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STOLEN 1965 Rickenbacker 4005 Mapleglo

#21
I feel for you; I had instruments stolen, including my first bass, a white '78 Ric 4001. A bit of advice: call the police and file a report, but don't rely on them. Right or wrong, they have more pressing things and won't spend time chasing it down. Call every music shop in as wide a circle as makes sense, and every pawn shop as well, with a clear description and/or photos. Of the four instruments that were stolen from me, one came back when someone walked into a music shop with it. It was recovered through my own efforts, not the police. Make the effort and I hope that you'll be rewarded with its safe return.
 
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#27
Jeremy, I agree that you get the police involved, but don't count on them to track it down. It sucks your dad's bass was stolen, but one thing in your favor is it's a unique, vintage bass. Definitely notify your local music stores and pawn shops. If you have a facebook account, post it there as stolen too. Let as many fellow musicians in your area know about it. The faster you get on this, the better.

Fingers crossed you recover it soon.

And, do you have a new neighbor? Or how about a neighbor who has people over at their house frequently? There's a chance a friend of one of your neighbors watched your dad taking it to church and bringing it home.

It sounds to me that the thief had a good idea when to rob your house, and where to quickly find the bass, so they've certainly been casing your house for awhile.
 
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#28
A friend who was staying at my house for a while back in the day had all his guitar gear here .
Very rare guitars.
A first year lochness Green jem and a first year flower print jem....and an early Marshall 800
We threw a party and he played some in Front of people.
Next week while I was out of town someone broke in and stole just his guitar gear...
Within a week or so we got a call from a local pawn shop who had his guitars and the thief in hand.
He recognized them for the rarity in the area and knew they were Jim's.
Hope this happens for you this way as well.
The thief was identified as an acquaintance from school who was at the party that night.
 
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#29
leesbrushes said:
A friend who was staying at my house for a while back in the day had all his guitar gear here .
Very rare guitars.
A first year lochness Green jem and a first year flower print jem....and an early Marshall 800
We threw a party and he played some in Front of people.
Next week while I was out of town someone broke in and stole just his guitar gear...
Within a week or so we got a call from a local pawn shop who had his guitars and the thief in hand.
He recognized them for the rarity in the area and knew they were Jim's.
Hope this happens for you this way as well.
The thief was identified as an acquaintance from school who was at the party that night.
Click to expand...

Exactly. And it helps to try and think like a Detective in this kind of situation. I had some audio gear stolen from my house many years ago, and I found out you're really on your own to recover your stolen items. Luckily I was able to recover most of what was stolen.
 
#31
Wow! This community is amazing. Thank you for all of the support, ideas, and emails.

We had the police come out this afternoon and fingerprint. Luckily one of the cops plays bass and got real fired up. We have canvased all of the local guitar shops - thankfully all of the owners know my old man and the 4005 so they're spreading the word.
We are going to hit every pawn shop in the area tomorrow and hit the police for the Pawn Shop inventory list (great idea Mantis Tobbagan). My biggest fear is that this was a hired grab, I always knew it was a rare bass but I had no idea the value it held!

Needless to say my dad is absolutely crushed right now but I am staying on the case.

From the bottom of my heart guys - thank you for all of your help.
I will let you know if anything materializes.
 
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#34
Not to make light of this at all, but I gotta wonder why they didn't take the case, too? 4005 cases are as rare as - well, as 4005 basses! Seems to me a knowledgeable guitar thief would have taken it with the case. This sounds like someone just interested in taking something shiny and making a quick buck for it (fencing) and has no idea that it is a valuable collectible.
 
#35
Sounds like it's someone that knows the family. Anyone you know personally that is a druggie? You never know... the worst type of criminal is one that steals from their own family/friends. Stay safe.

Keep checking ebay, craigslist, reverb.com and your local pawnshops. It's bound to show up soon if they need the cash that bad.
 
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#37
Jeremy27 said:
The thieves didn't steal anything else (weird) but they tore through the house and found the guitar stored in the closet, removed it from the case, and left.
Click to expand...
Man, this sucks. And from what you're saying, the thief already had an intimate knowledge of what he / she was looking for, and knew exactly where to find it.
Sounds like a number of people knew of the bass (church, friends, etc.), but how many knew where it was stashed, or, were familiar enough with the house that they found it very quickly? From a thief's standpoint, they really hurt their chances by honing in on that one item...
Very best of luck to you — with the dragnet you're laying down, as well as the power of internet searches, I sincerely bet you guys find the bass. —Will
 
#39
If anyone in your circles even talks about guitars or has knowledge on something as rare as a 65' Rik 4005, start there. It is either that person or someone they know. I've been around awhile and still had to think for a moment about 4005s made in the 60s, especially 65 which I think borders on prototype. It is not a natural thing to know about that instrument like a Strat, Les Paul, or even vintage Ps and Js. One utterance of a 4005 and you will find the path to the person. One problem, I have no idea if you are in a wealthy area or part of an affluent community. If so, those could be harder to track as they will know something like that needs to he held onto for multiple years before it is even safe to bring out into the sunlight. I'm from WV and I doubt there is a 65 4005 even within 300 miles of where I live. People cant shut up is a fact on your side though, something that rare should surface. Best of luck and sorry for your loss. But I think the shear rarity is going to get them caught is this case, that is on your side. The not taking the guitar case thing is a head scratch-er for sure. That means dumb, so your odds again go up in finding it.
 
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