'It's Not Something You Get At Guitar Center': MI Musician Loses $10K In Rare Gear

ROYAL OAK, MI — A Royal Oak musician is asking for help after nearly $10,000 worth of equipment was either lost or stolen.

Kevin Sullivan, a musician for over 20 years, tells Patch he was driving his 2024 silver Blazer on 4th Street near Campbell Road in Royal Oak last Saturday night when he noticed the truck's hatch had popped open.

By the time he got to his friend's house in Ferndale, he saw that his guitar, guitar case and pedal board, among other things, were missing.

He thinks they may have fallen out of the back of his SUV near the corner of 4th Street and Campbell Road, where he heard a crashing sound, which he thought may have been the equipment rattling around.

He's hoping someone in the area picked up the equipment and put it away somewhere.

But Sullivan also thinks it's possible someone could have taken the equipment out of the back of the SUV and just left the hatch open while parked in the 100 block of Helene Avenue in Royal Oak.

The gear Sullivan is looking for includes a sunburst Epiphone Casino guitar (pictured), a bright orange pedal board with custom pedals and a tweed box, which is roughly 1 foot by 8 inches with a flip top.

Sullivan says the guitar has been in the family for years and has the initials KSS and BDD carved onto the back of the headstock. He said the guitar was in a black hard case in the same shape as the body of the guitar and with Epiphone written in gold on it.

The pedal board, he says, is full of prototypes and other items that are irreplaceable.

"The pedals had some very, very rare expensive stuff in them, took years to acquire," Sullivan said.

There were also a few rare harmonicas, which were passed down from his grandfather, inside the tweed box, he said.

Sullivan said he's been checking Facebook Marketplace and other online marketplace sites to see if the items pop up for sale.

"None of the stuff is like, really store-bought," Sullivan said. "I mean, very, very, it’s all custom or older vintage stuff or just rare. It’s not something you get at Guitar Center, so I think somebody would have a hard time getting rid of a lot of it."

Sullivan says that many local musicians in metro Detroit area know his gear, especially since he is a local repair tech and builds custom pedals for many people.

"My dad's grandfather's harmonica, and then a bunch of custom guitar pedals that I built after collecting rare parts for many years so I could start a company...it is a real bummer," Sullivan said

Anyone who can help Kevin can reach him at 734-673-5846 or at KevinDetroit81@gmail.com.