Ray Hatton & Marty Lanham with Uncle Pete’s Martin Guitar at the Nashville Guitar Co.Ray Hatton, left, poses with his Uncle Pete’s 80-year-old Martin guitar that he has had restored.   With him at the Bill Monroe Memorial Bluegrass Festival in Bean Blossom, Ind., this past June are his cousins, Steve Mobley, center, and Rick Lamb, both of Illinois.  Lamb is the author of a series of articles for BluegrassJournal.com about the guitar and its recent restorationBluegrassJournal.com’s Senior Editor, Dan Tackett, takes the old martin for a spin during the 2008 Bean Blossom Bluegrass Festival.A closeup of the new bridge and repaired top of Uncle Pete’s Martin guitar that was restored by Marty Lanham of the Nashville Guitar Co.
Photo’s By Bill Stedman.

“This old guitar aint mine to keep, Its mine to play for a while”

I waited a little while before writing what is the final installment concerning Uncle Pete’s guitar. Honestly, one of the reasons I waited so long was I hated for the story to end. However, that’s not fair to all of you who might have read the previous installments.

Marty Lanham, owner of the Nashville Guitar Company, finished the beautiful restoration of the 1929 Martin 0-18. This guitar was brought back from shambles to the beautiful splendor of its original glory. Maybe it’s even better than that!

Marty beefed up the support underneath the bridge and installed a slightly larger handmade bridge, which looks identical to the original. The hope is the added support and the faintly larger size will keep the guitar in good shape for many years to come.

Ray Hatton, the current owner of the guitar, received a call from Marty Lanham who said the guitar was finished. It didn’t take Ray very long to scurry down to Nashville to see the finished work.

Initial feelings were that the guitar sounded very pleasant and was restored skillfully. Ray took the guitar back to Southern Indiana and within a few days discovered a slight buzz when he played it higher up on the neck. He called Marty and was told to bring it back. Marty worked some magic on the bridge again and Ray departed Nashville. Ray returned to his Indiana home with the buzz removed and no extra charges from Marty.

This summer at the Bean Blossom festival, my cousin Ray brought the guitar for my buddies and I to inspect the final work on the restoration of this splendid guitar. I played it, they all played it, and unanimously we all declared the project a success.

The guitar had a beautiful tone. It was not extremely loud, with the lighter gauge steel strings on the guitar. Incidentally, Marty Lanham recommended and strung up the old Martin with a set of strings that were all wound — including the B and high E. The instrument still had enough volume to emit a gorgeous sound from anyone who had taken the time to pluck it. The once fragmented guitar was now complete and the finish on the instrument was absolutely gorgeous. What a lovely rich color the guitar had. The black tar-like substance someone years ago had applied to try to fix it is now gone and the stunning color of the grain shines through.

I was extremely happy to be able to hold the guitar once more. This instrument was in pieces just the year before. I couldn’t help but notice how this 80-year-old instrument was as light as a feather. The wood has aged to a splendid place. It would be virtually impossible to buy wood like this today.

My cousin Ray seemed to be tickled that his hard-earned money didn’t go by the wayside. He got a heck of a guitar to play for those softer, more peaceful moments in his life when he chooses to be a bit more reflective. He appeared to be extremely happy with finding Marty and the incredible restoration job he did.

Finally, I cant help but think of my Uncle Pete Hatton, looking down perched on top of something in the heavens and admiring this old guitar he once held. He has to be proud of the magnificence that has been restored to it by Marty Lanham. Maybe, if youre quiet enough, when Ray’s playing that old guitar out at the edge of some Southern Indiana field, you might just hear Uncle Pete sing along.