6 famous stolen guitars

The guitars include Eric Clapton's '59/'60 Les Paul and Jeff Beck's Les Paul. Chances are, these guitars are still out there somewhere. Wouldn't it be amazing if some of them could be recovered? Peter Frampton got back his Les Paul that he had on the cover of his live album. That guitar wasn't stolen, but was presumed destroyed in a plane crash. It turned up years later and he got it back. Turns out, someone had scavenged it from the plane's wreckage. It had some minor damage, but was still fully playable and went from owner to owner till Frampton got it back.

I know at one point, Kiss had every bit of their gear stolen before they were famous. They rehearsed regularly in a loft in NYC. Someone broke the lock and came in and ripped off every bit of their gear, guitars, bass, drum set, PA system, and all their mikes. I'd bet some of that gear is still out there, but whoever has it doesn't know its significance. The thieves took it when Kiss was just a barely known NYC club band. I've tried to find more details on the Internet as to what kind of guitars and basses they were. Ace Frehley's guitar was probably a Les Paul, but Paul Stanley played a number of different guitars. Was his a Firebird that got stolen? I don't think they had back then the Ibanezes and Washburns that he later played. Gene Simmons' bass would not have been his custom ax bass that he later played. It would be amazing if those instruments would show up somehow.

And to think -- there are two Beatles' instruments out there somewhere! There's George Harrison's 1965 Rickenbacker guitar and Paul McCartney's violin bass. Do the people who have them even know the significance of what they have? McCartney and Harrison replaced those instruments with identical ones, of course, but it would still be amazing to recover the original stolen ones.

So if someone out there reading this has one of these instruments, please be kind and return it.

https://reverb.com/news/still-at-large-6-famous-stolen-guitars-that-have-yet-to-be-recovered

Some good reading in the articles, bet those 1st 2 are worth a small fortune. Page had a guitar stolen on one their 1970 tour and they have recently been reunited. http://ledzepnews.com/2019/04/05/he...black-beauty-guitar-which-was-stolen-in-1970/

JohnnyTheFox said:

Some good reading in the articles, bet those 1st 2 are worth a small fortune. Page had a guitar stolen on one their 1970 tour and they have recently been reunited. http://ledzepnews.com/2019/04/05/he...black-beauty-guitar-which-was-stolen-in-1970/

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I didn't realize that about Jimmy Page. Here's another story of a returned guitar. This one is not one that belonged to a famous player, but an ordinary Joe. It's cool that the old guy got his Telecaster back.

How would a person even profit off those guitars? To me, they only serve a purpose if you are a collector...otherwise these guitars would be hard to pawn. I wonder if someone has deployed people looking for them and are trying to recover them?

lukin2006 said:

How would a person even profit off those guitars? To me, they only serve a purpose if you are a collector...otherwise these guitars would be hard to pawn. I wonder if someone has deployed people looking for them and are trying to recover them?

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Back when the Kiss guitars were stolen, Kiss was nobody. Back then I'm sure the thieves just sold them for about what any ordinary guitar of its make and model was worth. Today whoever owns them almost certainly has no idea the significance of them and will just use them as normal guitars or sell them for normal prices. The Beatles' guitars were stolen after they were already famous. The thief could have kept them, as you suggested, as collector pieces. If they sold them, it could only be for normal value, not for the super value of having been owned by the Beatles. Otherwise they would blow their cover. Someone may own them today and have no idea of their significance. Or the original thieves could still own them and just be keeping them. We can't know for sure. The Frampton Les Paul was not stolen. It was in a plane crash and presumed destroyed and then salvaged from the wreckage as a normal guitar. It then made rounds as a normal Les Paul for decades, unknown that it belonged to Peter Frampton.

I went to a Texas Jam in 1982 and Sammy Hagar had a guitar stolen before the show but somehow got it back. He refused to ever play it again, he tried setting it on fire, but it wouldn't catch. He left the stage and was gone for awhile and came back on stage with a gas can, but before he could start dousing the guitar a few roadies ran out and grabbed the gas can away from him. He was pretty mad and smashed up the guitar and threw the pieces into the crowd.

