Earlier this year, Gibson announced a worldwide scavenger hunt for the Cherry Red Gibson ES-345 that starred in the 1985 blockbuster smash, Back to the Future.
The electric guitar, which was central to the conclusive 'Enchantment Under the Sea' school dance scene, has since become just as famous as the movie itself and an icon of the franchise. It was rented from Norman’s Rare Guitars to be played by Michael J. Fox on set for his legendary Johnny B. Goode spot, but it hasn’t been seen since.
Describing the instrument as “cinema’s most influential guitar” for the fact that it got a generation of players hooked on the instrument – including Coldplay’s Chris Martin – Gibson has been inundated with leads since kickstarting the search.
Vitally, the firm has now come forward with one key detail that will help players know if their Cherry Red axe is the one, or a mere doppelgänger.
“We've got over 5,000 submissions so far, from 12 different countries that think they've got the guitar,” says Mark Agnesi, Director of the Gibson Guitar Corporation, in a quickfire 88-second update. “We want to go over some basic facts real quick to help with the search.”
Agnesi has addressed three key points to help narrow the search, and his fact-checking corroborates with comments previously made by Norman Harris about the guitar’s unique (and apt) time-travelling abilities.
First of all, he says, “I've checked every case at Norman's Rare Guitars. Norm no longer has the guitar.” The search must go on elsewhere.
Agnesi also addresses details around the guitar’s year of production, and sheds further light on a mistake from the production team. As revealed in 2022, although the school dance scene takes place in 1955 – Marty McFly having travelled back in time by 30 years – the guitar itself wasn’t introduced until 1958.
That story, though, didn’t help reveal when exactly this guitar was built. Gibson, however, has landed on two years of production.
“We do not know the serial number,” Agnesi says. “Somehow, that handwritten piece of paper Norm got 40 years ago [bearing its serial number] disappeared. What we do know is that it's either a 1960 or 1961 – '60 would mean an 'A' serial number, '61 would be impressed on the back of the headstock, probably with a five-digit number.”
Then there’s the all-important quirk that this particular guitar has – and it just might be the clue that the guitar community’s detectives need.
Agnesi says: “The last thing that we're really looking for is this one defining feature: ES-345s have split parallelogram inlays, but for whatever reason, the 12th fret on the guitar that Mike is using is a solid parallelogram inlay. That's what we're really looking for. That's how we're gonna know we found the right one.”
A quick look at the guitar’s fretboard and there it is, clear as day. Just check the thumbnail for the YouTube video above. With 5,000+ submissions to go through, details like that may prove pivotal.
The guitar hunt coincides with the film’s 40th anniversary, and the ongoing search is the subject of a new Gibson-made documentary. That’s seen Fox reflecting on the seriousness with which he took the scene.
“Guitar has always been a big part of my life,” he says. “When we talked about the 'Enchantment Under the Sea' scene, I sat down with the cinematographer and choreographer and said, 'I want to riff through all of my favorite guitarists, like doing Jimi Hendrix behind the head, Pete Townshend doing a windmill, and the Eddie Van Halen hammer thing.' It was so cool that they were open to that, and we laid it all out there.”
Those with leads are urged to visit losttothefuture.com
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