Notes & Queries – June

Queries Q: Terry McManus from Maine asked: “With Tony Rice gone, what will become of #58957? Will it be retired, which would be sad, or will someone else pick it up? My (unasked for) opinion - Wyatt Rice, Josh Williams, or Mark O’Connor.” A: #58957 refers to the serial number of Tony Rice’s 1935 Martin D-28 herringbone guitar that once belonged to Clarence White. In a Spring 2007 issue of the Fretboard Journal, Rice noted, “It’s a beautiful instrument. I never pick it up but that I don’t think that. It’s got to be the Holy Grail.” In the same article, author Art Dudley said that the guitar “sings with a voice that simply can’t be ignored.” While luthier Wayne Henderson once speculated that 95% of the instrument’s acclaim came simply from the artistry of Rice’s playing, it did inspire the naming of a retrospective CD on Rounder Records called 58957 Tony Rice: The Bluegrass Guitar Collection. For the fate of the guitar today, we reached out to Tim Staffo