THE PLAN – Dorset Guitar Museum

WELCOME TO THE BEGINING OF SOMETHING INCREDIBLE

An idea is all it takes.. well, an idea tinged with a bit of ‘why not?’ and ‘how hard could it really be?’. The idea in this case was preceded by the realisation that the UK doesn’t have a real guitar museum to visit and that that was a damn shame.. it wasn’t long before we hit the ‘why not’ stage.. the ‘how hard could it really be’ passed rapidly with a hint of all too easily ignored ‘DON’T DO THIS!’ By that point.. well, here we all are aren’t we?

Now, Museums are not easily created, they are not inexpensive and, if they are to be done, are certainly to be done properly and with precision. The properly and with precision bits are, well.. for future us to deal with.. the applications are in progress and research done of course, the basic why’s and wherefores are roughly codified and will be solidifying over the coming months. The real issue is that guitars and all the wonderful paraphernalia that surround them are actually quite pricy, and to gather enough in one place to be interesting will be verging on the utterly unobtainable to all but the most well-heeled of individuals.. (if you are one of these then please get in touch.. we need to talk!)

The second idea, which came along after a few months of soul searching and dedicated avoidance of the afore-mentioned ‘DON’T DO THIS’ was.. why not get the public to pay for this while starting yet another whole new venture from scratch.. Now, it turns out that with practice one can get past all the doubts and worries and get stuck into talking to solicitors and buying domain names etc etc rather more rapidly with practice and so DailyGuitarDraw was born.

The basic idea is that we will buy, document, spruce up and then give away rare, interesting and/or simply desirable guitars and related items in exchange for the price of a simple Prize Draw ticket.. With the help of the team at Crimson Guitars and a LOT of time and effort (those t’s don’t cross themselves!) we have reached a point where Daily Guitar Draw has given away over 100 guitars so far and The Dorset Guitar Museum actually has about 40 or so guitars worth looking at! Time to relax?? Maybe not..

Phase 1 complete.. idea, risk avoidance avoidance, 2nd idea.. even more risk avoidance avoidance and a, mostly successful, implementation of the plan and here we are.. on the verge of ‘Phase 2 – Let’s BUILD a THING!’

At Crimson Guitars HQ, on the edge of an area of outstanding natural beauty not far from the county seat of Dorchester, we have managed to find space for the 1st, hopefully quite temporary, home for the Dorset Guitar Museum.. a few thousand square feet is now up for some renovation.. some building of walls, hiding of ugly ceilings, blocking up of windows etc etc.. and here we are, talking to you.. Can you give us a hand in any way? If so, we would very much appreciate a chat.

While building the physical home of the museum plans for the DIGITAL version coalesce.. watch this space, we plan to create a world class digital resource to delight and inspire Guitar Builders and Players alike with the highest quality images and video of guitars, both in our care and in the hands of our friends. There will be articles and historical resources as well as.. well.. the ideas do not seem to be slowing down! Some of this will be available free to the public with the more in depth data being set aside for Dorset Guitar Museum Members who will, through their continued support, help us continue to grow this platform into a guitar based digital resource of unsurpassed beauty and educational quality.

Enough of me.. let’s talk about you! Drop us a line if you have the time, check out Daily Guitar Draw if you want to support us while being in with a chance to win a new guitar of your own or even come and visit us in Dorset if you are in the area. This is the very beginning of something beautiful and I am so excited to be taking the journey with you.

All my best,

Ben Crowe

Founder Dorset Guitar Museum

Founder & CEO Crimson Guitars LTD