Many of us have things from our childhoods we wish we could get back, but in many cases, that’s not possible. Time has a habit of making things disappear, and The Black Keys drummer Patrick Carney thought the same thing happened to a prized guitar he had growing up. It turns out, however, that wasn’t the case.
Carney, who turned 40 years old yesterday (April 15), told the story of how he was recently able to buy back a guitar from his childhood, even though it changed hands multiple times since he got rid of it in 1994. Carney bought his 1964 Daphne Blue Fender Mustang guitar because it was the guitar Kurt Cobain used, but Carney damaged his. He got rid of it, and miraculously, he managed to find and buy the exact same guitar online just a few weeks ago.
It’s a wild tale, so read Carney’s telling of it below.
“I was obsessed with Nirvana around 1993/1994. I wanted a fender mustang so badly because of course that was the guitar Cobain used. One day in March 1994 in the Akron Beacon Journal classified ads I saw a listing for a 1964 daphne blue Fender mustang for 175 bucks. Easily 400 bucks cheaper then what they were worth at the time. My dad drove me to this guys house and I bought the guitar. Cobain killed himself a few weeks later.
It was my prized possession.
A few years later I’m playing in my friend David’s garage and I drop the f*cking thing and smash the enamel and paint and dent the body. I was so f*cking bummed about it. The thing was mint and I just f*cked it up. I decided around this time to trade it for a Jazz bass and telecaster. I traded with my buddy Andy. He loved it but eventually needed money and sold it to his brother Matt who covered the f*cking thing in stickers and traded it ultimately for a NECK TATTOO.
The neck tattoo artist took it to a friend of ours in town (Dan Johnson who is now Dan’s guitar tech) to sell it for him. He posted it on EBay and it sold to someone.
So a few weeks with my 40th birthday approaching I thought I should get myself a 1964 daphne blue mustang. I found one listed on Reverb that has been refinished by Lay’s guitar shop in Akron Ohio and it’s daphne blue the seller is in Texas…. I bought it. I just thought there is a chance some how this is mine. The photos didn’t show the area where I dropped it but I thought hey there is a chance.
I got the guitar a few weeks ago and it has the same damage to the body. I got my guitar back for my 40th birthday.”
