Trigger (guitar)

Trigger
Manufacturer C. F. Martin & Company
Period 1969
Construction
Body type solid, Martin N-20
Scale 25.4 inches
Woods
Body Brazilian rosewood
Neck Mahogany
Fretboard Ebony
Hardware
Bridge Tied
Pickup(s) Prismatone stereo

Trigger is a Martin N-20 nylon-string classical guitar used by country music singer-songwriter Willie Nelson. Early in his career, Nelson tested several guitars by different companies. After one of his guitars was destroyed in 1969, he purchased unseen the Martin guitar.

Nelson based his desired style on Django Reinhardt's playing and guitar sound. He opted to amplify the acoustic guitar, resulting in his signature sound.

Background

As a RCA Records artist, guitar manufacturers would give Nelson as a loan or gift their instruments to test them. Earlier in his career, Nelson played instruments of the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation with models including the Telecaster, Jaguar and Jazzmaster. Then Nelson moved on to Gibson Guitars. In 1969, before a concert at Panamerican Ballroom near Houston, Texas, Baldwin Company gave Nelson to test the 800C Electric Classic Guitar model with a Prismatone stereo pickup and an amplifier.[1]

The Martin N-20

During a concert at Floores Country Store in Helotes, Texas, a drunk man stepped over Nelson's Baldwin. David Zettner and Jimmy Day, members of Nelson's band The Record Men took the guitar to luthier Shot Jackson in Nashville, Tennessee.[2] Jackson, who considered the damage unreparable, offered Nelson a Martin N-20 nylon-stringed classical guitar made out of Brazilian Rosewood. Nelson instructed him during a phone conversation to move the pickup from the Baldwin to the Martin.[3] The instrument allowed him to amplify his acoustic sound to perform in large dance halls, contributing to his signature style.[4] Nelson bought the guitar unseen for US$750,[3] and named it after Roy Rogers' horse "Trigger.[5] Nelson desired to approach the playing style and sound of jazz musician Django Reinhardt.[6]

Nelson first used the guitar during the studio recordings of My Own Peculiar Way the same year, but the sound of the guitar was overwhelmed by the dubbing of strings and brass instruments on the mix.[4] The following year, Nelson recovered the instrument from his burning ranch in Bandera, Texas.[7] After Nelson's move to Austin, Texas and the revitalization of his music, Trigger defined his sound. The singer used the instrument in the recording of his acclaimed albums Shotgun Willie, Red Headed Stranger and Stardust.[8]

Appearance

Willie Nelson's guitar, Trigger

Throughout time, a large hole was worn above the bridge, nearly reaching the sound hole. While the Martin was meant to be played with finger-style picking, the use of a flatpick by Nelson and constant strumming caused the damage.[8] Its soundboard has been signed by over a hundred of Nelson's friends and associates, ranging from fellow musicians to lawyers and football coaches.[9] The first signature on the guitar was Leon Russell's, who asked Nelson initially to sign his guitar. When Nelson was about to sign it with a marker, Russell requested him to scratch it instead, explaining that the guitar would be more valuable in the future. Interested in the concept, Nelson requested Russell also sign his guitar.[2]

Legacy

In 1991, during his process with the IRS, Nelson was worried that Trigger could be auctioned off, stating: "When Trigger goes, I'll quit". He asked his daughter, Lana, to take the guitar from the studio before any IRS agent got there, and bring it to him in Maui.[10] Nelson then hid the guitar in his manager's house until his debt was paid in 1993.[9]

In his book, The Tao of Willie: A Guide to Happiness in Your Heart, Nelson described the influence of the guitar in his style: "One of the secrets to my sound is almost beyond explanation. My battered old Martin guitar, Trigger, has the greatest tone I've ever heard from a guitar. ... If I picked up the finest guitar made this year and tried to play my solos exactly the way you heard them on the radio or even at last night's show, I'd always be a copy of myself and we'd all end up bored. But if I play an instrument that is now a part of me, and do it according to the way that feels right for me ... I'll always be an original".[11]

Trigger is prepared for Nelson before the shows by his guitar technician, "Tunin' Tom" Hawkins.[8] In 2015, Rolling Stone Films presented a documentary directed by David Chamberlin, featuring interviews to Nelson, his biographer Joe Nick Patoski, harmonicist Mickey Raphael, singer Jerry Jeff Walker and narrated by Woody Harrelson. "Mastering the Craft: Trigger" depicted the story of the guitar.[12] Due to Trigger's impact within the music industry, Martin Guitars produced the Willie Nelson Limited Edition N-20WN.[8]

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Patoski, Joe Nick 2008, p. 198.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Nelson, Willie (December 13, 2005). How I Ended Up With a Classical (PODCAST). (Interview). iTunes Originals. Retrieved February 27, 2012.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Hunter, Dave 2014, p. 182.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Patoski, Joe Nick 2008, p. 199.
  5. ↑ Farndale, Nigel (May 4, 2010). "Interview: Willie Nelson". The Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group Limited. Retrieved May 22, 2011.
  6. ↑ Washburn, Jim ; Johnston, Richard 1997, p. 224.
  7. ↑ Reinert 1976, p. 103.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 Gramon, Jim 2002, p. 228.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 "Willie Nelson's Guitar Trigger!". Willienelsongeneralstore.com. Willie Nelson and Friends Museum and General Store. Retrieved March 27, 2011.
  10. ↑ Draper 1991, p. 103.
  11. ↑ Nelson, Willie; Pipkin, Turk 2007, pp. 72, 73.
  12. ↑ "Watch Willie Nelson Tell the Story of His Legendary Guitar, Trigger". Rolling Stone (Wenner Media, LLC). February 11, 2015. Retrieved February 13, 2015.

References

External links