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Featured Inventory Archives 1999-2012

Gruhn Wilma Lee's D-45s

Wilma Lee Cooper's D-45s


Wilma Lee Cooper, her late husband Stoney and their band, the Clinch Mountain Clan, were named "the most authentic mountain singing group in the United States" by the Harvard music library in 1950. From the early 1950s onward, as the group graduated from the WWVA Jamboree in West Virginia to the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Wilma Lee provided the rhythmic anchor on these Martin D-45s.

This 1938 D-45 (inv. #AA6291) was owned by WWVA disc jockey Lee Moore before Wilma Lee acquired it in the early 1950s. It is one of the early versions, with snowflake inlays. It has been refinished and has replacement tuners, replacement pickguard and several repaired cracks. With original hard case, it is priced at $125,000.

This instrument is SOLD

Details...
Full view | Close of body
Sound hole and bridge | Fingerboard end
Fingerboard | Headstock
Back of headstock | Full back view
Back of body | Back of neck
Neck heel area
Wilma Lee with guitar



This 1942 D-43 (inv. #AA6290) has been owned and used by Wilma Lee since 1967 and is an important historical instrument. The back and sides still have the original finish. The top has an old refinish, the neck is oversprayed and the tuners have been replaced. With hard case, it is priced at $100,000.

This instrument is SOLD

Full view | Close of body
Sound hole | Fingerboard
Headstock | Back of headstock
Full back view | Back of body
Back of neck | Neck heel
Upper back