I believe we've found Buddy Holly's missing '54 Stratocaster.

My best contact (who brokered the Peter Green Burst to Kirk Hammett) tells me that it's "Buried deeper than the Pharaohs!" Meaning it's going to be a tough one.

Yeah not surprising. Whoever has had it all these years knew exactly what it was and has gone to great lengths to keep it under wraps. Joe Bonamassa has been quoted as saying he knows where it is (in a collection on the east coast) but not much else has come to light. There is one guy that I’m aware of that’s moved a number of famous bursts over the years... and he is on the east coast as I recall...and when you consider his known clients.... well, it makes for interesting speculation.

At one time it was said it would be the most valuable Electric guitar in history if it ever went to auction. But that was said before DG decided to clean house.
 
Hey @Burgs you didn't credit yourself in the music - That haunting tremolo at the end - Was that your AXE FX or one of Gil's lovely old amps?
Thanks
Pauly


And it's right here, where I live in Australia, with a friend of mine. Check this out.

 
Hey @Burgs you didn't credit yourself in the music - That haunting tremolo at the end - Was that your AXE FX or one of Gil's lovely old amps?
Thanks
Pauly

No musical contribution by me, Pauly. Josh and his mate did most of it, along with a couple of license-free things from Youtube. All I did was round up Gil and Josh to put the thing on record. I'm not sure the world would have seen it otherwise, to be frank. I had to do it.
 
No musical contribution by me, Pauly. Josh and his mate did most of it, along with a couple of license-free things from Youtube. All I did was round up Gil and Josh to put the thing on record. I'm not sure the world would have seen it otherwise, to be frank. I had to do it.

A great service indeed to mankind. Thanks!!!
 
Amazing, Brett. The breadth of your contributions to this forum and the world in general is staggering.
......the missing piece in my largish collection of 6-strings is a guitar crafted in the year of my birth, 1954....
That one would do.....
 
Great video, really enjoyed it.

When they mentioned the 100k pots: well its been kind of on my mind all day.
In the video although there is allot of other factors at work, I liked the sound of the guitar.
I have a extra plate and pickups around might be time for a experiment.
 
What makes me wonder is how a guitar that has been used for only 5 months and with almost no fret wear can have a neck that looks like SRV spent his life on it. Can anyone explain ?
 
Amazing, Brett. The breadth of your contributions to this forum and the world in general is staggering.
......the missing piece in my largish collection of 6-strings is a guitar crafted in the year of my birth, 1954....
That one would do.....

That's a very kind thing to say, Brad. Thanks! Yes, we all need a '54 kicking around. They're a lot of fun, I can assure you!

Awesome video Brett. A great bit of Australian rock n roll history!

Thanks! Yes, Gil is full of stories. I could run a series just on the stuff he has around his place and the memories.

Great video, really enjoyed it.

When they mentioned the 100k pots: well its been kind of on my mind all day.
In the video although there is allot of other factors at work, I liked the sound of the guitar.
I have a extra plate and pickups around might be time for a experiment.

Yeah, they seemed to smooth the tone right out, although a Bandmaster has a pretty prominent top end and I'm not sure what those pickups measure. But the combination of them all was pretty great.

What makes me wonder is how a guitar that has been used for only 5 months and with almost no fret wear can have a neck that looks like SRV spent his life on it. Can anyone explain ?

If it's a '54 and was 'appropriated' in '59, it probably saw five pretty heavy playing years. Gil got it in '79 so who knows what it went through in the 20 years previous. And then there's the 40 years since. I've only known about and made contact with it in the last 18 months. I see your point, though, and I wondered the same thing myself.
 
Misuse of the word “prototype”, as is common in our industry. They are simply “early builds” (likely) or “pilot builds” (a stretch) at most. Nobody builds 200 true prototypes of guitars.
It is simply a rare early build.
 
I watched the vid with great interest and gave US engineer Terry Manning a link to it.
I noticed in the vid there was a repair just below one of the tuning pegs so that detail may prove significant as well as the other details Terry mentions one way or the other.

Here's what he said:

"It's not Buddy's.

Buddy's '54 was stolen in Michigan earlier than the Feb '59 tour.

Plus the scars on the pickup covers are in different places, and the string tree is in a slightly different spot.


But it's a lovely guitar, and a nice story to tell..."
 
It looks pretty convincing to me (but I'm no expert). That said, it is still an amazing insight into the music scene in Oz as well as a lot of stuff I didn't know about Buddy Holly and Fender too.

Thanks for the video @Burgs! Very nicely put together! You should do more like that!!
 
Yes, I'll let him know. Personally I'm still open to the possibility it's Buddy Hollies 54 strat. Getting the most info from as close to the source as possible will help. I'm definitely not wanting to rain on Gil's parade so to speak.
 
People who own stolen guitars should be in jail. Just like they do for everything else that was stolen. All of us have probably lost some piece of gear to theft, or they will inevitably. This is why you should never leave your gear on stage or backstage without supervision, or you should never mark your van or bus as the official tour bus, it will invite in the thieves. Gear thieves are the enemies of every musician. Is it any less criminal because it was stolen from somebody famous?
 
Great guitar, whether Buddy’s or not, it sounds really good! Gil has a pretty incredible (and valuable) collection of gear there. Thanks for sharing, Brett!
 
People who own stolen guitars should be in jail. Just like they do for everything else that was stolen. All of us have probably lost some piece of gear to theft, or they will inevitably. This is why you should never leave your gear on stage or backstage without supervision, or you should never mark your van or bus as the official tour bus, it will invite in the thieves. Gear thieves are the enemies of every musician. Is it any less criminal because it was stolen from somebody famous?
I haven't watched the video yet. Was it purchased as being a known stolen instrument?

If not, I don't know how you can fault the owner.
 
I haven't watched the video yet. Was it purchased as being a known stolen instrument?

If not, I don't know how you can fault the owner.

There needs to be a central registry of stolen/missing guitars (if there isn’t one already).
They make for cool stories when ultimately found, like framptons les Paul.
And there’s a number famous guitars currently MIA.

Brett, you need to contact the history channel and have them put together a show for you. The guitar hunter.
Seriously, that would make for cool viewing even for non players.
 
People who own stolen guitars should be in jail. Just like they do for everything else that was stolen. All of us have probably lost some piece of gear to theft, or they will inevitably. This is why you should never leave your gear on stage or backstage without supervision, or you should never mark your van or bus as the official tour bus, it will invite in the thieves. Gear thieves are the enemies of every musician. Is it any less criminal because it was stolen from somebody famous?

Not at all, but there's an element of time here - a lot of great art will have been stolen at some time. Stuff can be stolen and recovered, or stolen and then the insurance company pays out and after 10,20,50 years likely writes it off as unrecovered.

Of course thieves should be chased, hounded etc. but there are a lot of nuances once you start getting a long way away from the event
 
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