[Images courtesy @neilzlozower and @michaelmeskerdesign / Via Instagram]
“Reunited, and it feels so good. Oddly enough, after going missing 36 & a half years ago, my custom Joe Despagni “Swiss Cheese” guitar was finally returned to me,” the guitarist wrote on his Instagram.
Back in 1986, the guitar was stolen along with three of Vai’s other six-strings at Pasadena’s Perkins Palace during rehearsals for David Lee Roth’s Eat ‘Em and Smile tour, not to be seen again by the guitarist for almost four decades, guitarworld.com reported.
“I used “Swiss Cheese” in the original Yankee Rose video while I was with David Lee Roth, and stretched it out in rehearsals & was planning on touring with it, but this guitar, along with 3 others, was stolen in Pasadena CA at Perkins Palace during rehearsals for the Eat Em and Smile tour. It is officially the first guitar to receive a “monkey” grip” handle, and the first one Joe made with a handle at my request,” Vai said in the post.
Eat ‘Em and Smile was Lee Roth’s first tour after leaving Van Halen, the band the Van Halen brothers of Pasadena started in 1972. Lee Roth left the band in 1985.
Vai wrote about how he reunited with “Swiss Cheese,” one of his popular electric guitars, after a man named Iván Gonzáles Acosta found the guitar in his grandparents’ home in Tijuana, Mexico, and posted images online.
“It seems the people that lived in his grandparents house before them purchased the guitar somewhere along the way and it was just stuck in the attic only to be discovered recently when they were reorganizing things,” Vai posted.
After seeing the pictures of the guitar on social media, Mike Mesker, Vai’s associate, arranged to have the instrument returned to Vai, who met with Acosta.
“The condition of the guitar when I saw it was a shocker,” Vai wrote. “It’s as if it was put in the case and never played for 36 years. The colors are still vibrant and the neck is in great shape,” adding, “Receiving this guitar feels like an old friend has returned home after so many years to jam with me. I believe that we will make a wonderful Ham and Swiss sandwich together.”
“Thank you Ivan for your kind consideration and for reuniting me with this piece of my history,” Vai’s message said. “Receiving this guitar feels like an old friend has returned home after so many years to jam with me.”
Vai started his music career in 1978 at the age of 18 as a transcriptionist for Frank Zappa, and played in Zappa’s band from 1980 to 1983. He embarked on a solo career in 1983 and has released eight solo albums to date. He has recorded and toured with Alcatrazz, David Lee Roth, and Whitesnake, as well as recording with artists such as Public Image Ltd, Mary J. Blige, Spinal Tap, Alice Cooper, Motörhead, and Polyphia.
He continues to produce music and last year was featured on Polyphia’s track “Ego Death.” On November 10, 2022, Vai announced his latest album, Vai/Gash, alongside its lead single “In The Wind.” The album, originally recorded in 1991 alongside the late singer Johnny “Gash” Sombrotto, will be released this month.
