newbie - stolen Tele

Long-time reader of this forum, first-time poster (joined today). Unfortunately, I make my first post as a member here without even owning a Telecaster ... anymore. See pic.

Sad to report my red double-bound Telecaster (about '87, MIJ, double-bound, brass saddles, rosewood 'board, with an "A-" serial number on bridgeplate only) was stolen on June 24 from a friend's house here in Jackson, MS, as well as his black-out FrankenStrat with 3 P-90s.

Though I had Lollars in it, it had a standard pickup configuration. Technically, I think it was known as a "Custom Telecaster," (as opposed to a "Telecaster Custom," the one with a humbucker in the neck). However, now they're all known as '62 RIs it seems after the American re-launch a few years ago.

We've launched a Facebook campaign, spread the words to our local musician buddies, and are contacting pawn shops and music stores in the area. We're also filing a report through the PD.

Anyone who's had gear stolen in the past have any other advice on how to go about searching for it?

Welcome to the forum Scantron. Sorry to hear about your loss. That's a gorgeous tele.

Oh man, I'm sorry to hear about your loss dude...
:sad:
You left your guitar at someone elses house?

I guess I'm just a total guitar geek but I don't leave my guitar anywhere I can't see it unless it's at my house locked up in my bedroom. If my guitar can't go with me, I ain't going either.

You know...I always found myself yelling at those people that take their pets everywhere with them.
I have unwittingly become one of those people...

wow...

Dm

I've had an ATV stolen and once had my storage building burglarized and can feel your paint. Nothing ever made me any angrier. Good luck with your search.

Sad news, that is/was one gorgeous instrument. I hope you get it back. Keep your eyes on eBay and report it immediately if it shows up.

If you have a Guitar Center nearby let them know. They will add it to a database and let the police know if it comes in.

I've had an ATV stolen and once had my storage building burglarized and can feel your paint. Nothing ever made me any angrier. Good luck with your search.

...feel your paint?


Hope you get the Tele back, mayber it will help that it isn't just like all the others with that binding.

I got one back by visiting every single used instrument dealer in Manhattan and leaving a flier with a picture of the guitar and my phone number. I also called every dealer in Brooklyn and Queens and faxed the same flier when I could. There were other circumstances that led me to its new owner, but he lied when I confronted him and claimed he no longer had it. He was arrested trying to sell it the next day thanks to my fliers. That was three months after the theft. Don't give up!

I've got equipment all over town. Don't blame yourself for leaving it at a friend's house, unless he or one of his roommates/housemates/immediate neighbors is a heavy user or dealer of hard drugs. White powders and theft go hand in hand.

If you have a Guitar Center nearby let them know. They will add it to a database and let the police know if it comes in.

+1

Also contact Billy at the Guitar Center in Hoover, AL. Remember, Alabama has no pawnshop hold law and so stolen things end up there.

man, hope you get your guitar back.. My Gretsch G5135 Electromatic was also stolen.. You really feel like Sh$t when something like that happens...

Thanks for the words. Been watching eBay and C's List like a hawk. Gave GC here in town a flier the next day, as well as all our local music shops.

The house I left it at is where my band rehearses once a week, and it's only a block or 2 away from my house. My amp and pedals pretty much live there, and I sometimes leave a guitar there, too, since I have a few others at home.

There was a bunch of other stuff that did not get nabbed that could have - there are about 7 people who have some amount of gear there. We have 3 different PAs, a vintage Ludwig set, amps-o-plenty, pedals, mics, cords, and several other guitars, including an Am. Strat and an Am. J-Bass. All in all, we didn't get hit that hard. Still, that Tele had become my go-to guitar in the last 2 years and now I feel sort of lost without it.

The odd thing is that everything was still packed up from a gig a few days earlier -- the dude(s) took the guitars in their cases to the back door, removed the guitars, and then closed and latched the cases, and left the empty cases there, just stealing the guitars.

Local pawnshops and craigslist.

The odd thing is that everything was still packed up from a gig a few days earlier -- the dude(s) took the guitars in their cases to the back door, removed the guitars, and then closed and latched the cases, and left the empty cases there, just stealing the guitars.

