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Guitar World
Guitar World
Entertainment
Matt Owen

“I get a call from Guitar Center in New Jersey. They go, ‘Your Explorer was in here. We just sold it to some guy’”: Richie Sambora hired a private detective to recover his stolen Gibson

Richie Sambora Gibson Guitar Center Matthieu Lucas New Jersey Bon Jovi Guitar World PEOPLE
Richie Sambora with his 1976 Gibson Explorer.

Richie Sambora has looked back on the recovery of his long-lost Gibson Explorer, revealing he once hired a private investigator to get his early Bon Jovi era electric guitar back.

It’s one of 2026’s most heartwarming guitar stories. After his prized possession was stolen from a warehouse back in 1985, Sambora was reunited with his original 1976 Explorer, bringing a 41-year mystery to a happy ending.

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