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Jazz Bass Custody Battle

#23
Have you looked on the internet? After reading all of the answers, I found this site: Invalid Link Removed

I think there are two issues - are you morally obligated to return it and are you legally obligated to return it. After looking at the link, I doubt that any judge would make you return the bass after 17 years. Although I agree with DasClyde, who would retain an attorney to get back a $250 bass.

If you do give him money, make sure you get a receipt. The guitarist sounds like a dick, and may egg this guy on.
 
#24
This! Be sure to have a receipt, or even make the transactions with people that can attest for you in case the 'owner' is trying after that to sue you for theft.

My reaction would be your first one, 19 years?! No way! for sure the guy will sell it the moment he has it back, he just happens to remember that old bass he got 20 years ago and see it only sold.

Maybe the best way to go is to offer to buy it from him, it's money for him anyway. For you, it's much more, so go for loosing money quickly. Attempting for sueing/lawyer will cost you much more, an amount that will never let you buy 17 years with that bass in case you loose.

Neglecting the asking of two dickheads could on the other way be somehow risky, specially if one of them is in dear need of cash...

Let us know how it goes, and in the meantime, go eat some tacos ;-).
 
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#25
Someone said to charge him for setup and strings, add in 17 years worth of storage fees at $20/month. Technically I own a Peavey Mark IV and matching 2x15 head but it's been left in a jam room for something like 20-22 years, there's no way in hell I would try to ask for it back now...it belongs to that room as far as I'm concerned, if someone has hauled it off and done something with it...oh well, I hope it did what they needed it to do. I do not think you are wrong for trying to keep this bass, in fact I think the other guys are wrong for trying to make you feel bad about it.

But there is one question looming in the back of my mind - did anyone ever try to return it to the original owner? If a good faith attempt to return the bass was made and the owner did not respond then he, as far as I'm concerned, is SOL!
 
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#26
Well, I must temper a tad what I said. One cannot guess about what the guy wants.

Maybe that's a father that told his lad he did once play bass, the kid is interested, and he promised him to recover that old stuff he lent to one of his friend guitarist a long time ago, but a reliable friend, wait kid, I phone him, am sure he still got my old trusty bass... And here you go for the crusade about that filthy guy who took the bass and never came back with it. That's another point of view.

I would definitely make a fair offer first, so I could after that discuss about care cost vs usage cost vs loss of ownership for abandoned property laws and so on.
 
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#27
If it had been a year or two, I'd say give it back. But after 17 years of no one saying anything, I'd say that it's yours. We're talking about a bass guitar. Not a house or a car or something with legal proof of ownership. The part that really baffles me is that someone would forget about something they owned for that amount of time and then one day out of the blue decide they want it back.
 
#28
sketch said:
You might also check your local laws about found property and ownership rights, as no matter what people say on the Internet, no matter what is "just" "fair" or "right", we are subject to the rule of law.
Click to expand...

Often the rule of law differs from what is fair, moral and just. Respectable persons follow what is fair, moral and just. They treat others how they'd like to be treated, not how the law allows them to get away with.

It's odd, even shameful and ridiculous that the owner is asking for it now, however it is not the OP's bass and there's no moral reason to try "charging" for strings and setup after 17 years of free use.
 
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#30
Imagining myself in your position, and having had enough run ins with the law here's what I have to say. Decide how far you are willing to go to keep the bass you have used for 19 years. You aren't being a d!#k. If jagoff that left the bass behind owned it why didn't he keep it with him? Whatever. Don't do anything that will get you in court facing a theft charge, because if you end up there, the bass goes away anyway. I feel like you are justified in wanting to keep it, it's been "yours" all this time. There are people that never end up on the wrong side of anything. I am not one of them. I don't want to hear you have gotten in trouble over this, but I equally don't want to hear the bass doesn't stay with you. Good luck, protect yourself, be cool in the face of those d!#ks, and be sure to post a pic when you really own that bass!
 
#38
Kaiser Q said:
Back in 1997 I joined a band that had been around a while.I owned and still own a Precision Plus with an ash body.The thing is heavy as hell and kills my back and shoulder.After about three shows the guys saw how sore I'd be after the set and told me I could use this bass one of the old bass players had left after he quit.It was a MIM j-bass that had been sitting in the corner of their rehearsal space for two years.The strings were rusty and gunked up,the action was horrible and the neck was a little out.With some new strings and a lot of tlc I got the thing set up nice and sounding great.
For nine years I used the bass in that band and others,gigging 4-10 times a month.In that time not a peep from the old bass player was heard.I always had it in my possession and I treated it as one of my own.I babied it like I do the rest of my gear.In 2006 we called it quits due to people getting egos,getting married,having babies and all the usual band ending stuff.At the last show I took the bass home with me and nothing was ever said.After that I used it for another 8 years for just about every bass gig I did.So for 17 years it's been safe in my hands.
About a month ago I get a call from the guitarist of the band saying the old bass player contacted him and after 17 years wants his bass back.I told him "you mean MY bass? That's not gonna happen".Needless to say the conversation ended with me not budging and him saying "ok,I'll tell him you're bein a dick and don't want to give him HIS bass back".Now I'm being bombarded by emails and texts from the guitarist and the old bass player.The bastard gave him my number and email address.I told him he's sol and they sell squires at gc for $200.It's starting to get ugly.
Am I in the wrong here? I mean after 17 years I think the bass is rightfully and legally mine.If you leave your kid in the mall for 17 years can you call child services and say you want to come pick em up? Hell no,you blew it,you have proven yourself to be unable to care for them and they go to a loving home(hopefully).My guitars are my babies and I'm not just gonna hand them over to some neglectful owner.What are your opinions on this? Am I bein a dick?
Click to expand...
You didn't pay for the bass. They said you could use it. Basically, the TLC you put into it was a rental fee. It's not your bass, even if he did neglect it for 17 years.
 
#39
First, I'd ask to see some proof of ownership. I don't suspect it'll get any farther than that.

Small Claims Court: "Your Honor, I asked him for proof of ownership; how am I supposed to know if he's the original owner or just trying to rip me off?"

If he's got some, I'd do something like this (prices from my local luthier)

+ Purchased Cost
- Recondition Exterior ($100)
- Setup ($75)
- Strings ($40)
- Yearly Maintenance, Clean, Adjust, Inspect, Storage (My guy charges $25/month, but for giggles, let's make it $25/year x 19 years = $475)
-------
x - $690 = A NEGATIVE NUMBER

Small Claims Court: "Your Honor, I had to do quite a lot of work to restore this instrument. Shouldn't I be compensated for that?"

But, I agree with everyone about the Ethics side of the equation. Give it back or replace it, or pay the guy off at least. Don't be a jerk.
 
#40
Not sure what the law is like where you're at. But in England, there's something like a 3 month time limit. If someone doesn't take their property off your property, it legally becomes your property... I think 17 years is a little bit more understandable than 3 months. That's your bass. Block them from sending you more e-mails.
 

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