Back in 2010, MACHINE HEAD frontman Robb Flynn's Martinez, California house was burglarized. Stolen with the cash, jewelry, and other items were four guitars, and amongst these four was easily one of his most meaningful possession, a 1997 Washburn Dimebolt guitar that was given to him onstage at the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago by the late, great PANTERA guitarist "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott. Last night, some six years later, it was returned to him along with an un-released Epiphone prototype. How? When Holly Cherry put a $10 dollar online bid to buy an unclaimed storage unit in San Bernardino, she had no idea what she would find. Tucked away in said storage unit, she discovered that it had two electric guitars. So, like anyone, she went about getting a valuation on them. Luckily the unreleased Epiphone Signature Series prototype had Flynn's autograph on the back. Using the Google Translate app to take a photo of the name, it eventually pulled up various stories on the theft. She then e-mailed some photos over to Bryan Kehoe at Jim Dunlop strings and pedals (longtime sponsors of MACHINE HEAD). Bryan forwarded the pics to Robb's high school buddy and former FORBIDDEN bandmate Craig Locicero, who contacted Robb. Opening the e-mail, Flynn was stunned to find photos of two of the four guitars, including the beloved Dimebolt. Flynn explained: "I've had so many false leads over the last six years, I can't even tell you, literally hundreds, and while was grateful for everyone’s enthusiasm in helping find them, but I had kind of given up hope." He adds: "You can imagine my shock when that e-mail came through and it was really them! I was sitting in our son Wyatt's gymnastics class waiting for it to start, and I blurted out 'HOLY S**T, they found my guitars!' My kids laughed and said, 'What what?'" Holly agreed to meet Robb in Oakland where the guitars were returned, miraculously, in near-perfect condition considering they were stolen without a case, and only missing one volume knob. In closing, Flynn said: "I'd like to thank Holly Cherry for being so amazing throughout this entire process; she truly is an outstanding human being. I'd also like to thank Officer Ian Leong of the Martinez Police Dept. who has stayed on the case for over six years, and has been unrelenting in hunting down the thieves. Lastly, huge, huge, HUGE props go out to Craig Locicero and Bryan Kehoe for contacting me with this info, and also to Chris Wallace and Wes Anderson for connecting the dots. "The Ibanez guitar that I used to write and record MACHINE HEAD's debut, 'Burn My Eyes', is still out there missing, so I'm asking all the Head Cases to keep their eyes peeled. But for now, the Dimebolt is home and it's moments like these that make you believe, man, they make you believe!"
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