Doc Watson's Guitar

[John Arnold]

The Gibson was a J-35.
Doc had a set of Tama tuners that he really liked....so much so that he would swap them from one guitar to another when he started playing a different one.
I knew Doc from 1990 on. That was the year I built him a copy of the Jimmie Rodgers Weymann that resides in the Country Music Hall of Fame.
I have never met a finer human being. He had the perfect blend of humility, compassion, and humor. If you didn't feel better after visiting with Doc, you weren't paying close enough attention.

[Turbogrooves]

Originally Posted by John Arnold

The Gibson was a J-35.
Doc had a set of Tama tuners that he really liked....so much so that he would swap them from one guitar to another when he started playing a different one.
I knew Doc from 1990 on. That was the year I built him a copy of the Jimmie Rodgers Weymann that resides in the Country Music Hall of Fame.
I have never met a finer human being. He had the perfect blend of humility, compassion, and humor. If you didn't feel better after visiting with Doc, you weren't paying close enough attention.

Well said, I know Rosa Lee's brother and got to spend a day with Doc playing music in the 90's. It's something I'll never forget and will cherish forever. BTW, that day he was playing a Tacoma and was smitten with it. I don't know that he ever played it out but he was that day in his house.

[Docjonas]

Thanks for all the replies. I'm not an expert like many of you. Just bought my first Martin last year! But, I've been a fan of Doc Watson since college days. He used to come to my college in North Carolina (Mars Hill College) each year back in the late 70s and do a show. I remember one year, Merle had a broken wrist and still played the show with Doc. Amazing guitarist. And the setting was small and intimate enough to where his personality and genuineness came through. The music world lost a great one when Doc left us.

[redir]

Originally Posted by Docjonas

Thanks for all the replies. I'm not an expert like many of you. Just bought my first Martin last year! But, I've been a fan of Doc Watson since college days. He used to come to my college in North Carolina (Mars Hill College) each year back in the late 70s and do a show. I remember one year, Merle had a broken wrist and still played the show with Doc. Amazing guitarist. And the setting was small and intimate enough to where his personality and genuineness came through. The music world lost a great one when Doc left us.

I saw him a few times just up the road in Virginia, same kind of setting. It always completely blew me away, the guy was pure talent on a guitar and had a great voice to accompany it too. Very sad loss when he left us but he had a good run too.

[nedray]

I think Doc is best known for playing the Gallagher because that's what he played consistently during the bluegrass/newgrass/country-rock/folk era in the 70s. He gained much of his wide recognition during that time playing at festivals and for college audiences. He was also featured on the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's "Will the Circle be Unbroken" collection. Always with the Gallagher in those days.

I think the real tragedy here is the story of Merle's 1985 death in a freak tractor accident at what was perhaps just the beginning of a stellar career. He was a monster player who supported his father as the main attraction, but possessed some serious chops in his own right. It would have been fun to see where he too that talent.

[rwmct]

Originally Posted by nedray

He was also featured on the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's "Will the Circle be Unbroken" collection.

That banter on the record between Doc Watson and Merle Travis has got to be the best guitar commercial of all time.

[gmel555]

Originally Posted by Howard Klepper

When I heard Doc and Merle play in the early 70s, Doc commented that he didn't tour with his Martin anymore, since it was irreplaceable. But, he said, "I can always get Mr. Gallagher to make me another."

I recall him also making a negative comment at that show about the sound of electric guitars.

I always enjoy hearing these stories and quotes from the great artists. I saw Les Paul once around his 90th birthday. His guitar had about a dozen extra toggles, knobs, switches and it suddenly went dead. Couldn't get a sound out of it. He leaned into the mic and said, "shoulda bought a Fender".

[Jim Comeaux]

As with all “guitar stories”, there are usually several versions. From the several versions that I have heard, I parse the following about Doc’s guitars.
Doc’s first recordings were done on a D-18, no, I don’t know the year it was made. Doc did many, many performances, both planned and spontaneous. He has used many guitars on a one shot basis. The previous posters were correct in that he sometimes referred to his D-18 as “Hoss”. When Doc finally decided to get a new guitar, he chose Gallagher as the maker and set about designing and building his Gallagher. His requirements were quite simple. He had only two standards to go by. The guitar must be made of Mahogany and it must sound right. What does “sound right” mean, they asked? Doc’s reply to that question was reportedly, “I’ll let you know when I hear it”. There was a guitar there that day that ticked all the boxes for Doc. But, there was a problem. The guitar had developed a body crack during construction. Because of it Gallagher would not let it out of the shop. There was much discussion and in the end, Doc got his Gallagher on loan until they could make Doc a new one. Well, that “loan” went on for five years while Doc, Merle and Gallagher collaborated on Doc’s new guitar. The results of that collaboration were the G-50, G-70 and the Doc Watson. The Doc Watson model is an exact copy of the final design that was presented to Doc. One unique aspect of the Doc Watson model is the neck. One day, during the design phase of the project, Doc walked into the shop carrying a guitar neck. He just asked, can you put this neck on my guitar? The answer was obviously yes. Reportedly Doc had been doing a lot of practicing on a Gibson Les Paul, no I don’t know the exact model. But, he liked that neck. The result was that all Doc Watson model Gallaghers have Les Paul necks and jumbo frets.