CULVER CITY, Calif., April 15 (UPI) -- Tom Petty has attached a $7,500 "no questions asked" reward for the return of five classic guitars stolen from a California soundstage, his Web site said.
The irreplaceable axes were taken Friday from a Culver City soundstage where Petty and the Heartbreakers had been rehearsing in preparation of their 2012 tour of North America and Europe which starts Wednesday in Broomfield, Colo., the Los Angeles Times reported Saturday.
Sgt. Dan Sukal of the Culver City Police Department said the guitars were reported missing from the Culver Studios Thursday just after 4 p.m.
The stolen guitars include Petty's 1967 12-string Rickenbacker and his Gibson SG TV Junior, Scott Thurston's 1967 Epiphone Sheridan, Ron Blair's Fender Broadcaster, and Mike Campbell's blue Dusenberg, custom built for the guitarist to venerate the band's 30th anniversary.
It was a hard blow for a man mesmerized by the magic of what six strings could do.
"I fell in love with the guitar when I was 15. I still love the guitar as much as I did then. There are only six strings and 20 frets but there is a whole world of mystery and inspiration in this instrument," Campbell said.
Fan reaction to the theft on their Web site was immediate and visceral, the Times said.
"Nothing lower in life than a thief who would steal a mans tools to feed his family," wrote one.
"I don't normally condone acts of violence against others, but since I'm referring to nothing more than knuckle-dragging neanderthals -- I hope somebody beats the [expletive] out of them with their own clubs," wrote another.
