“I went, ‘You've made a big mistake. The E string on this guitar is worth that!’” How Marty Stuart came to own Clarence White’s iconic B-Bender Telecaster

Marty Stuart, whose guitar prowess spans rockabilly, country, and bluegrass, has revealed how he came to possess Clarence White’s legendary Fender Telecaster.

Away from his work with the Kentucky Colonels and the Byrds, White was a formidable session player, and his 1954 two-tone Sunburst Telecaster was crucial to his success.

The inspired modifications to the guitar included the installation of a B-Bender, masterminded by Gene Parsons, which was mounted on the back of the body to avoid routing. It changed electric guitar playing forever.

Tragically, White died in 1973, aged 29, after being hit by a drunk driver at 2 am while he was loading out following a show with the White Brothers. He was survived by his wife, Susie, and their two children.

“Susie had the guitar and she moved back to Kentucky, where she was from, in the late '70s,” Stuart tells The Zak Kuhn Show. “One night she called me and said, ‘I need to sell some of Clarence's things.’ So, I put Roland's son, Lawrence, in the car with me and we drove to Kentucky.” The Byrds' memorabilia and stage costumes were included in the lot.

Stuart continues, “While I was there, I said, ‘Is Clarence's B-string bender here? I'd love to see it.’ It was in the attic, missing a string in a Byrd's road case. She popped the lid open. ‘Whoa, there it is.’ I picked it up and I couldn't believe I was holding it.

“She said, ‘That's the one you really want.’ And I went, ‘Who wouldn't want this guitar? But nobody deserves to have it.’ She said, ‘I'll think about it.’

MARTY STUART on acquiring Clarence White's iconic tele - YouTube

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“So about dinner time that night, she said, ‘I thought about this and I'd like for you to have that guitar.’ I had just gone to work with Johnny Cash. I was making a little bit of regular dough, and I laid my checkbook on the kitchen table. I said, ‘Within reason, whatever you need, fill in the number. If I don't have it, my mom works at a bank. It'll be there in the morning.’ I had told my mom that before I left town.”

The figure written was $1,450.

“I went, ‘Susie, you've made a big mistake. The E string on this guitar is worth that.’ She said, ‘I know what the guitar is worth, but you need to have that guitar. It's your responsibility.’

“I think she knew that I would care for it,” he continues. “It has been one of my best pals since that day. You can put 10,000 guitars in a room, and that one sounds like nobody else's. I dearly love the sound of that guitar.”

Asked if he tries to emulate White’s playing and sound with the guitar, or whether he uses it to forge his own path, he responds, “Nobody can duplicate Clarence. It's like duplicating Jimi Hendrix or Charlie Christian. He was a once-in-a-lifetime character.”

Christian Parker, meanwhile, has spoken about how the Byrds also proved trailblazers in the folk-rock arena, and Logan Ledger has honoured White's legacy on his new album, Golden State.