[Rob Rent]

Way back when talk was beginning about the Gatton signature model, I had a copper colored '57 chevy hardtop the top was white...(I haven't seen many in that particular color combination)...in amazing condition.....Danny almost pooped when he saw it........he offerred me his '53 tele for it...that is, of course, if the new guitar was good enough to take the place of his '53.....I hesitated a little too long and he ended up trading for a '34 Ford..........
A year or so later he offered me his 3 pickup Les Paul that he used with the Redneck Jazz Explosion....My car was worth about $18,000- $25,000 (depending on who you ask) and the guitar was worth about $3,000 to $3,500 (again, depending on who you'd ask)....so I told him he'd have to sweeten the deal a little....Things were about to happen with me getting the 'Paul, 2 Gatton model Teles ..one of each color and a couple of amps.... (I also ended up with dozens of tapes....cassetes as well as reel of all kinds of stuff that Dan had recorded over the course of his life that he had given me while courting me about the trade).......
ANYWAY... to make a small saga even smaller....I ran into some VERRRRRY serious IRS problems and I had to sell the car........I offerred it to Dan for a LOT less than what it was worth....because I wanted him to have it if at all possible...BUT I did need to pay the back taxes and he simply could not come up with the cash....so off it went...
He had a photo of it with me leaning against it in his guitar case for a few years....my 23 year old remembers that.........I used to screw with folks who asked about it by telling them that I was Danny's favorite player..... those who have heard me know better.