….A custom make-over for one very special archtop guitar….
…Last year Martin Taylor came by the workshop and told me about the plans he had for one of his old guitars which had been signed by Chet Atkins. After several emails he brought it round and we went through the plan in detail…..
2 June 2009 @ 11:56
The Plan
Martin said that he never liked all the plastic and metal parts on the guitar as they affected the tone. The tailpiece, bridge and finger rest could easily be replaced with ebony, but removing the plastic coverplates would leave big holes, so he has this idea of filling them back in with some kind of wooden lattice work (****!). He also wanted to replace the inlay on the headstock with something more meaningful.
This is what he has asked me to do:
- Remove all the old parts
- Make lattice’s to hide holes : 3 coverplates, plus switch, and jack socket
- Make new ebony parts : Bridge, finger-rest and tailpiece.
- Replace the inlay on headstock: Martin suggested some ideas for the inlay but I will have to come up with a suitable design.
- Remove the mother of pearl inlays on the fretboard.
- Fit a new set of tuners.
- Fit a Benedetto pickup and rewire it to a new ‘endpin’ jack.
- Re-string and set up the guitar
He also told me the story of how it got signed which is pretty amazing (and funny!)
It was while Martin was playing an event with Chet many, many years ago… After the gig Chet was signing autographs, and a few people had brought their guitars along for him to sign. I guess at that point Martin was feeling a little left out so he jokingly asked if Chet would sign his. Before he could stop him Chet did just that! Martin said that afterwards he wasn’t sure if he’d done the right thing. But now it stands as a permanent reminder of the great man. For me it is an honour to work on such a guitar – played on some of Martins awesome recordings AND signed by Chet. – Thats two CGP’s (certified guitar players). How many guitar makers can say that!
This is what Chet wrote:
Martin, your the best
-Chet Atkins,cgp
Wow!……I have to agree …. And I feel very honoured to be working on it…..just praying that I don’t rub the writing off while I’m doing it!
It is tempting to put a little ‘apostraphe e’ in there but I guess he was in a hurry. Anyway, when you are a CGP you can write it however the hell you want!
Now I’m having nightmares about someone ‘cleaning’ it off while I am not looking….that would not be funny…..
Big Thanks to Martin for entrusting me with such a gem……hmmm……I need to think about those lattice’s……a lot…..