An odd guitar and a new hobby
Moving out of my old apartment, I helped my roommates dispose of some of their unwanted/extra items. Old game consoles, furniture, clothes, etc., mostly things we could take to the local thrift store. A few of the items, however, I kept to sell on our local classifieds on behalf of my roommates. I consider myself a bit of an expert at this, usually getting bites pretty consistently.
When my roommate gave me two acoustic guitars to sell, I didn’t think much of it. If he was giving them to me, they had to be worth very little, right? Wrong.

One guitar was a beginner acoustic guitar, body cracked and warped with age. I figured I could get $20 tops out of it.
The other guitar . . . well, the other guitar was something else. Despite its strange shaped case, I didn’t notice anything unusual until I actually opened it up.
I was immediately struck by the shape of the guitar. Rounded on one side, like a giant lute, it shocked me. The D-shaped soundhole, the interesting tone of wood on the side. I knew my friend had given me something special.
A few minutes research lead me to believe this guitar is a Giannini Craviola, a guitar made by Tranquillo Giannini in Sao Paolo during the mid-late 1960s. It’s a guitar meant for Django Reinhardt-style jazz and flamenco. With a body covered in Mexican rosewood veneer, the guitar’s color and style lend itself to the romantic, vibrant tones of both styles. Of course, I immediately fell in love. I scoured the internet to find the retail value of the guitar. Based on my best estimates, it’s somewhere between $400-$1000, mostly as a collector’s item. I talked with my friend, and for the time being, I’ve got the guitar on loan.
Since getting hold of the Giannini, I’ve begun to take flamenco guitar lessons (stay tuned for a piece all about flamenco!) every other week. I have the guitar on a stand in my room so it’s one of the first things I see walking in. It’s a wonderful conversation starter, and a great companion to have by my bedside.
What’s really amazed me is how quickly this instrument changed my day-to-day life. Before I picked up the Giannini, it had been several months since I’d played any instrument seriously. Having played piano religiously growing up, it’s been one of my greatest sorrows that I’ve let music fade to the background. All it took was a beautiful, enigmatic old guitar to change that. I now play guitar anywhere from thirty minutes to an hour every day, practicing scales, classical pieces, flamenco techniques, or just plain diddling around. It’s a great stress reliever, allowing me to decompress in between phone calls, deadlines, or caffeine overdoses. More importantly, it’s just plain fun. It sprinkles fun and joy into my day in a way that few other things do.
Moral of the story: when you come to a guitar in the road, take it.
