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probably reconstructed by Gower Guitar, Nashville, Tennessee, ca. 1960s, later Martin neck, early 1970s. Model D-28. Serial number 101213. Ex coll.: Doyle and Teddy Wilburn. Board of Trustees, 2004. |
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This modified Martin D-28 guitar was owned and used by the Wilburn Brothers, Doyle (b. July 7, 1930) and Teddy (b. November 30, 1931). The brothers from Hardy, Arkansas, began performing together as children in the late 1930s and their country music act was invited by Roy Acuff to perform at the Grand Ole Opry after he heard them in 1940. Throughout their long careers, Doyle and Teddy Wilburn performed with many other country music greats, including Webb Pierce and Loretta Lynn. NMM 10697 was first owned by Doyle Wilburn. Following Doyle’s death in 1982, Teddy adopted this guitar as his primary instrument until his he died in 2003. The guitar has been significantly modified, with a 1960s replacement top and back attributed by George Gruhn to Gower Guitar. The neck is a Martin replacement from the early 1970s. In spite of these changes to the instrument, it was clearly prized by the Wilburn Brothers, and appeared with them regularly in performances. The instrument is preserved with several concert programs from the Grand Ole Opry, manuscript song lyrics, and other ephemera relating to the Wilburn Brothers. |
Inscriptions: Branded on older portion of back graft: [lettering curved downward at each end] C.F.MARTIN & Co [sic] / — ∙ — / NAZARETH, PA. |
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Body: Soundboard: later two-piece spruce with medium grain. Back: later two-piece book-matched rosewood with filled knot holes on center bout. Ribs: two-piece Brazilian rosewood. Head: later mahogany veneered with rosewood on front face. Neck: later mahogany.
| Inlay: Binding: later white plastic surrounded with four strips of alternating white and black plastic purfling. Rosette: later; wide band of white and black striped plastic (13 strips), surrounded on each side with narrower bands of the same material (4 strips each), with natural wood in between. Back stripe: two strips of dark-stained hardwood with light hardwood diamonds with open pores, possibly walnut, surrounded on each side with strips of light hardwood purfling. End graft: white ivoroid strip (slightly wider toward top than bottom) surrounded by thin white and black celluloid purfling (2 strips) on each side. |
Trim: Heel cap: later white plastic finished with same varnish as body. Fingerboard: ebony; 20 nickel-silver frets; single mother-of-pearl dots behind 5th, 9th, 15th, and 17th frets; two mother-of-pearl dots behind 7th and 12th frets; white celluloid side dots behind 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th, 12th, 15th, and 17th frets. Nut: later white plastic. Bridge: later ebony with curved lower edge; white plastic saddle; two mother-of-pearl dots on each side of bridge pins covering screws; white plastic bridge pins. Pegs: six later, chrome-plated steel worm-gear machine tuners by Grover. Endpin: white celluloid with black celluloid eye. Pick guard: later imitation tortoise shell plastic. Varnish: later clear urethane.
Interior: Linings: later kerfed mahogany. Neck block: mahogany; chamfered corners. End block: mahogany; chamfered corners. Top bracing: spruce X-brace; light hardwood bridge plate. Back graft: spruce; portion with original Martin brand salvaged for replacement back and graft.
Measurements: Total guitar length: 1035 mm (40-3/4″)Accessories: ephemera associated with the Wilburn Brothers as follows:
A fan letter from Wyvonna Fenlaw
Part of the text of Loretta Lynn’s, "You Ain’t Woman Enough to Take My Man," written in blue ballpoint pen on notebook paper with chewing gum folded into bottom
Unidentified song text written in black felt-tip pen on two small note pad sheets, I: "I Wonder What Would Happen" and II: "If Someday They Found, the Door to My Mind Had Been Locked"
Chord sheet written in blue ballpoint pen on paper with three-hole punch
Ernest Tubb Record Shops, Nashville, invoice sheet with abbreviated song order on back side in black ballpoint pen and credits on front: "Drums – Danny Davis / Steel – [Johnny Cox crossed out] Lynn Owsley / Guitar – Pete Mitchell / Piano – Johnny Walker / Guitar – Jack Leonard"
Tubb invoice sheet with song list on back: "Play on Ernest Tubb record for Betty Lou Verch" in pencil and "David McCormick / I Woke Up / Tonight / Not Many / I’ve Found It / There’s the Closet / And the Next Time" in blue ballpoint pen
Tubb invoice sheet with notes in blue ballpoint pen on back: "Do the Jimmie Rodgers song for Gordon Loy in Elom College, N.C. / Do the Ernest Tubb song for Violet Long in Elizabethtown, Ky. / Linda Casteel’s birthday Oct. 10th Nan Borden called to send her love"
Seven copied song text sheets, Sure Fire Music, Nashville, by Larry Alderman, "Are My Arms Hurting You," "Dixie Dan," "Fingers On My Soul," "Half Way Back," "Still Here Falling," "Turning Rainbows Into Rivers," "When All Your Dreams Come True"
"Sunday Mornin’ Country" Program, War Memorial Auditorium, June 15, 1980 (Teddy Wilburn on "Singin’ N’ Sharin’")
Grand Ole Opry program, Friday-Saturday, May 25-26, 1984 (Teddy Wilburn in "Music Valley Drive, Inc.," May 25, 10:00-10:30)
Grand Ole Opry program, Friday-Saturday, December 7-8, 1984
Grand Ole Opry program, Friday-Saturday, December 21-22, 1984 (Teddy Wilburn in "Beechnut," December 21, 9:30-10:00)
Grand Ole Opry program, Friday-Saturday, November 18-19, 1988 (Teddy Wilburn in "Goody’s Headache Powder," November 18, 10:00-10:30)
Grand Ole Opry program, Friday-Saturday, June 21-22, 1991 (Teddy Wilburn in "Standard Candy," June 22, 7:30-8:00 and "Dollar General Store," 9:30-10:00)
Teddy Wilburn makeup call sheet
Grand Ole Opry, August 14, 1982, program lineup folder, including Wilburn Brothers
