My friend and fellow bassist who I have worked with for the last 35 yrs lost his Japanese Jazz Bass, his 1983 AVRI 57 Bass, his Tacoma Thinderchief, his old King Cleveland 3/4 upright, his B15 and his Mesa walkabout along with literally everything else he and his wife have owned and collected over their lives. Amazing to think how overwhelming this is. His wife was, fortunately working from home when she had to dash out with nothing but her laptop and the two cats. Didn't even have time to grab her purse with her ID or anything else. I am sure this will be a story repeated many times by other musicians who have lost it all. Even the possibility of doing a music based fundraiser is quashed because of Covid. Damned sad. I will give him a bass and my Yamaha PB1 so he can at least play through headphones while they live in a hotel for the foreseeable future.
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My Good friend lost everything in Colorado Fire
- Thread starter Ron Aguiar
- Start date
That really blows. I have not yet experienced loss on that kind of level. Can you let us know again when he gets into another home? Living out of a hotel and whatnot now, I don't think it's time for an amp and cab, etc (you are doing exactly the right thing with a bass and small/headphone amp) but when he IS ready, I think we might be able to scratch up some stuff for him. I have a 500w Class D amp I'm not using any more when he needs it.
That is beyond kind, I am hoping that his insurance will cover most if not all of what he lost, of course the problem is that he lost all of his receipts in the fire as well as everything else-I will send him your response, just knowing that other bass family members are thinking about helping will go far in making him feel better
I hope insurance covers it all for him, too. Sadly most homeowner's policies have a limit on instruments/gear set at something stupid low, like $1,500-5,000 unless you specifically purchase a rider and list out each item in the policy. I truly do hope he had all of that worked out beforehand.
I sold insurance for a bit almost 20 years ago. It is painfully sad how little we/the general public truly understand about what they are buying, thinking that policy is security. Generally folks will get their house/structure back just fine, but coverage limits/exclusions for hobby collections, jewelry, and other valuables are woefully misunderstood.
It was so hard to explain this to folks, because everyone just thinks you're pushing extra premium on them to line your pockets. Sure, that does happen in some cases with some agents and is a valid thought. However from my perspective it wasn't really that much a boost for my pay, maybe a few bucks, but I was really trying to get folks to understand that just "having homeowner's insurance" doesn't mean that your $50k+ guitar/gun/coin collection is protected/covered in a fire/tornado/flood. For many folks these collections can be part of their retirement plan. The worst part for me was in the claims process when that reality sinks in to folks and it's too late to do anything about it.
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I, too, may have some items to send him. It's a habit that started with the Camp fire a few years ago.
That's truly devastating…we live about an hour away, and it's hard to believe how much damage that fire caused in such a short amount of time. Our hearts go out to everyone that lost their homes, instruments, etc.
The sick joke of it all is that it dumped snow, around 8" at our house, a mere 16 or so hours later…
The sick joke of it all is that it dumped snow, around 8" at our house, a mere 16 or so hours later…
I'm sorry to hear about your friend's misfortune. I covered wildfires in California for five or six years, and still I can't get my head around a fire that size in Colorado in December. It's crazy. I hope they are able to get back on their feet quickly.
I live in the province of Canada where the wild fires here can absolutely destroy a home in moments. I have volunteered in the recovery effort where people only had what was one their backs.
Some people worked very hard to save their home this summer only to have them washed away in floods so bad they destroyed all the highways to get down the coast.
I have written this for you to understand we know how hard it is and our Prayers are with your friends.
We have also learned many valuable lessons so if you have any questions at all please ask.
Yes I live in another Country and yes our laws can be different but when you see transport trucks from the United States that fought hours to get here your gifting lifted our spirits so much when it was greatly needed. I will also see what I have available in bass gear when you want it.
Clayton.
Some people worked very hard to save their home this summer only to have them washed away in floods so bad they destroyed all the highways to get down the coast.
I have written this for you to understand we know how hard it is and our Prayers are with your friends.
