UNIQUE MM GUITAR STOLEN!!!!

[Michael Messer]

Forum member, Bonzo (John Nicol) has just called me to say that his house was broken into on Thursday and that his unique seven string MM guitar was stolen.

Here are the details:

Two items were stolen from John's music room - a framed Dire Straits Brothers In Arms album cover and a unique 7 string 14 fret MM Style 0. So the scallywags think they have stolen the actual Style 0 on the album cover!

The guitar was custom built for my friend, the veteran British Blues & Folk musician, Ian Anderson. I serial numbered the guitar with >MM 7 FROOTS IAN 2009 - I will confirm that when I receive photos from John.

Meanwhile, here are some photos of the guitar. It was made as a 7 stringer because Ian wanted a guitar just like Spider John Koener's seven string Duolian.

John lives in Rayners Lane, which is in the Pinner & Harrow area. It is highly likely the guitar will turn up in that neck of the woods.















As you can see, this is a unique guitar.

It has a hand-stamped Michael MESSER BLUES in the headstock.

Also on the front of the headstock is a little silver pair of palm trees

It has 7 tuners in the headstock

It has a Chickenfoot MM coverplate - there are very few of these.

It has a 14 fret Style 0 body

Inside the guitar, if anyone ever gets that far, it was signed by me in 2015 on the neck-stick when I repaired it for Ian.

John (Bonzo) bought it from Ian in June 2016.

Please share this around and let's see if we can get John's precious and unique guitar back to him.

Thank you

Shine On
Michael

[Pickers Ditch]

Bonzo, that's the worst news I've heard for years.
I really feel for you mate, and I'll get the message out and about.
BTW, "scallywags" is not the term I would use.....

[Michael Messer]

Sept 8, 2018 16:43:28 GMT Pickers Ditch said:

Bonzo, that's the worst news I've heard for years.
I really feel for you mate, and I'll get the message out and about.
BTW, "scallywags" is not the term I would use.....

Scallywags is not the term I used when John called me, but this is a public forum so I thought I should choose my words with care!

I have shared this all over Facebook. If everyone does the same, we might stand a chance of finding this beautiful and unique guitar.

Shine On
Michael

[thebluesbear( al)]

Hi ,
I also feel for Bonzo , ill spread the word as far and as wide as i can .....best of luck to Bonzo ......i feel for you as well

regards everyone

I have shared this , (Anna my daughter has as well) , also i have tweeted this as well ......

al

[Michael Messer]

UPDATE!!!

John has just emailed me with a new photo of the headstock, which now looks even more unique.....



Shine On
Michael

[stevie2sticks]

It's shared all over FaceBook land.
Good luck fella.

[slide496]

Just to express I am sorry to have read this, and hope it's recovered for you. Being as I'm across the pond, I don't think I can be of help but I found out by facebook and am sharing publicly to my page.

Good luck, then.

Harriet

[bonzo]

Hi everyone,

I want to post a quick message to you all and say thanks for all the help and encouragement sent.

No news yet on any recovery, but Michael has gone way beyond the call of duty in his efforts to help track down my guitar. Thank you Michael.

I'll of course keep you posted of any developments, but in the meantime thanks again.

Best wishes to you all,John 

[Stevie]

My sympathy John. You deserve better than that.

e&oe...

[orbital]

Really hope this turns up somewhere soon John and you can have her back!

Best...

Phil

[chrisbroad]

Any experience of house-breaking must be traumatic,but the loss of a unique, prized guitar like yours must add to the pain.Hope it's found.
However,if it is not too indelicate, I have a question (or three)concerning the 7th. string.Does it greatly modify the sound?Is the 7th. string a second G an octave apart? and why the G string?
I might need to apologise for my ignorance if the answers are obvious,but that wouldn't be the first time.
Thanks Chris.

[Michael Messer]

Hi Chris,

It is a real shame that John had this guitar stolen as it is truly irreplaceable.

The 7th string is an octave string just the same as on a 12 string guitar. This guitar was originally custom made for a friend of mine, folk & blues musician and owner of fRoots magazine, Ian Anderson. Ian is a long time fan of Spider John Koerner of Koerner, Ray & Glover fame. In the 1960s Spider John had a National guitar that he adapted to be a seven stringer and 40+ years on, Ian just had to have one!

So that's the answer to your question.

Now, some kid that knows FA about guitars that happened to break into John's house, has got it. I hope it turns up and I hope the thief gets caught.

Shine On
Michael.

[bonzo]

Hi Chris, thanks for your commiserations.
Michael has described it perfectly.
All that being said, one of the main reasons I was so keen on the guitar is that she was absolutely beautiful.
I'm not an advanced player, but when I first saw and then heard the guitar it was irresistible!
Thanks again to you all for your interest, I live in hope that one day I'll have her back.

Best wishes to you all, John

[bonzo]

GOOD NEWS!!
Hi everyone, this morning I have my stolen guitar back! It was spotted in a pawn shop not far away by a muso who then contacted Michael and I through the forum. I'm delighted as you all can imagine, and wanted to thank you all again for your support and kind words.
A special thanks to Michael who was instrumental in getting the word and pictures out on all the social media platforms as well as the forum. Thanks Michael. Also thanks to Geraint from the Twickenham folk club who spotted the guitar! There are more good guys than bad guys out there!
Best wishes to you all, John

[Deleted]

EXCELLENT NEWS!!!!!!
TT