This Old Guitar: Neil Young and Hank Williams

Hank Williams' famous 1941 Martin D-28 acoustic guitar (pictured here being played by Hank himself to his son Hank Jr back in 1949) isn't in a museum somewhere, shut away in a glass case being stared at by visitors, or locked up safely by some rich collector, it's actually still being used to make innovative, beautiful, heart-breaking music, just like Hank did back in the 1930s and 40s. That's because Neil Young is now the proud owner of the priceless guitar.
So how did this iconic instrument go from one legend to another? Well, originally Hank Williams Jr rightly inherited his father's guitar but during his wild and crazy years foolishly traded it for some shotguns. The guitar went from owner to owner until it ended up in the hands of bluegrass musician Tut Taylor, then the proprietor of his own guitar store. One day Neil went shopping for a new acoustic and the rest is history. Nicknamed "Hank" after its original owner, Neil has used the guitar in the studio and on stage for more than 30 years and even wrote a tune in tribute, This Old Guitar, on the album Prairie Wind.

Neil told Guitar Player magazine in 1992: "I’ve got a Hank Williams’ guitar, but I play it all the time. It’s an old Martin D-28. I bought it from Tut Taylor. It’s always great when someone understands what this is that they’re holding, who understands the effect Hank Williams had on all of us. They are sort of awestruck by being in the presence of anything that he touched - to the point that to actually play his instrument elevates them to another level. It’s a wonderful thing to have a guitar for that reason. A lot of people who should have played it, have played it. I’m careful about it, but I use it all the time. It’s not on a wall in a museum.”

Neil apparently has lent it to Bob Dylan and others to play. He told the audience at the Ryman in Nashville (where Hank once stood playing the Grand Ole Opry): "I try to do the right thing with the guitar. You don't want to stink with Hank's guitar. I lent it to Bob Dylan for a while. He didn't have a tour bus so I lent him mine and I left the guitar on the bed with a note saying Hank's guitar is back there. He used it for a couple of months."
I can't even imagine how much that guitar is now worth but I think it's pretty amazing it's still being played and I'm sure Hank Williams would be happy to know it's still inspiring great songs all these years on. Below is a photo of Neil, from the film Heart Of Gold, with the D-28 guitar that Hank once owned. It's a little worn but still sounding good, a bit like Neil himself in fact.