Fun_People Archive
26 Mar
New Martin Guitar :: 0-45JB

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From: Peter Langston <psl>
Date: Thu, 26 Mar 98 12:00:50 -0800
To: Fun_People
Precedence: bulk
Subject: New Martin Guitar :: 0-45JB

Forwarded-by: "Blech, Kerry E" <Kerry.Blech@PSS.Boeing.com>
Forwarded-by: Pat Conte <secmuse@concentric.net>
From: Bob Godfried <godfried@dti.net>

According to the February '98 issue of the Newsletter of the American
Musical Instrument Society, Martin Guitars has decided to produce a limited
edition re-issue of Joan Baez's guitar. When Martin technicians were examing
Baez's 1929 O-45 model guitar, they discovered a handwritten message inside
the instrument that apparantly was left decades ago by a guitar repairman
who objected to Baez's left-leaning sympathies and her controversial 1972
visit to Vietnam.  The message scribbled on the underside of the soundboard
read: "Too bad you are a Communist!"  For the sake of authenticity, Martin
has decided to include a facsimile of the note, which will be visible only
with the help of an small inspection mirror, inside each of the 59 limited
edition reproductions. "We thought it was pretty charming," said company
chairman Chris Martin, "and so did she."

There will be just 59 signed and numbered instruments in this limited
edition, in honor of the year (1959) in which Baez launched her career.
Joan Baez is the first woman ever honored with a Martin limited edition
guitar.  These $9,850 reproductions will become available in the late summer
of 1998. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of the Joan Baez 0-45JB
Limited Edition guitars will be donated to "Bread & Roses," a charity
established by Joan's sister, Mimi Farina. "Bread & Roses" is a nonprofit
organization that brings free live entertainment into hospitals,
convalescent homes, prisons, and other places that are less likely to
experience entertainment opportunities.

The Martin Guitar website, which discusses the new O-45JB, makes no mention
of the plans to include the repairman's message in the reproductions.

© 1998 Peter Langston