{"id":535,"date":"2012-01-04T14:20:34","date_gmt":"2012-01-04T14:20:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vintageandrare.com\/blog\/?p=535"},"modified":"2013-04-26T13:51:46","modified_gmt":"2013-04-26T13:51:46","slug":"grinning-elk-interview-with-ray-mauldin-from-grinning-elk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vintageandrare.com\/blog\/grinning-elk-interview-with-ray-mauldin-from-grinning-elk\/","title":{"rendered":"Grinning Elk interview with Ray Mauldin from Grinning Elk"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hi Ray, thank you for taking your time to speak to us. Could you please tell as a little bit about Grinning Elk? Where are you located?<\/strong>
\nLee and I have been attending shows together since 2000. At the time, I owned an electronics repair service and was well- established here in my hometown. Lee walked into my office one day and as we were talking, I asked him, \u201cWhat exactly do you do, Man\u201d? He answered, \u201cI buy and sell vintage guitars\u201d. Well, I had always been a gear junkie, having played in various bands around Atlanta for years and I thought that his answer sounded very intriguing, so I asked if I could go to a show with him sometimes. He said, \u201cSure\u201d so in October 2000, we drove out to the Arlington, Texas show and on the way back, the idea of forming a company was born. Our office is in Douglasville, Ga., which is about 20 miles West of Atlanta.<\/p>\n

What initially motivated you to set up a music store, and when was that?<\/strong>
\nWe don\u2019t have what is referred to as a \u201cbrick and mortar\u201d store. We are primarily a web- based business and have an appointment only office where clients can set up a time to come and visit. Our office and company was officially opened in Sept. 2006.<\/p>\n

In EU the current Gibson case \u201clacey act\u201d has gotten a lot of attention, what is your perspective on shipping between US & EU? Have you had any problems regarding this case so far?<\/strong>
\nNot yet. In the last year, we have been asked to send only two guitars that had Brazilian Rosewood overseas. Both were vintage Martins and we decided that rather than take a chance on them being confiscated, we would sell them here in the U.S. Thankfully, our clients understood and the guitars sold easily here.<\/p>\n

Do you play music yourself? If so, what do you play, for how long have you been doing it?<\/strong>
\nI have been playing bass since about 1987, which was right after I got out of the Army. Lee\u2019s been playing guitar since the late 70\u2019s, when he was in high school. I think he even won a talent show back then, so he obviously got an earlier start than I did. He\u2019s a much more accomplished musician than I am. He\u2019s taller too.<\/p>\n

The Elk Nation\u2026.James Hetfield\u2026.could you tell us a bit more about that?<\/strong>
\nThat was one of the best days of my life. It was a Sunday and I was lying on my couch, watching TV.\u00a0 Metallica was playing Atlanta that night and was thinking I\u2019d get tickets down at the arena right before the show started. Lee called me up and said, \u201cPull out those two Flying V\u2019s and the \u201965 Strat. We might be showing them to the guys in Metallica this afternoon\u201d. I probably said something like \u201cYeah, sure we are\u201d but he insisted that I get up off my comfortable couch and get ready.\u00a0 So I begrudgingly did as he asked, thinking that this was a cruel joke because you just didn\u2019t get to go meet Metallica on a Sunday afternoon, but sure as shootin\u2019, two hours later, we were standing at the service entrance to Phillips Arena with those guitars in hand. James\u2019 guitar tech, Zak took us into a room where we laid the guitars out and it wasn\u2019t long before Hetfield walked in and started checking them out. He eventually bought the white \u201975 Flying V. We later showed the Strat to Kirk Hammett, but he said it was too clean and \u201cnot vibey enough\u201d. Go figure that one out!<\/p>\n

What do you consider the biggest challenge for dealers of musical instruments today?<\/strong>
\nI think the most difficult part of our business today is completing a deal over the telephone or by email. It\u2019s a challenge to sell a piece to someone that is halfway around the world with only a written description or with words spoken on the phone. We want to make sure that the guitar or bass being discussed is exactly what our client is looking for and will fit his or her needs. The last thing we want is to mail a guitar across the planet only to have it come back.\u00a0 We try to do all of the legwork and preparation before the guitar goes out so that when it arrives at its new home, the customer opens the case and says \u201cwow\u201d. That\u2019s our goal with every transaction.<\/p>\n

How do you choose what products to carry?<\/strong>
\nThat\u2019s another challenge in itself. We are so picky when it comes to condition and originality, the pool of instruments we will consider buying is a small one. We want them all to be as close to new as possible and completely original. Every once in a while, we\u2019ll purchase a guitar that might have broken solder joints or a replaced nut, but it\u2019s a rare occasion. There\u2019s even a term that\u2019s been coined in our industry- \u201cElk clean\u201d. I hear it all the time at the shows we attend and I\u2019d like to think that it refers to best of the best.<\/p>\n

