Official Luthiers Forum!

I had a very interesting phone coversation with someone about a 1934 Martin Herringbone for sale. It belongs to an old man residing in a nursing home who wants to sell before his health fails. He trusts only the person I talked to today.
Here's the the big kicker... The guitar belonged to Hank Williams.

I am 99% this is true as I recall a televised interview with him back in the early eighties on the Howl Woolford Almanac (backroads). The only part of the story I recaal is...."Hank stumbled out of a concert (broke) looking for money to buy whiskey.. sold the d-28 for $50"

I am going to check out the guitar and documentation probably this Tuesday. If its looks on the up and up what do you think the value would be?

As was said in the movie TRADING PLACES " In Philidelphia, It's worth 50 BUCKS." so real money? I paid $1500 for a Martin played by Kris Kristofferson, (spelling) vintage, played at Willie Nelsons 4th of july picnic in 1973 or was it 1972? Well, you get what I mean. It had documentation for it and I sold it a few years later for a small profit. So, go with what the guitar is really worth not the person and if the docs speak then add what that's worth to you.

Just my .02 cents!!!
Mike

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I'm outside looking in, just farther from the window than most.

If you are going to do right by the old man, IMHO, you should arrange to have it appraised. Pre-war 'bone Martins are commanding some pretty high prices these days. The Hank Williams connection may or may not be much of an effect on the value of the instrument. You should also post on the UMGF with a partial serial number and someone over there can clue you in on the Martin history of the guitar and a pretty good idea of the current value.

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Jim Howell
Charlotte, NC

depending on model, age, condition, history, ect... you could be looking at tens of thousands.

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John Mayes
http://www.mayesluthier.com

I agree and the nursing home bound owner and or their representative(s) should be fully aware AND have the capacity to be fully aware of all the possibilities here. If there is any question that the owner lacks the capacity to fully understand any deal that may be offered...... no deal should be offered IMHO.

I am not saying that any undue influence is happening here - it would simply be a terrible shame if it was....

Is this third party handling all contact with the owner? I would want to complete the deal directly with the owner. (After a neutral appraisal as mentioned above) If the third party gets a commission on the sale, thats okay too just as long all party's are aware of the terms. Otherwise I would walk away from any sale. A deal that's too good to be true, isn't.

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GregH
Fot Wuth

So where is this nursing home, exactly???

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I'd like to be able to prove, just for once, that money wouldn't make me happy...

I wasn't clear from your post if you were planning to personally purchase this guitar, or are looking to act as a broker. Though the commission may sound tempting, brokering a deal like this should really be handled by someone who is undoubtedly qualified - Stan Jay, Stan Werbin, George Gruhn, etc.

Things like this never get listed for sale on the general market - they are usually sold through a few phone calls of those who know people. Either that, or pieces like this can sometimes bring higher prices at auction houses like Sotheby's.

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Eschew obfuscation, espouse elucidation.

More likely than not someone is trolling here.

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Howard Klepper
http://www.klepperguitars.com

When all else fails, clean the shop.

Agreed!

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Ken

The only plans I have right now is just go and check it out.

The caller wasn't by any chance from Nigeria was he?
TJK

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It's not what you don't know that hurts you, it's what you do know that's wrong.

Yeah, I wonder why in the world someone would actually mention that here.
If it were me, I wouldn't say, "I think I might have found a big stash of Brazilian Rosewood boards locally.", I would wait until it panned out and I had them in my hands before I said something.

Oh...by the way.....heh heh.....hey Brock....guess what?

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"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

I know your story, you are just a big tease.

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Brock Poling
Columbus, Ohio
http://www.polingguitars.com

LOL

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"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

I just happen to have a whole warehouse of BRW that was cut more than 50 yrs old. Since I'm independently wealthy, I will be offering this wood free* to paid subscribers to the Official Hardwood of the Month Forum. I will be announcing details as soon as I complete relocation to a non extradition country.

*shipping charges not included

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GregH
Fot Wuth

No matter if you use a broker or not, you will need verifiable/traceable provenance linking the guitar back to the story and the person, Hank Williams in your case. Without verifiable/traceable provenance all you have is 35 D28 in what ever condition it is in. That in it’s self ain’t bad. But without the direct traceable provenance the rest is just hear-say.

OK, I checked out the guitar today. The old gentleman is very nice and needs help finding a buyer. Its in poor condition and many repairs have been made over years. Here is the bad stuff:

-Fretboard and bridge was replaced in 82'
-Severe crack in bass side and back
-tuners replaced (but he has the original grovers)
-looks like the top was replaced

Not sure about the top being original but there are issues:
-the inner/outer rosette rings feature a black center (should be white?)
-X brace inersection is 1 3/4" from hole (should be 1" ?)
-tone bars are not scalloped

And now for the good part. Documentation proving it is the first 14 fret D-28 ever made.

BTW, I am NOT trying to rip anyone off. I could'nt make myself do something like that.

If it's the first one made you might check with Martin, they might be interested in purchasing it for historical reasons.

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Jim Watts
http://jameswattsguitars.com