Mark Tremonti has become the latest high-profile player to experience a heart-warming guitar reunion, having recently been reunited with his childhood guitar nearly 26 years after it was stolen.
The 1986 Gibson Les Paul was returned to Tremonti on his 50th birthday. It features a unique Kahler bridge, and helped launch Creed’s career, playing a huge role in the writing and recording of their debut album, My Own Prison.
The guitarist's manager, Tim Tournier, shared the story of the guitar's return on Instagram, saying: “Sometimes life gives you opportunities to right some wrongs. In this case, that opportunity presented itself via a Reddit DM about 18 months ago.
“A deal was made, hands got shook and I was able to get my buddy his 1986 Gibson with a stock Kahler [bridge] back for his big 50th.”
The guitar was stolen in 1997, shortly after the release of My Own Prison – a record that would hugely raise the band’s stock.
As vocalist Scott Stapp revealed in a 2019 interview, Tremonti's LP wasn't the only piece of equipment that was stolen from the band: an entire trailer full of gear was taken when their tour hit Boston.
“We didn’t have a bus,” he explained. “We were just getting started. We parked right in front of the hotel and the following morning, our van is on blocks. The wheels are gone, the trailer has been taken, the chains connecting it cut, and the trailer gone! And so all our gear for the show that night was stolen.”
The trailer was ultimately found – empty - several miles away, with what Stapp calls Tremonti’s “prized possession” seemingly gone forever. The show went on, with tour partner Fuel lending Creed their gear, but the sentimentality of the stolen gear wasn’t lost on the singer.
“Not only are you upset, but there was an emotional attachment to some of those instruments,” he continued. “We weren’t at a place yet where we had endorsements and tons of guitars. For years, we have been trying to find it.”
It’s a sentiment shared by Tournier, who has put himself in line for ‘Manager of the Year’ with his find.
“The contents of the trailer were the instruments of their childhood,” he details, “the gear they mowed lawns for – or – in the case of Tremonti, worked at a car wash for.”
It's the latest example of a guitar being reunited with its rightful owner years after it had been stolen. Already this year, Paul McCartney’s long-lost Hofner bass, described as “the most important bass guitar in history”, was found in a London attic.
In another story with eerie parallels Tremonti's tale that also concerned a Les Paul, an avid guitarist was reunited with his beloved Gibson – also on his 50th birthday, oddly enough.
Then there was Jerry Cantrell’s odd-but-amusing ‘I’ve lost my 'Blue Dress' G&L”… ”Oh no, I haven’t” episode. But there’s no disputing that Tremonti’s LP had been tragically missing throughout a career it helped create.
