Back in January 2020, founding Racer X bassist Juan Alderete, who has also played with the Mars Volta and Marilyn Manson, suffered a serious brain injury following a bike accident. The accident left him with a form of Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) known as Diffuse Axonal Injury, as well as a fractured clavicle and spinal fracture.
A GoFundMe (opens in new tab) page was set up to help with Alderete’s considerable medical expenses, and has since raised $211,242 of a $250,000 goal.
Now, Alderete’s old Racer X band mate, Paul Gilbert, has lent a hand – and an electric guitar – to help his friend. Gilbert listed his pink Ice-Stroyer, an Ibanez Destroyer/Iceman hybrid, on Reverb.com on December 7, and the instrument sold for $16,000.
“This Ibanez Ice-Stroyer’ was built by the Ibanez Custom Shop in Bensalem, PA in 1987,” Gilbert wrote in the accompanying text. “Only two were made. This pink one, for me. And an orange one for Bruce Bouillet. I used this guitar for live Racer X shows, for Mr. Big recordings, and on Mr. Big tours.
“Over the years, I changed the bridge to a fixed bridge, moved the location of the toggle switch, and had a DiMarzio Tone Zone and a DiMarzio single coil pickup installed. The back of the guitar has sushi stickers that I got on my first tour of Japan with Mr. Big back in 1989. And my signature on the headstock is back when I was still signing in script. The tall frets are in excellent condition, and the guitar plays and sounds great!”
He continued, “I will be donating the proceeds from this guitar to Juan Alderete to support his recovery from his injuries from his bicycle accident earlier this year. I co-founded Racer X with Juan. He is a great friend, a great musician, and was instrumental to my career both musically and in the business. He got me out of practicing in my bedroom, and onto the stage! Thank you for your support, and enjoy this amazing guitar from a great era!”
Also included in the sale were a vinyl Racer X Extreme Volume – Live album that Gilbert autographed to the buyer, a collection of over 35 of Gilbert’s custom guitar picks and an early-model JHS PG-14 overdrive pedal that Gilbert used his pedalboard.
For more information on the Ice-Stroyer, head to Reverb.com (opens in new tab).
