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Details: Dan Martin dies; provided guitars for Springsteen, Dylan, others Associated Press ST. CHARLES, Mo. --The clientele was a who's who of rock: Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Keith Richards, Eddie Van Halen. Dan Martin provided guitars for all of them. Martin, 57, of St. Charles, died Dec. 21. His sister, Debbie Martin, said he had been hospitalized for about two weeks before he died. He suffered from congestive heart failure, high blood pressure and diabetes. A memorial service at a restaurant was scheduled for Friday. Martin spent years as a roadie and developed what friends called an ability to find the perfect instruments for some of the world's most famed guitarists. Eventually, Martin operated two guitar shops. Martin made frequent trips to New York and Los Angeles, and some stars came to St. Charles. Van Halen bought 117 of Martin's guitars, a friend, Keith Morehead, told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Martin's sister said he played guitar, but not a whole lot. He told the Post-Dispatch for a story in 1989 that he was more fascinated by the instrument than guitar lessons. "I found out it was much more fun watching and listening to others play," he said. Starting in high school, Martin would work on guitars in the family basement. Soon, he became a roadie for rock groups. "He'd be gone for years at a time," Debbie Martin said. "Every time he came home he'd have more stories from the road." Those stories came from the biggest names in rock. Martin worked as a roadie with the Rolling Stones, Janis Joplin, John Lennon, Bob Dylan and the Band, Foghat, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Stevie Wonder and more. It was during that time that he bought and sold guitars, making the contacts that led to his first shop, The St. Charles Guitar Exchange. Later he operated Empire Guitars. Morehead, who owns A.T.D. Guitar Repair, said Martin had a knack for matching customers with rare guitars. "The odd stuff that nobody messed with, Dan seemed to find a market for," Morehead said. Often, the stars came to him. In 1992, metal band Metallica dropped by Martin's shop and left with $15,000 worth of gear. Seven years later, Dylan walked in to buy a guitar tuner. Others to show up included Petty and Browne. "Sometimes a limousine will just pull up out front and five long- haired guys will come into the store," Martin said for the story in 1989. Debbie Martin said her brother was "too ornery" to get married. She and Morehead agreed he was intensely private. "He was a mystery to everybody and God love him," she said. "He's just Dan. He just did things his way." http://www.bnd.com/336/story/237945.html Legacy.com: Dan Martin, a guitar vendor whose clientele included Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Keith Richards, Eddie Van Halen, has died. He was 57. Martin died Dec. 21, his sister said. The cause of death was not immediately known. His sister said he had been hospitalized for about two weeks before he died and had suffered from congestive heart failure, high blood pressure and diabetes. Martin developed what friends called an ability to find the perfect instruments for some of the world's most famed guitarists. He operated two guitar shops and made frequent trips to New York and Los Angeles. Starting in high school, Martin would work on guitars in the family basement. Martin later worked as a roadie with the Rolling Stones, Janis Joplin, John Lennon, Bob Dylan and the Band, Foghat, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Stevie Wonder and more. It was during that time that he bought and sold guitars, making the contacts that led to his first shop, The St. Charles Guitar Exchange. Later he operated Empire Guitars.
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