That S**t is Long Long Gone, Brother

That shit is long long gone brother [sic] is what a random person on social media commented on one of my posts. Maybe they’re right. It seems likely, but I’m not so sure. So far, a majority of people who know about this journey have been pretty upbeat and supportive. From family and friends to strangers on the internet. You get the occasional skeptic as I mentioned, but that’s ok. They’re correct that finding this guitar is a longshot. There really has only been one person so far who was upset at the sheer mention of this guitar. Like I was asking for information about a cursed object. (See previous post Back To The Beginning)

I’m not delusional, I know that the likelihood of finding a guitar I sold twenty years ago is low, but I don’t believe it’s impossible. To me, this is a pretty low-stakes journey. If I find it, that’s amazing, but if I don’t it’s not the end of the world. This isn’t a guitar that was stolen or a lost family heirloom. It’s a guitar that I chose to sell when I was probably 19 and many years later came to regret. It’s not lost on me that there are much larger issues in the world currently and dedicating time to finding a material possession can be seen as frivolous. It’s possible that this is a form of a mid-life crisis where I am chasing the sweet smell of nostalgia and youth. Maybe it’s even a form of escapism from the current steady stream of bad news in the world. However, I’ll let a qualified therapist untangle those possibilities.

For now though, I’d like to highlight some of the impossibilities. The aligning of the stars. When luck was on our side and the universe said, “hey, you know that guitar you lost decades ago? Well here it is!” As I mentioned in a previous post the instances of a lost guitar being reunited with its owner are many times a very famous musician and a very famous guitar. But it’s still pretty unbelievable to me.

Paul McCartney – Hofner 500/1 Violin Bass – Lost for 49 years – found in 2018 – McCartney bought the bass in 1961 and used it on early Beatles recordings. Said to be the bass that “started Beatlemania” it was stolen in 1969. The thief allegedly sold the bass to his landlord who then gifted it to his brother. The bass sat in the attic of a home for decades until the late owner’s wife learned of the identity of the bass through The Lost Bass Project. A website which was started by a pair of journalists to track the bass down. She returned the famed instrument to McCartney who gave her a handsome reward. -Via Mental Floss

Steve Vai – Custom Built “Swiss Cheese” Guitar – Lost for 37 years – found in 2023 – Vai’s custom built guitar named for its paint job and holes in the body was lost in 1986. Built by Luthier Joe “Jem” Despagni, it was the first JEM guitar to have the famous handle style grip built into the body which became synonymous with Vai. The guitar was used on David Lee Roth’s solo album Eat ‘Em and Smile and was stolen after a recording session in Pasadena, California. Fast forward to 2023 when Ivan Gonzales Acosta found the guitar in his grandparents attic in Tijuana. Someone related to Vai spotted the guitar online after Gonzales posted a picture to social media. The guitar was then returned to Vai. -Via Mental Floss

Billy Corgan – 1974 Yellow Fender Stratocaster with floral paint job – Lost for 27 years – found in 2018 – Billy Corgan of the Smashing Pumpkins bought the yellow Fender Strat from bandmate and drummer Jimmy Chamberlin. The guitar was used to record the Pumpkins’ debut album Gish. While on the road touring the album the guitar was stolen after a show in Detroit. Corgan offered two rewards over the years and felt that the guitar would eventually make its way back to him. Corgan turned out to be correct when the guitar turned up as part of an estate sale in a home in Los Angeles. The guitar spent a decade in the family’s basement before the learned of Corgan’s search efforts. Corgan said that when he opened the case he knew right away it was the guitar. To provide added confirmation he plugged it in and played the riff from ‘Siva’ saying “there’s that sound I’ve been looking for all these years”. -Via Far Out Magazine

Zakk Wylde – 1981 Gibson Les Paul Custom “The Grail” – Lost for 3 years – found in 2003 – In 2000 Zakk Wylde of Ozzy Osbourne fame lost his main guitar that featured his signature bullseye finish. Falling off the back of their gear trailer somewhere on the road Wylde feared his guitar that he used to write Osbournes ‘Miracle Man’ would be lost forever. Surviving the fall did not require a miracle, man as Wylde said it was stored inside a tough chainsaw case. In a wild twist of fate (pun intended), the guitar was bought by someone in a pawn shop who realized it was Zakk’s guitar. The buyer reached out to Wylde and sold the guitar back. -Via Guitar World

Joe Perry – 1959 Gibson Les Paul Custom – Sold Unknown – Returned 2002 – Aerosmith’s Joe Perry used his 1959 Les Paul Custom as a main guitar throughout the years. Struggling with drug addiction, Perry sold the guitar sometime in the 1980’s to support his habit. The guitar made its way around different music stores throughout the years until none other than Slash of Guns N’ Roses purchased the guitar for $8,000. Slash recognized the guitar as Perry’s and used it on many GNR recordings inclusing the music video for ‘November Rain’. Slash decided that the time was right to reunite Perry with the guitar and gave it to him as a gift in 2002. After Perry was reunited with the guitar he vowed to never be separated from it again and hired it its own security guard. -Via Guitar.com

Peter Frampton – 1954 Gibson Les Paul Custom “Phenix” – Lost for 31 years – found in 2011 – Frampton acquired the guitar from fellow musician Mark Mariana and used it on Humble Pie’s Rock On and Frampton Comes Alive. While Frampton was on tour in South America in 1980, a cargo plane carrying Frampton’s equipment crashed in Venezuela. Everyone on board was tragically killed and the guitar was lost. That is until it was brought to a local luthier for a setup. It is unknown how the person was able to acquire the guitar after the plane crash. The luthier, Donald Valentina tried for years to purchase the guitar. He was successful in 2011 when he bought it for $5,000. He then flew the guitar to Nashville, Tennessee to personally return the guitar to Frampton. After being repaired by Gibson’s Custom Shop Frampton named the guitar ‘Phenix’. -Via Guitar.com