A A

Myles Goodwyn has lots of other guitars.

And many of them are worth more than a 1962 Gibson Melody Maker.

But for the founding member of April Wine, it’s the latter that is number one.

And on New Year’s Day he got it back.

“To me, she’s like a child that was abducted and returned when she was 46,” Goodwyn told The Chronicle Herald on Wednesday.

In 1968, Goodwyn made a deal in Inverness.

He traded the red Hagstrom with which he had filled the Bedford firehall with rock ’n’ roll as lead for Woody’s Termites, for his “first real guitar.”

He changed out the pickups, added a custom pick guard and his name, Goodwyn, in the Gibson font.

He’s called the Gibson Melody Maker “she” ever since.

April Wine’s Myles Goodwyn holds his 1962 Gibson Melody Maker at his Porters Lake house on Wednesday afternoon. - Ryan Taplin

She was the guitar you hear in recordings from April Wine’s early years.

Then in 1972, roadies carrying the equipment were in a traffic accident on Decarie Boulevard in Montreal.

Goodwyn was told his Melody Maker had been smashed and the parts thrown out.

“That was obviously a lie,” said Goodwyn. “She was stolen by someone that was, we’ll say, close to the situation.”

For 46 years Goodwyn made music with other guitars.

Then on Christmas Eve, he got a Facebook message.

“I’m not using last names here, but a guy named Randy told me that a guy named Doug in Victoria, B.C., had my guitar and that Doug was a good guy and wouldn’t gouge me,” said Goodwyn.

“I had two choices — I could have called the police because it had been stolen property, or because this guy was willing to sell at a reasonable price, to deal with him.”

Goodwyn opted for option two.

“Doug,” he said, had bought the guitar legally in 2005.

He gave Goodwyn the name of the person he bought it from, whom Goodwyn just heard back from on Wednesday morning. The trail there runs cold — because that person couldn’t remember who he had got the guitar from.

The Melody Maker is in the same condition as the last time he saw it.

And the plan now is to get into the recording studio and start making up for lost time.

“I guess the message here is that if you find something like this, you should report it,” said Goodwyn.

“I’m easy to get ahold of but for 46 years no one bothered. It’s not like the guitar is worth a whole lot of money. But to me it was my main guitar, it was my favourite guitar.”

April Wine founder Myles Goodwyn poses with his 1962 Gibson Melody Maker guitar, which he got back over the holidays after it was stolen in 1972. - Myles Goodwyn via Facebook

Related: Bruce MacKinnon's Jan. 4 editorial cartoon