A prolific burglar who tried to steal a musician’s guitar during a bungled burglary has been jailed for almost three years. Cornelius Price, 37, of Chatsworth Street, Fishwick, Preston, UK, forced his way through the side door of a house on Ribbleton Hall Drive, Ribbleton, Preston. Price, described as a career burglar by police, committed the burglary on March 11 this year after spotting the black acoustic guitar through a front window while the owner was out. However, as the…

Thieves broke into Rock Bottom Music in the 700 block of Broad Street early this morning and stole two electric guitars. Deputies found a hammer used to smash the window of the store lying on the counter and two empty guitar stands when they arrived, according to a Richmond County Sheriff’s Office report. They took a gold sparkle Fender Stratocaster and a ESP Cherry Sunburst guitar. Each are valued at $1,000. Source: http://chronicle.augusta.com/

BlackSabbath.com have reported that Tony Iommi’s red Gibson SG has been stolen. “Sadly, my RED CUSTOM SHOP IOMMI SG was stolen at the tribute show Heaven and Hell performed at High Voltage on July 24th. If you have any information or leads please let us know, we are offering a reward”. Source: http://www.black-sabbath.com/

Yoko Ono has written to the parole board at Attica prison in New York opposing the possible release of John Lennon’s killer Mark Chapman. Chapman is scheduled to be interviewed by the board next week (beginning August 9) in regards to gaining parole. He is serving 20 years to life for fatally shooting the Beatle outside his New York home in December 1980. Ono’s lawyer Peter Shukat confirmed that a letter had been sent to the board, but refused to…

ESSEX, UK – BURGLARS broke into a Westcliff home while the owners were fast asleep. They awoke to find a rare Gibson acoustic jazz guitar had been stolen along with electrical equipment worth about £4,500. Police want to speak to anyone who saw anything suspicious at the house in Drake Road between 12.15am and 4am this morning. Investigating officer, PC Ian Ling, said: “I’d ask anyone who was out and about in this area in the early hours of this…

From Music Radar: Strings Direct, the online instrument retail company, was subject to a burglary in which around £25,000 worth of guitar gear was taken from its Rochford guitar store Holiday Music/Lefties on 3 July. Most of the instruments taken were left-handed and some of them were very valuable. It’s not yet understood whether the stolen models were taken at random or selected on purpose. Strings Direct and Essex Police are urging the public to keep their eyes peeled and…

From the AP: LODI, N.J. — Lonnie Youngblood was a hotshot sax player on the New York club circuit in the mid-1960s when he crossed paths with Jimmy James, a young musician who was turning heads with his dazzling virtuosity on the electric guitar. After briefly playing in Youngblood’s band, James went back to using his real last name and conquered the music world as Jimi Hendrix, while Youngblood fronted a series of rhythm and blues bands that toured with…

Chad Warrix’s guitar is back in Nashville. Heidi Merritt and Garett Olson couldn’t be happier. You might remember the kerfuffle last week when country musician Warrix was separated from his beloved Silverburst Les Paul guitar — reported by the show’s tour manager to be “worth more than a lot of people’s cars” — during a gig with singer Randy Houser at Grandma’s Sports Garden in Duluth. That was June 23, and by the next morning Warrix and his bandmates were…

COLORADO SPRINGS, June 24 (UPI) — A Colorado Springs, Colo., man who beat his mother to death with a guitar is not guilty by reason of insanity, a judge has ruled. Christopher Benjamin Weiler, 21, was declared legally insane by Fourth Judicial District Judge Gregory R. Werner, who committed Weiler to the Colorado Mental Health Institute in Pueblo for an indefinite period and possibly the rest of his life, The Colorado Springs Gazette reported Wednesday. Werner delivered his ruling after…

Aquiles Valdez Ortiz, whose popular classical guitar lessons inspired generations of borderland musicians, died Monday night of injuries received in a Juárez assault in late May. He was 77 years old. The musician fell victim of ongoing attacks in the city torn by violence. Family members said robbers hit him in the head on May 26 while they were trying to steal his vehicle. He spent 12 days in a hospital before he died. Chihuahua state officials did not confirm…