HONORED:

In 1980, White's widow, Susie, called Stuart to let him know she was selling some of Clarence's things. Stuart, a longtime collector of country memorabilia, told her he'd buy anything she was selling.

She led him around her home, showing him a Fender Stratocaster that had belonged to Clarence, a Nudie suit that he'd worn when he was in the Byrds, and various other mementos.

Stuart asked, "Is the Pull-String still here?"

"That's the guitar you really want, isn't it?" Susie said.

Stuart was shocked. "I'd like to just hold it," he said.

The iconic Telecaster was in a case in the attic, missing strings, hadn't been played in years.

Stuart restrung the guitar, spent a few hours playing it, and then Susie walked in and told him she'd sell him Clarence's Pull-String Telecaster along with the other Byrds' memorabilia.

The musician produced his checkbook, laid it on the table, and told her, "Whatever number you put in within reason is fine with me and if it's not within reason, my mom works at a bank -- I'll get a loan."

Susie retrieved a pen and wrote 1,450 dollars.

Stuart shook his head. He said, "Susie, the E-string on this guitar is worth--"

"I know what the guitar is worth," she said.

He pleaded with her to take more money, but she refused.

"I think Clarence would want you to have it," she told him.

"I only met him one time," Stuart reminded her.

"You'll take care of it," she said, "and honor it."

Marty Stuart has kept his word. In 2010, he recorded an instrumental called "Hummingbyrd" on his album Ghost Train with his band the Fabulous Superlatives. The song won a Grammy Award and is a tribute not only to the Byrds, but to Clarence White and the Pull-String Telecaster which Stuart used on the track.

His latest album with the Fabulous Superlatives, the extraordinary Altitude, is shaped as much by White's Telecaster as it has by Stuart's expert songwriting and the band's prodigious talent. 

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