We have also learned many valuable lessons so if you have any questions at all please ask.
Yes I live in another Country and yes our laws can be different but when you see transport trucks from the United States that fought hours to get here your gifting lifted our spirits so much when it was greatly needed. I will also see what I have available in bass gear when you want it.
Clayton.
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If he and his family are alive and well, than he didn't lose everything. Actualy, he saved most important thing he has.
Sorry to hear about his troubles, hope it gets better soon.
Sorry to hear about his troubles, hope it gets better soon.
Thanks, I just know he was evacuated and safe, no news then... I just wondered if it was him.
Is there any sort of gofundme set up for your friends? I don't have any bass gear to offer, unfortunately, but I'd gladly donate.
There is no gofundme set up as of now, we are kind of waiting to see how insurance will respond and then move forward, thank you to all who have replied with your amazing generosity
When I was a child growing up in SoCal, we had to evacuate twice from oncoming wild fires. One came within 50 feet of our home, they other, not quite so close. After the "all clear" we didn't know whether or not we'd lost everything til we rounded the last bend in the round and breathed a sigh of relief. The terrifying power of those big fires has to be witnessed in person in order to be fully appreciated.
That house and the entire neighborhood around it burnt to the ground about 20 years after my folks had gotten old and feeble and moved into town. During that fire, conditions were similar to what happened in that Colorado fire that took your friend's stuff, with raging winds driving the fire. When that happens, there's really little that can be done and the fire crews basically just have to get out of the way. Fortunately, my folks had both passed by then, because they loved that house and would've been really sad to see it go, even though it was no longer theirs by then.
In 2020, we were had both vehicles all loaded are were ready to "bolt" after being told that mandatory evacuation (due to fire, again) was likely within hours. The air got so smokey that I was certain we'd have to leave, but the wind shifted and abated at the last minute, so the order was never given, at least to us.
It's a cliche, but true: the main thing is to save yourselves and your animals...no matter how fond of it you may be, "stuff" is just "stuff".
That said, I feel for your friend.
That house and the entire neighborhood around it burnt to the ground about 20 years after my folks had gotten old and feeble and moved into town. During that fire, conditions were similar to what happened in that Colorado fire that took your friend's stuff, with raging winds driving the fire. When that happens, there's really little that can be done and the fire crews basically just have to get out of the way. Fortunately, my folks had both passed by then, because they loved that house and would've been really sad to see it go, even though it was no longer theirs by then.
In 2020, we were had both vehicles all loaded are were ready to "bolt" after being told that mandatory evacuation (due to fire, again) was likely within hours. The air got so smokey that I was certain we'd have to leave, but the wind shifted and abated at the last minute, so the order was never given, at least to us.
It's a cliche, but true: the main thing is to save yourselves and your animals...no matter how fond of it you may be, "stuff" is just "stuff".
That said, I feel for your friend.
Well here is a part of the story on my friend Peter who lost everything in the Colorado Fire of 12/30/21. I am a guitar repairman and builder who owns Colorado Guitar Company. I have mostly shut down my business with the exception of old clients. After the fire I contacted a customer who I built a P bass for in 2007, about a year later he wanted a fretless neck- to cut to the chase, he still had the fretted neck and sold it back to me, I then built a P bass body from a nice piece of older Alder and did a 3 color burst- I installed a 65 P bass pickup ( genuine and not rewound) that I have been saving for a special project, and I guess this was it !! The reason I did this is because during our weekly recording sessions, Peter plays my 64 P bass and just loves it, So I mimicked everything I could, including the wear patterns in the paint. I put it on the stand and let him think it was the 64 ! He started trying to tune it and because it didn't have reverse tuners he was kind of thrown off,eventually we told him the bass was built for him and he was gobsmacked. To all of the great people on this site who selflessly offered up instruments and amplifiers when I first posted this, I cannot thank you all enough, truly you are all amazing people who I wish the best- Ron
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