2008 C.F. Martin & Co. D-28M Merle Travis Limited Edition
Maker
C.F. Martin & Company
(American, founded 1833)
Date2008
ClassificationsMusic
Description2008 C.F. Martin & Co. D-28M Merle Travis Limited Edition guitar, serial number 1329398 with limitation number 61/100, in natural polished gloss finish with Aging Toner top. The guitar features an ebony fretboard with custom heart/club/diamond/square inlays. It has a Bigsby-style headstock with figured walnut overlay and Bigsby logo inlay, small old style Martin logo on back of the headstock, six-on-one-side tuners, bone bridge pins with tortoise dots, black unique Travis shaped pickguard and label signed by C.F. Martin IV, Thom Bresh, and Fred Gretsch. In original hardshell case.This guitar's design was based on Merle Travis' modified 1941 Martin D-28.
Merle Travis (1917-1983) was an American country and western singer and guitarist, who was known for his fingerpicking style that later became known as "Travis picking." Travis was born in Muhlenberg County, Kentucky, which influenced his songwriting that focused on his rural upbringing and the local coal mining industry. Travis began playing guitar at a young age, and by his late-teens was performing on radio stations. His peak in popularity came in the 1940s and 1950s. He was a member of the Hollywood Barn broadcast and was also an actor in several western films.
Travis' fingerpicking style consisted of the thumb of the picking hand playing bass notes while the middle and index fingers alternated on a syncopated melody, derived from a ragtime style of playing. Guitarists such as Chet Atkins, James Taylor, and John Prine were influenced by this style.