Very strange indeed. Good luck to you!

Maybe a good or bad idea, just a thought but if you post the full S/N or any other info you have, maybe we could all watch for it. I know I'm on eBay daily looking for things I can't afford!

...feel your paint?


Hope you get the Tele back, mayber it will help that it isn't just like all the others with that binding.

...mayber?

It's always nice to point out other peoples typing errors but this is best done when one proof reads their own typing.

Ha! Sweet.

a good reason to have some coverage with someone like Clarion or MusicPro insurance. you could have insured that Tele for about $100 bucks a year and gotten replacement value for the loss.
I'm not an insurance salesman, just a musician, but I do have insurance on all my instruments and gear. Last time I lost gear it was a thousand bucks worth of stuff gone from backstage at a gig..and it was gone in a flash, down the road in some other guy's car.

Loss was covered by my homeowners' policy, but the deductible exceeded the value of the guitar, even with the Lollars in it. :(

Thanks for the words.

There was a bunch of other stuff that did not get nabbed that could have - there are about 7 people who have some amount of gear there. We have 3 different PAs, a vintage Ludwig set, amps-o-plenty, pedals, mics, cords, and several other guitars, including an Am. Strat and an Am. J-Bass. All in all, we didn't get hit that hard. Still, that Tele had become my go-to guitar in the last 2 years and now I feel sort of lost without it.

The odd thing is that everything was still packed up from a gig a few days earlier -- the dude(s) took the guitars in their cases to the back door, removed the guitars, and then closed and latched the cases, and left the empty cases there, just stealing the guitars.

Sounds like it might be someone you or your friends know and knew what was there and what they wanted, since they seem to have been selective. Any newer members in the circle?

Welcome to the forum Scantron, I never lost a guitar but I feel for you. Definately keep an eye on craigslist. A buddy of mine lost a guitar and a month later it showed up 3 counties over. He went in with an undercover, happy ending. Wish you the best of luck getting yours back.

...feel your paint?


Hope you get the Tele back, mayber it will help that it isn't just like all the others with that binding.



...mayber?

It's always nice to point out other peoples typing errors but this is best done when one proof reads their own typing.


Rofl....


:lol:
Dm

There was a bunch of other stuff that did not get nabbed that could have - there are about 7 people who have some amount of gear there.

The odd thing is that everything was still packed up from a gig a few days earlier -- the dude(s) took the guitars in their cases to the back door, removed the guitars, and then closed and latched the cases, and left the empty cases there, just stealing the guitars.

Really sad to read this.
Cannot be happy on my ngd when someone the same day lose their prized possession.

From what you write, I feel certain its someone you know.

An outside burgler would make a run with the guitars in their cases.
Not only it would be far easier to carry them in their cases, but also hide the description of the guitars. If by chance was seen by someone, a burgler would rather risk being seen walking away with two guitar cases than spotted with a red and a black guitar - linking him/her with the description of the stolen items.

Whoever stole them, did not walk out of the house with a guitar in each hand. He/she is still in the house. Simply took the guitars and deliberately left the cases outside to make it look like a robbery.

Its someone in the house. Make an excuse to search the house, you may find your guitar. Do not leave it too late.

That is terrible! I used to have friends that lived in Belhaven...

The one that concerns me is musicians we know, casually telling others that we play guitar, and eventually a bad guy targeting any of us for a home invasion.

Makes me want to start coming up with 5 different places to house an enscribed, or paper serial number inside my axes.

and can feel your paint
Was it nitro or poly?
But yeah, I don't like anyone who steals, especially stuff with sentimental value such as guitars and vehicles.

Did you have the police try to get finger prints off of the cases?

If it does not fit the criteria of grand theft, or a major heist, police usually yawn at the mention of fingerprinting...

I disagree with the idea that the guitars are still in the house. Someone who knew that the guitars were there could show up with empty cases or gig bags and transfer the guitars.

