).

Thus, when it comes to vintage guitars (and, by extension, equally to vintage basses, effects, amps, etc.), there is a universal balance that provides for the existence of these bits of wood, plastic and metal, and how we feel about them. Accepting the principle of equal and opposing absolutes; light and dark, good and bad, black and white, truth and lies, men and women (at least in my day), concepts of heaven and hell, N and S magnetic poles, etc., let’s start with the positives before we move onto the negatives.

Please remember that this is my, albeit biased, personal opinion under the guise of establishing objective fact. Readers will undoubtedly think differently, so please regard these ‘10 things…’ as the author’s own perspective – nothing more, nothing less. Above everything else, though, this perfunctory examination is for entertainment purposes only. Reader discretion is advised.

I will, however, attempt to curtail my typical tendency to alliteration, my personal propensity for hyperbole, my fun‑filled metaphor mixing and other intentional grammatical sins.

“Better once than never, for never too late” – William Shakespeare from ‘The Taming of the Shrew’

10 Things…

For once, I am not going to go into great depths and will limit each point for brevity. I trust that the implied message behind a few words (for me) is sufficient to convey what I struggle to express. Right, without further ado, let’s get into the action.

10 Things… I Love About Vintage Guitars:

  1. The Heritage and the History – Vintage guitars are the epitome of heritage and they chart the sights and sounds of music over many decades. Many guitars are associated with artists and musical genres that embody and reflect social culture of their time. They play a fundamental and integral part of music history. These aren’t just ‘antiques’ to be stuck on a dusty shelf, they can (and should) actually still be used to make music. My playing skills are inadequate but that doesn’t matter. Holding and playing vintage instruments imbues an intangible, almost mystical appreciation of a zeitgeist stored within the materials. They are vintage because of the long life they have lived, not just the number of years since manufacture. It is, however, all too easy to slip into a deceptively romanticised view of the past.
  2. The Ownership – Fundamentally, people like to own stuff and, for me, that means vintage guitars. Once we start accumulating stuff, there are deep‑seated psychological reasons why we develop a compulsion to collect more stuff. There is no space here to cover that, so you’ll have to take my word for it (for now – I feel another article topic coming). Watching guitars on stages, TV and, yes, even viewing them in museums is one thing but the thrill of having them literally to hand and being able to pick up a vintage guitar and to play it is massive part of the ownership experience. Simply owning and playing some of these old instruments is a pleasurable exercise. Once acquired, I don’t feel inclined to move any of them on; they become part of my life. Protracted ownership is one of the key reasons I’m not a dealer.
  3. The Uniqueness – Back in the day, guitars were largely manufactured by hand and it is unlikely to find two that were identical even back at the factory. On top of that, add in all the things that have happened to them over many years and they bear the marks of time, giving them their mojo and making each and every one of them even more unique and genuinely so. No fake aging here. There is something uniquely satisfying about knowing that the guitar in your hand is unlike any other on the planet, not because it’s been messed with but because it has lived a life of music making over the decades.
  4. The Authenticity – Vintage guitars are the real thing. Not reissues, not New Old Stock (NOS), not relics. They show in every way that they’ve had a life of playing and making music. They don’t just look the part, they are the genuine archetypes on which many modern guitars are styled. I must admit that I prefer vintage guitars that are all‑original if possible, even though this isn’t always practical. I am divided on the topic of refinishes. Generally speaking, original is best – once a refinish has been undertaken, the original can never be reinstated. I do not advocate modifying a vintage instrument unless it can easily be put back to original.
  5. The Variety – Particularly but not exclusively in the 1950s, there was an explosion of design creativity as far as American (and other) electric guitars are concerned. This brought us the Telecaster, Stratocaster, Precision bass, Les Paul, ES‑335, Explorer, Flying V, etc. etc. This means that, although the number of vintage guitars for a specific period is finite, there remains a great deal of diversity, even though there were no such things as ‘mod shops’ or custom shops at the time. In particular, I tend to like the unusual guitars that many others detest. My choice. Their loss.
  6. The Look – I can sit and look at vintage guitars for ages. Wabi sabi is the Japanese concept that something can be perfect because of its imperfections. Whether it’s the patina, the light reflections, the bumps and nicks, the lacquer fading, finish crazing, the genuine wear and tear mean that there is always something that draws the eye over and over again. In my view, the best guitars are well‑used instruments and far more interesting that pristine museum‑grade examples. Where others might see ugliness, I see loveliness in droves.
  7. The Feel – Looks are one thing, feel is another. Most vintage guitars are well played in, although some are worn out. The materials age naturally over time, giving them a tactile feel that is far from the generic newness of mass produced modern guitars. Modern machine manufacturing is very different from the somewhat haphazard and idiosyncratic construction methods of the past. Many modern manufacturers try (and fail) to mimic the physical effects of extended age and use in new instruments. One can almost feel the honest history of each instrument every time it is picked up and played.
  8. The Tone – After the previous two points, one cannot ignore the tone. Many modern guitar designers spend inordinate amounts of time trying to replicate the tones of original instruments. Tone woods are unique and age uniquely. Pickups for instance were often made out of what was available at the time and, while it is possible to emulate the materials, the passage of time seems to exert a permanent change in the physical structure which not only makes each one unique (see above) but makes them impossible to replicate in every way. Modern technology and techniques can only get so far. There are also plenty of under‑the‑radar vintage guitars that can provide a wide range of tones beyond the ‘classic’ sounds of the icons.
  9. The Mythology and the Truth – The absence of genuine documentation leads to much interpretation and opinion. Even the most fastidious research can only uncover some of the truth. The rest is, and will probably likely always will be, unknown. The scant facts result in a truth vacuum within which stories have been created and promulgated, with varying degrees of truth. The fact that only some things can be verified, means a wide variety of opinions persevere. In the absence of documentation, who really knows what these instruments have been through in their lifetime? Using one’s imagination imbues them with intangible mystery that may or may not be deserved. Generally speaking, the more pristine the example, the less storied its history.
  10. The Privilege of Stewardship – Ownership is one thing (see above). However, many vintage guitars not only predate their owners but also will probably outlast them, possibly many times over. This means that ‘owners’ are essentially only temporary and are transitional guardians of important historical artefacts. It is good to be part of their story, perhaps being documented for only the first time in their long life. While I’m here, I am trying hard to do my bit for prolonging posterity, even if I won’t be there to enjoy it once my time is up.

“No profit grows where is no pleasure ta’en. In brief, sir, study what you most affect.” – William Shakespeare from ‘The Taming of the Shrew’

10 Things… I Hate About Vintage Guitars:

  1. The Economics of Collectors vs. Enthusiasts – Regular readers will know that I abhor the whole ‘vintage guitar collector’ world and its elitism, asset accumulation, profiteering based on return on investment and flaunted status symbols of wealth. Most ‘golden era’ vintage guitars (c.1950‑1965) from the major American brands are now so far out of the reach of enthusiasts that many will never get to appreciate the charms of these icons. A case could be made that collectors help to preserve heritage but only if they can make a profit along the way. I can’t abide, let alone change, the arrogant avarice and scornful snobbery associated with vintage guitar ‘collecting’ but at least I can attempt to share my ardent enthusiasm. I recognise that dealers have to make a profit but some take the price of ‘exclusivity’ to extremes. This particular gripe is not about vintage guitars per se but directed at the leeches that avidly feed off them. It is even worse when those pariahs can’t even play them while at the same time denying others the joy.
  2. Provenance and Celebrity Ownership – What distinguishes a standard guitar from the same model owned by a famous musician. Normally nothing really, other than the artist association. A guitar that would otherwise cost just a few thousand pounds/dollars can be escalated to stratospheric, often seven figure sums. Owning a celebrity guitar wouldn’t make me sound like them (why would I want to?) and it doesn’t make me play any better (sadly). I am interested in the instruments, not the artists. While it is good to have some genuine insight to a guitar’s history, I will leave the quest for insanely costly instruments with documented provenance to others. If I mention that auction house, Christie’s of London sold part of the late, great Jeff Beck’s guitar collection on 22 January 2025, raising over £8.7m ($10.7m) in the process, you’ll possibly kinda see where I’m coming from.
  3. The Maintenance (Inc. Parts & Accessories) – Keeping vintage guitars is not straightforward; they require ongoing care and attention. If vintage guitars are used (as they should be), wear and tear ensues. Taking care of vintage guitars often exceeds the skills of amateur meddling and benefit from (expensive) professional skills. Finding a luthier who really knows what they are doing and can be trusted is not an easy task. Sourcing genuine vintage parts is becoming harder and more costly meaning that it is a challenge to keep them vintage correct AND usable. Worn out and badly treated vintage guitars are a sad sight and some, in all honesty, are just not worth conserving. Refinishes devalue an otherwise great instrument. Refrets are, however, sometimes necessary. Neck breaks unfortunately determine eternal ‘player’ status. The prices of vintage guitar cases on their own can also be quite daunting, not to mention case candy, sales tags, manuals and sales documents, normally discarded many decades ago.
  4. The Environment – Vintage guitars are more sensitive to environmental conditions than new ones – temperature, humidity, UV light, etc. Different materials respond differently over time. The ideal environment for vintage guitars often differs from what people experience in day‑to‑day living areas. Most vintage guitars, in my view, should not be locked away in secure environmental storage, meaning that there has to be compromise for us ordinary enthusiast owners. Managing the environment in a normal home without climate control is therefore not ideal but, at least in my case, good enough (just). Thankfully, most electric guitars are less susceptible to changes in environment than acoustics, although archtops and semi‑acoustics can prove problematic. Prevailing wisdom is that guitars should be kept in their cases at a temperature of 21‑24˚ (70‑75˚) and a relative humidity (RH) of 40‑50%. The most important factor here, though, is ‘stability’, avoiding extremes and rapid fluctuations.
  5. The Playing Experience – Part of the mythology is that vintage guitar playing is some transcendent spiritual experience that cannot be matched by mere mortals with ordinary instruments. The reality is, however, much more mundane. However, no matter what period vintage guitars were originally manufactured, some are great, many are OK and some are dogs. The consistency and accuracy of manufacturing back in the day means that many are not always the easiest or most pleasant to play. Sometimes, however, the challenge may also inspire different approaches to playing. Bottom line, the truth is that a guitar of a certain edge doesn’t guarantee blissful nirvana, not by a long way. Be prepared for fret buzzing, high action, scratchy pots, stiff or loose tuners, inaccurate intonation, ineffective truss rods (if any), etc.
  6. The (Lack of) Documentation – Even today, accurate information isn’t always easy to come by but with vintage guitars, it is often almost impossible to get to the bottom of things. From serial numbers, to manufacturing/shipping numbers, to seemingly contradictory features and specifications, identifying and dating vintage instruments can be a nightmare, despite best efforts and extensive research. Even George Gruhn’s illustrious ‘bible’ has plenty of errors and omissions. The best approach is to undertake diligent research and, if possible, find corroborating information from someone who may know more. Sometimes, one just has to use one’s experience and take a punt on an undocumented instrument.
  7. The Noise of the Opinionated Ignorant – The usual example of this is the vociferous and damning condemnation of CBS‑era Fenders and Norlin‑era Gibsons, et al. Such broad‑spectrum denigration simply isn’t justified. These disparaging views are sustained by many people who don’t really know and understand what they are talking about – they just spout out the derivative, clichéd rhetoric of the lazy and uninformed. While there may be no smoke without fire, it is plain wrong to assume that sweeping generalisations apply to every instrument. Don’t believe everything you read; make up your own mind, based on real experience. Extrapolating the point further, the noise of self‑appointed, erratically opinionated commentators over time can create a broad perception that is not necessarily true but, if restated sufficiently strongly, people will believe it anyway (the so‑called illusory truth effect). Such automatic assumptions need to be challenged and re‑evaluated. I strongly advocate an open mind and critical questioning of blind dogma. The symptom may be exacerbated by selective positive reinforcement, i.e. someone agreeing with similar views while dismissing opposing views. File under guitar snobbery, hogwash and boloney.
  8. Fakes and Copies – Where there is money involved, often lots of it, there are unscrupulous companies and individuals wanting to exploit innocent victims for financial gain. There have long been fakes of classic guitars pervading the vintage market and some of them are hard to identify and root out, let alone the possibility of bringing the perpetrators to justice. A lesser ‘crime’ is companies imitating classic guitars and selling them in large numbers. I can understand some people wanting the look without the cost but it is not a thing to be proud of and it often isn’t good for the industry. The most infamous cases were in the 1970s with the lawsuit‑era guitars where flagrant copies by Ibanez (and others) were almost identical to the originals. Then there was the Gibson vs. PRS battle in the early 2000s over the single cutaway Les Paul outline. Now, cheap Chinese knock offs are flooding western markets with an adverse impact on genuine models and are, politically, impossible to litigate against. There really is no need to counterfeit the classics – do something original and improve the breed with integrity.
  9. The Preserve or Conserve Dilemma – Should museum grade vintage guitars be locked up in vaults or in glass cabinets so they can be ‘preserved in aspic’ or should vintage guitars be used for what they were intended to be used for, making music? A case can be made for protecting a very few historically significant items but not all by any means. In my view, playing vintage instruments is good for them, even if it means that they experience greater wear and tear in the process. An old guitar that hasn’t been used for some time sounds dull and lifeless. Playing a stored vintage guitar can bring it back to life. My generally pragmatic stance here is to conserve but not to preserve. One should never feel afraid to touch, pick up or play a vintage guitar.
  10. The Responsibility of Stewardship – While temporary stewardship of vintage guitars is a privilege (see above), it also carries a great deal of responsibility so that they can be passed on for the benefit of future generations of players and enthusiasts (and, begrudgingly, collectors) in a condition that befits their previous ownership. It is up to current ‘owners’ that the legacy can continue untainted into the future. Those that don’t take the responsibility seriously probably shouldn’t own a vintage guitar. For instance, my advice is not to mess with an original vintage instrument unless unavoidable. Far too many guitars have been modified in the past – often when they were near new – and can’t easily be restored to original. Things like tuners, nuts, frets, pickups, bridges, scratchplates, electrics, knobs and strap buttons should be kept original if at all possible. Some mods may be ‘tolerable’, for instance where changes can be 100% reversible without any damage, as long as the original parts are kept with the instrument. Routing out a guitar body to accommodate inappropriate pickups, for instance, may be considered a travesty.

