JEFF MARTIN's (The Tea Party) Exotic Instrument Collection

It was only a few months ago that Australian Musician’s Craig Eriksson caught up for a chat with Canadian-bred, Australian-based guitarist and singer-songwriter Jeff Martin ahead of his band The Tea Party heading out on tour to celebrate the 25th Anniversary of their milestone album TRIPtych. Once again we were blessed to revisit Jeff, this time ahead of his solo tour playing The Songs of David Bowie. However, the real reason we wanted to grab Jeff’s attention this time, was to sit him down to discuss his amazing collection of rare and exotic fretted instruments. Australian Musician editor Greg Phillips had the pleasure of chatting to Jeff about his love for middle eastern sounds, as Jeff presented an array of his favourite fretted friends. Included in this video: 1. 1916 Gibson Harp Guitar Acquired as a signing gift from Dean Cameron, the president of EMI records, the Tea Party’s label in 1993 2. Maton double neck One of a kind custom made by Andy Allen a decade ago, originally planned as a Jeff Martin signature guitar, which Jeff is hoping still might happen one day. 3. Sarod Owned by Sarod master Ali Akbar Khan and is around 100 years old 4. 1971 Gibson Les Paul Recording Model Jeff’s studio guitar. This is an instrument that Les Paul originally wanted Gibson to manufacure as the Recording model, however the guitar brand suggested that it first needed to be simplified. While once in New York, Jeff had Les Paul’s guitar technician Tom Doyle rewire it back to Les’ original specifications. 5. 1968 Gibson Les Paul Custom (Black Beauty) Bequeathed to Jeff by the late Tea Party manager Steve Hoffman. Features Transperformance technology and holds 240 custom tunings accessed via the buttons on guitar body or footswitch. 6. Hurdy Gurdy Built by Tasmanian luthier Harry Wass https://www.jeffmartinofficial.com/ #australianmusician #jeffmartin