Most thefts of this type are, however, "inside jobs" of some kind. Someone must have had a pretty good idea of what was in there. Then again, maybe the practices are loud enough that any neighbor or passer-by would have a reasonable expectation of finding something of value inside.

If the bands that practice there play out, any audience member could be a suspect. Someone could even have followed you back to the space after the show and stolen the stuff as soon as you left. I still say that the most likely explanation is a band member or household member with a drug habit, someone who got kicked out of one of the bands for having a drug habit, or a druggie friend of someone who lives or practices there.

Did you have the police try to get finger prints off of the cases?

Unless the case is as smooth as glass, you can't get prints off them. You may get a partial off the latches.....

I feel your pain. I had a Gibson SG special I bought in 1976 stolen from my apartment. Made me sick. I should probably mention that the theft occurred in 1981 so it wasn't the tragedy it would be today.

I searched endlessly for that guitar. Never saw it again.

I had a Tele and my old Gibson Tennessean stolen a few years ago. They didn't take the cases, just grabbed the 2 guitars closest to the door of my studio. Fortunately my old half blind deaf dog slept in the studio and musta woke up and scared them. Unfortunately it was December and they were thrown in the trunk of a car. I checked all the local pawn shops and music stores and sure enough that same day someone tried to hock them, but got away before the police could get there. They were eventually recovered by a local shop a year later when someone tried to trade them in and the owner of the shop recognized my Gibson. The person who had them readily gave them up and the name of who they got them from (no action ever taken by police). The down side was my Gibson got finish shocked bad and now the neck is shedding finish in chunks. Keep a positive attitude and do as much footwork as you can, guitars do find their way home sometimes.

...mayber?

It's always nice to point out other peoples typing errors but this is best done when one proof reads their own typing.

Yeah, more maybe:razz:

Do a web search for stolen guitar databases and list the guitar on every one. For example, http://www.stolenguitarregistry.com/
ST

As long as we're discussing marking everything, I have my name and phone number inside the battery compartments of my pedals, guitar serial numbers in my wallet and pictures of everything.

This is mostly to avoid "confusion" when playing festivals or with several other bands.

I also have my name in big letters on my guitar cases. We wound up with a friend's guitar, and he with one of ours, after playing a gig one night.

Doubt one that nice going to a pawn shop, some crack dealer probally ended up with it as trade. Post a reward, it's sad but thats usually what it takes, some incentive for someone who's seen it or knows where it's at to get it back to you.

You left your guitar at someone elses house?

I guess I'm just a total guitar geek but I don't leave my guitar anywhere I can't see it... If my guitar can't go with me, I ain't going either. Dm

+1

Everyone stares at me whenever I walk into a bar and sit on the table with my guitar on a side chair and my Girl on the other, but I wont leave my guitars anywhere, ANYWHERE unless it's my place or my trunk.

I once left my bass backstage with other guitars and it was "stolen", I searched the out of town bands cars and found it, almost got into a fight wht those idiots... Thank God I found them before they left, buncha losers... ****** them gear rats

Hit every pawn shop that you can find, especially those close to the location. I had several stolen a few years ago, they were pawned at a nearby shop the night of the burglary, before the police report was filed and the data transmitted to the pawn shops. I was lucky and found them on Ebay a few months later, then spent two years getting them back from the police and the insurance.. but GO TO EVERY PAWNSHOP you can.. along with all the other things you are doing... but pawnshops.. pawnshops... thats where thieves take things for a fast turnaround...

This is just a thought. I use it for getting ahead of the buyers on good guitar deals, but you could use it for your search.

Use Google Alerts to trigger sending you an email from Craigslist posts. You can set it to be instant notifications. I usually use multiple search names, you might try "Tele", "telecaster", "Fender", etc. I took a screenshot as to how to set it up for you. You need a Google account.

Best of luck. I'm sorry to hear what happened.

I keep coming back to this hoping for good news.

