It would be nice if the Big House could get their hands on this, always a shame when a good guitar goes unplayed.
https://news.justcollecting.com/graham-nash-guitar-collection-heritage-auctions/
Guitars from the collection of music legend Graham Nash will be offered as part of Heritage Auctions’ Entertainment Memorabilia sale on July 20.
The Dallas auction will include 19 guitars handpicked by Nash himself, including instruments previously played by the likes of Johnny Cash, Duane Allman, Bo Diddley and Stephen Stills.
“I chose these guitars from my collection as they were played by the founders of rock and roll,” said Nash.
“There’s an incredible part of music history right here, and for me to have held them and got the juice out of them that I wanted, I then wanted to share them with people.”
Amongst Nash’s personally-played guitars are a Gibson Firebird once owned by his former band mate Stephen Stills; a 1950 Fender Broadcaster in Butter Scotch Blonde; a 1954 Gibson Les Paul Custom in black; and the 1969 Martin D-45 Acoustic Guitar he played at the iconic Woodstock festival in 1969.
According to Nash, he purchased the Martin using money he received from Atlantic Records, as an advance for Crosby, Stills, and Nash’s first recording contract.
“I felt so great when I could afford to buy this,” said Nash. “We each bought D-45s from Martin. That was 1969, and so right before Woodstock, we bought these guitars and took them to Woodstock.”
Nash also acquired guitars played by his heroes over the years, starting with Duane Allman’s favourite guitar: his 1961/1962 Gibson SG in Cherry Red.
“I know it was his favorite guitar and he played hundreds of shows with the Allman Brothers with that guitar,” said Nash.
“Somebody is going to be able to hold this guitar and feel the same thing that I do. It’s a passion for music, for the instruments that made that music.”
The collection also features guitars two owned and played by Johnny Cash: a 1934 Martin 0-17 Mahogany acoustic, and a 1937 Martin 000-28 Natural acoustic.
Another highlight is a 1951 Gibson J-185 Sunburst acoustic guitar owned by either Buddy Holly or the Everly Brothers.
The instrument was originally played on the tour bus the artists shared during their U.S tour in 1957, so despite the mystery of its true ownership, it remains a true piece of rock and roll history.
“I don’t know whose guitar this was, but it had to be one of them, because it wasn’t the bus driver’s,” said Nash.
The collection also includes an acoustic guitar owned and signed by Willie Nelson; a 1963 Gibson J-180 Black acoustic owned by Don Everly; and the last guitar Bo Diddley ever played on stage, a 1999 Gretsch 6138 Signature Model Firebird.
“Even though I wasn’t a great fan of Bo – I mean, I certainly understand his importance in the history of rock ‘n’ roll – but I’m more an Everly Brothers kind of guy,” said Nash.
“But when I saw this guitar and found out that it was the very last guitar that Bo Diddley ever played in his life, I wanted it, and there it is.”
Aside from his guitars, Graham Nash has spent his life assembling world-class collections of fine art, photography and comic book artwork.
Back in 2017 his collection of 1960s counterculture comic book art sold at Heritage, including the original, unpublished cover for Robert Crumb’s Zap Comix #1, which realized $525,800.
Thanks for posting.
Be cool if Derek could get his hands on the SG.
Eap,
Steve
Heck, he should just give it to Derek. After all, it was Derek's guitar in his previous lifetime...
😉
Otherwise, some rich guy who will never play it will just stick it in a vault.
It'd be real sweet if Devon could get his Uncle's SG and I could get Johnny Cash's 2 Martins from '34 and '37, Oh Yeah, That'd be real sweet!
….
[Edited on 5/23/2019 by Fretsman]
I’m part of a co-owner scheme of 2 French castles, where many people buy shares. It would be cool if you could buy shares in guitars like this, in the same way.
I wonder how Nash got it to begin with.
Everyone has a plan, till you get punched in the face,
That is the guitar all right. You can see the holes where the whammy bar was located. I've seen a picture of Dickey playing it before the whammy bar was taken off. Dickey plays the guitar on the 1970 Atlanta Pop Festival recordings and Dickey played it on the album Idlewild South.
Graham says he knows the guitar was Duane's favorite guitar. I'm not sure about that. After Dickey gave it to Duane, I remember Duane only using it when he played slide. Duane usually played a bit more regular guitar at the shows I saw and the last year he used a tobacco burst Les Paul.
Yes Derek should be the next owner I suppose. Derek last I read is using one of the Gibson custom shop "Brother to Brother" Gibson SG's which recreates the guitar Nash has including the holes where the whammy bar use to be and belt buckle scratches on the back. Dickey signed those guitars so Derek's should has Dickey's signature on it.
As we know, when Gibson introduced the SG in 1961, they designated it the new Les Paul. But Les Paul objected saying the guitar is not his design and insisted his name be taken off the headstock. Gibson quickly stopped making it with Les' name on it and one would wonder why Gibson failed to run that by Les in the first place.
Yeah, Graham calling it "Duane's favorite guitar" is pretty funny. Definitely an attempt to push that price up on the auction block. He ain't stupid, though.
"How did Graham Nash get the guitar?" I am going on my memory and now that I'm in my 70's it's not as sharp. So if I make a mistake here forgive me.
