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Elvis' 1955 Martin D-28

Scotty, Elvis (with an uncovered D-28), and Bill
Big D Jamboree - Dallas Sportatorium April 16, 1955
Photo© courtesy Steve Bonner
Sometime
after the 15th of June 1955 (approximately) Elvis replaced his 1942 Martin D-18
for a Martin D-28 (believed to be a 55 or 54) purchased at
the O.K. Houck Piano
Co. in
Memphis. Sid Lapworth, who sold it to him seems to think it may
have been a used instrument and can not be certain if he took the D-18
in trade for it*. One of
the earliest pictures of him with one is at the Big D Jamboree in the Sportatorium in Dallas, TX on
April 16, 1955.

1955 Martin D-28 similar to Elvis Presley's
Photo© courtesy Hiro
Corporation
Like the two Martin's he owned prior to this he used
the stick-on letters spelling his name but positioned on the upper
portion of the body diagonally above the sound hole. Not long after he
also received and began using a custom made tooled leather cover with
his name "Elvis Presley" blazoned across the front.
According to Jimmy
Rodgers Snow, Elvis had seen the one that his father, Hank Snow had
and liked it. Hank had his made by a prisoner years earlier.
Elvis' leather
cover was made by Marcus Van Story in the basement of O.K. Houck's where
he worked occasionally in the piano repair shop. One of the most
famous pictures of Elvis with it and the leather cover was taken on July
31 in Tampa, Florida by
William V, "Red" Robertson and
has become known as the "Tonsil
photo." Scotty has said
that Elvis used this guitar most for performing
and recording until he got him the J200 in October of 56. Though
he began using the J200 in October, he used the D28 on occasion at least
as late as November 23, 1956.

Elvis with D-28 backstage at Overton Park Shell Aug 5,
1955
Photo by Robert Dye © EPE
Like the D-18 that preceded it, it soon had excessive
wear due to Elvis' aggressive strumming style (Note the broken
strings in the "tonsil
photo"). At some point it is evident that the
leather around the sound hole was trimmed back due to interference with
his strumming. Around the time that
he started using the J200 the D-28 completely dropped out of sight and
remains unaccounted for to this date. According to Jimmy Velvet
however, the tooled leather cover had been in the attic of the home of
Alan Fortas, Elvis' friend and bodyguard, but is believed to have been
sold sometime before Alan's death and is now in Japan.

Elvis' tooled leather cover and D-28 Aug 5, 1956
Photo© courtesy Bob Moreland
The Martin D-28 has a 40 1/2" total length, a 20" body length, 15 5/8"
body width and a 4 7/8" body depth. It features a solid
Mahogany neck, 20 fret Ebony fingerboard with a 25.4" scale
length, solid Spruce top, Rosewood back and sides, Ebony bridge, White Boltaron®
endpiece and binding, White/Black top and back inlay.
specifications courtesy C.F.
Martin Co.

Jimmy Velvet and Elvis at Jacksonville, FL Aug 10, 1956
Photo© courtesy J. Velvet
*Several photos exist of Elvis with a
D-18 in 1956 from the 5th and 6th appearances on the Dorsey Brother's
Stage show in NY in March, at the San Diego Arena on April 5 and with
Liberace in Las Vegas in
late April as well as other performances too that is
not his 42 D-18 They appear to
be the same guitar at those appearances though they bear no letters spelling "Elvis"
which suggests he likely owned and traveled with second D-18 for a time
while regularly performing with his D-28. It seems to always be
held on with a knotted string as a strap.
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