“If you repeat a lie often enough, people will believe it, and you will even come to believe it yourself” – a ‘law of propaganda’ attributed to the Nazi Joseph Goebbels (1897‑1945), used as evidence to substantiate ‘the illusory truth effect’.

I have tried, objectively, to explain why I am addicted to allure of vintage guitars. So… If it isn’t about money and it isn’t about vanity and it isn’t about my playing ability, just what is it about? That’s the subjective, intangible bit that I still find hard to articulate.

Regarding the subject matter, I suspect that my passion for these objects doesn’t come across particularly well. That is my prosaic inadequacy for which I apologise.

In conclusion… if my idle observations carry any substance, there is some semblance of universal balance after all and the equilibrium is sustained. The same principles apply to just about anything you might care to think about.

“Don’t let anyone, ever, make you feel like you don’t deserve what you want” – Patrick from the film, ‘10 Things I Hate About You’

10 Images which you may love or hate

Below are 10 CRAVE Guitars images for you to feast your eyes upon and, perhaps, crave (sic!). NB. None of which are to be found on the web site (until now).

Final thoughts about 10 Things…

When I started accumulating (rather than collecting) guitars in the mid‑late 1970s there wasn’t really a broadly accepted awareness of electric guitars let alone basses, effects and amps being ‘vintage’ (a word that is hard to define in this context). The original CRAVE Guitars are the 1975 Gibson Les Paul Standard, the 1977 Fender Stratocaster, the 1977 Fender Precision fretless bass and the 1978 Music Man Stingray Bass – I still have all four of them. They may be considered vintage now but back in the day, they were just guitars. Only the Music Man Stingray was acquired new, the others were simply second hand. How things have changed in the intervening 40‑50 years. Now I feel old… sorry, vintage!

If you haven’t gathered already, I love genuine, original vintage guitars. I know that they aren’t essential to civilisation’s survival but they do represent a peaceful diversion from the meanness of the modern world. Exploring the ‘Ten Things I Love/Hate’ leads inexorably onto insatiable cravings (sic!) and obsessional pursuits. For many, this is more widely known as G.A.S. (Gear Acquisition Syndrome). For many vintage guitar enthusiasts there is an additional layer of addiction and passion that has real world consequences (e.g. funds, space, etc.).

“You don’t always have to be who they want you to be, you know” – Kat from the film, ‘10 Things I Hate About You’

Not everything about vintage guitar ownership is hunky dory. There is a zen-like steady balance to ownership, which is kinda the point I’m getting at, in rather a circuitous route. There are times of excruciating sufferance and moments of ecstatic exuberance. The latter more or less cancel out the former and, thus, the status quo is maintained. There is a karmic tension that many won’t understand, some will seek to fulfil, and fewer likely to tolerate. Vintage guitar ownership requires a particular type of person and a certain degree of patience that is not for everyone. Thankfully so, as there are simply not enough of these things to go around.

Economics is a social science that studies how we allocate scarce resources for production, distribution, and consumption. In this instance, the consumption component is fundamentally about the laws of supply and demand. The inversely proportional interdependence between quantity and price is something about which many vintage guitar buffs are all too well aware. As quantity reduces, prices increase. It rarely (other than in recessionary times) goes the other way in the finite world of vintage guitar market (and why an over‑abundance of new guitars keep retail prices low).

“You’re looking at this from entirely the wrong perspective. We’re making a statement” – Kat from the film, ‘10 Things I Hate About You’

Some things about vintage guitars are intangible and subjective, so much so that it is difficult to articulate effectively. Can some of the attributes associated with vintage guitars, including many of the statements above be measured or explained definitively? The ageing of electronic parts for instance. Scientifically, it is not easy to say why one vintage pickup hits the sweet spot while another fails to sound right. Does the type and quality of the tone wood make a real difference to the feel and tone of vintage instruments? How much is real and how much is simply suspicious snake oil? One thing is for sure, vintage guitars have something that new guitars don’t. Identifying with any sort of certainty what that ‘something’ is will engage people in debate, probably forever, and that just adds further mystique and mythology surrounding vintage instruments.

“I burn, I pine, I perish” – William Shakespeare from ‘The Taming of the Shrew’

Some may accuse CRAVE Guitars of actually being a symptomatic example of the abominable ‘collectorati’, a secretive society of which I am so consistently critical. That is probably a ‘fair cop’ to some extent and it is an insinuation that I must bear and justify as a necessary compromise. However, as a not‑for‑profit entity, CRAVE Guitars is certainly not in it for money and I do my best to share the heritage with anyone who wants to look in, so not secretive. They are played, although each one doesn’t get as much playing time as I would like. In addition, I do not try to preserve them, they are too important to waste away in a sterile stasis.

“… But mostly I hate the way I don’t hate you. Not even close, not even a little bit, not even at all” – Kat from the film, ‘10 Things I Hate About You’

One thing you might ask at this juncture is (how) do I rank guitars in the ‘collection’? Well, the easy answer is that I don’t. There are undoubtedly ones that I prefer playing to others, some that I prefer to look at to others, and some that sound better than others. However, in overall terms each one has its place and is valued in different, if not directly comparable, ways. However, I cannot rule out the fact that the thorny subject of favouritism may come back under the spotlight at some point.

Where all the CRAVE Guitars’ guitars, basses, effects, amps and accessories will eventually end up, who on Earth knows? In the meantime, I’ll just continue as a curatorial custodian of valued vintage paraphernalia to the best of my (limited) ability.

One wonders what future generations will make of things if/when they look back to the 2020s and, maybe, come across this article. Even in another 40‑50 years, I am certain that perspectives will be very different again. I will also wager that many of the much maligned guitars that I personally like will be much in demand attracting inflated premium prices. Unfortunately and sadly, I won’t be around to proclaim ever so smugly, “I told you so”. Shame.

“If she and I be pleased, what’s that to you?” – William Shakespeare from ‘The Taming of the Shrew’

CRAVE Guitars’ ‘Album of the Month’

Given the subject matter of this month’s article, there is only one album that I think fits the bill (in a slightly tangential fashion).

Leonard Cohen – Songs Of Love And Hate (1971). This impressive recording was Leonard Cohen’s 3rd studio album, released in March 1971 on the Columbia record label. The album was recorded during a difficult period in Cohen’s life, suffering from depression, making it a very personal and emotionally intense album for the late, great Canadian singer/songwriter. As a whole, it is an extraordinary recording, famous for evocative tales including, ‘Avalanche’, ‘Last Year’s Man’, ‘Famous Blue Raincoat’ and ‘Joan Of Arc’. Despite Cohen believing ‘Songs Of Love And Hate’ was a failed experiment, it endures as one of his finest achievements. Many commentators assert this album as proof of Cohen’s pessimistic ‘downer’ reputation but that misses the point, as it can be a powerfully cathartic listening experience. Only 8 tracks on the original release, coming in at under 45 minutes, it was not only a commercially successful album but also it represents a priceless memoir in the annals of musical history. A fine legacy from a fine artist. Thank you Mr. Cohen (1934‑2016, 82).

Leonard Cohen – Songs Of Love And Hate (1971)

The relevance, once again, is that love and hate are interdependent polar opposites that exemplify the importance of, and need for, universal balance – the yin and yang referred to at the top of this article. If we do not understand hate, we cannot appreciate the value of love. If we do not wholeheartedly embrace love, hate will overcome and overwhelm us. Profound existentialism that provides for the equilibrium of life and humanity in the cosmos.

“Who needs affection when I have blind hatred?” – Patrick from the film, ‘10 Things I Hate About You’

BELIEVE IN MUSIC!

Tailpiece

So, 2025 is now well underway. Thank you for taking precious time out of your life to spend it here with me. I am pleased that CRAVE Guitars is back to talking about vintage guitars within a wider context. The change of scene for a few months was healthy and the subject matter fascinating but vintage guitars still rule. I hope you were able to get some interest and/or pleasure from it. The length of articles is beginning to creep up again, requiring more time to be spent on researching and writing articles than focusing on ‘The Distortion Diaries’. Note to self: Stop it! Now!

I know it’s not my place but in a world of escalating aggression and conflict, the only sensible bit of guidance I can give is for y’all to just chill the heck out (apologies for the split infinitive). Be kind to yourself and others.

Next month, ceteris paribus, we’ll be taking another oblique view about the world of vintage guitars. In the meantime, may you maintain your universal balance and find harmony and contentment therein.

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

CRAVE Guitars’ ‘Quote of the Month’: “We don’t make love. Love makes us”

© 2025 CRAVE Guitars – Love Vintage Guitars.

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30 Dec 2024

December 2024 – CRAVE Guitars 2024 In Review

by | 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)

2024 The End Is Nigh

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:

  1. 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
  2. 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!)
  3. 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
2024 Album Releases

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)
Australian Pink Floyd 2024
Baroness 2024

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 21st 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 14th 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’.

The Cure – Songs Of A Lost World (2024)

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?”