I really hope you get it back

Thanks for all the concern and the warm welcome. Yes, our band plays out about 2x a month. My buddy whose house it was has no roommates. We all have the 9-5 life during the week, and 3/4 of the band has a wife and kids - don't think there are too many druggies in our circle who would lift our axes for weed. Who knows, though? I suppose anything's possible. The theory has been floated around here that it might be neighborhood kids who hear us in there practicing, or possibly some folks around town who've seen us and know what kind of gear we have and where it can be found. I really don't believe it would be someone close to us, but maybe so. No good news yet, but I am continuing to hunt. In the meantime, I think I am going to have to get another Tele. I thought I could get by with my others (a late 80s modded Japanese Strat and '76 LP Stnd), but frankly, I'm missing a piece of me. And I had been saving up for a Rick 360 - but now I think that will go on the back burner so I can replace my Tele first.

For weed? I know it's very expensive these days, but that's not exactly what I was thinking. At any rate, best of luck with your search.

Good luck in finding it! This thread had a lot of good advice, and I'm sure it's just a matter of time before the thief gets caught and your guitar is back in your hands....

Good luck! Sorry to hear about your loss... Pawnshops never really took off over here in the UK. Instead we have chains such as 'Cash Converters'. I call them 'Smack Converters'.

Be vigilant and search those stores. I don't know what the process is for trading stuff in, but if they have to provide I.D. of some sort, or they are stupid enough to give their genuine personal info you may just catch them too.

Seek and ye shall (probably) find! You have serial numbers etc?

+1

Everyone stares at me whenever I walk into a bar and sit on the table with my guitar on a side chair and my Girl on the other, but I wont leave my guitars anywhere, ANYWHERE unless it's my place or my trunk.

I once left my bass backstage with other guitars and it was "stolen", I searched the out of town bands cars and found it, almost got into a fight wht those idiots... Thank God I found them before they left, buncha losers... ****** them gear rats

Thank the Lord...I'm not the only person that thinks this way!!!
I freak out when the kids at church get too close to my guitar or anyone stands near it to get closer to the Audio booth. The only two humans I trust with it are Mellecaster and my wife...and that's cause she claims I love it more than her. (Trying to get her confidence straight...lol)

If I caught some bums trying to steal it...you can bet they'd be leaving with a limp.

Dm

Really sad to read this.
Cannot be happy on my ngd when someone the same day lose their prized possession.

From what you write, I feel certain its someone you know.

An outside burgler would make a run with the guitars in their cases.
Not only it would be far easier to carry them in their cases, but also hide the description of the guitars. If by chance was seen by someone, a burgler would rather risk being seen walking away with two guitar cases than spotted with a red and a black guitar - linking him/her with the description of the stolen items.

Whoever stole them, did not walk out of the house with a guitar in each hand. He/she is still in the house. Simply took the guitars and deliberately left the cases outside to make it look like a robbery.

Its someone in the house. Make an excuse to search the house, you may find your guitar. Do not leave it too late.

this makes a lot of sense, I agree that you should check out dudes house. He could be in on the scam...

And if there was no signs of forced entry on the house (Garage, doors, etc...) it does indeed scream "Inside job".

:sad:
Dm

He's not in on it - besides the fact that he is one of my oldest friends (since 4-year-old pre-K) and my bandmate, his guitar was stolen, too, and his house was broken into. There was forced entry. His back door was the entry point - the thieves broke in there. We filed a report with the PD. The investigating officer said there have been other break-ins in the area with the same M.O. - discerning taste for guitars and guns. (My buddy didn't have any guns, but they looked for some in all of his closets.) Screams pawn shop, doesn't it?

Screams pawn shop, doesn't it?

Most definitely! Sounds like some neighborhood scoundrels attempting to maintain their cocaine habits, too! Just keep up the search!

