Randy Bachman reunites with his beloved stolen guitar

The long quest for Canadian rock legend Randy Bachman ended on Friday when he reunited with his dear guitar in Tokyo, 45 years after being stolen from a hotel in Toronto.

“My girlfriend is right there,” said Guess Who and former member of Bachman-Turner Overdrive, Bachman, 78, who wrote “American Woman” and other hits. I said when Gretsch’s guitar was handed over by a Japanese musician. I bought it at a store in Tokyo in 2014 without knowing its history.

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He said all the guitars were special, but the orange 1957 Gretsch 6120 Chet Atkins he bought as a teenager was extraordinary. He said he engaged in multiple jobs to save money on buying a $ 400 guitar, which was the first time he bought an expensive instrument.

“It made my life. It was my hammer, a tool for writing songs, making music, and making money,” Buckman said before being handed over at the Canadian Embassy in Tokyo. I told the Associated Press.

When stolen from a hotel in Toronto in 1977, he said, “I cried for three days. It was part of me.” “It was very, very upset.” He said he ended up buying about 300 guitars due to a failed attempt to replace it.

Bachmann frequently talked about the missing guitar in interviews and radio shows, and more recently in a YouTube program he played with his son Tal.

In 2020, a Canadian fan who heard about the guitar started searching the internet and succeeded in searching in Tokyo within two weeks.

Fan William Long used the small wood-grained spots on the guitar in old images as “digital fingerprints” to track the instrument to a vintage guitar shop site in Tokyo. Further searching found a YouTube video showing the instrument played by Japanese musician TAKESHI in December 2019.

After receiving the news from Long, Buckman immediately contacted Takeshi and recognized the guitar in the video chat they had.

“I was crying,” said Buckman. “The guitar almost talked to me in the video, like,’Hey, I’m going home.’ “

TAKESHI agreed to give it to Bachman in exchange for something very similar. There, Buckman searched for and found the “sisters” of the guitar. Manufactured the same week, it has a close serial number and has not been changed or repaired.

“Finding my guitar again was a miracle, finding its twin sisters was another miracle,” said Buckman.

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As a guitar player, TAKESHI said he decided to return the guitar because he could imagine how much Buckman missed the guitar.

“I owned it and played it for only eight years, and now it’s very sad to return it. But he’s been sad for 46 years and it’s time for someone else to be sad. “TAKESHI said. “I feel sorry for this legend.”

He said he felt good after returning the guitar to its legitimate owner, but it may take some time for him to love the new Gretsch as much.

“It’s a guitar and it has a soul, so it’s unclear if you can love a replacement in the same way, even if it’s the same shape.” “There is no doubt that Randy thought of me and searched hard (for a replacement), so she gradually becomes more affectionate, but it may take some time.”

Bachmann said he and Takeshi are now like brothers who own a guitar, a “twin sister.” They participate in a documentary about the guitar that they plan to play the song “Lostand Found” together.

They also played several songs, including “American Woman”, on Friday’s delivery.

Bachmann said he intends to keep the guitar in his house so that he won’t lose it again. “I will never take it out of my house,” he said.