After hip hop "personality" Kanye West was spotted and photographed wearing a Testament shirt (see below), guitarist Alex Skolnick posted the following note on social media, originally only meant for his circle of friends:

"Oh no he didn't! Wait, yes he did... Goodness gracious. This whole decrepit clan must have picked up a pile of old concert t-shirts (the same pile Kourtney K's Slayer shirt came from) which have somehow become a 'thing' in trendy fashion (who'd have thought?!!). Inconceivable that any of these pop culture vultures know who the heck any of the bands are. My guess is he thinks it's a religious group (not the firstst time that's happened). That is, if he thinks at all, which lately, seems unlikely. And I thought this time period couldn't get any weirder..."

Skolnick later followed up with a more in-depth statement:

"Alright. So I posted a wiseass comment meant just for friends who tagged me on FB - wasn't meant as an official statement but now it got picked up and is making news. Had I been asked to comment publicly I'd probably say something more like this:

I like hip-hop generally and while not a Kanye West fan, I recognize that Kanye is respected by some folks in the music industry whom I respect. Normally I'd be flattered and appreciative from one artist to another (those who follow me outside Testament know I'm very open musically & work with artists of many genres). If Kanye genuinely knows and likes Testament - and isn't just wearing our shirt as part of this current bizarre fad among trendy fashionistas and Hollywood types to wear old metal concert Ts - then that's great, more power to him and respect. However, I truly doubt that's the case (and would love to be proven wrong).

It's not the music/artist part of the equation I have a problem with - it is the reality TV, publicity junkie part. Kanye may consider himself an artist, which I can accept (although an artist on the level of those he compares himself to? Pablo Picasso? Sorry, not feeling it). Artistry aside, the Kardashian clan (of which he's a part of by marriage) are not doing art - it is the lowest form of cheap entertainment, turning people into brainless nincompoops and slowly destroying the country, a place that's descended to the point of the majority now embracing anti-intellectualism, denying facts, disbelieving science, believing fake news, avoiding rationality, shunning critical thinking and no longer recognizing the difference between reality and reality TV (case in point: electing a reality TV star as President, someone Kanye is now cozying up to). I find these offenses so unforgivable that I cannot find enjoyment in a major celebrity and artist I'd otherwise respect (musically, at least) wearing our shirt, much as I'd like to."

Skolnick has experienced a true holiday miracle, in the form of having his recently stolen guitars recovered, courtesy of the staff at Sam Ash in New York City; an unexpected turn of events which he is beyond grateful for.

Frankie Deleon Jr. has chronicled this for the Sam Ash Spotlight; an excerpt follows:

Late November 2016 - flagship Sam Ash NYC location on 34th Street in Midtown Manhattan. A customer came in looking to sell a number of vintage guitars. Unfortunately for the customer, our associate Jeremy conducted a meticulous inspection of the instruments and asked all the important questions. When something didn’t sound right, Jeremy took a deeper look at the instruments. The customer was trying to sell a rare Heritage Signature Guitar. After some deliberation Jeremy, a big Alex Skolnick fan, realized he had seen these guitars before. He then went to Alex Skolnick’s website, and sure enough there was the exact guitar Jeremy was looking at.

With the customer gone, Jeremy got Sam Ash manager Ian Goldrich involved. Ian decided to contact the management for Alex Skolnick. Next thing he knew, a reply was waiting in his inbox from Skolnick himself.

“I recently changed storage units – these and more than a dozen other instruments were moved from one location to another. Indeed I might not have noticed for another year or so, as I’m on tour often and there are long gaps between my going through all the instruments I’m not using. Since there are several other cases that match these two, it’s an easy target.” Skolnick wrote.

It turns out that Alex had been present when a third party company was helping to transport his possessions to the new storage unit, and he thought something just was off during the experience. Once a police report was filed, the guilty seller was promptly arrested on site when he came back to sell even more stolen guitars. In the end, Alex got back four of his prized guitars.

To read more, and view photos, visit this location.