Paul Gilbert has had four guitars stolen today (13 August) as Mr Big rolled into Frankfurt to play the first of two German dates at Batschkapp.
Taking to Instagram, Gilbert revealed that three of his Ibanez signature guitars had been stolen, along with a steel-string Godin acoustic.
“STOLEN GUITAR ALERT! These four guitars were stolen in Frankfurt, Germany today,” writes Gilbert. “I’ll post serial numbers soon, but please keep an eye out for them. [Gilbert has updated his post with serial numbers – see below]”
The stolen guitars included his limited edition PGM1000T in Aged Cream Burst, which photographs as a sort of custard yellow, his FRM300 in Purple with black pickguard, a PGM50 in Black with gold hardware and gold painted f-holes, and a Godin Multiac Steel Duet Ambiance in vintage sunburst.
Those are his four main touring guitars for Mr Big, and the theft threatened tonight’s show in Frankfurt. Luckily, Gilbert is not without his connections and he offered his gratitude that Ibanez came to the rescue.
“Huge thanks to Ibanez for quickly getting some instruments to me so the show will go on tonight!” he writes.
All three electrics have some distinguishing features, with Gilbert taping a 2” neodymium magnet to the lower cutaway of the guitar so that he can keep his metal guitar slide close at hand when playing.
The PGM1000T is notable for being Gilbert’s first neck-through signature model with Ibanez, and is fitted with a pair of DiMarzio Air Classic humbuckers.
There are not many of these instruments about. Gilbert’s has been modified with rubber erasers cutout and placed underneath the pickups to keep feedback to a minimum. It has black painted f-holes, and ebony fingerboard with dot inlay (and a street price of £7,199).
Nixing feedback is a theme of Gilbert’s stage rig. Although he has had signature acoustics with Ibanez and played a number of different models over the years, but has lately been using the Godin acoustic electric guitar onstage with Mr Big because it performs so well in a rock show.
“This guitar is really good for high-volume stage situations,” said Gilbert, speaking to Sweetwater’s Nick D’Virgilio for a video tour of his Mr Big touring rig. “You’ve probably seen the rubber thing you can put in the soundhole? That definitely helps a lot.
“But, man, I’ve done things with beautiful, great-sounding acoustic guitars, and then WOOOOOOM. As soon as the bass guitar hits a G note it’s all over. The top of the guitar just takes off and it’s a feedback monster. This one really holds it together. I don’t have any feedback problems. Really, the only problem I have is figuring out what all these buttons and knobs do.”
It turns out Gilbert is human after all. He, too, can’t remember what the Multiac controls do, and has labelled them for ease of use, which again makes this easier to spot in the wild. It has tape all across the top-mounted controls.
As with the Ibanez signature models, Gilbert is desperate to be reunited with it. If anyone has any information as to their whereabouts, they can DM Paul Gilbert on Instagram or drop him an email at paulvsgodzilla[at]paulgilbert.com
