Trigger...It's Part Of Willie's Distinct Sound

Last weekend a good friend offered me a free ticket to see Willie Nelson in concert at the Tabernacle in Atlanta, GA. Considering what I had planned for the evening, this was an easy decision....hell yes! I have been a fan of Willie's since the late 1970's and it's been years since I've seen him in concert.

But this blog is not about Willie, it's about Trigger, that old guitar that is so worn out it has holes in it from decades of use. The sound that comes from Trigger is one of the most unique sounds in music. If only one note from his guitar is heard, most of his fans would immediately know it was Willie Nelson playing that tune.

Willie was given a three cord electric guitar by the Baldwin company in 1969, but soon the guitar was broken by the intense style he played. He sent the guitar to Shot Jackson in Nashville and was told it was beyond repair. Shot offered to replace it with a Martin nylon-string acoustic and Willie asked him to add the pickup from his Baldwin guitar and then...Trigger was born.

After decades of strumming a guitar pick across the strings a large hole has been worn into Trigger near the sound hole. Many guitars have a pick-guard where the hole is, but Trigger is a classical guitar and is meant to be played with fingers instead of a pick. Now, I'm no guitar tech, but Trigger's age and that big hole has to be a huge part of the sound that Willie creates when he strums that ol' guitar. Over the years, hundreds of Willie's friends have signed Trigger; from musicians, athletes, coaches and even lawyers. Due to his infamous run-ins with the IRS, Willie has known his share of lawyers over the years. As a matter of fact, in 1991 during one of his bouts with the IRS, he had his daughter Lana pick up Trigger from the studio and send it to him in Maui. An IRS agent was on the way to to list properties to be auctioned off and Willie was afraid Trigger would be auctioned off with everything else. He hid Trigger at his manager's office until his tax debt was paid off two years later and then...out came Trigger again.

And so, after more than four decades of making music and helping Willie write countless hits, Trigger is still hanging in there. On the day that Willie passes from this world, that guitar should never be strummed again. It should be put in a museum under a glass case and be given the rest of time off after a lifetime of making great music.

Thanks for letting me Ramble On...