My memory right now is this. Dickey owned the guitar plus a Gibson ES 345 or 335 when the Allmans formed. By late 1969 through spring or early summer 1970 Dickey played a Fender Strat as his number one the he switched to this SG as his number one. At this point the whammy bar was gone but the holes where it was bolted to the body were visible. Several months later Dickey said he liked the sound Duane was getting on a Les Paul so he decided to get a Paul. Dickey went through several before he settled on the 1957 Goldtop that was called Goldie which was Dickey's number one for 20 years.
Dickey said when he got his first Paul's, Duane was retuning his Les Paul when he wanted to play slide. Dickey said "Take this guitar and keep it tuned for slide and just switch guitars when you play slide".
When Duane died Gregg gave the guitar to a young man Duane liked who hung around the band. Dickey said he didn't know what happened to the guitar for years. It turned out the fan had the guitar under his bed for years and he passed away. His family put the guitar up for sale and Graham Nash bought it because of it's connection to Duane Allman.
Dickey then knew Nash had it and when Gibson wanted to do a series of custom guitars based on that SG. Dickey borrowed the guitar and was on a video Gibson put out of Dickey showing it to LeRoy Parnell and a few of the replicas they were selling under the name " Gibson custom shop Brother to Brother SG" with Dickey Betts' signature on the back of the head stock.
The idea was it's a guitar an Allman Brother gave to another Allman brother. Derek Trucks who was already a SG player, got one and he could have received his from Dickey. I'm not sure if it's still Derek's number one.
I believe the first time I saw Derek play he used a SG and played a Washburne guitar on several songs.
The young man that received the SG from Gregg was Gerry Groom. I am pretty sure he made a couple of albums with Mick Taylor some years ago.
Story goes that Graham's wife bought it for him as a birthday present.
I wonder if that guitar was used for them?
Saw Duane's guitar at RnR HOF in an exhibition of Graham Nash.
The young man that received the SG from Gregg was Gerry Groom. I am pretty sure he made a couple of albums with Mick Taylor some years ago.
Story goes that Graham's wife bought it for him as a birthday present.
I wonder if that guitar was used for them?
Saw Duane's guitar at RnR HOF in an exhibition of Graham Nash.
I also believe it was Groom that taped the "Gatlinburg Ski Lodge" music in April '71.
"Is that a real poncho or is that a Sears poncho?"
Yes, Groom was the taper. 
Wow! I am kind of knocked out that Gerry Groom had Duane's guitar AND was the Gaitlinsburg taper!!!
I do not know his whole story at all, but I AM a big fan of his "Once In A Blue Moon" album, recorded with Mick Taylor, recorded in August 1991. Gerry died in Feb 1992 before the album got released.
Gerry plays a Dobro on the whole album, a 1936 Dobro! Mick Taylor plays a Strat. So, Duane's guitar does not appear on the album. However, the drummer for the sessions was Matt Abts, so we do get an ABB family tie-in!!
It is a live-in-the-studio album with none of the gloss that a big-label 1990s blues release would have had. It is loose and free. They jam some Willie Dixon, Muddy Waters, and Robert Johnson as well as some of Gerry's songs. If you dig that loose kind of vibe rather than the more precise, purposefully composed and re-recorded blues that you might get from Gary Moore or Joe Bonnamossa, you would like this. It's more like those "The London Sessions" albums - remember those?
Excellent detective work by the posters om this thread.
First grade work, and by that I mean First Grade Detective.
Very impressive.
I'd love to see Duanes axe at Big House but it's a longshot.
I have the Gatlinburg Tapes, but I do not have the Once In A Blue Moon disc. I will soon. I have a '35 single cone Dobro Lite, I'd love to find out more about Gerry's Dobro. I only found pic's of the Album cover.
I woud like to see this LP/SG in Galadrielle's possession.
Yes she probably should have the guitar. Devon received all 47 of Gregg's guitars.
Gibson introduced this guitar in 1961 as the new, improved revamped Les Paul but Les Paul wasn't consulted, didn't like the guitar and demanded his name be taken off the headstock immediately. Years ago Dickey called it an old Les Paul when asked which guitar did he play on Idlewild South but Paul's name is not on the headstock and I think it was gone by the time Dickey gave it to Duane. I'll try to find a pic of Duane playing it and zoom in.
In a way it's Dickey's guitar but Dickey gave it to Duane and after he died Gregg gave it to Groom so I guess it's not Dickey's guitar.. Dickey did say it was under Groom's bed for years and Dickey didn't know then what happened to it.
Gregg gave Dickey the guitar Duane played on Little Martha on Eat A Peach. Dickey is holding that guitar on the cover of his Highway Call solo album.
I hope Nash will decide to give it to Galadrielle or Derek Trucks. Now if Nash needs money I guess some collector will buy it and it will be under his bed.
Couldn't find many pics of Fuane using this guitar. The few on Google pics were from 1971. Found a few pics of Dickey playing it in 1970 including the Atlanta Pop Festival. When I zoom in on the headstock with both Dickey and Duane, I dont see Les Paul's name.
But I think it's a 1961 which is when Gibson introduced it as the revamped Les Paul. It soon became the SG when Les told Gibson he objected to this guitar having his name on it..
I would agree with Bob's thought: How about if the powers that be and people of means purchase it for the Big House Museum. If you think about it if it were to go to an individual (Duane's daughter, Gregg's family, Derek, whoever), how many people would get to see it?
Let the masses look at it.
Everything in Moderation. Including Moderation.
