Stolen Dimebag guitar found in locker bought for $10; Phil Anselmo the 'racist' in new Machine Head song?

Like many of us, Machine Head guitarist and frontman Robb Flynn has a complicated relationship with Pantera. As a fellow ’90s metal staple, Machine Head ran in many of the same circles as Pantera, were similarly regulars of Headbanger’s Ball, and while they may not have aged as well for some, they’re clearly part of the same family. Back in 1997, Robb was gifted a guitar by the late great Dimebag Darrell. The iconic “Dimebolt” guitar was in Robb’s possession until it was stolen in 2010. Sad story right?

Well, a few days ago, a woman named Holly Cherry bought a storage locker full of stuff for $10, and lo and behold, the Dimebolt was there. Holly figured out what was going on and brought the guitar back to its rightful owner, and Machine Head posted the following triumphant video of the reunion of man and Dimebolt.

As happy as this Robb Flynn/Pantera story is (and it is certainly happy), as with all Pantera stories these days, there’s some more depressing stuff going on. You might remember that Phil Anselmo yelled ‘white power’ at this year’s Dimebash and set off a whole storm of controversy. Robb was one of the most prominent metal people to come out against Anselmo in the wake of that controversy, posting a long video that criticized Phil for what he perceived as a history of racially problematic stuff:

Well, now Machine Head has a new song out (right on the heels of the Dimebolt reunion) called “Is There Anybody Out There?” And it seems that Robb (probably rightfully) still isn’t over the whole Phil Anselmo thing. Specifically the line “Now I stand as a father, to men with no honor, ashamed of the racists I used to call brothers” seems pretty cut and dry in its reference to Phil.

You can listen to the song over at Sirius XM. The song itself is, uh, not that good, but the lyrics (which are posted at that link) are pretty interesting given all the recent Dimebag/Phil stuff.

Whatever your feelings about this whole situation, I think we can all at least be glad that the man has his guitar back. Check out Machine Head’s full Facebook post on the guitar reunion:

FLYNN’S DIMEBOLT RETURNS!

Back in 2010 Robb Flynn’s Martinez, CA house was burglarized. Stolen with the cash, jewelry, and other items were four guitars, and amongst these four was easily one of his most meaningful possession, a 1997 Washburn Dimebolt guitar that was given to him onstage at the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago, by the late-great Pantera guitarist, Dimebag Darrell.

Last night, some six years later, it was returned to him along with an un-released Epiphone prototype.

How?

When Holly Cherry put a $10 dollar online bid to buy an unclaimed storage unit in San Bernardino, she had no idea what she would find. Tucked away in said storage unit she discovered that it had two electric guitars. So like anyone she went about getting a valuation on them, luckily the un-released Epiphone Signature Series prototype had Robb Flynn’s autograph on the back. Using the Google Translate App to take a photo of the name it eventually pulled up various stories on the theft.

Emailing some photos over to Bryan Kehoe at Jim Dunlop Strings and Pedals (long-time sponsors of Machine Head). Bryan then forwarded the pics to Robb’s high school buddy Craig Locicero who Robb performed with in the band Forbidden before Machine Head who contacted Robb.

Opening the email, Flynn was stunned to find photos of two of the four guitars, including the beloved Dimebolt. Flynn explained, “I’ve had so many false leads over the last 6 years I can’t even tell you, literally hundreds, and while was grateful for everyone’s enthusiasm in helping find them, but I had kind of given up hope.” Adds Flynn, “you can imagine my shock when that email came through and it was really them! I was sitting in our son Wyatt’s gymnastics class waiting for it to start and I blurted out ‘HOLY S**T, they found my guitars!’ My kids laughed and said ‘what what?’”

Contacting Holly, she agreed to meet Robb in Oakland where the guitars were returned, miraculously, in near perfect condition considering they were stolen without a case, and only missing one volume knob.

In closing Flynn added, “I’d like to thank Holly Cherry for being so amazing throughout this entire process, she truly is an outstanding human being. I’d also like to thank Officer Ian Leong of the Martinez Police Dept. who has stayed on the case for over 6 years, and has been unrelenting in hunting down the thieves. Lastly huge, huge, HUGE props go out to Craig Locicero and Bryan Kehoe for contacting me with this info, and also to Chris Wallace and Wes Anderson for connecting the dots. The Ibanez guitar that I used to write and record Machine Head’s debut ‘Burn My Eyes’ is still out there missing, so I’m asking all the Head Cases to keep their eyes peeled. But for now, the Dimebolt is home and it’s moments like these that make you believe man, they make you believe!”

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