Update on the Montrose-Moore ‘Burst Lawsuit

Apparently this is the 'burst Ronnie wants (Contra Costa Times photo)

‘An Angry Moore….’

California’s Contra-Costa Times newspaper took the time to pursue this story as far as it can be pursued right now. It managed to get in touch with both parties, so there’s some good stuff in the article.

Bottom line: It still looks like Ronnie Montrose will have a tough time getting “his” ’59 ‘burst Les Paul back from Gary Moore.

Following are highlights of the article – but if you have not read the article on the filing of the lawsuit, click here to read that first.

> [The] 1959 Gibson Les Paul guitar [he] bought from J. Geils for $800…has been valued at as much as $500,000, according to Tiburon vintage guitar collector Michael Indelicato, a longtime friend of Montrose.

> Although [Montrose] acknowledges that Moore himself did not steal the guitar, he alleges his attempts to speak with Moore about the matter have been rebuffed. He’s seeking the return of the guitar and unspecified damages. Montrose declined to offer futher comment on his lawsuit.

> Reached at his home in Brighton, England, Moore refused to discuss the matter, too, saying only that the “whole thing is a sham” and “I’ve had that guitar for more than 20 years.” Montrose doesn’t dispute that notion, but he insists that doesn’t change the fact that Moore is in possession of his stolen guitar and must return it. An angry Moore refused to comment further on his tussle with Montrose over the decades-old instrument.

Another shot of the 'burst

> Montrose hopes to get a judge to weigh in on several issues, including the statute of limitations on a 37-year-old case and an instance in which the current owner of a piece of stolen property is not alleged to have stolen it. Another major issue is jurisdictional, as the theft is alleged to have occurred in Massachusetts, its current owner lives in England and Montrose lives in San Francisco.

> Ed Roman, owner of Ed Roman Guitars in Las Vegas, has served as an expert witness in stolen-guitar cases for the estate of late guitar great Jimi Hendrix. He said Montrose faces an uphill battle, primarily because the alleged theft occurred so long ago. Roman said the Hendrix estate and Paul McCartney have been unable to retrieve stolen guitars in cases where they knew who had them but were unable to overcome the years gone by. “If it’s more than 10 years ago, the person who has it usually keeps it,” he said. “I doubt Ronnie is going to be able to get it back.”

Category: Gary Moore, Les Paul, Ronnie Montrose