Solo Flights is the thirty-sixth studio album by Chet Atkins. Side one of this album features Atkins' experiment with the "Octabass Guitar," where he replaced the two low strings (the E and A strings) with heavier strings in order to drop an octave and create a fuller sound with bass.
This album was reissued on CD for the first time, in Japan only, on April 22, 2009
Chet had heard of a guitarist by the name of Buddy Owens (no relation to Buck Owens) from Savannah, Ga who had his 1957 Gretsch Country Gentleman modified to accommodate two light gauge bass strings in place of the E (6th string) and A (5th string) to create the sound of a separate bass player behind you. Buddy had this modification done years before Chet tried it. Buddy had done some session work in Nashville, including playing on some of Loretta Lynn's recordings. Buddy's Country Gentleman was modified by Randy Wood, a world class luthier also from Savannah. I know Buddy, and I personally played this guitar in 1983. Buddy is still actively playing on stage as of 2021.
