STOLEN INSTRUMENT ALERT! This one-off, custom ESP GLB 6-string bass guitar from the ESP Custom Shop in Japan was stolen while in transit to me via the United States Postal Service (USPS).
Key identifying features:
• Serial number: E6410201
• String count: 6
• Headstock shape: banana (GL)
• Body wood: walnut
• Body color: brown
• Neck construction: bolt-on
• Neck wood: maple
• Fretboard wood: birdseye maple
• Fretboard inlays: walnut dots
Other pertinent specs:
• Scale length: 864mm (34”)
• Fret number: 22
• Pickups: Aguilar DCB-04
• Controls: 3-way pickup selector toggle, volume knob, tone knob
• Bridge: ESP design
• Tuners: Spertzel locking tuners
• Additional accessories: hardcase
This is the only GL-style bass that ESP has ever completed; and as such, it is a very, very recognizable instrument. More photos are attached at the end of this post.
The bass was shipped via EMS on June 6, 2025 by a friend of mine in Tokyo who has previously assisted me with exporting instruments out of Japan in the past. On June 12, 2025, the bass arrived in the USA and was processed through customs. On June 13, 2025, the bass arrived at a USPS sorting and distribution facility in Jamaica, Queens (in New York City) and subsequently vanished with zero update ever since.
I have done the following:
• Initiated a missing mail search request with USPS
• Requested that the sender (my friend in Tokyo) open an international inquiry so that a claim could be opened and a report be sent from Japan to the USA to allow the conducting of an investigation
• Filed a report with the United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS)
• Filed a complaint with the USPS Office of Inspector General (OIG)
• Contacted local law enforcement
I’ve done everything that I can think of; and thus far, absolutely nothing has been turned up. It seems like the postal system overall isn’t making any effort whatsoever to assist me because every single step of the process has been like pulling teeth, whether it has been in-person, over the phone, via email, etc. My attempts at initiating an investigation all seem to be getting ignored and shut down. (Example below.)
Given the circumstances, I’m assuming at this point that the bass guitar was stolen by a USPS employee, or a USPS employee was complicit in assisting with the theft. — A boxed-up item this large in size doesn’t simply just disappear or get misplaced.
So, I am tossing this post out there (as of typing this, it is currently July 1, 2025) and asking the musician community at-large to please keep an eye out for this instrument — whether it is at stores and shops, via online selling platforms such as eBay and Reverb, or even on social media and forums. My request here particularly goes out to anyone who is around the New York City area (or the surrounding region) since that is the last place where the shipping box containing the instrument was scanned and where it vanished.
Also, if you don’t mind, please spread the word around the internet to help raise awareness, guys. Every little bit of exposure helps recruit more eyes who could possibly aid in finding this bass.
Lastly, if any of you here on the TalkBass forum have dealt with a similar situation (whether it was with the postal system or with another courier service), I would appreciate it if you could share your experience here in the thread so that I can learn about what to expect in this matter.
Thank you.
