“One of the most important guitars in the entire history of bluegrass music”: The 1942 Martin D-18 that Lester Flatt used to forge the very sound of bluegrass is going up for auction

Lester Flatt’s Martin D-18 acoustic guitar – an instrument that helped pave the way for traditional bluegrass music – is set to be sold at auction.

It headlines Heritage Auction’s upcoming event, set to take place on October 9, which will see more than 400 guitars go under the hammer.

Included in the catalog is a pre-war Martin acoustic – an extremely rare relic in 2024 – and several Eddie Van Halen Kramer guitars made in collaboration with the late Steve Ripley. None, though, come with as much history as Flatt’s beloved six-string.

The Martin D-18 was built in 1942 and remained by Flatt’s side throughout his time with Bill Monroe’s Blue Grass Boys – an act that helped bring bluegrass to the masses.

Their instrumental track Foggy Mountain Breakdown won a Grammy and was used extensively in the 1967 film, Bonnie and Clyde. The original 1950 recording has since been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame for the role it played in the creation of bluegrass music.

The acoustic that will be sold by Heritage Auction's was also reportedly used on most recordings made by Flatt & Scruggs and the Foggy Mountain Boys throughout the 1950s, and the guitar’s condition and sound have impressed the auctioneers handling its sale.

Lester Flatt's 1942 Martin D-18 Natural Acoustic Guitar, Serial #81197. - YouTube

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“This D-18 might be one of the loudest I have ever heard,” says Director of Vintage Guitars and Musical Instruments, Aaron Piscopo. “It remains in excellent playable condition, and the sound makes you tremble – especially when thinking about its previous owner and how hard he must have played this thing.

“This guitar,” he continues, “is not only a high-quality Martin from the early 1940s but also a foundational piece of bluegrass history.”

Flatt's D-18 has undergone an interesting journey to get to this point. It recently featured at the Bluegrass Heritage Festival in 2023, where it was said to have been played and displayed with “jaw-dropping” results. Before that, it had been in the hands of the late Tut Taylor, himself a Grammy winner for his work on The Great Dobro Sessions with Jerry Douglas.

However, Taylor is also well-known as the co-founder of Nashville's GTR instrument shop, which specializes in vintage gear.

Taylor was said to have been heartbroken when Flatt and his banjo partner, Earl Scruggs, departed Monroe’s band in the 1950s. Eventually, he tracked down the pair, who were performing together in Virginia, and followed them “like a puppy”, recording many of their shows on his reel-to-reel in the process.

The story goes that, one night, Taylor had commented on his love for Flatt’s guitar.

“Lester surprised me by saying, ‘I’ll just give you this one, but you’re gonna have to give me $25 for the case,’” Taylor was noted as saying. “Needless to say, I was flabbergasted,” his account, supplied to GW by Heritage Auctions, continues. “He also gave me the guitar strap with his name on it.”

He hung onto the instrument for several years before selling it “for a mere pittance”.

The instrument has since passed through the hands of vintage guitar guru George Gruhn twice – in 1978 and 2012. He believes “Lester’s use of this instrument would make this guitar one of the most important guitars in the entire history of bluegrass music”.

No estimate for its sale has been given, but the weight of the D-18's history suggests that the instrument will go for more than a mere pittance this time.

Head to Heritage Auctions to learn more about the upcoming event.