♫ Chet Atkins Vintage Trophy 1930 Martin Acoustic Guitar ♫
Hi folks,
This is a treat for you, Tommy Emmanuel was at the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles last month Feb 2012 and he had something special with him. No I'm not talking about some new tune, but a very rare instrument. Chet Atkins had given Tommy a Vintage Trophy 1930 Martin Guitar and now we get to hear how it sounds while Tommy play Guitar Boogie for us.Chet Atkins was a big collector of Martin Guitars or at least he keept the ones that sounded the best, to do recordings. However because of his endorsement with Gretsch Guitars he usually had put electrical tape over the Martin logo to keep people for seeing him playing on one.
Well I'm no expert on Vintage Martin Guitars however I can tell you that some of these Vintage Martin Guitars go for anywhere between $2000-$50.000 depending on the model and how good condition they are in. And knowing that, this 1930 pre-war Martin Guitar sure is something to behold. Not to mention it's getting used by Tommy like it's suposed to. The saying "play it like you stole it" comes to mind.
Tommy speaks of his meeting with Chet and how they played the Original Guitar Boogie together. And Chet played the tune exactly as it was done on the original recording.
I found this post on a forum and I think that it's a nice read for anyone who like to learn more about Chet Atkins and his Martin Guitars.
Chet Atkins Martins:
A few years ago I had the oppurtinty to work with the legendary songwriter, Harlan Howard. He had several nice guitars which I kept strung up and tuned for him. One morning a few years ago,I walked into his office and noticed a different case. He told me to open it up and see what I thought about it.Inside was the ugliest old D-28 I'd ever seen. Held together by strings and some serious glue.
Then I picked it up.. One of the best sounding Martins I'd ever played, and I've played some good ones. Seems Harlan bought the D-28 new in '60 when he moved to Nashville. As soon as Chet heard it, he proclaimed it "special" and started borrowing it to play on sessions. One night while in Harlan's posession, the phone rang and he jumped out of bed and put his #12 foot through the top. Looked like a woodshop kid fixed it. He finally told Chet to keep the guitar in about '65, saying "since it's felt the masters touch, it hasn't helped me very much".
After Chet passed away his family sent it back to Harlan, who told me to keep it and play it. There was a black piece of electricians tape over the Martin logo.I guess with his Gretsch endorsement, he didn't want to be seen playing one on T.V. But he obviously knew a great guitar when he heard one. This is the Martin pictured in the Chet Atkins "my favorite guitar" book. It's now in the possession of Harlan Howard's family. Chet Atkins was a Martin man too!
