Frampton: Guitar Found

PETER FRAMPTON: Guitar Comes Alive...32 Years Later

The 1954 Gibson Les Paul Peter Frampton is seen playing on the cover of his Frampton Comes Alive album has been found, 32 years after it was believed lost in a plane crash.

"I am still in a state of shock," says Frampton. "First off, that the guitar even exists let alone, that it has been returned to me. I know I have my guitar back, but I will never forget the lives that were lost in this crash. I am so thankful for the efforts of those who made this possible. And, now that it is back, I am going insure it for $2 million and it's never going out of my sight again! It was always my number-one guitar and it will be reinstated there as soon as possible -- some minor repairs are needed..."

In 1980, a cargo plane carrying Frampton's equipment for a show in Panama crashed, supposedly destroying all of the instruments on board. But two Frampton fans -- one in Holland and one on the Dutch Caribbean island of Curacao [pr: CURE-uh-sou], along with the CEO of the Curacao Tourist Board -- returned the guitar, which was stolen from the crash site, to Frampton last month in Nashville. Experts from Gibson Guitar have confirmed that it's the original, but it's unknown where it's been all these years.

The guitar was given to Frampton in 1970 by a fan named Mark Mariana when Humble Pie played the Fillmore West in San Francisco. Frampton offered to buy the guitar, but Mariana, who Frampton is still in touch with, insisted on giving it to him. In addition to playing it on Frampton Comes Alive, he also used it on Humble Pie's Rock On and Rocking the Fillmore albums, as well as during sessions for George Harrison, Harry Nilsson and John Entwistle.