Here is the body after neck removal. The bridge area has been flattened with heat, moisture and clamping with blocks during 3 treatments. I have started the touch - up work around the bridge area. This guitar has a varnish finish and will need a shellac and French polish treatment over the bare wood before the new bridge is glued down. Here is the new bridge pad and the ebony blank which will be the new bridge.
Photos and Documentation courtesy of Marty Lanham - Nashville Guitar Company

“The more I play it, the better it sounds, It cries when I leave it alone, Silently it waits for me, Or someone else I suppose.”

We are nearing completion of a vintage Martin restoration by master luthier Marty Lanham.

Marty is the owner of “The Nashville Guitar Company” in Nashville, Tenn. He has been unbelievably gracious to continue to supply us with pictures and comments of the complete refurbishment and restoration of this Martin instrument, as we had requested.

You can find an incredible amount of information on the Internet about Marty Lanham and his company. Many wonderful Nashville artists, such as Marty Stuart and Ricky Skaggs, have used him for the care of their classic instruments.

My cousin Ray Hatton, who owns the 1929 0-18, has been in contact with Marty about the kind of strings he would like to see put on the guitar.

Ray, afraid that the bridge may tend to be displaced once again, requested nylon strings. Marty suggested light gauge steel strings from a friend, John Pearse, who specializes in those for vintage guitars.

He asked the style of playing Ray used. Ray responded with, “the style Andy Griffith used while playing”. Marty informed Ray that was a “parlor-style” of playing. He felt these light steel strings would work perfect for that method of playing.

Marty’s next step was to string the guitar up and watch it for a couple weeks. The last thing he might do would be to adjust the nut on the guitar. The instrument should be done very soon, ahead of schedule. All of us here at BluegrassJournal.com, will notify you soon in regards to the completion of the entire process.

This is the new bridge pad and clamping block ready to be clamped in overnight.

Looking though the soundhole we see the luthier’s mirror and the new bridge pad being clamped in place.

When the clamp and blocks are removed the top will be flat and ready for the new bridge.

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The neck is being steamed out of the guitar using an old espresso coffee maker from Ricky Skaggs bus. The steam melts the old hyde glue in the joint.Steam is blown into the small cavity in the dovetail joint. The fingerboard extension has been loosened and 2 holes drilled through the 13th fret slot. The steam enters through one hole and escapes through the other softens the hyde glue along the way.After about 20 minutes of steam and gentle coaxing the neck comes out revealing the part of the top that hasn’t seen the sun in over 70 years.
Photos and Commentary by Marty Lanham - Nashville Guitar Company

“It’s been up and down the country roads, its’ brought a tear and a smile. It’s seen its share of dreams and hopes, and never went out of style.”

At the present moment, my great uncle Pete Hatton’s 1929 0-18 Martin is in the hands of one of Nashville’s finest vintage instrument restoration craftsman. In the last installment of this story, I promised to discuss how Marty Lanham was chosen to refurbish this cherished, vintage instrument.

Last June, at the Bill Monroe Memorial Bluegrass Festival in Bean Blossom, Ind., my cousin Ray Hatton and I got together. He brought along Uncle Pete’s vintage Martin, which he had inherited. We discussed what a shame it was to have that instrument in such disrepair.

Ray didn’t know who he could trust to do a good job. He certainly didn’t want to ship it through any of the normal freight companies. Ray was at a stand still with the renovation of this wonderful instrument. As you recall, there is a strong emotional attachment to the guitar also.

I have passed around, at various bluegrass festivals, the story of the instrument. This past winter, I got a phone call from Tom Ewing. He wanted to set up a phone interview with me about my grandpa working with Bill Monroe at the Sinclair oil refinery in Hammond, Ind.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Tom Ewing, he was the guitarist with Bill Monroe’s Bluegrass Boys from 1986 until Monroe’s death in 1996. Tom actually played guitar with Monroe the last time he appeared on the Grand Ole Opry stage, just prior to his death.

Tom has written the wonderful book, “The Bill Monroe Reader,” and is following it with what many are saying will be the definitive book on the life of Bill Monroe.

Tom Ewing is hard at work trying to complete his newest project. As details emerge about when it will hit the shelves, we will keep you posted.

Tom has incredible insight into Bill Monroe’s character and his life. This comes from a man who worked longer with Monroe than just about anybody.

During our enjoyable visit on the phone, I asked Tom where he would recommend getting Uncle Pete’s guitar fixed.
Tom, without hesitation, said Marty Lanham in Nashville, Tenn., does all his guitar repairs.

As soon as I got off the phone with Tom, I did some research on the Internet about Marty Lanham and found nothing but praise heaped on his craftsmanship. I also found out he was the owner of the Nashville Guitar Company, maker of high quality instruments.

I immediately called my cousin Ray and told him about Tom Ewing’s recommendation. Ray did some research and came to the same conclusion, it was time to take the guitar to Marty.

Ray lives about 3½ hours north of Nashville. He had to wait for a day off and he and his lovely wife decided to take an excursion to see Marty.

