“At first, I didn’t have high hopes. But then I saw that one picture and thought, ‘Bingo’”: This vintage Martin once belonged to Johnny Cash – and its current owner has spent decades trying to prove it

A Toronto-based guitarist has been on a decades-long quest to confirm his beloved hand-me-down Martin acoustic guitar once belonged to a country music icon – and he might have finally found the evidence he needs.

As reported by CP24, Peter Linseman has long-believed that the 1954 Martin D-18, which has been in his family for generations, was once owned by the great Johnny Cash.

What’s more, the Linsemans were convinced it was the same D-18 that Cash used to record a handful of early hits such as Hey Porter, I Walk the Line and Folsom Prison Blues.

However, obtaining verifiable proof to confirm that long-held family fable has been years in the making. Linseman himself was never in any doubt of its provenance, especially after his mother, Rosalie, swore in an affidavit that it had connections to Cash.

According to her statement, Rosalie purchased the guitar from Fred Roden’s Record Corral in Toronto in 1956 as a present for her husband. Though he had his heart set on a D-28, and though the Linseman’s put down a deposit for it, the guitar eventually went to Cash. Cash, in return, traded in a D-18 that ended up going to Linseman Sr.

“We were told that Johnny Cash needed the Martin D-28 and left his Martin D-18 guitar in its place,” Rosalie writes. “My husband was very upset about the beat-up Martin D-18 that Johnny Cash had played the crap out of it and then left as a consolation.”

Years later, Peter’s father offered to give the guitar back to Cash when he crossed paths with him following a concert in Toronto. As Rosalie recalls, the legendary songwriter “graciously” refused to take it back.

In 2007, the guitar was bequeathed to Peter, after his father passed away. Familiar to the lore of the family Martin, Peter set about trying to verify the tale, traveling to Tennessee where some of the earliest known photos of Cash were taken.

While there, Linseman consulted collectors, auction experts, the Johnny Cash museum and, notably, one investigator in particular, who was able to verify Linseman’s theory.

William Long, famed for recovering guitars for big-name players such as Neil Young and Randy Bachman, consulted pictures of Cash playing at the Grand Ole Opry in July, 1956, and came to the conclusion he was holding the same guitar that now belongs to Linseman.

“At first I didn’t have high hopes for it being legitimately Johnny Cash’s guitar,” Long told CP24. “Maybe it’s a family story that got passed down, you know? But I thought I’d give it a look.”

“But then I found that one picture of Johnny Cash playing at the Grand Ole Opry,” Long continues. “And I blew up the picture, and I looked at the pattern on the pickguard and I thought, ‘Bingo.’”

Johnny Cash 1956: At The Grand Ole Opry - So Doggone Lonesome | Full Performance - YouTube

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The pickguard was the giveaway. According to Long, “There’s no way that pickguard can match another guitar. It has to be that guitar.”

Linseman is now reportedly waiting for an appraisal from a music memorabilia expert based in Memphis, and if his and Long’s evidence checks out, some huge numbers could be brought into play.

After all, another Martin acoustic – then believed to be the “only known 1950s era Johnny Cash guitar to be offered for sale – was sold by Julien’s Auctions in 2022 for $437,500. Linseman’s own guitar, if the appraisal indeed comes through, could rival that figure.

Martin and Johnny Cash were intrinsically linked throughout the country great’s career. After using them during his early years, Cash was offered the opportunity to create his first signature Martin in the 1970s – which came with one unique spec.