old band lost my guitar. advice?

[Big Brother]

Originally Posted by JamesGoodall

... now the guitarist claims he "cant find" my guitar.

All of that band are into pretty heavy drug use...

Our friend's bass that was there also went 'missing,'...

He called me an a**hole

What do you guys think?

[Kmonk]

Never get involved with anyone who is into drug use, heavy or otherwise.

Same thing happened to me in the early 80's although drugs were not involved. The drummer claimed my 78 Jazz in Sienna Sunburst and my 1972 SVT had been stolen. I later found out that he traded them for an Alembic. I eventualy got the money.

I would call the police. Its technically a theft issue and then take them to small claims court. Most states have an relatively inexpensive small claims procedure.

[fdeck]

Originally Posted by invader3k

Seems like I've read many threads like this on Talkbass over the years. The common themes are: lending or giving control of something (ie. possession at a practice space) to someone who was untrustworthy to begin with, being very passive about the situation and hoping for the best, taking forever to actually do something about the situation, and finally, never getting the gear back unless authorities finally get involved.

It's like mooches have a sense of who they can take advantage of.

[ChrisB2]

Originally Posted by Kmonk

I would call the police. Its technically a theft issue

Ha ha. You say that as if that advice hasn't been offered and rejected, over... and over... and over.

OP obviously has issues with the police himself......

[JamesGoodall]

Originally Posted by ChrisB2

Ha ha. You say that as if that advice hasn't been offered and rejected, over... and over... and over.

OP obviously has issues with the police himself......

Thank you for assuming that about me. I have none, I'm simply two hours away and in the middle of finals week. Next week, as soon as the guy who's bass got "lost" gets back in town from Lubbock, me him and the other are filing a police report, and filing a claim in small claims court. We all feel like we'll have better chances if we do it as a group

[JohnMCA72]

Originally Posted by JamesGoodall

Thank you for assuming that about me. I have none, I'm simply two hours away and in the middle of finals week. Next week, as soon as the guy who's bass got "lost" gets back in town from Lubbock, me him and the other are filing a police report, and filing a claim in small claims court. We all feel like we'll have better chances if we do it as a group

Well, that's the 2nd silliest thing I've read on this thread (preceded immediately by the 3rd).

[Bert Slide]

You must be a very dedicated student. Hell, highwater or exams wouldn't stop me from proceeding immediately to confront the thief had he stole my ax. I would use all channels available, legal and otherwise to make him feel my pain. There are few worse types of thieves than a fellow musician that steals gear.

[JamesGoodall]

Originally Posted by Bert Slide

You must be a very dedicated student. Hell, highwater or exams wouldn't stop me from proceeding immediately to confront the thief had he stole my ax. I would use all channels available, legal and otherwise to make him feel my pain. There are few worse types of thieves than a fellow musician that steals gear.

I'm a bassist. I never played the guitar that got stolen, which was why I was cool with him having it so long. I've since replaced the guitar, and am doing this now based on the fact that the guy with the bass's father and uncle are attorneys, and there's a third guy who's gear got stolen

[Bert Slide]

Originally Posted by JamesGoodall

I'm a bassist. I never played the guitar that got stolen, which was why I was cool with him having it so long. I've since replaced the guitar, and am doing this now based on the fact that the guy with the bass's father and uncle are attorneys, and there's a third guy who's gear got stolen

Seems like you have been pretty cool so far about letting him keep it forever. Good luck, I hope it works out. I might have missed it in a previous post but what city was the guitar stolen in and what make,model,color, distinguishing marks, etc.? Lots of people on here that spend some time in the local music shops and pawn shops.

[ChrisB2]

Originally Posted by JamesGoodall

Thank you for assuming that about me. I have none

Not really an assumption:

Originally Posted by JamesGoodall

In my experience, every time I've filed a police report the cops from the district did come out and talk to me.

And yes, that was one of the bigger mistakes of my life thus far

Your posts throughout this thread demonstrated an unreasonable reluctance to involve the police, and then you clearly stated this has been a problem with you in the past. Not sure how my comment that you have issues with the police was an assumption...

Sorry if my posts are ruffling your feathers, but you created a thread and I'm commenting on what I see.

I don't typically make assumptions or take pot-shots at other members. Good luck with whatever you end up doing.

[JamesGoodall]

Originally Posted by ChrisB2

Your posts throughout this thread demonstrated an unreasonable reluctance to involve the police, and then you clearly stated this has been a problem with you in the past. Not sure how my comment that you have issues with the police was an assumption...

Please, show me where I said I had any reluctance towards getting the police involved?

[bolophonic]

Originally Posted by JamesGoodall

Please, show me where I said I had any reluctance towards getting the police involved?

Dude.

[ChrisB2]

Originally Posted by JamesGoodall

Please, show me where I said I had any reluctance towards getting the police involved?

I did not say you SAID you had reluctance, I said you demonstrated reluctance.

Have you filed a report yet?

No. I rest my case.

Hey, I'm just a guy on the Internet. If I'm wrong about you just ignore me.

[JamesGoodall]

My bad. I thought when you said I "clearly stated this has been a problem in the past" you were talking about me with the police.

As per the report, like I said. As soon as the third guy gets in town we're filing the police report and the claim.

[kev b]

This thread seems to confirm the old saying - "Advice is what you seek when you already know the answer but don't like it"

[gumtownbassman]

do you still have a key to the rehersal room?
I would leave a rather stinky gift behind.

If you can't get justice, then get revenge.

[1958Bassman]

Originally Posted by JimmyM

It will be considered a civil matter and the police won't even touch it.

Suin g in small claims court is a civil matter but the guitar being called "missing" because someone who's not the owner took it is still theft and that is a crime. The fact that there's no evidence of forced entry means someone with a key took it or the door was left unlocked. Since the bass is the only other item known to be missing, that leaves the others as suspects, either because they did it, let someone else have access to the key or because they weren't responsible enough to maintain custody of the keys and someone took the key without their knowledge.

[ShoeManiac]

This thread is STILL going some 2 months after the initial post? Sorry OP, but if you were really interested in getting your gear back in a timely fashion, you wouldn't have let this issue stagnate for 2 months. You should've have gotten law enforcement involved in a timeframe that was more like 2 DAYS. You have to bear some responsibility for not involving the authorities in an attempt to recover your equipment.

[Arthur Strand]

You could also try securing something of equal value from them but addicts may have little or nothing. You could always get them to do some work via a proxy link and recoup that loss in the form of money equivalent to the value of the instrument. Or you could resort to dastardly tactics which would be your own risk and responsibility.

[TNCreature]

This thread should be closed.