My Acoustic Guitar Story--My Old Crank

by Don Brazelton-Duckmeister
(Tennessee)

Guess i gotta say that my old crank is prolly gonna have to be the acoustic guitar of my lifetime,,she a early 1940s Kay archtop/back with the F holes..i've had it since i was 4 years old (1959) and she still hangs on the wall in the studio..

it's always been my best friend thru a many of broken hearts in my childhood & highschool days ~ drug this thing to school a zillion times..even left it leaned up against a tree during a rain once and poured the water out of her and dried her out ...lordy wish it could talk ! ha ..

but i guess the reason i still got it is beacuse my dad "George Brazelton" got it for me when i was a lil boy at a railroad salvage store in Tullahoma and made me promise that i'd always take care of it and keep it till the end of time ...

oh, now later on in life i had to put my magic to it and install 2 humbuckers and switches/pots to keep up with the times since i'm into the blues but it still plays and notes pretty good and every once and a while i'll still pick her and give her a strum or too till tears fill my eyes cause it makes me think about dad ..he's been gone now several years ...

i still have the OLD CRANK to hang up here in the studio..i just hope who ends up with it when i'm gone cherishes it as much as i did during their life time as i in mine...being a luthier now and a guitar builder it's been kept in great shape and prolly ready for another 60 or so years ...i have several other acoustics as well that are a lot more costly but the old crank holds my heart....

this is my story hope ya'll enjoyed the read..Don (i'll post some pictures of it soon)..