Original Cripe Guitar

[zappahead]

Cripe was a novice luthier, but thats not really fair to him. Steve Cripe was a woodworker by trade and from all accounts he was highly skilled. His handy work on his very first guitar blew Garcia away. This is the same guy who built the guitar that Garcia laid his Irwins' down for. Cripes guitars are collectors items and I would place the wood working on his guitars with anyones. Theres also a lot of Tributes floating around and you can still buy one anytime you want to. Cripes guitars are obviously no longer available. I can guarantee you that a Bolt copy would be worth a pretty penny. From what I remember he charged 5k+ for his Bolt's back when you could still get one from him directly. Considering hes passed away Id place the value far beyond the original price.

[David Houck]

Jonathan; pretty interesting couple of emails!!

[lbpesq]

Jonathan:
 
Well, the listing provides three possibilities of who might complain:
 
1.  Cripe's estate
2.  Fender, or
3.  Garcia's estate.
 
I can see number 1 if either this was a fraudulent auction to begin with or it wasn't really a Cripe guitar in the first place.  Number 2 would surprise me.  First one sees the term stratocaster used quite frequently as a generic name, like kleenex.  Fender isn't known for complaining about this.  Given her past actions, it wouldn't surprise me if Deborah Koons might be the complainer.  But if I had to pick, I'd pick the first and suspect it was a fraud in some manner.  Now I fell better about not putting in that $7000 bid!  
 
As for Cripe, I didn't mean to belittle him.  Obviously the guy knew how to work with wood, but everything I've read seems to indicate that he got Bolt right by luck.  And don't forget, Garcia had the electronics completely re-done.  At the price it went for, one is buying the Jerry connection and a potential investment.  As a player, I seriously doubt the guitar is up there with similarly priced instruments from experienced luthiers.
 
As for the Lightning Bolt Cripe currently on eBay, I just looked at the picture of the headstock - OUCH!!!!.  Not only is it really ugly, but doesn't the firecracker logo look like a sticker that came in a box of Cracker Jacks?  And is it my imagination, or do the oval fretmarkers look like colorforms?  (You know, the stick-on rubber/plastic forms we played with as kids?)  This is one I will be passing on.
 
Bill, tgo

[tom_z]

Jonathan - those are interesting emails. As far as the Kimock connection goes: the story is that his first Cripe was a gift from some fans. The guitar was acquired with no hardware, assembly completed and given to Kimock during the time he was playing in the Other Ones. He plays the Cripe among many other guitars on tour. Recently, (according to the Kimock discussion board) he recieved a 1954 walnut Fender Stringmaster from some fans. Coincidentally, the subject of the email you recieved, udemon, recently purchased a 1954 walnut Fender Stringmaster on ebay, lending credibility to the claim that udemon wanted to give the Cripe guitar to Kimock.
 
Now, having written all this - I don't see why that should stop anyone from bidding on a Cripe guitar. I'm a big fan of Steve Kimock but I don't think he's entitled to a particular guitar any more than anyone else.
 
As to the craftsmanship and spirit of Cripe's guitars, here is a link to information posted from folks who own or have played them. There does seem to be something very special about his guitars.
 
http://online-discussion.dhenderson.com/SteveKimock/viewtopic.php?p=1332
 
Hope I haven't muddied the waters here - just wanted to pass on some info I ran across.
 
Tom
 
(Message edited by tom_z on October 07, 2005)

[glocke]

hmmmm...I just took a look at the $25,000.00 cripe guitar, and dont see any justification for that price at all...For one thing, the connection that Cripe made guitars for garcia is weak...Alembic made basses for Lesh and guitars for garcia also..Yet their prices are not inflated by such claims (although the instruments from Alembic in the $10k+ ramge are worthit from a qaulity standpoint)...
 
I also have to agree that aestheically, it is not an attractive guitar...
 
I wonder what the guy who thinks that is worth $25k is smoking? I want some...

[zappahead]

Im not sure theres justification for the price on that Cripe Boltish guitar on auction now, but if its the real thing then it is probably worth close to that if you just simply take in mind that someone, somewhere would pay a lot for that guitar. Personally I havent read a lot of first hand reviews of Cripes guitars, but everytime I have read anything the reviews are stellar.
 
As for Garcia ripping the electronics out, lets keep in mind that he also ripped the guts out of his Wolf guitar (many times over) and that he had his personal preference for DiMarzio pickups which most people can attest are not rare, not particularly high end and are not the usual pick up on any high end guitars I see for sale.
 
Id say a real Cripe Bolt guitar could fetch in the 20k range. Keep in mind that most of his guitars are not being bought to be played, they are strictly collectors items at this point.

[smichaels]

I had always heard mixed reviews on the playability of these guitars. The main criticism I heard was that they weren't consistent...I also heard the same thing about his interior cabnet work for custom yachts.

[lbpesq]

IMHO Alembic has benefited greatly from the Dead connection.  That's how I first became aware of them, as is the case with many in this club, I would suspect.  (Probably the Dead/S.F. Era, Stanley Clarke, and John Entwistle have brought  the most people to Alembic with whomever is 4th very far back).  There are also many who hold the opinion that Alembic prices are quite expensive and are reflective of the Dead/Jerry/Phil connection.  I'm fortunate enough to be able to afford one, (who needs food?), and I believe it is worth the price.  As opposed to the Cripe, I don't feel like I'm buying a pig in a poke.  I am confident that Alembic will build a guitar that will be both top notch as a piece of art and as a player.  Also, if there are any problems, I am confident that Alembic will be around and will be willing to put in the effort to make it right.  The same certainly can't be said for the late Mr. Cripe.
 
Bill, tgo

[zappahead]

Id say that any one man shop luthier is gonna have consistency issues. I also heard that Cripe went out of his way to not make a guitar the same exact way each time so Im sure it wasnt always perfect. A company like Alembic who has a group of people and a successfull system with decades of testing behind it is gonna have a more consistent product. Alembic makes some of the finest of the finest, theres no denying that.
 
At this point though, Cripes stuff is being bought for speculative reasons by collectors who want either an investment or who want to own a guitar made by the guy who built guitars for Garcia.
 
If I wanted a player guitar or a super high end work of art type instrument then I would most likely go with Alembic. If I were buying the instrument purely for the collectibility I would be more inclined to buy a Cripe.

[adriaan]

Bill,
 
As a guitarist you are forgiven, but #4 would be Mark King.
 
For most European Alembic fans, the Grateful Dead would be #4 on that list, if not further down ...

[grateful]

Adriaan,
 
Not for this European!  But then I'm another guitarist.
 
Mark, ago

[adriaan]

Mark,
 
You are a rare breed indeed. Whoever heard of a Brit calling himself a European?

[grateful]

Adriaan,
 
I prefer European to Brit actually, but I know I'm a rarity.
 
Mark, ago