A red Maton Wild Cat, originally manufactured in the ‘70s as a limited run of just 100 pieces, was taken from the premises. Neville Kitchen, owner of Maton Guitars, told 3AW he’s “only ever seen about four or five of them” since.
A guitar featuring 38 signatures of legendary rock musicians – including Brian Cadd, Russell Morris, and the late Billy Thorpe – was also stolen in during the break-in. Each item is extremely rare and priceless to Maton, and Kitchen is spreading the word in the hope his guitars will be returned.
“We’ve said $10,000, but really you can’t put a value on something like this,” he said.“It’s so sad to see them go.”
Kitchen explained that the guitars are irreplaceable, both of them now forming a significant part of music history.
“It was a break in, but you know that’s just one of the things that happens. The point is that those guitars were quite rare and that’s probably the significance of them. The Long Way to the Top one, that was the, sort of, production that they had in 2002, and it’s signed by 38 people … All of the people that were sort of from the music industry in the 60s and 70s were all on it.
“That’s the thing, it can’t be replaced.”
Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or submit a confidential report online at www.crimestoppersvic.com.au.