Photo Credit: Gibson
A whole pallet of Gibson Adam Jones 1979 Les Paul Custom electric guitars were lifted from a truck.
The pallet contained 13 of the newly released guitars from a Sweetwater music truck at the Flying J Travel Center in Whiteland, Indiana. The theft happened on October 30th, as the guitars were being transported to be delivered to customers. Both Gibson and Sweetwater believe that the theft may have been premeditated.
“Somehow out of a truck full of guitars, this ONE pallet was singled out and stolen at a truck stop,” says Sweetwater Chief Supply Chain and Merchandising Officer Phil Rich. “We feel this person/s knew exactly what to look for and when.”
Gibson announced a multi-year partnership with Tool guitarist Adam Jones last week. The new signature model comes in two editions – an aged and a signed version limited to 79 guitars and retailing for $9,999. And the slightly cheaper VOS version, with a limited run of 179 guitars retailing for $5,999.
Of the stolen Gibson Adam Jones guitars, four of them were the more expensive signed model.
“These guitars were the dream guitars of 13 Gibson and Adam Jones fans, who had been patiently waiting for them to be delivered,” Gibson Chief Marketing Officer Cesar Gueikian says. “We have decided to publish the serial numbers of the 13 stolen guitars and are appealing to all Gibson fans to keep an eye out for them and let us know if they surface.”
“Our fans should ask any third-party sellers for a serial number before purchasing to be sure they are not being sold one of the stolen guitars,” Gueikian continues. What follows is a list of all 13 stolen Gibson Adam Jones custom guitars.
Gibson Adam Jones 1979 Les Paul Custom Aged and Signed
- #42 – 73529531
- #69 – 73529531
- #41 – 73529531
- #71 – 73529531
Gibson Adam Jones 1979 Les Paul Custom VOS
- 73529111
- 73529047
- 73529114
- 73529145
- 73529072
- 73529030
- 73529091
- 73529126
- 73529024
Gibson and Sweetwater are urging anyone with information about the theft to contact local authorities. That’s Detective Kenny Polley of the Whiteland Police Department at [email protected] or (317) 535 – 8100.
This situation echoes a similar incident Digital Music News wrote about earlier this year. Gibson offered a reward of $59,000 for the return of a shipping ledger verifying the authenticity of several iconic guitars. The ledger also contained information about some mythical Gibson prototype guitars. No word on whether or not it has been recovered.
Gibson is also fighting a trademark battle against Warwick in the EU over its Flying V guitar shape. That battle has yielded wins for both Gibson and Warwick, which Digital Music News recently detailed here.
a definite inside Job.
well I don’t think it was part of the truck driver I have a feeling was definitely someone who was working on the loading dock wish I knew which company it was ltl wise that did this. because out of the whole truckload it was definitely singled out somebody knew what was on there but I don’t think it was the truck driver I could be wrong but I have a feeling with somebody that was working on the loading dock where they sort and segregate everything.
they knew where that truck was going and probably exactly which trailer number so the good thing though Gibson is making it really hard now as an update as I read this article and typed it out on the 19th of November.
they’re going to remake the guitars but they’re going to put a special engraving on that’s going to make them even more valuable and the ones that were stolen more invaluable LOL.
but it’s a Long haul truck driver for almost 30 years cargo theft has become more and more predominant.
but what really stands out here in this situation has got to be the fact that if it was an LTL delivery truck and it was say the driver getting something to eat or something and it’s a roll-up door and the guitars are not very heavy somebody knew something and somebody must have either followed and knew what they were doing. because there was no mention of a hijacking or anything like that. but cargo claims and stolen freight is still one of the biggest issues in the trucking industry to this day but a lot of people have it coming because they don’t use a padlock does they think oh it’s fine I’m only going to be a couple of minutes that’s all it takes as you can see here.