Roadtrip635 said:

I went to a Texas Jam in 1982 and Sammy Hagar had a guitar stolen before the show but somehow got it back. He refused to ever play it again, he tried setting it on fire, but it wouldn't catch. He left the stage and was gone for awhile and came back on stage with a gas can, but before he could start dousing the guitar a few roadies ran out and grabbed the gas can away from him. He was pretty mad and smashed up the guitar and threw the pieces into the crowd.

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That's bizarre. I've never understood destroying guitars. When a guitar player smashes a guitar onstage, it makes me hurt inside.

Reverend Conehead said:

That's bizarre. I've never understood destroying guitars. When a guitar player smashes a guitar onstage, it makes me hurt inside.

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Back in the 80's, went to see Rainbow and watched Ritchie Blackmore completely smash a beautiful white strat. He busted the head off, broke the neck off, then started swinging it wildly by the cord repeatedly into the stage, against amps. It was plugged in the whole time, so you could hear the strat die, and it was screaming bloody murder too........it was pretty epic! He then tossed the pieces into the crowd about 3-4 rows deep, we were sitting 4th row........but on the other side of the stage.

To this day I keep asking why couldn't we have had 4th row tickets on the other side! Of course, I can't say I would have ended up with one of the pieces, but there may have been a fight to the death involved.

Roadtrip635 said:

Back in the 80's, went to see Rainbow and watched Ritchie Blackmore completely smash a beautiful white strat. He busted the head off, broke the neck off, then started swinging it wildly by the cord repeatedly into the stage, against amps. It was plugged in the whole time, so you could hear the strat die, and it was screaming bloody murder too........it was pretty epic! He then tossed the pieces into the crowd about 3-4 rows deep, we were sitting 4th row........but on the other side of the stage.

To this day I keep asking why couldn't we have had 4th row tickets on the other side! Of course, I can't say I would have ended up with one of the pieces, but there may have been a fight to the death involved.

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Blackmore is quite a character to say the least...……..he is a amazing player though. Always loved his playing.

Roadtrip635 said:

I went to a Texas Jam in 1982 and Sammy Hagar had a guitar stolen before the show but somehow got it back. He refused to ever play it again, he tried setting it on fire, but it wouldn't catch. He left the stage and was gone for awhile and came back on stage with a gas can, but before he could start dousing the guitar a few roadies ran out and grabbed the gas can away from him. He was pretty mad and smashed up the guitar and threw the pieces into the crowd.

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Mister "can't drive 55 " obviously had issues of which I just never gravitated to, although I am curious as to finding out if ALICE COOPER ever got his 'gold& platinum' awarded records back after having been stolen , that were mounted along the starboard side of the wall of his staircase in his abode up in moon valley AZ.

*I'd hooked up with a chick once, who'd done swimming pool work on
" no more mister nice guy's" home up there in Phoenix , she said it had to of been conducted by his "trusted" Mexican peons he employed as home maintenance/ yard/ grounds personal,,,she said he was about the coolest laid back ,,,er,,,& trusting CAT around,,,
( unfortunately, to the detriment of his/our HOME TEAM,,,) as she's certain those thievish beaners, trucked ALICE'S prominently portrayed pride straight south to the price incubator of mexico,,,

Roadtrip635 said:

Back in the 80's, went to see Rainbow and watched Ritchie Blackmore completely smash a beautiful white strat. He busted the head off, broke the neck off, then started swinging it wildly by the cord repeatedly into the stage, against amps. It was plugged in the whole time, so you could hear the strat die, and it was screaming bloody murder too........it was pretty epic! He then tossed the pieces into the crowd about 3-4 rows deep, we were sitting 4th row........but on the other side of the stage.

To this day I keep asking why couldn't we have had 4th row tickets on the other side! Of course, I can't say I would have ended up with one of the pieces, but there may have been a fight to the death involved.

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* the wizened sack of my peripheral teabagging envisionment clearly sees the loss of ones ocular abilities,,, quite possibly yer's,,, were such past wish been granted,my friend,,,OH YES!!!