After all these years!

[change-jug]

Not to sure where to post this but I wanted to share with you guys something that just happened. But I have to tell you a little back story first.
I grew up in a musical home. My Dad has played guitar since he was 7 years old and had a really nice collection including a 1969 Gibson Es-175, a 1974 Les Paul Custom,a 1977 Gibson 1275 double neck,a mid 50`s Epiphone acoustic and a mid 80`s Kramer. Well around the mid 90`s my family fell on hard times. Both my folks had drug/alcohol problems and my dad lost his job. So he would pawn his guitars to feed me and my Mom(and I`m sure their habits).He would always get his guitars out just before the pawnshop could claim them. He did this many times in a 5 year span.
One day after I got my tax return from my first year at my job(I was a fresh 18). My Dad asked if I could lend him some money. I turned him down thinking it was for drugs. I later found out it was to get 3 of his guitars out of the pawn shop.
So he ended up loosing his 1969 Es-175,the 1974 Les Paul and the Kramer. My Dad was pretty depressed after that and I felt really bad that I didn`t help him when I could have.
Now I have to tell you that all problems aside my dad was a great guy. He always had time to play with me or read me a book at bed time or take me to a movie when I was a kid. He was the man that taught me how to play bass when I finally decided to pick it up at the age of 20.
Well a few years later in 2004 my Dad died rather suddenly the day after Thanksgiving from pneumonia. He was only 44.
The only things besides the memories I had of my Dad were his guitars. And they were gone.
Two years later I was able to track down the Gibson double neck and Epiphone acoustic. Turns out they were in the possession of a coke dealer. Through some cajoling with a hammer and some money my girlfriend lent me I was able to get them back. That was a happy day in my life to say the least!
Now fast forward to last week. I`m reading some thread here on TB and I see an add from Guitar Center about getting their credit card and blah,blah,blah. But for what ever reason I click on it to see if they have a effects pedal I had in mind.To save a little cash I decide to look through their used section, and I happen across a used 1974 Les Paul Custom. I click on the pic,just for laughs. It looks a lot my my Dad`s.
Now before you think," Hey! Les Pauls look a lot alike!" I need to mention my Dad did a lot of mods on his. Including adding a Bigsby tail piece,Di marzio pickups, a coil tap switch and Grover tuners. Now from the pic I could see the addition of the Bigsby and a closer look revealed the small coil tap switch! So I made a call to my local GC and asked what brand the tuners were or were they stock. They were Grovers!
I went down there and took a look at it. It was my Dad`s Les Paul! I made a few calls and sold my Les Paul and once again borrowed some cash from my girlfriend(I love that girl so much!).
So after 12 years my Dad`s guitar made its way back to the family! I still can not believe I have it! I told my Mom and she nearly broke down in tears,she was so happy! And I`m sure where ever he might be my Dad is pretty happy too!

[metallicafan18]

That is a great story! Sorry to hear about your dad though.

[joebar]

i love stories like this. i guess you were meant to find them.
BTW- i think you did the right thing by not giving him the money back then...

[ggunn]

Originally Posted by change-jug

Not to sure where to post this but I wanted to share with you guys something that just happened. But I have to tell you a little back story first.
I grew up in a musical home. My Dad has played guitar since he was 7 years old and had a really nice collection including a 1969 Gibson Es-175, a 1974 Les Paul Custom,a 1977 Gibson 1275 double neck,a mid 50`s Epiphone acoustic and a mid 80`s Kramer. Well around the mid 90`s my family fell on hard times. Both my folks had drug/alcohol problems and my dad lost his job. So he would pawn his guitars to feed me and my Mom(and I`m sure their habits).He would always get his guitars out just before the pawnshop could claim them. He did this many times in a 5 year span.
One day after I got my tax return from my first year at my job(I was a fresh 18). My Dad asked if I could lend him some money. I turned him down thinking it was for drugs. I later found out it was to get 3 of his guitars out of the pawn shop.
So he ended up loosing his 1969 Es-175,the 1974 Les Paul and the Kramer. My Dad was pretty depressed after that and I felt really bad that I didn`t help him when I could have.
Now I have to tell you that all problems aside my dad was a great guy. He always had time to play with me or read me a book at bed time or take me to a movie when I was a kid. He was the man that taught me how to play bass when I finally decided to pick it up at the age of 20.
Well a few years later in 2004 my Dad died rather suddenly the day after Thanksgiving from pneumonia. He was only 44.
The only things besides the memories I had of my Dad were his guitars. And they were gone.
Two years later I was able to track down the Gibson double neck and Epiphone acoustic. Turns out they were in the possession of a coke dealer. Through some cajoling with a hammer and some money my girlfriend lent me I was able to get them back. That was a happy day in my life to say the least!

Let me get this straight. You threatened someone with physical violence to coerce them into releasing property they had acquired by legal means after you lost it by making a bad decision? I'm sorry; although I feel for your loss of your dad and sympathize with your wanting to regain possession of his guitars, I can't really say that I approve of your methods.

[basste]

Great story ! happy for you.
Now we want a pic.

[change-jug]

Originally Posted by ggunn

Let me get this straight. You threatened someone with physical violence to coerce them into releasing property they had acquired by legal means after you lost it by making a bad decision? I'm sorry; although I feel for your loss of your dad and sympathize with your wanting to regain possession of his guitars, I can't really say that I approve of your methods.

I should explain that better. After I found the guy who traded some crack for the double neck and acoustic to my Mom(after my Dad had died) I made a deal with him to buy them back to which he agreed.
Unfortunately, he was also a heavy coke user and kept asking for more and more money for them even after we had a written agreement and I gave him $500 as a down payment so he wouldn`t sell them to somebody else. He would also call my house late at night high and tell me he was going to smash them with a hammer if I didn`t run over with a few hundred dollars to make a payment. I tried to get the police involved twice.Even going so far as to admit my Mom pretty much stole the those 2 guitars from me and traded them for crack. The police suggested I go to small claims court. That wasn`t going to help me.
So to while you may not approve of my method let me say this: I did not make any bad decision that led to my Fathers guitars to end up in a drug dealers hands and there was nothing legal about how said drug dealer got those guitars.
And even though I did threaten that guy I still paid him the amount that we had agreed on in that written contract(even though looking back on it that piece of paper probably meant nothing legally). That was a very stressful time and I`m very happy that I never crossed the line and did something to that guy.

[J. Crawford]

Awesome story! Im sure your dad understood why you couldnt help him, you were trying to save him from himself.

This is truly awesome man.

[change-jug]

Thanks J!

[CannyBusDriver]

The fact he sold crack to your mom is enough reason to harm him, although im sure an addict would just find another dealer.

[Pilgrim]

I have no problem with your methods at all.

And I'm glad you have those guitars back.

Don't beat yourself up about not loaning him the money - you made the best decision you could with the information you had at the time...and you've honored your dad's memory by working to recover the instruments.

[change-jug]

Originally Posted by Pilgrim

I have no problem with your methods at all.

And I'm glad you have those guitars back.

Don't beat yourself up about not loaning him the money - you made the best decision you could with the information you had at the time...and you've honored your dad's memory by working to recover the instruments.

Thanks! That means a lot to me! You hit the nail on the head. My parents might have had their rough patches but I still love them. My mom has been clean for 2 years now and we have a way better relationship then we have had in a long time. And you`re absolutely right,all i`m trying to do is honor my Dad`s memory.

[ggunn]

Originally Posted by Pilgrim

I have no problem with your methods at all.

For the record, I thought he was talking about the guitars he lost to the pawn shop.

[MakiSupaStar]

You gotta turn this into a short story.