© 2024 CRAVE Guitars – Love Vintage Guitars.

 

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31 Oct 2024

October 2024 – CRAVE Guitars Writing: An Introspective Inquiry

by | posted in: Introduction, News, Observations, Opinion | 0

Prelude

YO GOOD PEOPLES. Welcome once more to the virtual hamlet of non sequitur‑ville, population c.1. You may have noticed my annoying application of asinine alliteration, idiotic idioms and my tendency toward meandering narrative prose (duh!), so perhaps it’s some sort of disorder worth looking into. As hinted at previously, CRAVE Guitars is deliberately changing things around a bit this month. Nothing like a bit of variety, eh? You may well be grateful of a short(er) article after several recent rather lengthy and convoluted tomes, so I’m content to oblige on this particular occasion.

At the time of publication, autumn is wending its inexorable passage towards winter, so here’s a snippet of classical pertinent poetry to get you in the mood for some further flowery philology.

“There is a harmony in autumn,
and a lustre in its sky,
which through the summer is not heard or seen,
as if it could not be,
as if it had not been!”
Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792‑1822)

Is it just me or do most sensible people wish for a world free from bellicose brutality? If only sensible people ran the world. If only the message would get through to said belligerent barbarians seemingly devoid of any form of reasonable moral compass. War = Bad. Peace = Good. Simple. The relevance, use and impact of words and their ability to generate positive change will become clear… eventually… I promise.

“No matter what anybody tells you, words and ideas can change the world” – John Keating (1927‑)

This time around, I thought I would spend a few moments of superficial but personal self‑analysis, something that I normally feel very uncomfortable about. Perhaps that’s the stereotypical reserved Brit syndrome, I don’t know. I rarely discuss myself, especially in the first person, so this is a very unusual post. While I might refer to this topic somewhat flippantly and to some extent facetiously, it turns out that, perhaps, the author presents somewhat of an enigma and a conundrum.

This exploratory examination is also probably something that will be of little interest to many readers so, if you want to quit at this point, that’s absolutely fine. Thanks for looking in. However, as this change of approach will impact on CRAVE Guitars business‑as‑usual output for a (hopefully short) while, it probably warrants a bit of explanation. If the idiom that ‘those who can’t write, write about writing’ holds water, well, here is all the evidence required for condemnation. Sadly few images this month, only thousands of words.

“If you want to change the world, pick up your pen and write” – Martin Luther (1483‑1546)

Writing (courtesy Suzy Hazelwood)

What I write

This article is something like the 84th since I started CRAVE Guitars’ online presence back in 2014 (more on that next month). Apart from the extended ‘hiatus’ (2020‑2023), articles have been published at the rate of one a month. I don’t actively engage with any other form of writing other than to keep a personal daily journal and the unavoidable daily communications.

As a professional bureaucrat for over three decades, I wrote a great deal of business documents, briefings, academic learning materials, strategic and business plans, project and performance management reports, speeches, presentations, etc. etc. All very ‘real’ and original in their own way; nothing particularly enjoyable or satisfying though. My frustration with organisational writing is that it was all ephemeral and didn’t make any noticeable difference to humanity, at least not directly. Looking back, there was no legacy of lasting change and nothing to show for all the hard work that went into it. Nothing ‘me’. The discipline, though, did teach me how to write but only in a structured, formal way. I would hate to think all those years of ‘training’ were for nought.

“The most valuable of all talents is that of never using two words when one will do” – Thomas Jefferson (1743‑1846)

For nearly the past decade, I’ve been writing about my near‑lifelong craving (sic!) for vintage guitars. Why? I love ‘em. Plain and simple. To me, they are an ‘amour-fou’ (an obsessive passion). Writing about vintage gear has (generally) been rewarding. It started with features on my own vintage guitars before branching out into features on brands, amps, effects and, latterly, bass guitars.

Over time, writing also extended to blog articles and that broadened out even further to include many other related topics – to a greater or lesser extent. Now, I’m writing about writing about vintage guitars et al. The next stage, as we’ll see later, I’ll be writing about writing about writing, all of which is getting just a bit circular, a bit like the mythical Ouroboros (NB. an ancient Egyptian and Greek symbol depicting a serpent consuming its own tail).

Ouroboros (courtesy Coppertwist Wu)

I will return to the topic of vintage guitars in due course; I’m just taking a pause from the risk of getting stuck in a barrel or dredging a rut (as well as mixing metaphors for fun, another annoying trait – apologies). I need to come up with another, different obtuse angle… or even a cute angle (lol) on vintage guitars, hopefully something not done by others.

“If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading” – Buddha (Siddhārtha Gautama – c.480 400BCE)

Article writing about vintage guitars is one thing and it supports the CRAVE Guitars ‘brand’. However, I would like to do something different. Something non‑factual, something light and frivolously engaging, something that bestows some lingering fascination and perhaps something to stimulate debate. The value of the arts lies in its ability to provoke an emotional reaction, rather than simply to represent reality in some way. Discuss…

“Words have no power to impress the mind without the exquisite horror of their reality” – Edgar Allan Poe (1809‑1849)

I could write about many subjects other than vintage guitars and music. I have several other keen interests, although none quite as all‑consuming. However, generally speaking, writing about other disconnected things on this platform would divert focus away from vintage guitars and music.

Language is an interesting area of study. In many ways, language is like music, to be played and crafted into something ostensibly magical. Like music, language can be composed either well into a thing of beauty, or badly into a reprehensible ugly mess. I am fascinated by words and the way in which we can construct the vernacular in novel (sic!) ways. This might explain why I use a broad vocabulary in a discursive, arguably prolix, way. Why use one common word when several obscure ones will do (sorry, Mr. Jefferson)? Languorous language is rejected and embellished English rules Britannia, at least this tiny corner of it. One is not attempting to be ‘too clever by half’ (NB. A ‘Britishism’ used in, ‘The Interpreter’ (1958) by George J. Whyte‑Melville). Honest guv’nor. At least my particular portion of precisely practised poetic prose is entirely first hand. No plagiarism and no AI here.

“All I need is a sheet of paper and something to write with, and then I can turn the world upside down” – Friedrich Nietzsche (1844‑1900)

Latterly, I have been hampered by issues of copyright over images. For instance, I would really like to take a look at guitars as they have appeared in the visual arts throughout history (fine art, popular culture, film, etc.). However, to do that really requires images of the artworks to support the narrative. Without images, such an article (or series of articles more likely) would be utterly pointless. As a non‑profit entity, I cannot publish images without permissions and royalties, thereby rendering the entire concept moot, null and void before it even gets off the ground. Sigh.

“Your intuition knows what to write, so get out of the way” – Ray Bradbury (1920‑2012)

Why I write

A more difficult question requires a moment of introspection. I sometimes wonder what motivates people, me included, to write. Thus far, a good enough answer eludes me. One thing might be that I just feel compelled to write (not convinced). Another might be a wish to leave some sort of tangible record (if not possible to do so in other ways). Yet another may be that I simply enjoy the writing process (again, not convinced), regardless of whether anyone actually takes much notice. I have tried to estimate the audience and it is likely to be no more than a handful in total. In the end, it seems I can’t not do it (excuse the double negative).

An issue with writing for a virtual platform is that it could be wiped out entirely in an instant, never to be recovered, even if anyone wanted to resurrect it. Recently a malicious incident at my Internet Service Provider caused a near‑catastrophe; fortunately, everything was recovered after a few difficult days. Alternatively, once I end my tenure on this planet, CRAVE Guitars’ documents will disappear overnight. Forever. So much for a lasting legacy, eh?

So… if the absolute readership level is so trifling, the only possible conclusion I can reach is that article writing seems to be an immense amount of hard work and effort for such a small audience. Does that actually matter? Which brings me back to thorny question of why I bother. Perhaps the change of direction for a while might help to aid such contemplation. Perhaps it may be time to review my ‘return on investment’ and divert some effort from feature and article writing into another personal pet project, just for a while. The slowdown in acquiring vintage guitar gear also points in that direction.

“There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are” – W. Somerset Maugham (1874‑1965)

Is it just that I’m just a bad writer? I hope not and I trust someone would have the courage to tell me if the content was genuinely awful, either in subject matter or narrative style. It seems, though, that I need to have some sort of restless creative outlet, something to relieve the intense pressure cooker raging in my chaotic cranium.

All in all, not a very deep analysis so far. There must (must there? Really?) be some other reason why I feel the urge to put fingertip to keypad and compose unfocused prosaic narrative for other folks to consume. Just a thought? How does one go about measuring competence in a subjective field such as writing?

Which brings us onto my idiosyncratic writing process. Pretentious? Undoubtedly. Profound? Perhaps, occasionally. Original? Is anything original these days? Entertaining? I would like to think so. Pointless? I hope not. I attempt to carve and mould my own distinctive style, rather than copy the approach taken by those far better at it than I will ever be. My unusual technique has developed into something weirdly eccentric and eccentrically verbose. I know that. I can’t help it. An eclectic style can certainly be divisive. Readers will probably either love it or hate it – no middle ground. I cannot, however, be apologetic for the facts. Sorry folks.

“Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing” – Benjamin Franklin (1706‑1790)

Why I do not allow comments

Apologies for hobby‑horsing for a moment. Time for a little biased judgemental opinion. You may have noticed that CRAVE Guitars’ does not allow comments on blog articles. Like most dudes with a massive superego and crippling self‑doubt, I am inherently super‑sensitive and have an innate fear of criticism and rejection.

I invest a considerable amount of time and effort in researching and writing monthly articles, probably 7‑10 full working days per article. So much so, that I am not prepared to submit my efforts to ridicule by acerbic trolls who put absolutely zero time, effort and intellect into being confrontational for no other reason than they can. I am willing to forgo the occasional positive comment in order to evade many negative ones. I welcome constructive criticism but I will not lay myself open to ignorance, reactionary contempt and derision.

Anti-social media has sadly become a vitriolic battle ground for the disgruntled to promulgate their abhorrent brand of ‘free speech’ (Musk et al take note). In the ‘free’ world, it may be a right to express one’s opinion but true rights carry significant moral responsibility in order to balance out deviant extremes. Freedom is not about being able to do and say whatever one wants with impunity. ‘Free speech’ is not a poorly conceived unilateral entitlement, it carries with it weighty conscience and considerable consequence. Hard fought for freedoms are a privilege within tolerant societies and should be cherished and nurtured, not abused on a whim.

“Virtue is persecuted more by the wicked than it is loved by the good” – Buddha (Siddhārtha Gautama – c.480 400BCE)

Don’t get me wrong, I am a staunch anti‑censorship advocate but, let’s be honest here, that isn’t what these self‑appointed critical pseudo‑moralists are all about. These self‑styled evangelists want selective liberties that support their prejudiced dogmas and insist on selective suppression of anything that does not accord with such partisan doctrines.

A quick soapbox aside… I have a similar anathema to the PC minority brigade wanting to re‑write established literature to remove or alter what they feel is inappropriate. I would go as far as to suggest that it is a wrongdoing against history and a precipitous thin end of the wedge. If we condone the censorship of authentic literature once, where will it end? If we don’t take a stand, one can envisage the repeated re‑writing of literature over time until it bears little resemblance to the original. Literature, for good or bad, should be respected intact and we can learn from the cultural context it provides.

The eradication of swathes of authentic heritage on the whim of a few just because they ‘don’t like it’ (however intellectually argued) is unconscionable to anyone with any common sense. Exactly who decides how selective censorship is used? Who decides the revisionist version of history on behalf of humanity? Who decides what previous generations’ art is culturally acceptable or not? Who decides what future generations are permitted to read/see/hear? Discuss…

I do not shy away from genuine, healthy debate (whether ‘intellectual’ or not) but I abhor confrontation, especially pointless assaults based on indoctrination or proselytization. It is even worse for disagreements on petty principle to be played out visibly in the public domain. I’ll leave all that contemptuous cacophony of cruelty to self‑opinionated ‘influencers’ and ‘celebrities’ and their trite, trivial tantrums.

