
The Libertines guitarist Carl Barât has been reunited with two guitars that were stolen back in May before he rehearsed with his side group, Dirty Pretty Things.
The guitars, one of which is Barât’s “treasured” Gibson Melody Maker, were taken in the Homerton area of east London, and “hold an unfathomable amount of sentimental value”, the guitarist explained on social media at the time.
Barât noted that the police had been informed and asked fans to help spread the word. The post was subsequently shared on The Libertines’ Twitter page.
And fortunately, the guitarist has recovered the stolen electric guitars, as seen in a new photo shared to his personal Twitter account.
“Blissed out to hold these guys again. Thank you to all my beloved net detective friends,” he writes in the shot’s accompanying caption, implying that the guitars were found thanks to his fans.
Blissed out to hold these guys again. Thank you to all my beloved net detective friends @Carl_Barat_News @hodgkissamps 🔎 pic.twitter.com/vMo5natXAWJune 30, 2022
The guitars were recovered just in time for the band’s performance at Glastonbury, apparently, as Barât could be seen playing his Gibson Melody Maker during the set.
And fans can expect to see Barât playing the Melody Maker during The Libertines’ Up the Bracket 20th anniversary shows in the UK this summer.
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Pro gear is not cheap and remains a common target for thieves. Recent victims of gear theft include instrumental trio Russian Circles, psychedelic band The Brian Jonestown Massacre and punk rockers Mannequin Pussy, who have all had five-figure sums worth of equipment stolen in the last year.
And in a rather odd story from earlier this year, a man managed to make off with an $8,000 Custom Shop Gibson Les Paul from an Ontario music store by shoving it down his pants.
Sam was Staff Writer at GuitarWorld.com from 2019 to 2023, and also created content for Total Guitar, Guitarist and Guitar Player. He has well over 15 years of guitar playing under his belt, as well as a degree in Music Technology (Mixing and Mastering). He's a metalhead through and through, but has a thorough appreciation for all genres of music. In his spare time, Sam creates point-of-view guitar lesson videos on YouTube under the name Sightline Guitar.
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