After losing 62 guitars in fire, Goan musician rebuilds collection

Sebastian (Sabby) Almeida along with the Bellamy Brothers.

A guitarist’s love for his instrument can never be expressed in words and losing a guitar can be a heartbreaking moment. 

Consider, then, the plight of Sebastian (Sabby) Almeida, a musician from Socorro, who lost 62 of his rare and prized collection of guitars in a fire two years ago. 

Distraught, he was, but defeated, he wasn’t. Sabby went on to painstakingly rebuild his collection and over the last two years, has now managed to collect a staggering 82 guitars. Needless to say, Sabby’s efforts have been appreciated around the world, including the including famed ‘Bellamy Brothers’.

COLLECTION

Sabby said his guitar collection began 35 years ago, when he was dating Angela, now his wife. 

“In 1985, Angela bought me my first guitar, a "V" guitar from Pedro Fernandes,” recalled Sabby, who began playing with the Mapusa-based band ‘Harmony’. 

Sabby then played for the bands ‘Civilians’ and ‘Plus 4’ (which toured Muscat) in Goa, before moving to Muscat and playing for the band ‘D G & Desert Breeze’.

“We then formed another band ‘GoAfrica’. By then, I already had a number of guitars, acoustic, semi-acoustic, electric guitars and bass guitars,” said Sabby, who later moved to the band ‘GoAfrica’. 

“I could never bring myself to sell an older guitar for a new, better and upgraded one, as I would get sentimental with all of them, as each guitar had a story to tell. My guitar collection grew over the years.”

“Croyden Menezes, our bassist in ‘GoAfrica’, used to work at a music shop, recognised my collection and single-handedly got me some amazing guitars.”

“Being in a music shop, he could order and import guitars. I would buy these guitars and add them to my collection. Each time there was a new guitar coming, he would tell me, "I got a surprise arriving next month.” I simply could not wait.”

“Croyden had this uncanny knack of getting hold of these unbelievable limited edition guitars, some inlaid with diamonds, some gold-plated. It worked well as I got a lot of guitars and Croyden made good sales for his company.” 

To add further value to his collection, Sabby began travelling and met international artistes.

“I would go for these ‘Meet and Greet’ events by international artistes to keep in touch with their fans. I collected around 35 guitars autographed by some big names in the music industry.”

Sabby returned to Goa, started a band ‘Smooth’ and was, by then, the proud owner of 70-odd guitars in his prized collection.

TRAGEDY

Tragedy struck Almeida when dozens of his prized guitars went up in smoke.

“A short circuit led to a fire and 62 of my 70 prized guitars were destroyed in flames on August 30, 2018. This tragedy was the end of a lifetime's collection,” recalled Sabby.

Eight guitars, however, survived the blaze.

“I would use these eight guitars at shows and hence, they were in the practice room and survived the fire.”

Distraught at the loss of over five dozen prized guitars, Almeida believed it was the end of his love affair with guitars and could not even think about rebuilding a new collection.

“I thought to myself, ‘Collect again? @#&$# No way! I couldn’t go through it again. I could not get the same guitars as they were limited editions, autographed and it would never be the same’. Such was my conviction that my guitar collection was a thing of the past and never to be revived again,” said Sabby.

REVIVAL

“Then out of the blue, my friends, Dr Gregory and Soraya, came by my house with a guitar in hand and said, "Sabby, this guitar is for you, please start your collection again”."

“Few days later, a huge parcel arrived by mail. My brother-in-law Robert Kievits and my sister, Susan, bought and sent me an original oil can guitar made in South Africa all the way from Capetown! With the same message, “go for it.”

“Then my friends, Ashwin and Rashika, suddenly popped in and said they had got this semi-acoustic guitar that they didn’t use and wanted me to have it.”

“Later, Rui and Salome, my close friends from Macau, gave me a nylon string acoustic guitar.”

“It did not end there. Alex, our drummer at the time with ‘Smooth’, got me a guitar with the same message, "start the collection again!”

“By now, I had eight guitars from my old collection and five guitars sent by near and dear ones. I also had a lot of support from my family, daughters, Denise and Rhea, and Angela, and over 100 messages from well-wishers, friends and family.”

Sabby said the seed was planted and his new guitar collection began to take shape, but with a difference.

“This time, it was a more focussed and systematic approach. I was not looking for any guitar, but one which had an emotional connect. It may have been involved in two people falling in love, getting someone through a financial crisis, being the last resort for someone desperate or even someone who had a memory linked to a loved one. My friend, Aldrin Soares, gave me a guitar saying, "Sabby, I have this guitar of my late dad and would like you to have it!”

PRAISE

There has been widespread praise for Sabby’s new collection of 82 guitars. Among them have been the famed ‘Bellamy Brothers’, who have been Sabby’s idols. He is now well-known to the entire band.

David Bellamy posted the photo of Sabby’s new collection and posted this note on the Bellamy Brothers wall on Facebook on November 5, 2020: “That's quite a wall you've got there Sebastian Almeida, hope we get back to India soon.”

On the same day, Randy Hiebert, lead guitarist of Bellamy Brothers, posted another message: “Wow!!! I'm so blown away and honored by this my brother!!! Losing your entire collection was a heartbreaker for sure... but this, THIS is the way to heal it my friend! Beautiful display, thanks for the love Sabby!!”