Neither do I wish to commit far too much of my life wasting time and effort on people who have no special interest in the subject matter. If someone really wants to get in touch, they can – the e‑mail address is at the bottom of every page on the web site. All I ask for in any communication is authenticity, integrity, dignity and respect. Everything else will be summarily blocked and deleted.

People, eh? Not a fan. ‘Nuff said. (NB. A colloquial idiom and contraction of ‘enough said’, implying the end of discussion, first documented in 1778 by playwright Henry Brooke)

“One day I will find the right words, and they will be simple” – Jack Kerouac (1922‑1969)

Deep Thinking

Apologies folks, we’re going on a quick diversion for a trifling titbit of cognitive psychology. That’s the discipline which helps us to understand how humans obtain, process, store and use information. It is about perception, memory, language, attention, creativity, intuition and reasoning. Don’t panic! It will make sense. The idea of deep thinking is not new, Greek philosopher Socrates (c.470‑399BCE) suggested that we reflect on and question the world around us.

Having tried many times over many years, it seems that I am totally incapable of diving deeply into my own internally‑focused thought processes to resolve who I really am, what I really need and why I am the way I am. I simply cannot ‘find’ myself, using common parlance. My inner psyche remains concealed from me. Yet, I seem to have little difficulty contemplating universal unknowns, suggesting an external focus. Perhaps, I thought, it was worth investigating what’s going on.

“Creativity is intelligence having fun” – Albert Einstein (1885-1955)

The author’s dipolar struggle may explain a lot while also raising many questions. It appears, for want of an emotive label, to make me a ‘conflicted soul’. This is not a medical or psychotherapeutic prognosis, simply an entirely amateur observation. However, it triggered some shallow yearning for insight. For the list‑o‑philes out there, this is one of only two this month. Enjoy.

Twelve traits of deep thinking people include:

  1. Introverted – Reserved and quiet. A loner who doesn’t seek social interaction and actively avoids contact with people. Reclusive
  2. Observant – Say less, observe more. Pausing before reaching a conclusion. Not easily swayed by popular opinion
  3. Quirkily humorous – Silly, juvenile, witty, comical and often self‑deprecating, often misunderstood
  4. Avid reader – Thirsty for knowledge with an innate need to learn more and expand understanding
  5. Forgetful – Overlook trivial social obligations and daily chores, as these things don’t much matter. Easily distracted. Tendency to overthink. Hard to relax
  6. Intensely curious – Highly inquisitive. Never bored. Question assumptions. Interested in BIG issues. Passionate for learning and knowledge. Embracing of ambiguity and complexity
  7. Forward planner – take time to think about the future and where to fit in (or not). Strategic and not detail oriented
  8. Problem solver – Analyse patterns, identify potential obstacles, build innovative approaches and develop potential practical solutions
  9. Socially awkward – Dislike many culturally accepted norms, roles and expected behaviours on a daily basis. Meaningful conversations matter, not small talk
  10. Fiercely independent – Highly self‑reliant, content with solitude as a conscious choice. Doesn’t seek contact with, or dependence on, others
  11. Creative – Artistic, imaginative, inventive, original, resourceful. Interested in the new and different (NB. ‘new’ implies ‘different’ by default)
  12. Empathic – Emotionally sensitive. Compassionate and understanding, able to see both sides of a situation. Open minded

I check at least 13 out of the 12! So, does that make me a deep thinker? I genuinely don’t think so. What I do know, though, and this the point, I don’t think like other people. I never have. What does this actually mean in the real world? How long have you got? It also might explain why I don’t know what to do when (if!) I ever grow up. I fear that I will (have to) grow up one day. It may account for my aberrant behaviour, delusional thought processes and deviant misanthropic attitude. I said this was going to be short, so the answers to these querulous questions are possibly best left for another time and place. If at all. Ever. Don’t hold your breath.

“The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its reason for existing” Albert Einstein (1885-1955)

Ambitions and aspirations

I am long past being driven, self‑seeking and ambitious. That was my decades‑long professional life working for ‘the man’, thankfully now behind me. Now, it is (largely) up to me what I do. My post‑employment lifestyle doesn’t accord with ruthless go‑getting, not that I ever had a game‑playing ‘killer instinct’ anyway. The rat race (NB. The term rat race dates back at least to 1783, used to describe a literal race between rats, now used as a metaphor for a pointless and relentless, competitive struggle) is now for others to endure. I still have lofty aspirations. Probably deluded ones but aspirations nevertheless. Doing something that matters is a key stimulus.

The one thing that I would like to achieve is to be a better human bean. Failing that, I would like to play guitar better and learn the language of music. Failing that, I would like to write better. It seems important to me to have my work valued and appreciated – for some sort of external validation (not very Zen). In addition, for some reason I really cannot glean, I yearn to leave some form of lasting legacy behind; a simple mark on the universe rather than the total obscurity of being just one anonymous, invisible momentary placeholder in the 8+ billion transient souls on this infernal rock of ours. Basically, I do not want to be forgotten – as if I’d never existed.

“Fiction is an improvement of life” – Charles Bukowski (1920‑1994)

That’s it in a nutshell. That’s not too much to ask is it? Probably. So what? A knotty question that leads me neatly onto…

This is IT – The Distortion Diaries

If, by this point, you are wondering where all this is going, it is now time for the ‘BIG REVEAL’. I have hinted that I would be changing my approach for a (hopefully) short period of time and that there was a genuine reason for doing so. Now is time to divulge my poorly premeditated plan. The result is… ‘The Distortion Diaries’.

Last year (2023), I wrote a first draft of a fiction novel. As already mentioned, I wanted to do something different. Something imaginative and original, not factual and not opinionated. I intended to undertake a first edit earlier in 2024 and to expand the content considerably during the summer and be going through a second, harsh edit around now. Unfortunately, other unavoidable activities and my diligent approach towards research and writing CRAVE Guitars articles has prevented me from sticking to the plan. With everything else going on, something had to give. Capacity is finite and there simply wasn’t enough of it to dedicate to a novel as well. Such a venture requires better than that.

So… the aim is to make a bit of space and time to do some of the focused work on the novel. Writing fiction is quite different from articles and presents a new discipline. It isn’t something that can be picked up and put down on a whim. It takes lengthy periods of comprehensive concentration. If the novel is ever going to reach fruition, it implies a bubble of space and time in which to do it.

“Description begins in the writer’s imagination but should finish in the reader’s” – Stephen King (1947‑)

When I started writing ‘The Distortion Diaries’, I intended it to be a fictional part‑biography of a wannabe musician. However, very early on, I realised two key things. The first key factor was that the subject matter on its own could not avoid cliché – it would be utterly predictable and therefore probably exceedingly dull. The second key factor was that such a story would be very short unless there was a significant amount of irrelevant, boring filler (to be avoided!). So the shape and style morphed into something completely and utterly different. Once I’d had the epiphany, everything fell into place. Like the CRAVE Guitars name, the title, ‘The Distortion Diaries’ has multiple meanings.

‘The Distortion Diaries’ could now be described as a rom-sex-com-music-bio-mystery-drama-thriller-fantasy about man’s eternally favourite tripartite – sex, drugs and rock & roll (not necessarily in that order). Oh, and the meaning of life (42, according to author Douglas Adams), as well as a coming of middle‑age saga. That is a very broad ‘genre’ mash‑up. It could potentially prove to be a disastrous mess, even with careful handling.

‘The Distortion Diaries’ will carry a strong ‘Parental Advisory’ warning, for two reasons. One is that parents should probably not read it. Another is that it is extremely explicit. The latter is something that authors try to suggest rather than be overt. Why? I find political correct avoidance of fundamental human motivations and behaviours exasperating and represent a centuries‑long unwritten rule just begging to be broken, whether people like it or not. Nobody forces someone to read something, it is an entirely discretionary activity. If you don’t like it, go and read something you do like. Your choice.

“Words can be like X‑rays if you use them properly – they’ll go through anything. You read and you’re pierced” – Aldous Huxley (1894‑1963)

‘The Distortion Diaries’ is very different from your average high street and supermarket pop novel. Neither is it ‘pulp fiction’ (NB. Popular grimy and lurid genre novels printed on cheap paper, called ‘pulp’, dating from the early 20th Century). This ‘epic’ work is written intended for universal consumption and represents an uncompromising condensation of mainstream mundanity, intense sexuality and serendipitous happenstance. The Distortion Diaries is a colourful tale about the monochrome lives of plain ordinary people with a controversially unorthodox denouement. Let’s not get carried away, ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ or ‘Bridget Jones’s Diary’, this is not. Sorry ‘bout that.

“There is no real ending. It’s just the place where you stop the story” – Frank Herbert (1920‑1986)

The story eschews traditional three‑act structure and attempts to avoid bland ‘creative writing’ clichés. Neither does it fall into the beatnik‑style stream of consciousness one‑act structure. It does, however, attempt to tell a straightforward story while also trying (hopefully) to subvert expectations. The only formulaic concession is its adherence to a well‑trodden linear, episodic diary‑type structure (the hint is in the title folks!).

Who is my writing inspired by? No‑one in particular. Just good writing in whatever form. Who is my writing like? I would never be so vain as to venture comparison. Who is The Distortion Diaries written for? Everyone (adult) and no‑one. I guess I wrote it for myself. Why should anyone read it? Difficult one. Perhaps someone seeking a temporary, idle distraction from the hard realities of birth, life and death. What do I like to read? A very diverse range of fictional works with few particular commonalities. Moving on…

“Words have a magical power. They can either bring the greatest happiness or the deepest despair” – Sigmund Freud (1856‑1939)

The novel’s synopsis is a crucial summary that tests from the outset whether there is anything worthwhile to the concept. The following outline is intentionally vague and ambiguous. If too much is given away in a ‘teaser trailer’, it won’t hold any surprises later on.

“The Distortion Diaries.

Terry plays in a band. He doesn’t have a Girlfriend. He hasn’t had a Girlfriend for some time. Terry has a dreary job in IT. He lives alone with his feline overlord. One day, Terry decides to document his wretched existence in a journal. Rather than the journal reflecting and recording Terry’s dreary life, the journal begins to change it. A Lot. Is Terry’s life pre‑determined by fate or is his destiny in his own hands? Only his journal knows.

Based on a false story”

Intrigued? I hope so. Even I was pleasantly surprised how it turned out, even in rough first draft form. No profound insights into existential enquiries on this occasion. Let’s be clear, this is not serious literature; it is purely for entertainment purposes. Light and fluffy it certainly ain’t though.

“What is written without effort is in general read without pleasure” – Samuel Johnson (1709‑1784)

Mock‑up cover artwork has already been designed, although I feel it’s a bit premature to publish at this juncture, as it may change drastically. Sorry folks. Hopefully, I’ll drop that if/when there is a future update.

‘The Distortion Diaries’ AI Art

I guess it could have been called, ‘The Karma Chronicles’ but I prefer the chosen title. Just to set the record straight, it is NOT in any way autobiographical. The fact that I play guitar (badly) and I am owned by a cat is neither here nor there. As a ‘writer’, I do occasionally steal the ‘good stuff’ from my own repertoire, so there may well be the odd choice phrase from CRAVE Guitars’ articles appearing in the script.

