Carson Crickmore 1986 C-2 / 3/4 Size Dreadnought
philip crickmore
I thought this might be of some interest, a lovely very well kept Carson Crickmore 1986 C-2 3/4 size Dreadnought with a Venetian cutaway arrives at the workshop for some setting up work and maintenance, it was complete and signed off on the 22/10/86 and has had two owners since both who have looked after the instrument too its original condition.
The guitar has had a re fret done probably 10 years ago by myself, even back then I thought the guitar was a great example of building without any artistic or cultural restrictions, nose to the wind and no looking back.
So 27 years old and still in service with a re fret in between, there wasn't that much to do to it really , a fret mill, some bridge and saddle work , replacing a 70's Grover machine head, yes I had one stashed infact a whole set in various condition I knew I would need them one day, so what goes around comes around thank god, and a new scratch plate.
The interesting thing here is my customer comes into the workshop and we start talking about boat building amongst other things but in the back of my mind I'm thinking I would'nt mind owning that C-2 I wonder if he would be open to a subtle suggestion, so i am waiting for an opening but its not going to happen because he picks up his guitar rakes the strings with a nice open cord plays a sweet little melody and turns around and says man I love this guitar with a big grin on his face !
I cant remember the exact words after that it was all good but I realised I was having a bit of a dream that perhaps one day I might own a few of my early 80's guitars , it may still happen there is something in those early instruments about not knowing an un restrained hot bed of creativity, a rawness to all those edges i was using to get me there , it was in essence about not knowing that I didnt know.
Those days are history a real history that is well documented in this guitar and others I built in that time, i will be posting more on this subject in the very near future.
Well the story does'nt end there its been a few months in between conversations prior to my customer picking up his guitar, he mentioned to me that on our last conversation I had something of interest to show him...
I scratched my head and realised that I had taken possession of a 1986 12 string a few years ago sitting up in the loft a guitar that somehow has followed me over the years , it has had a number of owners and a hard life, so it ends up in my work shop with its owner looking at me saying what do you think ...
Well it wasn't a pretty sight but at the same time I was completely overwhelmed by the fact it was still in one piece as neglected as it looked, thank god no major breakages just bruised and weary but I could see with some time and care it would be a great restoration job.
So my customer and I are standing there , I open the case he just says OMG and he just said straight up , thats mine ... we are currently in negotation over the matter.
Having said that both instruments were built in the same batch and were signed off two weeks apart from each other essentially they are a matching pair identical in there construction , I have included some photos that will give you an idea of what a hard life and a good life can do to guitars ... i hope you enjoy until my next post, thanks for reading.
Below is the 1986 C-2 12 String C/W No1
Lots of scrapes and bruising and some forward x brace collapse noticable by the long cracks in the top just inside the waist.... still restorable as long as all the wood is still there .
Underneath all those knocks and scrapes is a very fine piece of German Spruce , check the Medullary ray in the top perfectly quartered with most likely no run out.
A better view of the top ... nice consistancy
Notice the deep venetian cutaway and the asymmetrical heel, the Indian rosewood body has servived without any breaks, it is a very tough wood indeed.
