05/05/2023
“As long as I got my guitar, I’ll be fine.” - Willie Nelson who was struggling to repay a $16.7 million dollar tax debt that had led the federal government to seize all of his assets on November 9, 1990
Yesterday, Willie Nelson celebrated his 90th birthday with his beloved friend, “Trigger”.
Trigger is a Martin N-20 nylon-string acoustic with the serial number 242830. Trigger dates to early 1969, which means it was brand-new when Willie obtained it that same year. Why was Willie in need of a new guitar? Because he had laid his beloved Baldwin 800C acoustic on stage between sets and as the story goes, a drunkard stepped on it.
With Willie's Baldwin broken, he took it to luthier Shot Jackson, who indeed deemed the guitar unsalvageable. Instead, Shot Jackson sold Willie a brand-new Martin N-20 for $750 – which current inflation puts at more than $5,600.
The N-20 was first catalogued in 1969, though Martin began building them in 1968. The model wasn’t a bestseller by any means. Only 262 were made in 1969, making it quite rare.
Trigger wears the scars of more than 50 years of life on the road. The frets are all original but have worn down, meaning some notes thump or buzz. Rather than fixing the issue, as is standard procedure, the artefacts have become part of Trigger’s ageing sound through the years. Just as our voices age over time, the tone of Trigger can be tracked over decades of recordings and live performances.
Martin N-20s typically sell for between $5,000 and $15,000. Though Trigger is not exactly in mint condition, it’s such an integral part of Willie Nelson’s illustrious career that it might prove one of the most valuable guitars in the world if it ever to hit the auction block – even if that’s unlikely.
Trigger has a life of its own. Willie once saved the guitar from a house fire – along with a pound of w**d. In turn, Trigger saved Willie from the IRS.
In the early 90s, Willie landed in some legal trouble with the IRS and was ordered to pay millions in back taxes and fines. He had no money to pay a band, so he went into the studio and recorded solo versions of many of his classic songs using only Trigger.
The proceeds from his grass-roots marketing of the album eventually helped him pay off his debts.