At some point, I will have to produce a more detailed ‘pitch’ that summarises the content but that will come once the task of expanding the narrative, fleshing out the characters and editing the full novel for coherence has been completed. I think the ‘pitch’ is important, as it provides an important reality check during the process. If the ‘pitch’ doesn’t work, the whole thing won’t work. Simple as that. I hope to finish writing and editing the novel in 2025. No pressure then.

“The first draft is just you telling yourself the story” – Terry Pratchett (1948‑2015)

Ideally, I would like to go against the norm (nothing new there!) and self‑publish this little vanity project of mine. I have absolutely no idea how to go about self‑publishing or even if it possible, let alone feasible. Then there are the not‑inconsequential issues of distribution and sales. That, though comes much later. Currently, there is nothing to deliver and peddle. So, first things first.

The trick, if there is one, is to find a way to build an identity that cuts through and stands out from the thousands of other works churned out every day, week, month and year. CRAVE Guitars hasn’t succeeded yet (sadly), so it is clear that there is absolutely no chance of a breakthrough by simply existing these days. If anyone has any bright ideas or can help bring this assignment to fruition, please let me know.

Readers may have noticed over the last decade that I do not seek fame and fortune. I keep my private persona very much out of the limelight and I try to remain intentionally anonymous. For this reason, ‘The Distortion Diaries’ (if it ever enters the public domain) will appear under a nom de plume (the pseudonym has already been decided, to be revealed at a later date). I shall endeavour to remain an enigma hiding behind the keyboard’s shadow.

“There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed” – Ernest Hemingway (1899‑1961)

I did contemplate publishing ‘The Distortion Diaries’ in serialised form on the website. I decided against it for three main reasons. The first is that a purely fictional tale doesn’t really ‘fit’ with the CRAVE Guitars ‘brand’ – basically it has nothing to do with vintage guitars. Even if the novel’s protagonist is a guitarist, the stretch is too far to make sense. The second is that it is, as mentioned above, extremely explicit, which isn’t what I want CRAVE Guitars to be known for. The third is that the duration of a serialisation would side‑line all other subject matter for a couple of years, which I am not really prepared to do. However, if it is ever published, I am sure that I won’t be able to resist promoting it here.

If, as forecast by my overly well‑telegraphed lack of confidence and low self‑esteem, I don’t get anywhere with writing and publishing it as a novel, I may decide to abridge it and publish sanitised excerpts on the web site. It would not be an ideal outcome but possibly better than it being lost in the infinite void of forgotten and cancelled dreams, like the noblest endeavours of so many other wannabe authors.

“Words do not express thoughts very well. They always become a little different immediately after they are expressed, a little distorted, a little foolish” – Hermann Hesse (1877‑1962)

20 Questions

What follows is a mock ‘interview’ with the author of ‘The Distortion Diaries’

  1. Will ‘The Distortion Diaries’ ever be published? Probably not but I hope so.
  2. Will it be an international best seller? Definitely not.
  3. Awards worthy? Not a hope in hell – and I’ve been there.
  4. Required academic reading? Hah‑ha! You’re kidding, right?
  5. Will it be worth a punt? Our protagonist insists on that being the case.
  6. Is it sordid and seedy? Yup, for sure, for sure. Full of sleaze and exploitation.
  7. Unhinged? Not even close. Bad things do happen but so do good things.
  8. Is it edgy? It depends on the reader’s perspective. I try to manipulate ideas, as well as to challenge assumptions and undermine preconceptions.
  9. Is it controversial? Hopefully it will generate credible debate. And criticism. Lots of criticism.
  10. Will it offend people? It is not intentional but, inevitably, someone will always find something to complain about.
  11. It sounds divisive? Like Marmite. Lots and lots of Marmite.
  12. What’s all this about ‘distortion’? It has multiple meanings. You’ll have to read it to find out.
  13. Is it a feel good or feel bad story? It doesn’t matter, as long as you feel something.
  14. Isn’t it just the same old tortured muso type, struggling in a tired pop music industry cliché, overcoming the odds? I haven’t read every genre saga but I don’t believe that it is overly derivative. Nothing is truly original these days.
  15. Will readers learn anything about the human condition? If they are open‑minded, possibly. The male experience is woefully under‑represented in contemporary fictional literature. This may help to address the imbalance.
  16. What message is it trying to convey? Whatever the reader wants to deduce.
  17. Will there be other stories or sequels? Who knows? I don’t. I have some ideas for a cunning spin‑off though.
  18. If you had to use just one word to sum up the story, what would it be? Compelling.
  19. How will people be able to read it? To be determined. It’s too early to say.
  20. Who would you like to direct a movie of the story? Irrelevant. It’s never going to happen.

I personally do not seek social recognition or even the prospect of it. However, I would like to think that the product of my creativity might one day be admired. That would be a bonus rather than a rationale. Simply a desire to stimulate thoughts through my work and the knowledge that such thinking exists, albeit ephemerally. My satisfaction and reward comes in the execution of the process to the best of my ability (good or bad). I may write the story that no-one will ever read. However writing it is my achievement and my only necessary reward. Any success would constitute welcome deferred gratification. Very Zen.

Final thoughts on the power of words

I started off by saying that words have the power to generate positive change. Well… CRAVE Guitars’ features and blog articles haven’t really achieved that, have they? So, will The Distortion Diaries change the world? Sadly, it won’t. However, in the meantime, it might generate some harmless satisfaction and gentle fulfilment as a diversion from our otherwise mundane existences.

Closing the loop started at the top of this article… Should I attempt to change the world? Yes, absolutely. We all should do our bit to promote a better civilisation, society, communities, families and ourselves. We should not accept anything other than peace. We are, after all, partly responsible, even accountable, for how things are today, tomorrow and all the days thereafter. Future generations will scrutinise what we did to our planet and species.

“So, I want you to get up now. I want all of you to get up out of your chairs. I want you to get up right now and go to the window. Open it, and stick your head out, and yell: ‘I’m as mad as hell and I’m not going to take this anymore!’” – Howard Beale (character in the film, ‘Network’ (1976), played by Peter Finch).

Together, if the collective will is there, a united movement for a better world can achieve greatness. Easily said, hard to accomplish. It is way too easy to abrogate our moral and ethical duties, and look to others for blame, redemption and salvation. The lame “it wasn’t me, I didn’t do it” argument is simply not good enough.

“I didn’t do it, nobody saw me do it, you can’t prove anything” – Bart Simpson

Great words, carefully chosen can help to bring about great things. There are not enough vocal advocates for good. There are fewer vocal advocates who have the means for good. There are even fewer vocal advocates with the will and the means for good.

“An idea that is developed and put into action is more important than an idea that exists only as an idea” – Buddha (Siddhārtha Gautama – c.480 400BCE)

Poorly chosen words can do a great deal of harm, as can carefully chosen words of bad people. Most of the rhetoric we hear from those in positions of power today is largely negative and critical. Propaganda obscures the truth such that we no longer know what truth is. War has never brought peace, only cataclysmic carnage. Only diplomacy through sincere words can stop war and deliver lasting reconciliation.

“Whatever words we utter should be chosen with care for people will hear them and be influenced by them for good or ill” – Buddha (Siddhārtha Gautama – c.480 400BCE)

You may say that such a simplistic stance is all a bit of ‘pie in the sky’ (NB. a phrase coined by itinerant immigrant labourer Joe Hill in 1911 to describe unrealistic goals), and an outmoded hippie pipe dream (NB. a 19th Century phrase referring to the dreams experienced by opium pipe smokers). You may say that such hope is just delusional romanticism and impossible wishful thinking? Guilty as charged. One has to have hope in a better humanity, otherwise we are all doomed. Time to change, then.

“I do not believe in a fate that falls on men however they act; but I do believe in a fate that falls on them unless they act” – Buddha (Siddhārtha Gautama – c.480 400BCE)

CRAVE Guitars’ ‘Album of the Month‘

As I’m changing things around a bit, there is no relevant reason for this month’s selection. So… what was the first ever album you bought for yourself, with your own money? Well, the simple answer to that question for me was…

Pink Floyd – Meddle (1971). ‘Meddle’ was the 6th studio album by the English progressive rock band Pink Floyd. It was released in November 1971 on the Harvest record label in the UK. The first side of the album comprises 5 tracks including the opener, ‘One of These Days’, while the second side is a single, epic 20 minute track, ‘Echoes’. The cover art is a strange photo of a submerged ear, designed by Storm Thorgerson at Hipgnosis, the trendy design studio of the time. Hipgnosis was famous for creating other Pink Floyd album covers, as well as artwork for other famous rock bands of the time, such as Led Zeppelin, Genesis and Yes. To me, ‘Meddle’ marks a watershed between early Floyd and later Floyd, as well as a personal transition from pop music to serious ‘real’ music. A coming‑of‑age LP in you like.

Pink Floyd – Meddle (1971)

Why was this album my first? DJ John Peel played the album in its entirety on release on his late night show on Radio One in the UK. I hadn’t heard anything like it before and it ‘blew my mind’ (man!). I guess most people have that ‘one’ album that changed their life. ‘Meddle’ was that one for me. I just had to own a copy. It still stands the test of time today.

“Music is the universal language of mankind” – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807‑1882)

Tailpiece

Well, there you have it. That turned out longer than I’d anticipated and took more time than I had allowed for. I haven’t made much time or space for writing fiction so far. Sigh. Note to self… be more succinct, pithy, brief, concise, epigrammatic, etc. Second note to self… use less tautology.

So, a new perspective and a new side venture for CRAVE Guitars. Not a core CRAVE Guitars activity but a definite spin‑off. ‘They’ say there is nothing like a bit of variety, so a change in style and content for a few articles can’t be a bad thing in my opinion. Right? Remember, you heard about, ‘The Distortion Diaries’ here first. Write on.

You may have noticed that I regularly splatter the odd quote throughout CRAVE Guitars articles. These aren’t just random asides for no reason; they are relevant to the exposition and, hopefully, add some essential colour to an otherwise monochrome pallet of words. This month, the selection of quotes is particularly pertinent and, I hope, a little thought‑provoking. If only my meagre, mediocre mind could articulate such inspiring ideas in so few words.

To quote actor Patrick McGoohan’s character, No. 6 in ‘The Prisoner’ (1967‑1968) TV series, “Be seeing you”.

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

CRAVE Guitars’ ‘Quote of the Month’: “I would rather be an anonymous genius than a well‑known idiot”

© 2024 CRAVE Guitars – Love Vintage Guitars.

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29 Dec 2023

December 2023 – CRAVE Guitars: Three Years in Review

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

Prelude

GOOD DAY’S SALUTATIONS and seasonal best wishes to all you good folks out there in music land. Welcome to vintage gear aficionados and greetings to the conclusion of the year, two thousand and twenty three. There is no point in, and no good will come from, re‑hashing the journey over CRAVE Guitars’ 3‑year hiatus once again, so it is now officially behind us and a thing of the past. Gone. However, there may be merit in looking briefly at what CRAVE Guitars actually got up to behind the scenes during that time. It is the end of the year, so it’s kinda traditional for review anyway, as has been the practice in years past. This review, though, isn’t a single year but three years in retrospect. As it transpires, less has happened in those three years than would normally have occurred in one year prior to 2020’s global meltdown. Perhaps that is just as well. If the previous trend had continued unabated, CRAVE Guitars would have run out of space and funds a long time ago. I guess that there are silver linings at the end of the tunnel after all (I really must stop playing with mixed metaphors! Bad CRAVE!).

Well, there is no point in perpetuating petty procrastination, so let’s proceed with some prosaic pontification (nothing like a bit of CRAVE’s addictive affinity for asinine alliteration, again!). All text and images copyright of CRAVE Guitars. No AI used here.

