Johnny Cash

Johnny Cash used Fender Malibu acoustic guitar in perform of "Ring Of Fire" from 1968 at the Ryman Auditorium (Grand Ole Opry).

Johnny Cash and His Martin Acoustic Guitars

I once read an interview in a Acoustic Guitar magazine where the humble yet legendary Johnny Cash told the interviewer it was very kind of him to consider him a guitarist. Some men are humble, some men are Kanye West. Johnny Cash is famous for always having a guitar in hand, and playing it too. He wasn't posing with the thing like a modern country music pop star. He was strumming the chords, but his voice, his persona, his awesomeness were the thing. He played the guitar though, and that's what mattered.

Johnny Cash was obviously a wealthy man, but he was not an extravagant man, he was not a proud man, and he wasn't much ever ostentatious either. Oh so he had some fancy guitars, so what? Anyone who can play a guitar at all, once they have one guitar, they will forever want to have more guitars. Guitars are fine things, they're better than jewelry or tattoos, but addictive in the same sort of way. Fine guitars are all at once works of art in and of themselves which can then be used to make more works of art in the form of music. They're also essential parts to damned good times when one is with his friends or family sitting about playing and or singing.

As one of the defining singers, songwriters, and musicians of American music, it's little wonder Johnny Cash forever endorsed the guitars built in the United States of America. No other nation has ever produced as masterful guitars as has the USA, and all around the world fine American guitars are exported. He's been associated with the ubiquitous and timeless D-28. the Gibson J-200, the Martin D-35, and also the D-42.

Johnny Cash passed away on September 12, 2003. Hard for me to believe it's been more than ten years since he died, but it has. In 2014 a new album was released, music Johnny had, obviously, previously recorded. It's titled Out Among The Stars, and so Johnny Cash is still relevant as a artist in this year irregardless of the fact he would be anyway, we've got new music from him still to enjoy.

Of course the late Johnny Cash was known as the man in black, and so his signature series Martin guitars are black. This is how it's going to be with those guitars. I think they look fabulous, but there is with the black finish the lack of appreciation for the woods used. I trust Martin guitars to be as steadfast with quality work and materials as they've nearly always been; and the prospective buyer, should they be familiar with the sound of comparable D-35's or D-42's, should be able to know they're getting a guitar with the superior cuts of rosewood and spruce as usual, albeit with black finish.

The D-42 is always the same guitar as a D-28, same dimensions, same combinations of rosewood and spruce; but the D-42 is a fancier guitar. This D-42, however, is different in more ways than for it being finished in black. The most obvious thing different is the fret-board positioning markers are not the typical 42' style, they're Johnny Cash style. Unlike any other D-42's Martin ever produced, the D-42JC has a three piece back just like a D-35 does. I had to verify that bit of information in several different places on the web before I finally accepted I wasn't reading articles from persons who were confusing this instrument with the D-35JC.

The end result of this, the D-42JC having a three piece back, some style 42' appointments, but unique fingerboard positioning marker inlays, and Johnny's signature inlay too - is that this instrument is a real hybrid, and totally unique. It's hard to describe this guitar as a D-42. C.F. Martin & Company does describe it just that way.

Source: http://www.sonidoelectronico.com/index.php/forum/4...

Johnny Cash can be seen using the Martin D-28 guitar in this photo, which is also confirmed by Martin's official website.

Music Radar writes in this article "The guitar: Generally a Martin man who favoured D-28s, Cash had his fair share of Gibsons, and also had a custom Martin D-35."

Johnny Cash can be seen playing his Gibson J-200 in this image.

In this photo, we can see Cash with the Martin F9.

Here we can see Johnny Cash playing a Fender Telecaster alongside Waylon Jennings.

He Loved THis Azz

While discussing the nuances of choosing vocals mikes in this R / E / P forum thread, producer J.J. Blair mentioned his use of the U47 on Cash.

I will choose a U47 typically for a male singer who has any texture in his voice, if it's not "airy." If I use my C12 or Manley Gold on those singers, I can't add compression without bringing out that throat texture in an unflattering way.

I'll name drop here, simply because you know these voices: I used a U47 on Johnny Cash, because it captures perfectly that granite resonance in his voice. On Rod Stewart, who has texture, but lets a lot of air pass through his throat, I used the C12 to capture that air. His texture was more crackle, where John was gravel.

While discussing recording Bob Dylan in this Mix Online interview, producer Bob Johnston also mentions using a U47 on Cash anecdotally.

I always used three microphones on Dylan, 'cause his head spun around so much. I used a big [Neumann] U47 on him, same as I used on Johnny Cash later.

It was also mentioned by Johnston in this May 2010 Sound on Sound "Classic Tracks" interview about the recording of Bob Dylan's "Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands".

"What I used on his vocals — and what I used on Johnny Cash, Patti Paige [sic], Marty Robbins and many others — was a [Neumann] U47 microphone with a power pack,” Johnston explains. "It was the old one and nothing was better."

Mentioned in this Facebook post by SugarHill Recording Studios.

RCA released the 77 DX in 1954. This gem of a mic has a very dynamic frequency response depending on the angle in which it is positioned. It has recorded countless legends including Al Green, Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, Johnny Cash and more!! It is still widely used today especially for recording Brass instruments. Come try it for yourself.

Used for vocals, as stated anecdotally by producer David Ferguson in this May 4, 2016 Mix Online interview about Sturgill Simpson's A Sailor's Guide to Earth.

Also in Simpson’s vocal chain: the same UA 6176 pre that Ferguson used with Johnny Cash, and a rented Fairchild 660.

In their description of the "Johnny Cash Capo", a newer Cash inspired product of Dunlop, they are saying that Cash used a "trusty" Victor.

This was named after Johnny.

According to Uber Pro Audio, Cash used these medium strings on his acoustics.