Marty informed Ray it would take a couple of months to repair the guitar. I asked Ray if we at BluegrassJournal.com could follow the repair of this vintage Martin for our readers. He said he didn’t mind at all. Then I called Marty and asked him if he could keep us posted on his restoration work. He seemed happy to oblige and has been fantastic at sending us pictures and commentary.

We will continue to keep you posted, as details continue to emerge concerning work being completed on the old Martin.

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Uncle Pete Hatton with his 1929 0-18 Martin Guitar. Ruler layed across the top to show damage to guitar.
“The damage to this 1929 Martin 0-18 guitar was caused by the increased tension of metal strings. These guitars are very lightly braced and made to resist the pull of gut strings or very light gauge metal strings. When the heavier modern strings pulled the bridge off and cracked the top, the owner used a trapeze type tailpiece to hold the strings as seen in the old photograph (see above). I have seen this same scenario in hundreds of old guitars.” - Marty Lanham
New photos of guitar courtesy of Marty Lanham - Nashville Guitar Company.

“This old guitar ain’t mine to keep, just taking care of it now, It’s been around for years and years, just waiting in this old case.”

– From “This Old Guitar” by Neil Young

The story of this old Martin guitar begs for me to tell it. This is a tale not only from my past, but about Mom’s family, the Hatton’s past.

The legend starts around 1929 when my great-uncle Pete Hatton purchased a ‘29 0-18 Martin guitar. At that time, C.F. Martin was already almost a century old, having been established in 1833. I have no doubts; Uncle Pete knew the superb quality of the guitar he had recently purchased.

To back up for a minute, my grandpa was Roy Orvel Hatton. He was born in September 1896, the oldest of 10 boys and two girls. My Uncle Pete was the third sibling in line. In 1929, the year he purchased the Martin, Pete was still a young man. In 1930, my Grandpa and Grandma Hatton got married on Valentine’s Day and promptly moved to Hammond, Ind.

While in Hammond, my grandpa and his brother Pete found work at the Sinclair Oil Refinery. Tough work, but they were hard working men with family members to feed, especially during the tough economic times of the 1930s. About this time, Bill Monroe also started working at the refinery. My grandpa drove the tractor and Bill would ride behind on the wagon, picking up barrels. These two men were assigned to work together. I wish I knew a larger portion of the many stories from that work pairing that will forever be lost.

Bill Monroe knew about my Uncle Pete’s Martin guitar. One day, with a playing job in the works, Monroe asked my Grandpa if he thought Pete would loan him his guitar. Pete, being a very congenial guy, was happy to oblige. Monroe brought the guitar back to Pete in a couple weeks. Pete’s response: “You didn’t have to bring it back so soon, I wanted you to play it for a while.” Bill Monroe replied with, “I was afraid something awful would happen to it and besides, I liked it so well I went out and bought one just like it.”

Now you understand why this guitar is so important to me and the Hatton clan. Somewhere around the same time, Bill Monroe left the Hammond area for the road life of a musician and my grandparents and Uncle Pete moved back to southern Indiana.

My recollections of Uncle Pete are from back in the 1960s when my grandpa would take my siblings, cousins and I down to Pete’s gas station in Fritchton, Ind. In that station, we would plop ourselves up on the stools at the counter and Grandpa would tell Pete to get us whatever we wanted. He would serve us ice cold pop from an old water cooler, dream sickles and the greatest tasting candy in the world. It was nothing but sheer joy to go with Grandpa for a Sunday visit to Uncle Pete’s station.

My knowledge about the old Martin never surfaced until years after Pete’s death. I was familiar with the story about my grandpa working with Bill Monroe, but had no inkling of the guitar. This all changed at a family reunion years about 10 yeas ago while talking to my cousin, Ray Hatton.

Ray is the son of my Great-Uncle Bill, the youngest of the 12 boys and girls. My grandpa and Uncle Pete were several years older than Uncle Bill. Ray, knowing I was a big music fan, proceeded to tell me about the history of the guitar he possessed.

Ray farmed the land that Pete and his lovely wife, my Great-Aunt Eva, owned. Pete and Eva had one daughter, Phyllis, who died at the early age of 37. After Pete died and their daughter passed as well, Aunt Eva presented Ray with the prized instrument. She knew Ray loved music and had been in bands throughout the years. Ray was hesitant to take it, but finally caved in under the persistency of Aunt Eva.

The guitar has been virtually unplayable all these years. The bridge on this old Martin kept rising and consequently raised the strings to the point of making it difficult to play. It became so difficult for Uncle Pete to play that he turned it into a “Hawaiian guitar”, an instrument that could only be played with a slide.

By the time Ray acquired the guitar, it was virtually useless. Ray kept it in the old case, only getting it out occasionally to show someone who might be interested in the instrument and its wonderful story. Ray, being a fine musician, always wanted it fixed, but didn’t know who he could trust to restore the instrument.

This brings the story to today. As we speak, the guitar is in the hands of Marty Lanham, owner of the Nashville Guitar Company and one of the premiere guitar restorers in the world.

This article is meant to be the beginning of a work in progress. In future installments of the story, we will discuss how Marty was chosen for the restoration of this project. We will also observe a behind-the-scenes look at a detailed restoration of this old Martin.

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