‘New’ old gear over the past 3 years

The volume of acquisitions may not be great but the choices, I believe aren’t too shabby. I aim for variety and novelty in my quest for something a wee bit different to the norm, at least as far as the guitars are concerned. Here, there are two are from the 1960s, two from the 1970s and one from the 1980s. The effects are slightly more numerous and there is a little bit of gap‑filling going on here but variety is again a factor. Only 3 out of the 11 stomp boxes are ‘Made in USA’. Interesting. Right, here is the short shortlist…

Guitars and basses (5):

1963 Danelectro Pro 1
1989 Fender Jazz Bass American Standard Longhorn
1978 Fender Musicmaster Bass
1979 Gibson Explorer E2
1964 National Glenwood 95

Effect pedals (11):

1985 BOSS HM-2 Heavy Metal (distortion)
1984 BOSS SD-1 Super Over Drive
1979 BOSS SG-1 Slow Gear (auto swell)
1974 Colorsound Supa Tone Bender (fuzz)
1970s Colorsound Supa Wah-Swell
1970s DOD Analog Delay 680 (echo)
1980s Dunlop Original Cry Baby GCB-95 Wah
1970s Electro-Harmonix Switch Blade Channel Selector (A‑B switch)
1981 Ibanez CP-835 Compressor II
1984 Ibanez SM9 Super Metal (distortion)
1989 Marshall The Guv’nor (overdrive/distortion)

Over the last three years, there haven’t been any ‘new’ vintage valve amps. This is mainly due to space restrictions and the responsibility for maintaining these delicate electrical artefacts. They weren’t delicate when originally manufactured, they were built to go on the road and put up with punishment. However, after 60 or 70 years, they tend to get a bit temperamental. A bit like humans in fact. The last amp that joined the family was the fantastic little 1973 Fender Princeton Reverb ‘silverface’. Possibly my favourite amp.

There has been one notable departure from the CRAVE Guitars family. I was looking around for a Gibson Explorer E2 to partner the Gibson Flying V2. However, I couldn’t really justify yet another Explorer. Then, someone contacted me out of the blue enquiring about the black 1984 Gibson Explorer. If there was one guitar that I would let go to trade up, that was the one. It can be really strange how opportunity can present itself as coincidence. Eventually, deals were agreed and one came in while one went out. Serendipity and status quo. Result! I hope the 1984 Explorer is in a happy place.

Let’s take a closer look at the ‘new’ guitars – all of them exhibiting unusual construction and specification, making them exceptionally cool and rare (in my opinion). Right, here is the long shortlist…

1963 Danelectro Pro 1 – I first saw one of these a few years ago and was struck by its utter simplicity and quirky charm. Nothing fancy going on here. It is diminutive, dinky and hyper cute. It is, however not very practical. It has a short scale and upper fret access is awkward and only one pickup will limit it for some. However, it has all the usual Danelectro traits, including the unique construction and that classic lipstick pickup. It is definitely not everyone’s cup of tea but, for me, that’s a good reason to dig it. It is a genuinely unique instrument and SO cool that it hurts. It’s great fun to play too.

Feature: 1963 Danelectro Pro 1

1963 Danelectro Pro 1

1989 Fender Jazz Bass American Standard Longhorn – I have long wanted a Fender Jazz Bass. The new CRAVE Basses has allowed me to indulge that luxury. However, this isn’t a Jazz Bass as you know it and definitely not in the long tradition of the J‑Bass. This lovely beast is a Longhorn, only made for five years, this one from the first year of production. The deep cutaways and 22 fret neck make it look, feel, play and sound different from a ‘normal’ Jazz Bass. The Longhorn nickname gained it an altogether humorously crude moniker of the ‘boner’ bass. Now this one lives with me, I actually now prefer the look of this unusual instrument over the one that defined the icon.

Feature: 1989 Fender Jazz Bass American Standard Longhorn

1989 Fender Jazz Bass American Standard Longhorn

1978 Fender Musicmaster Bass – Another oddity and one of the ‘lost Fenders’. After the success of the Mustang Bass, Fender went on to release an even simpler budget model. The Musicmaster has the Mustang’s short scale but the pickup is actually a 6‑pole Mustang guitar pickup. The overall design and specification certainly alienated a whole bunch of players but that kind of misses the point. Snobs. Take the bass purely on face value and it’s actually a decent ‘student’ bass with great build quality and that offset body look that is currently very popular. Not one for the traditionalist. Note: Since the feature and photos were published, the original 2‑saddle bridge has been reinstated.

Feature: 1978 Fender Musicmaster Bass

1978 Fender Musicmaster Bass

1979 Gibson Explorer E2 – Some people hate the Gibson Flying V2 and Explorer E2. I love them because of their unusual multi‑layered construction. As mentioned above, finding an E2 was a mission. Moreover, this one belonged to the lead singer of the band Go West, Peter Cox. Kudos and thanks Peter. I don’t usually go for provenance but in this case, it adds something significant to the guitar’s backstory. It’s the walnut‑faced model (some are maple‑faced) and in wonderful near‑original condition. While it’s not quite as whacky as the admittedly peculiar V2, it has plenty of character and charisma. The Gibson Explorer, I think, remains my overall favourite guitar model.

Feature: 1979 Gibson Explorer E2

1979 Gibson Explorer E2

1964 National Glenwood 95 – Here’s a glorious instrument with another unusual type of construction. The body is moulded fibreglass, what the makers, Valco, called Res‑O‑Glas. I was expecting the material to be thin and plasticky. Instead, it is quite thick and solid. The two halves are screwed together leaving the interior hollow. It is very unique and an awesome entry in vintage guitar history. Not only is it well built, it is visually striking in just about every way. Whatever part you look at or whatever angle it is viewed from, it is a startlingly beautiful creation. Neither is it a case of style over substance, it plays very well and with an inimitable sound. I could go on and on but I’ll let it speak for itself.

Feature: 1964 National Glenwood 95

1962 National Glenwood 95

… and, now moving on to the ‘new’ vintage effect pedals:

1985 BOSS HM-2 Heavy Metal – A pedal renowned for creating a whole heavy metal sub‑genre thanks to Swedish death metal band Entombed and their debut studio album, ‘Left Hand Path’ (1990). Not many stomp boxes can claim that distinction. It is a monster. This one also comes with its original box and documentation. Very cool.

Feature: 1985 BOSS HM-2 Heavy Metal

1985 BOSS HM-2 Heavy Metal

1984 BOSS SD-1 Super Over Drive – Considered by many as a classic in the BOSS overdrive tradition. The SD‑1 adds a Tone control to the existing BOSS OD‑1 Over Drive to give it more flexibility and to help BOSS compete with other brands’ overdrive pedals. The SD‑1 has been seen on pedalboards all over the world for decades, earning it its enviable reputation.

Feature: 1984 BOSS SD-1 Super Over Drive

1985 BOSS SD-1 Super Over Drive

1979 BOSS SG-1 Slow Gear – This is one of the rarest, most collectable and misunderstood BOSS stomp boxes. The name gives nothing away. It acts a bit like a noise gate in reverse, the filter creating an auto swell effect. It is quite unique. After much experimentation, there is really only one sweet spot so, to be honest, sadly, it is a bit of a one‑trick pony, albeit an exclusive one.

Feature: 1979 BOSS SG-1 Slow Gear

1979 BOSS SG-1 Slow Gear

1974 Colorsound Supa Tone Bender – The Supa Tone Bender is basically just a big box version of the original Colorsound fuzz. There is no room in this article to dive into the nerd zone and cover its origins or its similarities/differences to other models. The numerous gear obsessives out there will tell you at great length about all the geeky differences. Basically, it’s a great 1970s fuzz pedal. What more do you need to know?

Feature: 1974 Colorsound Supa Tone Bender

1975 Colorsound Supa Tone Bender

1970s Colorsound Supa Wah-Swell – Another over‑sized ‘Supa’ version of a standard combination wah‑wah and swell pedal with a footswitch to go from one mode to the other. There’s very little on the inside other than empty space, indicating that the old marketing ploys of ‘more is more’ and ‘bigger is better’ played a part here. 1970s pedalboards weren’t as crowded as they are today, so pedals like this gained bragging rights. I can’t date this one accurately.

Feature: 1970s Colorsound Supa Wah-Swell

1977 Colorsound Supa Wah-Swell

1970s DOD Analog Delay 680 – Here is a truly wonderful 1970s American echo pedal. It’s not quite up with the benchmark Electro‑Harmonix Deluxe Memory Man but it is still authentic and very musical. I love these old analogue delays. It’s great fun to use and sounds great. It may not be in great cosmetic condition on the outside but few are because they were well used, an indication of what really matters to working musicians.

Feature: 1970s DOD Analog Delay 680

1980 DOD Analog Delay 680

1980s Dunlop Original Cry Baby GCB-95 Wah – Probably one of the most iconic wah‑wah pedals of all time. This one is a straightforward model from the 1980s. As classic as they come, you know exactly what you are going to get. The model has probably been used by most of the great guitarists at some point during their careers. The pot is a bit scratchy but I can’t bear to replace it, so it’s still original.

Feature: 1980s Dunlop Original Cry Baby GCB-95 Wah

1980s Dunlop Original Cry Baby GCB-95

1970s Electro-Harmonix Switch Blade Channel Selector – Strictly this is not an effect, just an A‑B switch. Another ‘no bones’ pedal with nothing much inside the box. It has one input and two outputs (or vice versa if you wish). Not massively useful or flexible but it does what it needs to do in a simple set up. Typical 1970s EHX styling to boot.

Feature: 1970s Electro-Harmonix Switch Blade Channel Selector

1970s Electro-Harmonix Switch Blade Channel Selector

1981 Ibanez CP-835 Compressor II – A pedal in the classic ‘square switch’ ‘0’‑series Ibanez effect pedal series (as is the most desirable TS‑808 Tube Screamer). The CD‑835 (catchy name, that. Not) is a perfectly capable pedalboard compressor. I still prefer the basic MXR Dyna Comp but this one will appeal to others. This one comes with its original box and documentation.

Feature: 1981 Ibanez CP-835 Compressor II

1981 Ibanez CP-835 Compressor II

1984 Ibanez SM9 Super Metal – Part of Ibanez’s ‘9’‑series, the SM9 is a massively beefed up Ibanez TS9 Tube Screamer but without the reputation of the latter, so it is a bit of a dark horse. Much more flexible and with a greater range of sounds available. It is a bit fiddly to recreate just the right tone but it is worth the effort involved in getting it tuned in. How far do you want to go? Pretty colour too.

Feature: 1984 Ibanez SM9 Super Metal

1984 Ibanez SM9 Super Metal

1989 Marshall The Guv’nor – Way, way before the current fad of putting a guitar pre‑amp on a pedal board, Marshall basically came up with the idea back in the 1980s. For those wanting classic Marshall tones without a 100W head and two 4×12 cabs stacked as they should be, there is The Guv’nor. For a large box full of transistors, rather than baking hot valves, it does an impressive job. Not necessarily accurate but great distortion on tap nevertheless. This is the original ‘Made in England’ version, complete with its box.

Feature: 1989 Marshall The Guv’nor

1989 Marshall The Guv’nor

There you have it, a brief rundown of 3 years’ collecting cool and rare vintage guitar gear in the background. Not a great deal to show for 36 months in terms of quantity but a nice range of quality. I am completely out of both storage space and funds, so any progress will be slow and steady for a while.

CRAVE Guitars’ website

The superficial sheen of the website hasn’t really changed much at all. However, there are technical changes beneath the surface that will hopefully keep it up‑to‑date and relevant. I’m no techno whizz, so CRAVE Guitars doesn’t appear on the prized ‘first page of Google’. Still, seeing as it is not a commercial enterprise, I’m not overly bothered. Overall viewing figures though have continued to increase year‑on‑year over the last seven years, even through the hiatus, which is a promising sign.

