I know we're both having fun here, but I do really believe that the guitar on Marty Robbins' "El Paso" is a nylon and that is based of course on my own judgement from the evidence that I see.

Here's the evidence that the guitar is a STEEL string guitar:

1. Third-hand hearsay from a recording session guitarist who's close to 80 years old and who's played on thousands and thousands of recording sessions over the course of probably 60 years or so, and who's known and worked with hundreds of other musicians (if not thousands), and who is apparently trying to remember the exact type of guitar played by one of those hundreds of musicians on one of those thousands of recording sessions back about 45 years or so ago.

I'm not saying Bradley is not credible, but I would say that there's at least a slight possibility that he's not remembering things correctly.

Here's the evidence that the guitar was a NYLON string guitar:

1. Third party hearsay from a guy who heard directly from Don Law with Grady Martin right beside him, that the guitar in El Paso is a nylon string guitar. This can be found here:
http://www.rockabillyhall.com/gradytribute.html

2. My personal observations. I've played several nylon string guitars and I've played several steel string guitars in my life. I've also seen/heard others play nylon string guitars as well as steel string guitars. I'm 99% sure that the guitar on "El Paso" is a nylon string guitar because it sounds like a nylon string guitar to me.

3. Several websites recite, as though it were an accepted fact, that the guitar on "El Paso" is a nylon string guitar. Here are some of the links:
http://www.cmt.com/artists/news/1451304/%2012042001/martin_grady.jhtml
www.rockabillyhall.com/BobGradyFC.html
www.angelfire.com/tn2/bobloyce/grady.html
www.countryworks.com/artist_full.asp?KEY=MARTING
www.rockabillyhall.com/gradytribute.html
www.tennessean.com/local/archives/01/11/11082777.shtml

Like I've said, I know I could be wrong, but based on what I see, I think it's reasonable to conclude that the likelihood of the guitar being a nylon string guitar is greater than the likelihood that the guitar is a steel string guitar.

[[edited to fix some links]]

[This message was edited by Tom Olson on 14 January 2004 at 08:04 PM.]

Take an Acoustic Guitar and do the picking at the 12th Fret,in that general area, use a variety of gauges of picks until you get the one that sounds more mellow than the rest. I don't know if they had nylon picks back then or not, Might not have been a pick at all, maybe some soft type material that Grady found and used for a pick.

What I hear out of this session is Grady working the guitar as only Grady can do and being creative.

Thats what a Master Guitarist is paid to do on a session, be creative.

Tom
Do a search for Earl Erb here on the Forum, send him an email and ask him to send you a copy of his CD. Want to take a guess on what kind of a guitar he is using on that CD? Want to bet some money that its an L-5 Gibson or some high end Archtop? I'd be happy to bet against that theory and take your money.

What u hear ain't always what U Hear.

[This message was edited by John Floyd on 15 January 2004 at 05:26 AM.]

You can listen to the song here at the Record Lady's website: http://recordlady.webgcs.com/a3.htm

Respectfully,
Dave Burr

[This message was edited by Dave Burr on 15 January 2004 at 06:59 AM.]

I don't know one way or the other, since I was not there, but in defense of Mr. Harold Bradley, he is NOT a senile old man(which I gathered from those previous posts, by mentioning he is almost 80).

Not only is the President of the union "still with it" at almost 80, but he is very much a gear head, and takes notice of that kind of stuff.

As far as his memory goes, we're talking about a guy who still remembers the serial number of his first blackface Twin Reverb.

I have asked him things before in the past, to which he answered,"I don't remember, I've done alot of sessions in my time, and some of them run together." He has no problem saying that. When he gives a detailed account of how something went down, I tend to believe him.

As far as rockabillyhalloffame.com, they are not god. They are a few guys and gals who run a website in their spare time.

Even at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland(which is a multi-million dollar "real" place, not just a website), they had a plaque which said Bob Wills' music was characterized by fiddle and pedal steel. PEDALS??? BOB WILLS??? You'd think THEY if anybody would get that stuff right!

As far as the Tennessean newspaper goes, here's this:My uncle passed away a few months ago. The Tennessean said in it's story about him, that in the 60's, he was a member of Seattle based rock group the Wailers. In truth, he was NOT a member of the Wailers, however he wrote an albums worth of material for them, which they recorded. Looks like the Tennessean isn't god either.

I'm not saying one way or the other, but I would assume you don't know Mr. Bradley(whom you made a character assumtion about), and qouted a few falable, man made publications(and we all know you can't believe everything you read).

Oh well, details, details, details...

In my opinion, it was Hank Garland on a sumburst Fender Stratocaster....

.... but with gut strings!

Chris Scruggs

Grady Martin was a professional musician, who owned guitars he planned on working with. However, in the entire decade of the 1950's, the only electric guitar he owned was his double neck Bigbsy(it was originally a single neck).

Why would a musician who made a living playing electric guitar, only own one electric guitar, but own a gut string guitar?

There was NO work in Nashville for country gut string guitar prior to "El Paso", so why would he own one? Wouldn't it make more since for him to have another electric guitar, since that was his main gig?

The magic of the song is the poetry - the way the talents of Marty Robbins' singing and songwriting and Grady Martin's superb guitar fills all combined to paint a picture with sound. Grady's fills make me imagine a marrachi nylon string guitarist standing off to the side as the film of the story runs in my head. To me it's what the music conjures up that's most important not what kind of strings.

[This message was edited by Andy Volk on 16 January 2004 at 03:24 AM.]

In regards to your statement that Martin only played the Bigsby guitar in the 50s, I have seen several pics of him with a 50s Gibson ES350. There is also a 50s movie clip of him using that guitar. I took notice because I own the same model.

My last post was a response to John Floyd in which I attempted to explain why I thought the way I did. I made the post because John seemed to imply that I should accept what Gregg Galbraith says because Gregg "is a well-respected guitarist," and I wanted to explain my beliefs and why they were contrary to what Gregg says.

You on the other hand, appear to be living in Washington State. I've never heard of you.

As I told this lady once, thats a pretty fur piece.

I think this is probably a pretty good time to end this.

[This message was edited by John Floyd on 16 January 2004 at 10:31 AM.]

quote:

---

While I'm here, though, I hafta say I do find it amusing that we steelers (who say we can tell a "wrap" from a bolt on, a solid state amp from a tube job, a GL710 from an E66, and a stainless bar from a chrome one), have trouble determining whether it's steel strings, or nylon on that cut!

Don'cha jus' think that's a hoot?

---

Yes, I do! ROFLMAO.........I think I'll do an objective A/B test of single coil vs. nylon humbucker.

Reading the original post that asked
[QUOTE]Does anyone know (for sure) the make or model guitar Grady used on this?[\QUOTE]

I can only conclude...some do and some don't.

Ron