Frampton's Guitar

As a rock n' roll fan, I was excited to learn that Peter Frampton's lost guitar (a custom Gibson Les Paul)  was returned to him recently.  This is the guitar that he played on the famous Frampton Comes Alive album from 1976.  If my Junior High years were made into a movie, this album  could be the soundtrack.  You may remember this guitar from the album cover. 

In 1980, while on tour in South America, the cargo plane carrying his guitar blew up on take-off on its way to the next gig in Panama.  It was his favorite guitar.  He had it since he played in Humble Pie at San Fransisco's Filmore West in 1970.  The assumption was that it burned with the rest of the cargo.

A couple of years ago, it turned up on the Caribbean island, Curaçao.  The guy who had it in his possession for many years brought it into a guitar shop to be repaired.  The guitar was recognized by two guys who are much bigger fans than I am.  They bought the guitar, repaired it and returned it to Frampton last month in Nashville after much effort involving customs and Curaçao's tourism bureau.  Its authenticity was verified by the experts at Gibson.  It is playable but does not play with its original quality.  It was created in 1954; it is just a few years younger than Frampton.