Thanks for the link to the Tilleys. I see that they have round holes in the side so you can stick a pencil up there. Or maybe a tin whistle.

(I don't see how putting the guitar right to hand would involve giving up the hat. In a rational world, both are possible.)

CarolC: long ago, I was driving out to western Kansas with my husband and another engineer. It was a cold Sunday morning, and we saw a pickup coming toward us with three males (prob. one man and two boys) in it wearing huge cowboy hats. It looked like three enormous butterflies were flapping their wings in the cab. The engineer, who was a native to the area, said that they are pronounced 'k'BOY hats, not COWboy hats.' Apparently he was not much impressed by TV-derived culture.