On Friday November 23, 2018, I received a call from a long time friend David Musselwhite of Jamestown, PA who was visiting with family members in Monroe, NC and desired to come by for a visit which was definitely welcomed!  When he is in this neck of the woods, he definitely has to stop by Rayfield's Meat Market on Highway 109S to purchase some of their sausage products to take back to PA with him. 

David arrived at 2:39 P.M. according to the security camera video and brought out a hard shell guitar case which contained a beautiful Martin Dreadnought body style custom Brazilian Rosewood guitar inlaid top, sides and back with abalone and/or Abalam pearl.  David personally built this guitar several years ago and acquired it back, replacing the original top with a Red Spruce top.  Below is a pix of David with his custom made guitar with a Tree of Life fingerboard pattern.  David Nichols of Malone, New York hand cut the fingerboard, bridge and pick guard inlays and David Musselwhite did the inlaying of all the pearl himself.  The abalone trim inlays are on the top, sides and back as well outlining the neck to the guitar body and fingerboard area.  The Brazilian Rosewood for the sides and back is first class wood for sure and about impossible to get at the current time due to the restrictions (ban) on imported Rosewood from Brazil.  East Indian Rosewood being a substitute, does not compare to Brazilian Rosewood in my humble opinion for tone.

The guitar has a wonderful tone and is a work of art for sure!  David is a top of the line musical instrument craftsman and a perfectionists for sure.  I reference David several times on my biography page and have a pix of him on his prior visit.

David and myself picked a few numbers with David picking some lead and singing in a solid Bluegrass style.  My ole custom made Porter Flaming Claw resophonic guitar aka Dobro got a few notes in too!

Again, David's work is flawless.  David worked for The C. F. Martin Company in Nazareth, PA and that experience definitely manifest itself in his musical instrument making skills.

A close-up of the inlaid pick guard....can you say awesome out loud?  The ebony bridge is inlaid as well.

A beautiful guitar for sure!

The book matched Brazilian Rosewood back has some beautiful character.  The finish on David's guitar is like looking into a mirror! 

I stored David's two sacks of Rayfield's Market sausage in my basement game freezer and he wasn't about to forget that "beautimous" stuff.  I gave David a 2 pound stalk of my Cajun blend venison summer sausage to take back home with him to later enjoy.

Below is a Selfie that David took: 

David and myself had a wonderful visit.  David also got a chance to visit with my bride too and she certainly did enjoy chatting with him, bringing back ole memories from the past.

GOING BACK IN TIME TO THE 1970s

I told David that I still remembered the time I met his bride Karen when they came by for a visit (maybe 1974) and he was driving a Mercedes convertible.  Back then in our little one-horse town, you didn't see too many Mercedes convertibles if any....grin if you must!  I became acquainted with David when I operated my musical instrument repair and mail order business from 1969 thru 1978 and he was one of my early customers.  David would come down with his Uncle Graham (now deceased) and deer hunt in Hoffman, NC and I got a chance to meet his Uncle Graham on one or more of those visits.  Graham was a very likeable and outgoing gentleman and he invited me to come up and visit him, but with three children and the business, it was hard to get away.  I remember Graham relating to me that he had Black Bear on his property along with deer and other wildlife.  That has been many decades ago and I have a pix of David hyperlinked on my website taken at our old home place on White Store Road which is below.  Time waits for no one!

David came by for a visit on 10-08-14 and I was hoping that my bride and myself would be able to visit with him, but due to my bride's health issues, a road trip could not be materialized.  Our last road trip was on June 18, 2016, being 278 miles one way to pay our respect to Roy Mosteller (deceased) of Hayesville, NC and that trip about done my bride in, taking about a week to get over the 6 hour plus one way drive even though making numerous stops along the way to ease some of her pain.

Again, it was great to visit with David, handle and a pick few notes on his beautiful custom made guitar, watch and listen to him pick and sing.  I wished him a wonderful continued visit with his extended family and a safe trip back home to PA.

"Two of the Greatest Ships that ever Sailed, Friendship and Fellowship."

Web published by Bill aka Mickey Porter on 11-23-18 and updated on 11-24-18.

DAVID MUSSELWHITE VISIT 11-29-19

David Musselwhite, my friend of many decades called prior to Thanksgiving 2019 and advised he was visiting with family and friends here in North Carolina and wanted to come by for a visit the day after Thanksgiving, of which was a most definite, "Yes."  David related to me he only had a few hours of opportunity to visit and I advised him that after 12 Noon would be great since my bride had an outpatient Physical Therapy appointment from 11:00AM to 12:00 Noon.

When we arrived back from the Anson Health and Rehabilitation Facility after 12ish, David was waiting and after getting my bride back into our home, David and myself started our wonderful visit together.

David related some of his Gibson Mastertone acquisitions and also the brokerage of a rare pre-war shaded top Martin guitar and showed me a few pixs that he had taken.  BTW, that Martin was sold within a week and commanded a price tag of 150K US dollars....WOW!

David brought by a beautiful Gilchrist F-5 style mandolin which sounded great and the workmanship was absolutely flawless as David's musical instrument work is also! 

I took a pix of David playing my Fender flattop guitar which doesn't even come close to the pre-war Martin guitar tone and projection.  However, it is not a bad sounding guitar either.

I definitely enjoyed the visit with David and hoping my bride's health will improve and be able to visit David sometime in the future, the Lord willing of course.

Web page updated by Bill aka Mickey Porter on 12-11-19.