Nice Tele man, sorry to hear you lost it keep us posted on whether you recover it or not. I've had gear stolen over the years and it's no joke man. Can't point ya in any one certain direction but it looks to me like you're on it! Best of luck

Start asking questions. Pin it down to a time frame, who has keys to the house? Who has access to the house? Does the owner leave the doors unlocked? If people come and go and no ones keeping track of anything then it sure sounds suspicious, like it is an inside job. From what you described they wanted exaclty what was stolen. I know who comes and goes from my home. Who was there when you were'nt? Meaning what band members. It dosen't add up when you think about what was stolen and what wasn't. It has to be someone who was allowed to be there. If it was a drive by burglary it would have been alot more stuff out the back door. Good luck. Here's a quick story. My sister in law had a ring stolen (it was a keep sake from her deceased father) from an apartment she was renting 30 years ago. She was dealin cards in a large downtown (Las Vegas) casino at the time. Years went by and one day a guy comes in to play a few hands of blackjack, she looks down at his hand and he's wearing the ring. She calls for a replacement dealer and calls the cops. A few minutes later they have the guy in the back and he admits the theft. How's that for some odds on getting back what was yours! He shows up at the very casino table at the very time she's dealin. Be relentless, it's your guitar and you may be playing it again. Keep the pressure on and don't give up hope.

He's not in on it - besides the fact that he is one of my oldest friends (since 4-year-old pre-K) and my bandmate, his guitar was stolen, too, and his house was broken into. There was forced entry. His back door was the entry point - the thieves broke in there. We filed a report with the PD. The investigating officer said there have been other break-ins in the area with the same M.O. - discerning taste for guitars and guns. (My buddy didn't have any guns, but they looked for some in all of his closets.) Screams pawn shop, doesn't it?

A few months ago my brother had his house broken into, they stole a gun and his guitar.

I really hope you and your buddy finds your gear, it is a sickening feeling when something gets stolen.

He's not in on it - besides the fact that he is one of my oldest friends (since 4-year-old pre-K) and my bandmate, his guitar was stolen, too, and his house was broken into. There was forced entry. His back door was the entry point - the thieves broke in there. We filed a report with the PD. The investigating officer said there have been other break-ins in the area with the same M.O. - discerning taste for guitars and guns. (My buddy didn't have any guns, but they looked for some in all of his closets.) Screams pawn shop, doesn't it?

Absolutely does! This bad economy has brought out the worst in society...and it isn't getting any better. I wish they would allow vigilante justice and let us find these feebs.

Again, I'm so sorry for your loss. If it was me I know I would be absolutely in tears.

:sad:
Dm

Here's another resource for you: http://www.juststolen.net/

My brother had an 1930's Kalamazoo Archtop stolen out of his van when parked in front of my old house. Also lost a couple nice old mics too...never saw them again :sad:

At last a good use for Face Book.

Best of luck recovering your guitar

Gary

Thanks, everyone. Still hoping.

I hope you can recover your tele. I'm sending mojo and prayers your way.

In case someone reads this who is thinking about filing a claim against their homeowners insurance...give it lots of thought beforehand. It doesn't take much to get a "non-renewal notice" and enjoy a big increase in your premium with the next company who insures you. Despite what all of their syrupy ads say, they don't give a crap about you if you cost them money.

Hope you get it back. And welcome along too :)

Still no sign. Thanks for the well-wishes and mojo. While I keep looking, I finally bought another guitar to "replace" it, albeit not a Tele (although it is a 2-single coil guitar which can twang and rock). Pulled the trigger on a long-time longed-after Rickenbacker 360 in jetglo. I will have another Tele one day (or maybe get reunited with mine), but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to get my dream Rick while I had the chance (wife's permission).

I hope you had a police report filed. It would be hard to prove ownership without one, especially if the guitar turns up on EBay or in a shop outside your state.

Man I hope you get your guitars back, Hopefully they will catch who done it and they get jail time, Karma is ...well you know......it does come back around...

God Bless, Hope you get them back

Sounds like it might be someone you or your friends know and knew what was there and what they wanted, since they seem to have been selective. Any newer members in the circle?

Those are my thoughts.. I have a sence about things like that..

I get the need to want to play detective and locate what's rightfully yours but honestly if you don't find it in the first couple of days it's best to move on.. Hopefully whoever ends up owning it will apreaciate it 1/2 as much as you did. You suffered a loss write it off and move on.. it's healthier for you.. and you will feel better..

Sad news, the good news is it doesn't look to be too a common a Tele so perhaps a bit easier to get back.

Gary