The Gibson ES-335

Andreja Marovic of Belgrade, Serbia. Goodbye, friend.

I’ve been writing this blog for 2 years now and I have nearly 50,000 unique readers in more than 140 countries. Many have emailed, a few have Skyped and through our shared passion for old Gibsons, many have become friends. Only in the age of the internet could I have friends in so many places. It has been an immense pleasure to get to know so many of you. And most of you say nice things about me and the blog which is very gratifying. I had 2 readers in a far off place that I never would have associated with a love of American vintage guitars. Serbia… Serbia! It wasn’t even a separate country until the breakup of Yugoslavia. I’ll bet 98% of high school graduates couldn’t find it on a map or tell you the capital city. But my friend, Andreja, lived right there in Belgrade (the capital) and was a constant reader who became a good friend. I never erase my emails, so I thought I would see how many I have from Andreja. I count over 100. Subjects like

look amazing mix of features…64 335 input- output jack + cans…is this a correct case? who is the manufacturer???…did u buy this one?

Andreja was an aficionado. He owned a beautiful 64 335 and quite a lot of other guitars. He was an enthusiast’s enthusiast. Andreja made me a better blogger by asking questions that sometimes didn’t even occur to me. I met him “in person” through Skype not long ago and we spent an hour or so talking about the great guitars we had, or we missed or we sold. I kept going upstairs and bringing guitars down to the computer so he could see them. And, in this way, he invited me into his home and I invited him into mine.  It’s all very 21st century and it’s all good. When my interest in vintage guitars began, the only way to connect with like minded folks was to go to a guitar show. Now, there are dozens, if not hundreds of guitar related communities all over the internet. This is as close to World Peace as we get, I think. When folks of very different cultures share a common passion, the result is, usually, respect and friendship.  My friend and guitar buddy Andreja Marovic of Belgrade died suddenly on Saturday April 14th. I don’t know the details of his death but I know that he never mentioned any health problems and he was always upbeat and energetic. We’d go 10 or 15 emails into a subject in the course of 20 minutes. My sincere condolences go halfway around the world to his wife and daughter . I sent them an email but I don’t know if they got it since the only email I have was Andreja’s. There are pages of wonderful tributes on the Les Paul Forum for Andreja. He was a regular contributor and was a friend to many there.  I will miss him as will the rest of the vintage guitar community.  His great passion and enthusiasm touched so many of us and he will not be forgotten.  Збогом, мој добар пријатељ. zbogom moj dobar prijatelj. Goodbye my good friend.

One of Andreja's favorites: His 64 ES-335.

Tuesday, April 17th, 2012 at 9:13 pm • Uncategorized • RSS 2.0 feed • leave a response or trackback