The web site’s beneath‑the‑radar positioning hasn’t stopped all the typical spammers inundating CRAVE’s e‑mail box with the usual promotional BS. It is absolutely clear that they don’t do their research, so every single one them gets summarily blocked and deleted without exception. I do, however, welcome genuine communications via the website, so long as they are sincere.

The biggest ‘news’ on the website is the addition of the all‑new CRAVE Basses pages. The web site originally started out just as CRAVE Guitars almost a decade ago now. Then it expanded to include CRAVE Effects and CRAVE Amps a few years ago, so CRAVE Basses is a logical extension. Even though I’m primarily a guitarist, I like the occasional dabble with the lower frequencies. The new sections of the website include features on CRAVE’s four vintage basses, as well as additions to the galleries.

The two ‘new’ CRAVE Basses covered above join a pair of existing vintage basses that I’ve owned since the 1970s…

1977 Fender Precision Fretless

Feature: 1977 Fender Precision Fretless

1977 Fender Precision Fretless

1978 Music Man Stingray Bass

Feature: 1978 Music Man Stingray Bass

1978 Music Man Stingray Bass

Before Covid, the number of visitors to the site was steadily increasing and reaching peaks that I could only have dreamt about when I started. During Covid, things slowed dramatically, indicating that people, rightfully, had other things on their minds. This slow‑down was mirrored by consumer’s overall demand in the music equipment industry. Even after Covid, things have been slow. The so‑called cost‑of‑living‑crisis (thanks Putin et al), especially in the UK has hit most people (including me) hard and visits dropped right down to pre‑2020 levels. Other priorities rightly prevailed once again. Despite being generally subdued, visits seem to be gradually increasing again but it is way too early to call it a trend.

I actually have quite a bit more content already written for the site that I will get around to publishing at some point. It’s not super critical but it seems a shame not to use it.

CRAVE Guitars’ (un)social media

I really don’t have the resilience to return to social media to the same level as in the past. However, CRAVE Guitars is posting things irregularly on Musky old X (ex‑Twatter), Facebook and LinkedIn. I can’t respond to messages but I do review them every so often. That will have to do for now. My engagement with social media is not negotiable for now.

CRAVE Guitars’ database

There is not really a great deal to say about this other than I use it to catalogue all of CRAVE’s vintage guitars in some detail. In the case of catastrophe such as fire, flood, theft, cat, etc., at least the information should be safe and sound. A copy is saved in the cloud just in case the laptop goes the same way.

CRAVE Guitars Database

Brand augmentation

No, I’m not getting bigger brands for all you fetishists out there. CRAVE Guitars has been around since 2007. The short name is OK but it isn’t specific enough to identify that vintage guitars are the focus of the ‘brand’. The full name of CRAVE (Cool & Rare American Vintage Electric) Guitars is certainly specific enough although it is a bit of a mouthful when it comes to everyday use. Internet SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) also has some difficulty placing the CRAVE Guitars brand in the vintage guitar category. Type ‘CRAVE guitars’ into a search engine and the site appears straight away. Type in ‘vintage guitars’ and the site may eventually appear plenty of pages down.

So… In addition to the established short and full names used above, I will also be using the name CRAVE Vintage Guitars to help searchers and visitors to get a better understanding of what this strange entity is all about. It is a small but important change. It will take search engines a while to pick up on it but it might help people find the site. Future CRAVE Guitars merchandise is also likely to carry the updated branding as and when needed. As ‘they’ say, it does what it says on the tin (apart from the amps, effects and basses of course. Doh!).

Musical history update

It’s a while since the 14‑part CRAVE Guitars’ series of articles, ‘The Story of Modern Music in 1,500+ Facts’, culminated in May 2020. Sadly, we have lost far too many great music people since I published the last of the ‘Facts’ just 2½ years ago.

The inevitability of life is that it ends. RIP great men and women. This list picks up from where that last article on the subject left off. Here are just a few of them.

DayMonthYearMusic Fact
4June2020English bass guitarist, singer and founding member of glam pop/rock band The Sweet, Steve Priest died at the age of 72.
18June2020English singer, songwriter and entertainer, nicknamed ‘The Forces’ Sweetheart’ during WWII, Dame Vera Lynn died at the age of 103.
6July2020Italian composer, conductor and musician, who wrote hundreds of cinema and television scores, Ennio Morricone died of complications after breaking a leg in Rome at the age of 91.
13January2021American guitarist with rock band New York Dolls, Sylvain Sylvain, died after a two-and-a-half year battle with cancer in Nashville, Tennessee at the age of 69.
17February2021Jamaican vocalist and pioneer of reggae ‘toasting’ U‑Roy (Ewart Beckford) died from complications following surgery in Kingston, Jamaica at the age of 78.
2March2021Jamaican singer, songwriter, percussionist and original member of The Wailers alongside Bob Marley and Peter Tosh, Bunny Wailer died from complications following a stroke in Kingston, Jamaica at the age of 73.
28July2021American bass guitarist and long-term member of southern blues/rock band ZZ Top, Dusty Hill died at his home in Houston, Texas, at the age of 72.
13August2021Celebrated American folk singer, guitarist, and songwriter Nanci Griffith died in Nashville, Tennessee at the age of 68.
24August2021English drummer with rock band the Rolling Stones for over five decades, Charlie Watts died in hospital in London at the age of 80.
29August2021Legendary Jamaican reggae and dub producer and recording artist, Lee “Scratch” Perry died of an undisclosed illness in hospital in Lucea, Jamaica at the age of 85.
26September2021English bass guitarist and founding member of pop/rock band Status Quo from 1967-1985, Alan Lancaster died from complications of multiple sclerosis in Sydney, Australia at the age of 72.
8December2021Jamaican bass guitarist and record producer, Robbie Shakespeare, best known as half of the reggae duo Sly & Robbie, died following kidney surgery in Miami, Florida at the age of 68.
10December2021American singer, guitarist and songwriter with TV pop band, the Monkees, Michael Nesmith died from heart failure at his home in Carmel Valley, California at the age of 78.
7January2022Canadian musician, singer, songwriter, and producer for Motown Records, R. Dean Taylor died at his home having contracted COVID‑19 (coronavirus) at the age of 82.
9January2022American jazz and R&B musician, songwriter, producer, and radio personality James Mtume died in South Orange, New Jersey at the age of 76.
12January2022American singer, co-founder and member the Ronettes, nicknamed the ‘bad girl of rock and roll’, Ronnie Spector died from cancer in Danbury, Connecticut at the age of 78.
20January2022American singer and actor Michael Lee Aday, better known as Meat Loaf, died from Wolff–Parkinson–White syndrome in Nashville at the age of 74.
19February2022English singer/songwriter, keyboard player and founder of the rock band Procol Harum, Gary Brooker MBE died from cancer at his home in Surrey at the age of 76.
22February2022American singer/songwriter who worked with Isobel Campbell and Queens Of The Stone Age, in addition to a lengthy solo career, Mark Lanegan died at his home in Killarney, Kerry, Ireland at the age of 57.
25March2022American rock drummer of the Foo Fighters, Taylor Hawkins died of heart failure probably caused by a drug overdose in a hotel in Bogota, Colombia at the age of 50.
4April2022American guitarist and member of Motown Records’ in‑house studio band, the Funk Brothers, Joe Messina died from kidney disease in Northville, Michigan at the age of 93.
26April2022German electronic music innovator, producer, composer and former member of krautrock band Tangerine Dream, as well as solo artist, Klaus Schulze died following a long illness at the age of 74.
17May2022Academy Award-winning Greek musician, composer and producer Evángelos Odysséas Papathanassíou, better known as Vangelis died of heart failure in Paris at the age of 79.
26May2022English keyboard player, DJ and founding member of electronica band Depeche Mode, Andrew Fletcher died of an aortic dissection at his home at the age of 60.
9June2022American singer known for her collaborations with film director David Lynch, Julee Cruise committed suicide in Pittsfield, Massachusetts at the age of 65.
8August2022British Australian singer and actress Olivia Newton-John died from breast cancer in Santa Ynez Valley, California at the age of 73.
28September2022American rapper Artis Leon Ivey Jr., a.k.a. Coolio died from a heart attack caused by a drug overdose in Los Angeles, California at the age of 59.
4October2022Highly acclaimed American country music singer and songwriter Loretta Lynn died from natural causes in Hurricane Mills, Tennessee at the age of 90.
28October2022American rock ‘n’ roll pianist singer and songwriter, Jerry Lee Lewis died from natural causes in DeSoto County, Mississippi at the age of 87.
10November2022English musician and key member of space rock band Hawkwind, Nik Turner died from unknown causes at the age of 82.
21November2022English guitarist, singer, songwriter and one‑time member of pub rock band Dr. Feelgood, Wilko Johnson died from pancreatic cancer in Southend‑on‑Sea, England at the age of 75.
30November2022English musician, singer and member of Fleetwood Mac, Christine McVie died of Ischemic stroke and metastatic cancer in London, England at the age of 79.
4December2022German musician, composer, member of Ash Ra Tempel and solo artist, Manuel Göttsching died from natural causes in Berlin at the age of 70.
11December2022Acclaimed American composer of film and TV scores, Angelo Badalamenti died from natural causes in Lincoln Park, New Jersey at the age of 85.
18December2022English musician, singer and member of The Specials and Fun Boy Three, Terry Hall died from pancreatic cancer at the age of 63.
23December2022British musician, rapper, singer, songwriter and DJ, front man of electronic band Faithless, Maxi Jazz (Maxwell Fraser) died from undisclosed causes in London England at the age of 65.
10January2023English virtuoso guitarist and former member of the Yardbirds, Jeff Beck died from bacterial meningitis in East Sussex, England at the age of 78.
18January2023Legendary American guitarist and singer, member of The Byrds and CSNY, David Crosby died from COVID-19 (coronavirus) in Santa Ynez, California at the age of 81.
28January2023American singer, songwriter and guitarist with alternative rock band Television, Tom Verlaine died from prostate cancer in Manhattan, NYC at the age of 73.
8March2023Legendary American composer, songwriter, producer and pianist, Burt Bacharach died from natural causes in Los Angeles, California at the age of 94,
5March2023American guitarist and founding member of southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd, Gary Rossington died from undisclosed causes in Milton, Georgia, USA, at the age of 71.
12April2023Influential Jamaican dub reggae sound system and record label owner, renowned for his work in London, Jah Shaka died at the age of 75.
1May2023Canadian singer, songwriter and guitarist Gordon Lightfoot died from natural causes in Toronto at the age of 84.
24May2023English bass player and member of post‑punk alternative rock band The Smiths, Andy Rourke died from pancreatic cancer in New York City at the age of 59.
25May2023The Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll, American singer, songwriter and actress Tina Turner died after a long illness in Küsnacht, Switzerland at the age of 83.
6June2023English guitarist, singer and founder of blues/rock band Groundhogs, Tony McPhee died from complications after a fall and a stroke at the age of 79.
20June2023English guitarist with rock group The Pop Group, John Waddington died from undisclosed causes at the age of 63.
21July2023Legendary American jazz and popular music crooner Tony Bennett died from Alzheimer’s disease in New York City at the age of 96.
26July2023American musician, singer, songwriter, and founding member of the Eagles, Randy Meisner died from COPD in Los Angeles, California at the age of 77.
26July2023Irish singer, songwriter and activist Sinéad O’Connor died from unknown causes in London, England at the age of 56.
9August2023Canadian musician and guitarist for Bob Dylan and The Band, Robbie Robertson died from prostate cancer in Los Angeles, California at the age of 80.
24August2023Renowned English rock guitarist with Whitesnake and UFO, Bernie Marsden died from bacterial meningitis at the age of 72.
27August2023American musician best known for being one half of electronica duo Stars Of The Lid, Brian McBride died from undisclosed causes at the age of 53.
13September2023British singer, songwriter and musician Roger Whittaker died from a stroke in France at the age of 87.
30November2023British‑born Irish singer, songwriter, musician and frontman with Celtic punk rock band the Pogues, Shane MacGowan died from pneumonia and encephalitis in Dublin, Ireland at the age of 65.
5December2023English guitarist and founding member of The Moody Blues and Wings, Denny Laine died from lung disease at the age of 79.

