In a bizarre case of mail misdelivery, Slipknot guitarist Jim Root accidentally received a Jackson guitar that was meant for a completely different person—an employee stationed at a U.S. Air Base in Qatar.
The story initially surfaced in a now-deleted Reddit post, which was preserved by MusicRadar. According to the post, the individual in Qatar ordered a new Jackson guitar through Sweetwater, a reputable U.S.-based music gear retailer. However, three weeks after placing the order, the package that arrived contained only an empty guitar case, with no instrument inside.
Frustrated and confused, the buyer contacted their Sweetwater sales representative. “I got a semi-canned response, ‘Sorry for the confusion and inconvenience,’ along with a note saying they were checking with the warehouse and shipping departments to try and figure out where the guitar is,” the Reddit user wrote.
To make matters worse, the USPS tracking number associated with the shipment suddenly went inactive, leading the buyer to assume the guitar was lost for good. They began preparing for a potential re-shipment once the item was back in stock.
That’s when things took a surprising turn.
In a follow-up post, the buyer shared an email they received from their Sweetwater sales engineer, which read:
“Hey [name redacted], you might laugh a little. For some reason, the post office shipped your guitar to Jim Root of Slipknot. We are working on the solution now.”
How the guitar ended up with Root remains a mystery, but the revelation stunned the original buyer—and the internet alike. Though it’s unclear whether the guitar was eventually returned or if Root decided to keep it (perhaps even sign it), the mix-up has prompted amusement and head-scratching across online guitar communities.
The incident raises questions not only about postal logistics but also how an item purchased by someone in Qatar could somehow be rerouted into the hands of a Grammy-winning metal guitarist in the United States.
As of now, there’s been no official update on whether the guitar made it back to its rightful owner—but one can hope that if and when it does, it might carry the added bonus of Jim Root’s autograph as a consolation prize.
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