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September of 1999, Vasken Gurdjian received a shipment to his home in France of his very own Stephen Stills Martin D-45 SS "The Southern Cross." He owns number 26 / out of 91 instruments that were made for this special limited run. As a long time fan of Stephen Stills and his music, and being a musician himself; owning the instrument was very important to him, and has special meaning. The first song he played when he got it was the Manassas song "Bound to Fall." Vasken wanted to let Stephen know how honored he was to own this limited edition guitar, he contacted him via email. Vasken told him among other things, "I want to thank you for taking such good care of us all, by letting us dream a little by touching this wonderful piece of art..." In response, he was rewarded with a wonderful correspondence back from Stephen, discussing the guitar and it's creation at length. This letter is exclusively reproduced here @ suitelorraine.com with permission from my friend Vasken Gurdjian. In it you will see the intelligence and humor of Mr. Stephen Stills.
"Vasken, Way to go, Bud. You picked the right instrument. All the people at Martin worked very hard on it, and I think CFM is quite frankly glad to see the last of me. I pretty much drove them crazy over the minutiae as well as the initial structure. At any rate, Chris Martin decided to get up off his best edelweiss spruce and brazilian rosewood for this run. I am flattered beyond measure that it carries my name. This project was never about money. It has, from the start, been about replicating the best qualities of the craftsmanship that went into the pre-war D-45's. As a former luthier and guitar shop dogsbody, I learned just enough to bust their balls over the details once I got the chance. I am very proud of the result. I have played 12 of them so far, and everyone of them has a) a unique voice and b) come out of the case sounding like an old guitar. This is not by accident. Once I saw the proof in the other models that they were serious about reproducing and adhering to the space devised by the makers of the pre-war era, I was able to hold their feet to the fire and get the shop to pay attention and get it right. They also proved themselves correct in the modern advancements. The truss-rod assembly (which I would never have believed could be successfully incorporated into the design without destroying the resonant qualities of the neck and body interact), works wonderfully and the updated size and placement of the bridge and saddle has introduced a mathematical precision to the intonation that is flawless. The sucker stays flat in tune all the way up to the neck, which is something that can not be said for the old ones. The scalloped braces are of a similar density of wood type, and only slightly adjusted to accommodate the placement of the bridge. The size of the binding is back to the older, smaller specs, and the joining and finishing most exact. These are but a few of the reasons yours and every other instrument that has come to life during this limited production run, sounds and plays so amazingly, and remains true to the original formula. One is hard pressed to imagine the qualities they will attain with age. I used the neck design most comfortable to me: a bit fine with very little crown to the fingerboard so as to accommodate the demands of an experienced player who is able to employ a wide variety of techniques, from fingerpicking, to flat-picked bluegrass to big handfuls of chords, as well as defined, precise lead melodies. This instrument is not intended for the faint of heart. If you can make it, it will react with all the delicacy and passion you require. But you have to get there, because it's very precision is such that it does not respond well to being sawed upon with the heavy hand of a folk poet sage content to bash out a few chords in support of their latest tome. There were 91 D-45's made before WW II. Many of them were not that great, intended to satisfy the glitzy showmanship of the cowboy star, the bandlead-singer, the front man in need of a prop. So they had lots of abalone inlay and fat necks and looked good and played terribly at first. The herringbone was the player's guitar; a big version of the finesse pieces of the 00 and 000 types. That's what Hank Williams and Doc Watson and Lester Flatt and so many others had. But people getting hit records eventually got the attention of the old boys down in Nazareth, and these craftsmen were never going to be satisfied with the idea of their top of the line guitar as a prop. So it wasn't before long before they got down to business and put everything they had into constructing the finest instrument they could imagine. All their best wood, resins, and the lessons of having been at it awhile already. By the mid-thirties they had it down, and we have not seen or heard its' equal since. Anyway, that's what I wanted to have copied, with a few minor adjustments in realistic deference to modern science, and that is exactly what they have done. And a damn fine job of it, too. Don't you think?" Kindest regards,
Stephen Stills
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