Willie Nelson’s Martin N-20 “Trigger”
Trigger is as much a part of Nelson’s career as his famous red braids or hit country songs. Officially a Martin N-20 nylon-string guitar, Trigger appears everywhere Nelson does. After a drunk broke his guitar at a show in Helotes, Texas (at Floore’s Country Store), Nelson had a luthier move his old pickup into this new guitar in Nashville. The classic, unmistakable sound helped define Willie Nelson’s brand of outlaw country. It’s famously the only thing Nelson saved from his Tennessee house fire. Trigger — named after Roy Rogers‘ horse — also went away in hiding for a while so the IRS couldn’t repossess it when Nelson found himself in major tax trouble. Signed by dozens of musicians Nelson asked personally and featuring a classic chunk missing; Trigger is as a beloved part of country-western music as Nelson himself.