My Father's Old Gibson J45

Somewhere around 1973 or 1974 there was a man who went down to the music store in Paintsville, Kentucky (on old US 23) and bought a brand new Gibson J45. He then took the guitar home and attempted to hide it. You see his wife 'belonged' to a church that didn't believe in having musical instruments. Musical instruments were tools of the devil.

Somehow his wife discovered the guitar that very same evening. I don't know for sure about all the details of what happened. I was only about 10 or 11 years old and recalling what my dad had told us. But anyway, there was some argument and finally the woman slammed the guitar against the floor or maybe a couch. She then demanded that he get that tool of the devil out of her house immediately.

This guy was a friend of my dad and they saw each other that evening. The man told dad what had happened and dad bought a brand new fresh out of the store $750 Gibson guitar for $100. The side near the bottom and the back were busted up pretty good. Dad pressed it together as best he could and used wood glue to seal it up. It was a bit rough looking but it worked.