Music industry opinion

A lot has (or rather hasn’t) happened in the music industry over the 3 years since CRAVE Guitars suspended its main activities. First, there was the hangover from global economic recession/depression, then the coronageddon, then the cataclysmic geopolitical conflicts adversely affecting far too many innocent peoples around the globe. At best, the music industry at all levels could only hope to hold its own.

In reality, it has been a tumultuous few years, to say the least. Everyone from equipment manufacturers (including their supply chains), venues, artists, music recording and distribution, publicity and management have been hit hard. Every conceivable facet of the market has been decimated. While I haven’t been able to keep up with events in the industry as I normally would have done, it is clear that things are only now just beginning to get back to 2019 levels.

Who would have predicted three years ago, for instance, that British amp stalwart Marshall would have been acquired by the Swedish digital music company, Zound Industries. A sign of the times, I guess.

Strategically, it has been a nightmare where even the best scenario planning has failed to predict wildly off kilter outcomes. Vintage guitar prices seem to have kept up as the super‑rich collectors are basically unaffected by economic blips that are savage to the rest of us. I know that I am paying more now than I would have done in 2019 for the same thing. While I am not economically motivated and CRAVE Vintage Guitars is a non‑profit enterprise, it is a relief that the 3‑year hiatus hasn’t totally wiped out the value of CRAVE Guitars’ precious artefacts.

It will take a long time for things to settle down and start to grow again. It will be a challenge for everyone involved for some time to come. The last three years haven’t signalled the death throes of the guitar music community. Yet. It has, however been badly wounded, let us hope not mortally so.

The guitar book

A while back, I was contacted out of the blue by a book publisher wanting to use one of CRAVE Guitars’ vintage guitars in their author’s new book on the subject. After a bit of formal toing‑and‑froing, it all went ahead and the book was published earlier this year. I was happy to do this for no commercial gain and the only reward was a shiny copy of the final print version and a credit in the acknowledgement section. While it won’t make CRAVE Guitars famous, I am quite proud of this minor morsel of exposure and recognition.

The book in question is, ‘Guitar: The Shape Of Sound – 100 Iconic Designs’ by author Ultan Guilfoyle, published by Phaidon Press (ISBN: 978 183866 558 6) (2023).

Link: ‘Guitar: The Shape Of Sound – 100 Iconic Designs’

Phaidon – Guitar The Shape Of Sound (2023)

The vintage guitar that was featured in the book is my lovely 1974 Ovation Breadwinner 1251 (see page 204‑205).

CRAVE Guitars Ovation Breadwinner

The pulp novel

As you may know, I have been writing on and off for some time, going back to the dim dark origins of CRAVE Guitars back in 2007. The main examples of this are the web site features and monthly articles on the CRAVE Guitars website over the last 9‑10 years or so, as well as the usual social media activity.

Very recently, I felt an irresistible urge to write a fiction novel. Its status is currently work‑in‑progress. It will be called, ‘The Distortion Diaries’ (remember, you read it here first). It started out as an amateur musician’s journal but the early content was clichéd, derivative and, frankly, very dull. It also wouldn’t fill a novel. So, I expanded the story to include a broader variety of situations and characters. The result will be, believe this or not, an eroti‑rom‑com with PARENTAL ADVISORY for Explicit Content. Even then, it isn’t at all what you might think or expect. Heck, how it turned out surprised me too! I don’t know if anyone will ever get to read it. It doesn’t matter. It is something creative that I had to do for myself. It isn’t good enough for a publisher to pick up and I have absolutely nil experience of self‑publishing, so it might never see the light of day. I have considered serialising it through the CRAVE Musings (i.e. the monthly blog articles) but I’m not sure the public is ready for some lovey‑dovey smut‑ridden muso pulp on a vintage guitar website though. The novel may end up just an aborted, ill‑advised, folly of an average superego’s gratuitous self‑indulgence. Thoughts on a postcard please.

Parental Advisory Label

Whether anything comes of this probably pointless fictional venture, I have no idea but it’s been addictive and fun to come up with something non‑factual for a change. And, no, it isn’t autobiographical, just in case you were wondering. Nor is it aspirational. Sadly, seeing as the protagonist has a ‘good time’ on the whole. Lucky git.

In truth, I would actually like to try and self‑publish the novel but I have no idea whatsoever about how to go about such an endeavour, so it will probably languish in long‑lasting literary limbo (stop it with the alliteration, already!).

New 2023 albums

As it’s the time of year for lists, here is a breakdown of 2023 album releases acquired during the year. As usual, these aren’t the only albums bought and neither will they be the only 2023 albums over time. Here are this year’s 33 purchases:

100 gecs – 10,000 gecs
Alborosie – Shengen Dub/Embryonic Dub
Caroline Polachek – Desire, I Want To Turn Into You
The Chemical Brothers – For That Beautiful Feeling
Creation Rebel – Hostile Environment
The Cure – Black Sessions: Maison De La Radio Paris 2004 (live broadcast)
Depeche Mode – Memento Mori
Don Letts – Outta Sync
Dub Pistols – Frontline
Everything But The Girl – Fuse
Fred Again.. & Brian Eno – Secret Life
Gentleman’s Dub Club – On A Mission…
Hollie Cook – Happy Hour In Dub
James Holden – Imagine This Is A High Dimensional Space Of All Possibilities
King Krule – Space Heavy
King Tubby & The Observer All Stars – Dubbing With The Observer
Kurt Vile – Back To Moon Beach
Lana Del Rey – Did You Know That There’s A Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd
Laurel Halo – Atlas
Mitski – The Land Is Inhospitable And So Are We
The Murder Capital – Gigi’s Recovery
The Orb – Metallic Spheres In Colour (Feat. David Gilmour)
The Orb – Prism
Orbital – Optical Delusion
Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs – Land Of Sleeper
Queens Of The Stone Age – In Times New Roman…
Rolling Stones – Hackney Diamonds
Skindred – Smile
Sleaford Mods – UK GRIM
Slowdive – Everything Is Alive
Steve Hillage – LA Forum 31.1.77 (live)
X‑Press 2 – Thee
Yeule – Softscars

Is there a favourite 2023 album out of that lot? Well, I keep coming back to British alternative/indie shoegaze/dream pop band, Slowdive and ‘Everything Is Alive’ more than once, so that’s a fair choice at the time of writing. The big disappointment was Don Letts’ ‘Outta Sync’. Sadly. It comprises many well-crafted pop songs but very little of what I, and I think many others, hoped for in the way of heavy dub reggae tracks.

An even bigger disappointment for me was what didn’t appear. The Cure had hinted that their first studio album since 2008’s ‘4:13 Dream’, heralded as, ‘Songs Of A Lost World’ would be released in 2022. It was notable by its absence and many enthusiasts were hoping that it would finally see the light of day in 2023. The band tempted fans by playing several of the new tracks during their live concerts during the year. However, still nothing tangible has appeared on record store shelves. Let’s hope Robert Smith & co. get around to letting us hear it in 2024. Sixteen years is a long time to wait for new material. C’mon Bob, don’t keep us waiting any longer.

Note: I haven’t gone back to cover 2020, 2021 and 2022 lists of those year’s album releases, as this article would become just a loooooong list.

Whazzup for CRAVE Guitars in 2024?

Before Covid, I used to include at the end of the ‘review of the year’, a shortlist of vintage guitar gear that I might try to acquire in the subsequent 12‑month period. Rarely were the predictions spot on, or even close. Given CRAVE Guitars’ limited activity, space and funds, there is little point in speculating other than in very broad terms.

While there is always a long list of ‘most wanted’ guitars, it’s unlikely to expand significantly in 2024. I am actually generally relatively content with my lot. For now. I am sure that GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome) will strike again at some point.

Having launched CRAVE Basses in 2023, there are only four vintage bass guitars in the ‘collection’ thus far. There are a few I might be interested in looking for and which may improve diversity in this area.

There are no intentions for ‘new’ CRAVE Amps at the moment. But that can change, depending on opportunity.

I am also keeping an eye open for some interesting vintage stomp boxes for CRAVE Effects but it really depends on whether anything crops up at a reasonable market price.

The overall result is that there are no specific ambitions for 2024. Next year’s annual review will probably be very short and very dull! I have learned from past experience that predictions aren’t a good idea. Not only are they over‑ambitious but also they end up way wide of the mark. So, I will take things as they come and await any surprises with great anticipation. That sounds like it might be a bit more fun than reporting on yet another failed plan.

CRAVE Guitars ‘Record(s) of the Month’

It seems that this might become a regular feature. I listen to a lot of music (see last month’s article, ‘Music Machinations’ – November 2023). There are some albums that tend to stand out from the rest. There is no rhyme or reason why they do, they just do. Over the last month, I just can’t split two albums, which I’ve been enjoying amongst all the other great material out there. They both come under the general genre category of instrumental ‘stoner rock’ but that downplays their appeal. So, on account of there being SO much great music to discover, I’m going for the plural of ‘Record’ for December 2023. Let’s just call that extra little ‘(s)’ a Christmas/New Year treat for y’all. Enjoy

Eternal Tapestry – Beyond The 4th Door (2011) – First up is this strange thing of beauty. Eternal Tapestry is an American psych rock band based in Portland, Oregon. It may not be regarded by some as their best but it was their first ‘proper’ record label release, after several previous albums. It isn’t heavy. It sounds like a group of friends getting together for a jam session. To get that right is a LOT harder than people think. It is atmospheric, dreamy and so far out of this world that it leaves the sordid real world truly out of sight. Good. laid back, hypnotic, immersive, psychedelic and otherworldly experience.

My Sleeping Karma – Soma (2012) – Not the same as Eternal Tapestry but not too far off either. My Sleeping Karma is a German psych rock band from Aschaffenburg, Bayern and ‘Soma’ is their 4th studio album. The tracks are long, intentionally repetitive and with a gentle groove. It’s not quite an impromptu jam session but it has a distinctive psychedelic undercurrent that can be great for zoning out. I prefer this to other MSK studio albums, as it has a bit more variety within the confines of its moody origins. Emotional krautrock. Who’da thought?

Albums Of The Month – December 2023

Tailpiece

Good riddance to 2023. Funny (not) how I seem destined to repeat that same dreary sentiment every year. Ever hopeful and optimistically deluded, I have to remain confident that 2024 will be a bit better. Any improvement will be eagerly grasped. A new year, new opportunities.

My naïve wish and hope for 2024? Listen up all humans! Stop destroying our planet and stop killing each other. Then put all that wasted money to good use making a peaceful, sustainable civilisation, fare and just for all. A pipe dream, maybe, but one has to dream.

As far as articles for 2024 are concerned, I have a couple of ideas gestating, although nothing firmed up at this stage, Watch this space folks. Tune in, same time, same channel, next month. In the meantime, I wish you all a Happy New Year. Be good.

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

CRAVE Guitars’ ‘Quote of the Month’: “The best thing in life is freedom”

© 2023 CRAVE Guitars – Love Vintage Guitars.

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