So Pete brought his handiwork down to Greenwich Village to the shop of John D’Angelico (the superlative luthier whose jazz guitars now are museum items, selling for $40k or more) and asked him to re-fret the neck. However, he had a very hard time with the fingerboard and frets, and it just would not play in tune. And he did, carving out that hard, dense wood into the longneck shape he’d invented, and attaching it to an old Vega Whyte Laydie banjo rim. Later I got the chance to ask Pete himself about it and he clarified some details.Īt some point, years ago, Pete decided to try and make his own banjo neck out of ironwood, lignam vitae I believe. I first heard this story from Bruce Taylor, of Weston CT, the maker of Pete’s 12 string guitars, who also made himself (and then me) a copy of Pete’s banjo. John Wallace, my brother Harry’s wonderful bassist, calls this my “Stealth Guitar.” No markings, just a signature way down deep inside. No problem, I can darken the inside down a bit.Ī few months later, I got this dream guitar.
That’d be fine, but I dislike the way the white maple looks onstage, as the hole is brighter than the guitar. No, I am a big guy, can you build a larger body. I picked it up and played it and immediately knew I wanted one. I was introduced to his work by another master, my old friend Roger Sadowsky, who showed me his Martin-style orchestra model that T. Thompson – a one of a kind instrument, made by a storied luthier with long years of experience repairing and then building pre-war-style Martin guitars. It’s sunburst, with maple sides and back, designed and built by T. This beautiful hybrid that Martin began to issue."Ī Martin? Gibson? Collings? Taylor? Huss and Dalton? He did, resetting the neck angle, and came up with Someone, I believe guitarist extraordinaire David Bromberg, brought one in to Matt Uminov (his guitar store was in Greenwich Village) and asked him to fit a flattop onto the body. It started as an old - pre-1945 F-Hole Martin that didn't sound very good. It was Harry's last guitar, purchased in 1981, the year he died. It is a Martin M-38, a model that Martin does not offer anymore, except as a special order. "This is one of my favorite recording and live guitars. Check out his website: Photo by John Bruno Now they accompany me, onstage and off, whenever I pick up this beautiful instrument. I sent him a photo of my then teenage daughters Lily & Abigail. He emailed asking what image I wanted on the headstock. Grit is a wonderful luthier and a world-renowned inlay artist. This is my William “Grit” Laskin “Sisters” guitar. It on many of my recordings and, most likely, will see and hear me playingĬheck out Grit's website, you won't be sorry!" The sound has grown and sweetened over the years as well, and you can hear I have taken it with me on concert tours and airlines and recording sessionsįor close to fifteen years, and it has the scratches and dings to prove it.
This unique headstock out of mother-of-pearl and silver and brushed copperĮarly on I had to decide whether this guitar was a beautiful museum piece orĪ working axe, and I decided that I wanted to play it, not curate it. I've never doneĪ black man before.' So he went to his local library in Toronto (this isīefore Google, don't you know) and found a picture of an anonymousĪfrican-American guitar player and, using that as his inspiration, created You want on the headstock?' Caught offguard, I said, 'Hmm, how about an oldīluesman with an acoustic guitar?' Grit said, 'Interesting. And so he did.Ībout a month before it was finished Grit called me up and said, 'What do Played it, loved it, and then found out that he'd made it himself. We were both appearing in aĬanadian Folk Festival and as we sat backstage he handed me his guitar. I own three of his instruments, but this one, He is perhaps best knownįor his spectacularly artistic inlay work, but to my mind he is one of theīest pure guitar makers ever. Luthier/singer-songwriter William 'Grit' Laskin.
"This guitar was made for me by the storied Canadian