What is the oddest guitar you\u2019ve ever sold?<\/strong>
\nA few years ago, at the Philadelphia Guitar Show, we bought a 1986 Kramer Triax that was virtually unplayed. It was flip- flop pink and had its original flight case and all of the tags.\u00a0 Very cool and very 80\u2019s!<\/p>\n

Do you have any personal favorite guitars in your shop? If so, why is said guitar your favorite?<\/strong>
\nMy favorite guitars are usually basses, so at the moment, it\u2019s a Rickenbacker 4003s8. It\u2019s an 8- string bass in Desert Gold that was made as a \u201ccolor of the year\u201d piece in 2001. There can\u2019t be more than one or two in the world. In terms of favorite guitars, we have the first Murphy- aged Les Paul ever made at Gibson and it\u2019s one of the most authentic looking \u201959 reissues we\u2019ve ever seen. I think Lee\u2019s got that one stashed away somewhere so I can\u2019t get my hands on it.<\/p>\n

Given that this is for a blog, what role has technology (the internet, your website, etc.) played in the success of your business?<\/strong>
\nWell, it has exposed us to the entire world. Anybody, anywhere with a little electricity, an internet connection or a smart phone can look at our inventory and buy from us. Think about it: prior to the establishment of the internet, most guitar dealers sold their gear from a store and if they did have any national or international exposure, it would have been through magazine advertisements. Now, you can place a banner on a forum and be seen by literally millions of visitors to that forum a year.\u00a0 I once sold a 1967 Stratocaster to a gentleman in Belgium from my Blackberry, sitting in the parking lot of a local post office. You couldn\u2019t do that ten years ago.<\/p>\n

Is there a general trend to the people who purchase from you, in terms of how skilled or experienced they are?<\/strong>
\nThe majority of our clients are professionals, serious collectors and higher- end musicians. They know their stuff when they call, they like what they see on our website so generally, the only thing left to discuss is price. The gear we have speaks for itself.<\/p>\n

What advice would you give to somebody looking to purchase a guitar from you?<\/strong>
\nIf you\u2019ve never heard of us, check us out. Another important aspect of the internet is, if you consistently perform at a high level, people will say so. The various forums have become powerful mediums and people all over the world talk about their purchases, experiences, etc. If you make just one person unhappy, they will certainly say something about it somewhere. Your reputation is the most important thing your company can have. It\u2019s everything.<\/p>\n

Any famous last words?<\/strong>
\nSure. It\u2019s a Latin saying: \u201caudentes fortuna iuvat, which means \u201cFortune Favors the Bold\u201d. Or, on a lighter note, Two Elks are always better than one\u2026<\/p>\n

In 2010 V&R visited Arlington Guitar Show and Ray was kind enough to introduce us to some of his pieces: (The interview with Ray Mauldin starts at 1:43)<\/p>\n

A selection of Grinning Elk pieces:
\nKorina Explorer R9
\nGibson ES330T
\nRickenbacker 660\/12 Tom Petty
\nGibson USA map guitar<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi Ray, thank you for taking your time to speak to us. Could you please tell as a little bit about Grinning Elk? Where are you located? Lee and I have been attending shows together since 2000. At the time, I owned an electronics repair service and was well- established here in my hometown. Lee […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[455,456,38,457,140,29,111,96,458,50,459,460,461,462,69,463,464,465,100,371,466,24,55,164,146,64,26],"class_list":["post-535","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-interviews","tag-455","tag-arlington-guitar-show","tag-brazilian-rosewood","tag-elk","tag-explorer","tag-fender","tag-fender-stratocaster","tag-gibson","tag-grinning-elk","tag-guitar","tag-james-hetfield","tag-kirk-hammeth","tag-korina","tag-lee","tag-les-paul","tag-metallica","tag-rare","tag-ray-mouldin","tag-rickenbacker","tag-stratocaster","tag-tom-petty","tag-vintage","tag-vintage-rare","tag-vintage-and-rare","tag-vintage-guitar-dealer","tag-vintage-guitars","tag-www-vintageandrare-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vintageandrare.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/535","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vintageandrare.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vintageandrare.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vintageandrare.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vintageandrare.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=535"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.vintageandrare.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/535\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":761,"href":"https:\/\/www.vintageandrare.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/535\/revisions\/761"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vintageandrare.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=535"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vintageandrare.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=535"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vintageandrare.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=535"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}