my life is in these guitars
they're the biggest part of my life
and as long as I've been playing I've always played a Maton
In the original MS500 I wore the frets out after flogging it for
10 years
and
we had an accident with it, it flew off the
top of the car and hit the road
and it came out of the case and anything
but Maton have restored it for me
so it's perfect again, totally playable,
and it looks like it did
when my father gave it to me in 1960
when I walk past it, there's my childhood
in that guitar, that's the guitar
I played every night, you know.
Now this,
this guitar and the one that came before this
big part of my life...
just because
without these guitars the songs wouldn't have come
and without the songs, people wouldn't come to see me play. It's all about the quality of the music
and this is my writing guitar, this is what I write on
What is the Legacy you'd like to leave?
The world is full of great guitar players, but
you know, I..
I try to stand out from the crowd by what I've got to say musically, and
my songs are all honest
and uh...
they come from a real point of inspiration.. and
basically i'm trying to entertain people all over the world
and I'm trying to get the younger generation to see that
what I do is real
it's a alling to me
and uh...
and I know, I've always known I've had to take my place
uh... in the line of players that extends way back to beyond Merle Travis
when i first heard Chet Atkins play
I knew at that moment that's what I wanted to do.
When Chet Atkins gave me the C.G.P.
it was a great honor and I was very moved
uh... but it is also a great responsibility as I come to realize that
i've got to do something with that because on my award it says
for lifetime contribution
to the art of finger style guitar. Now that was, uh,
11 or 12 years ago, you know
i'm trying to
leave a legacy of, first of all, good songs that's what I'm trying to write, good songs
That's my number one priority
and just trying to show the younger generation that
you know, you don't need a lot of pyrotechnics to turn people on, you need to have some good songs
and I hope that that's what I can give to them you know.
Tell us about the AP5 Mic/Pickup system...
now another reason why i play these guitars
is not just because a guitar is beautiful or great or has a wonderful action
that's all part of it of course
but it has the best electronics of any guitar in the world
Nobody has a pickup system
and a Mic system like this guitar
and it was Jean Larrivée who, I don't know a guitar builder who doesn't have
a great respect for Jean Larrivée,
Jean said to me quite frankly
"Building a great is a no brainer,
but getting the pickup right
is nearly impossible."
So, within these walls
you're doing the impossible.