Joe Bonamassa is counting on his fans' support as he issues a plea to help recover a score of instruments stolen from LA session musician Mason Stoops.
The guitarist, whose recent work includes recording gigs with Miley Cyrus, the American indie-pop singer-songwriter Sombr, and tours with Jackson Browne, is seeking to recover an extensive list of gear stolen from the back of a pickup truck in LA.
Posting on Instagram Stories on April 13), Stoops listed the missing gear, which includes two of his most prized picks: his “favorite” 1965 Fender Jazzmaster, which bears the Serial Number 110229, with neck stamp 40CT64Ba, and a 1961 Gretsch Corvette, which Stoops says is “mega rare and all original” save for one key change.
The ‘65 Jazzmaster also sports a custom shellac Snake-Fly Green finish, features a broken off-rhythm switch, and “a cute lil apple sticker” on the headstock. He says he used the guitar, which also has two P-90 pickups, “on nearly every record I've ever been part of over the last five plus years.”
The Corvette, meanwhile, was used exclusively on a recent tour with Mumford & Sons, and he’s detailed that there is a ‘Mason’ sticker located near the control knob. It also has an updated Fink Instruments bridge. It has the serial number 42736.
Neither the sticker nor the bridge features in the shared images. Thankfully, Fink has come up clutch with a photo of the modded bridge, shown below.
A 1970s Guyatone wah-fuzz pedal and a Highland Dynamics Delta 4-7 Mini Preamp were also stolen.
“Pretty please keep an eye out for these stolen guitars,” Stoops writes. “Last seen in Highland Park neighborhood, Los Angeles. Please contact me, Mason, if you see them anywhere. Thank you so much.”
Having seen his shoutout, Joe Bonamassa has been quick to call on his one million Instagram followers for help.
“Los Angeles! Let's help our friend Mason Stoops get his two beloved guitars back,” he says, his words a clarion call.
Readers with any information should contact Mason Stoops via Instagram.
The news comes two years after Paul Gilbert had four guitars stolen while on tour in Frankfurt. Sadly, none of those instruments were ever recovered.
Meanwhile, former Rolling Stone Mick Taylor has been left mystified after a 1959 Gibson Les Paul, stolen from him in 1972, re-emerged at auction last year, and former Wings sound engineer Ian Horne has recalled the moment he told Paul McCartney his historic Höfner bass had been stolen, as well as his surprising reaction.
Michael J. Fox also has a theory as to what happened to the Back to the Future guitar, and it's not pretty. The guitar hasn’t been seen since the film's shooting wrapped 40 years ago. Gibson has now hired the people responsible for reuniting McCartney with his beloved bass to help track down the ES-345.
