“I said, ‘I want to riff through all of my favorite guitarists – doing Jimi Hendrix behind the head, Pete Townshend’s windmill, the Eddie Van Halen hammer thing”: Michael J. Fox and others discuss the Back to the Future guitar – and a clue to its identity

Gibson Films has shared a first glimpse into its Lost to the Future documentary as the stars of the 1985 blockbuster smash Back to the Future come together to hunt down its iconic Cherry Red ES-345.

Earlier this week, Gibson announced it was undertaking a worldwide search for the electric guitar rented from Norman's Rare Guitars for use in the film's influential Johnny B. Goode scene. After filming wrapped, the guitar was sent back to Norman Harris' vintage guitar emporium, and no one is sure what has happened to it since.

The scene, which is set in in 1955, saw some crafty (and bonus) time-traveling take place, depicting Michael J. Fox's character, Marty McFly, performing Chuck Berry's 1958 hit on a guitar that also came out in '58, meaning the Back to the Future guitar was from the future.

Despite that intentional oversight from the props department, the scene was a huge hit with audiences. John Mayer says the film inspired him to start playing, it prompted the formation of Coldplay, and Gibson president and CEO Cesar Gueikian says the film “marked me in a profound way.”

“Guitar has always been a big part of my life,” Fox says of the scene. “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.”

Upon watching the film, Gibson's Director of Brand Experience and a regular Gibson TV presenter Mark Agnesi experienced similar feelings to Mayer and Gueikian. Sharing a clip from the Lost to the Future doc, which sees the film’s cast call out for the public’s help finding the Cherry Red axe, has reflected on how the scene changed his life.

“I started playing guitar because of Michael J. Fox and this scene,” he begins. “I started looking for this Cherry Red ES-345 back in 2009 on my first day on the job at Norman’s Rare Guitars. After 16 years of looking, today I ask for your help. Have you seen this guitar?”

“Somehow, it's vanished,” Christopher Lloyd, who plays the enigmatic and ever-eccentric Emmett "Doc" Brown in the Back to the Future films says in the clip. Cue Doc's apt line of “erased from existence!”

“It's somewhere lost in the space-time continuum,” echoes Fox. “Or it’s in someone’s garage.”

Cynics have suggested that this is a cunning publicity stunt on the part of the firm – and that, sooner or later, the folks at Gibson, having already located the guitar will wheel out the ES-345 with the full fanfare.

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However, if they have, then the Gibson team has achieved what the producers themselves could not – and at a point when the trail was much hotter. Fox and the production team had wanted the guitar to feature in its 1989 sequel, only to find it was already long gone. It’s location since then has been lost to the public record.

Still, it’s entirely plausible that with enough publicity, a member of the public may yet come forward with some useful information. After all, the The Lost Bass Project led to the discovery of Paul McCartney’s violin bass in an English attic 50 years after its disappearance – so stranger things have happened.

Recently, Gibson geek and all round internet guitar sleuthing whizz Trogly pointed out an important distinguishing factor of the original instrument – it’s solid block inlay at the 12th fret.

This was not standard on the ES-345s of the time, and like several other mods on this instrument, likely came after its initial production – and could provide an important identifier.

Readers with clues to the whereabouts of the missing ES-345 Cherry can contact Gibson, via LostToTheFuture.com, or call 1-855-345-1955.