Guild Merle Travis Solomaster.

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Guild Merle Travis Solomaster.

Postby Johnpat1 » Sun Mar 11, 2012 1:00 pm

On p68 of the latest ed. of Guitar Aficionado magazine there is a picture
of this guitar which I was not previously aware of - the accompanying
description says that it "may be one of a kind". Has anyone heard of it ?
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Re: Guild Merle Travis Solomaster.

Postby jay » Sun Mar 11, 2012 1:48 pm

Rumor has it that up to 5 were made and maybe 3 of them are left? I know that Rick Nielsen (who is a avid guitar collector) owns one. I have seen a picture of Townsend with one, but it could have been a photo op.
jay kantor
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Re: Guild Merle Travis Solomaster.

Postby Norm » Sun Mar 11, 2012 5:03 pm

If that's that fancy Guild with the soundhole and all the inlay I think the actual number was three. Merle had one then did Something Stupid to the neck on it so they built him another. After the third one they figured it was too expensive to build and scrapped it.

I heard him live with it once.

It sounded pretty good but it was no Super 400 with P-90 pickups.

Very pretty, gaudy, looking guitar under stage lights...
...that's how it looks to me...The opinion expressed above is my own and does not necessarily reflect the views of this station. Your mileage may vary...

Audio samples: http://www.youtube.com/user/acountrygent/videos
That should do it.
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Re: Guild Merle Travis Solomaster.

Postby Johnpat1 » Mon Mar 12, 2012 8:36 am

It is certainly a very ornate instrument. It is a good quality
photo. Also to anyone who plays lefty like me - there are
some good quality photos of Eliot Eastons guitars in the same mag.
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Re: Guild Merle Travis Solomaster.

Postby EddieP » Mon Mar 12, 2012 12:28 pm

Merle's Solomaster is on display at the Merle Travis Music Center in Muhlenberg Co. It is owned by Pat Eatherly's husband Gene. I never played it, and althought it is a unique guitar I sure like the 400 better. Maybe some of you can come to some of the picking events over there this year and see it. EP
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Re: Guild Merle Travis Solomaster.

Postby RandyBuckner » Wed Mar 14, 2012 11:22 pm

I have only been able to account for three Solomasters: Merle's, which, as Eddie said, is in Kentucky; the one owned by Rick Nielsen of "Cheap Trick", & a third one which surfaced in the early '80's, but I've been unable to track it down. It's certainly a mystery.

Randy
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Re: Guild Merle Travis Solomaster.

Postby Norm » Thu Mar 15, 2012 12:06 am

Thom Bresh somewhere, somehow, mentioned what a chore it was to have a Truly Unique guitar, particularly if it had Star provenance. At the time he was referring to the Bigsby necked Martin he was in control of for so many years. He implied he had it in a bank vault.

There is always the worry about dedicated thieves so when you have one of the iconic instruments you have to take special (and sometimes expensive) measures to protect it.
...that's how it looks to me...The opinion expressed above is my own and does not necessarily reflect the views of this station. Your mileage may vary...

Audio samples: http://www.youtube.com/user/acountrygent/videos
That should do it.
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Re: Guild Merle Travis Solomaster.

Postby George Beasley » Tue Jan 22, 2013 11:13 pm

Reviving this old thread to add some info:

I was reading Pete Townshend's biography today, and in one section he states that in 1989, he purchased a 49 ft sailboat. He said that he sold a bunch of precious guitars to finance the deal, including two D'Angelicos, and original Flying V, and the Guild Merle Travis Solo Master. From the look of the photo of Pete with the guild, it was taken in the mid 1970's....so he would have had that guitar in his possession for 15 years or so.
Thanks,
George
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Re: Guild Merle Travis Solomaster.

Postby smokymtguitar09 » Wed Jan 23, 2013 12:29 pm

merle travis solomaster -twitter photo (2).jpg
Here is a Burpee Museum Twitter photo of the Solomaster

https://twitter.com/BurpeeMuseum/status ... to/1/large
Ronnie Evans
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