CMT Blog: Archive

The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum is full of what country fans and historians consider priceless artifacts. Four of the most precious pieces are Bill Monroe’s 1923 Gibson F-5 mandolin, Mother Maybelle Carter’s 1928 Gibson L-5 guitar and two of Johnny Cash’s guitars (his 1968 Martin D-35 and his 1997 Martin Prototype). These instruments are renowned worldwide as essential pages in country music’s history book. Yet, a shocking story could have cost them these important relics. Now we may know how the story ends.

In 2004 and 2005, former stockbroker Bob McLean pledged money to the hall in order for them to acquire Monroe’s mandolin and Carter’s guitar, while also donating the Cash guitars, which he purchased outright. McLean was praised for bringing these iconic instruments to the hall to be preserved and enjoyed by the public. But in 2007, investors claimed that McLean cheated them out of $67 million in a Ponzi scheme. McLean committed suicide before the court hearing could be held, which left Robert Waldschmidt as trustee to figure out how to repay McLean’s debt. Worth almost $2 million, the instruments would have provided some relief to those who were defrauded, and it was unclear whether or not they would be sold.

Luckily, the situation has been resolved, and the instruments will remain where they are. The hall will have to pay $750,000 to the McLean Bankruptcy Estate, but that certainly calls for a sigh of relief from country fans and history buffs alike since no doubt the instruments would have been sold to a private collector and never seen by the public again. This way they will continue to capture people’s imagination as they peer through the glass cases. Although I do feel bad for those who lost everything in the scheme, I just don’t know if taking historical pieces away from the public is the best way to remedy the situation. As for the $750,000, I don’t think any price would have been worth removing those instruments.