It seems an unfortunate rite of passage that every pro player has a stolen guitar tale, and oftentimes it takes years for that stolen six-string to be recovered or replaced. In some unhappy cases, neither outcome comes true. Just ask Glenn Tilbrook.
The Squeeze frontman knows all too well the hurt that comes with a stolen guitar, especially since he’s been unable to replace his beloved vintage Fender Stratocaster that went missing after it was pinched from his car decades ago.
Speaking in the new issue of Guitarist, Tilbrook reflects on the gear that informed Squeeze’s early days, remembering his beloved long-lost Fender which he bought from folk-rock royalty.
“I had a 1959 Strat that I bought off the guitarist in Steeleye Span. It was my first proper guitar and it was a beauty,” he says. “I used just that on at least the first two records. But it got nicked out of the back of the car in Liverpool.”
Everyone knows that no two guitars play the same. There are subtle, intangible variations between models – even those that come from the same factory, same year, same lineup – that create almost imperceptible differences.
For Tilbrook, that means he’s never found a Strat that has matched up to the one that went missing all those years ago.
“I’ve never had a Strat like that since; it was just one of the things that plays perfectly,” he continues. “I played Strats all the way through the first iteration of Squeeze and into Difford & Tilbrook. When I got the B-Bender Tele in 1986 that’s when I swapped [to Teles] – it’s been a big part of my playing ever since.”
Other players have had better luck when it comes to recovering stolen guitars. Richie Sambora was recently reunited with his stolen Gibson Explorer after 40 years, while Nancy Wilson recovered two stolen instruments that had been swiped from stage before a Heart gig last year.
Pick up the new issue of Guitarist at Magazines Direct to read the full conversation with Glenn Tilbrook.
