stillisstillmoving.com

Thanks so much to Carol Sidoran of NY, for this picture of Trigger from Glen Allen, VA show.

July 10, 1998 — The Martin Guitar Company is honored to announce the N-20WN Limited Edition Signature Model guitar, a collaboration with Willie Nelson, one of the world’s most renowned performers and songwriters. The N-20WN is a replica of Willie Nelson’s beloved guitar, one of the most famous and recognizable instruments in existence. Available from authorized Martin dealers and distributors worldwide, C. F. Martin & Co. will make up to but not exceeding 100 Willie Nelson N-20WN Limited Edition Signature Models. No more than 30 of these 100 instruments will be offered with Brazilian rosewood back and sides.

Willie Nelson, a country music hero and an American legend whose career spans nearly half a century, is one of the most distinctive and popular musicians in the world. Nelson bought his first Martin sight unseen in 1969. He remembers the unusual circumstances:

“The Baldwin company gave me a Baldwin amp and classical electric guitar with a special three-cord stereo pickup. I busted that guitar up pretty badly so I sent it up to Shot Jackson in Nashville to get it fixed. He called back and said, ‘I can’t fix it. It’s broke too bad.’ I said, ‘Well what else have you got around?’ He said he had a Martin up on the shelf for $750. I asked if he could put that same Baldwin pickup in the Martin. And that’s how I got it, right off the shelf, unseen from a thousand miles away. When I got it I knew that I had picked up something special. I like to just sit around in a room and play it. I like to write on it. I just like the sound of it.”

Photographs taken throughout Willie Nelson’s career show the gradual evolution of his famous guitar (nicknamed Trigger) from its pristine new condition to its current weathered look. Much like Willie, this famous guitar has come a long way. Trigger has been played so much, there is a rather sizable hole worn right through the top, one that Willie considers so sentimental, he won’t have it repaired. In addition, Nelson estimates that he has 100 signatures on his Martin including those of Leon Russell, Roger Miller, Kris Kristofferson, Gene Autry, Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, lawyers, football coaches, and other friends and associates. When asked why his guitar is named Trigger, Willie explains: “Roy Rodgers had a horse named Trigger. I figured: “This is my horse!”

And what’s so special about this guitar? Willie says: “It has great tone!” Most recently on his widely acclaimed album “Spirit” and on several soon to be released new songs, he has been recording with Trigger and nothing but a single microphone. The guitar simply embodies that Willie Nelson trademark sound.

During his well publicized perils with the Internal Revenue Service, Willie was so worried that they might try to take Trigger away from him that he hid his guitar at his manager’s house for safe keeping.

1999 is the 30th anniversary of the original Trigger guitar. Martin will offer the edition in two configurations. No more than 30 instruments in the edition of 100 will be offered in rare Brazilian Rosewood, the wood used to construct the original Trigger guitar. The remainder of the edition will be offered in East Indian rosewood.

Martin N-20 models have gone through many incarnations. The scale of this unusual model is 25.4″, a length which was replaced with the longer 26.44″ scale within a year of its introduction. Willie’s specific guitar bears Martin’s square non-tapered headstock shape with rounded slots which preceded the more traditional classic headstock shape. The neck is fitted with the highest quality Waverly Sloane sidemount classical tuning machines.

The soundboard is bookmatched from solid Sitka spruce, tinted with the original “mellow yellow” toner, and polished to a high gloss. The rosette is the traditional N-style wooden classical mosaic in black, white, red and green.

The fingerboard is crafted of solid genuine ebony with Willie Nelson’s signature inlaid between the 17th and 18th fret. The fifth fret bears a Mother Of Pearl inlay depicting the silhouette of the state of Texas with a single “lone star” in the middle. The name “TRIGGER” is inlaid at the 12th fret in western style poster lettering.

Each guitar will be offered with a state-of-the-art pickup system custom fabricated by Fishman Transducers, Inc. to closely replicate the tonal nuances of the original Baldwin pickup, which is no longer available.

In addition, every instrument will include a customized Deluxe Geib Style 5-Ply Hardshell Vintage Case with special “hemp” covered exterior.

Each guitar in this special edition will bear an interior label individually numbered in sequence and personally signed by Willie Nelson and C.F. Martin, IV, Martin’s chairman and CEO. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of the Willie Nelson Limited Edition N-20WN will be donated to Farm Aid, Nelson’s charity formed in 1985 to draw attention to the plight of America’s farmers.

Martin Guitar dealers will begin to take orders for the Willie Nelson Limited Edition Signature Model immediately, though due to heavy demand for Martin instruments, this edition will not begin to appear in stores until the early months of 1999. As with all Martin Guitars, the construction process takes both time and expertise. The Martin Guitar company dates back to the 1830s when Christian Frederick Martin, Sr. moved to the United States from Europe. The guitar shop he set up over 160 years ago has been continuously family owned and operated. Current Chairman and CEO Chris Martin, IV is the sixth generation Martin to head this venerable company.

For more information, visit their web site at www.mguitar.com.

Thanks to Cherie, from Texas (Willie’s Prayer Warrier) for sharing this photo she took at Billy Bob’s, in Fort Worth.

Wow, you can feel the energy from Willie’s guitar in this picture.  Thanks, Janis, for sharing!

Thanks to Janis for sending me this picture she took of Willie Nelson’s guitar last night. 

Oh, you know that guitar is happy to be back with Willie.  He’s kept safe and sound and sometimes visits his own guitar doctor when Willie travels home to Hawaii  but you know he misses the road.

I think he’s a he.  Trigger sounds like a boy’s name.  Unless guitars are like ships, and always a she.