Stolen Gear Alert

I saw a local guitarist a few years back (really brilliant player but will omit his name for the purposes here) who was playing some small venues and in a couple of dicey neighborhoods with what must have been 30 grand worth of stuff on stage--Chicago Blues Boxes, really rare, spendy guitars, a Leslie--and was hoping that he hired Brinks to set up and tear down his gear for him, but doubt it. Careful out there, guys.

 

It's self-righteous, grammar nit-pickers like this (on a guitar forum, no less) that make me wish there were a 'Dislike' button; especially when they need to check their own grammar first.

 

Is it bad if shortly after shaking my head in disgust, the thought that went through my mind was "Well, at least maybe they'll get played now."?

 

If you are referring to my use of the word "was" instead of "were" you might have me there but I'm not positive. But did you notice I used the work "like" twice? Actually I was Quoting Kelly Clarkson, she uses the word "Like" about six or seven times in each sentence on her TV Talk Show. Thanks for your support.

Lost_N_Austin

 

It's not likely that any of the gear is still in this country. This wasn't likely a couple of thugs in a pickup truck. To move a million dollars worth of specialized gear takes a large and nefarious network. That's just my opinion, formed from watching too many 007 movies.

 

Here's my experience with this.

National known storage company. I had 2 guitars and 2 amps stolen and lots of other stuff. Spiked iron car-gates that were locked to go in and out. No alarm systems for the storage units. The cameras were so old they only see about 20 feet and were disabled by a 6 year old I suppose. They still cut the whole lock/hinge assembly off and hauled the stuff over the spiked gates somehow. I was closest to the elevator. Hate thieves and I feel sorry for the person who collected all of that fine equipment.

My guess is that they were professional and the stuff is going overseas. Probably went right into a container and left on a boat.

 

Without knowledge of the situation in terms of security, it’s tough to form an opinion on this one.

I definitely agree that it was a professional hit. Someone had to have known that the gear was in there. The cops should be able to narrow down the list of possible suspects.

The prime suspects would be the owner of the storage facility. Secondly, it would be the owner of the gear himself (insurance fraud).

Beyond that, it could have been that the gear owner took potential buyers to the storage area, or he bragged about the gear and he was then under surveillance.

Edit: As an afterthought, one would think that someone this wealthy would have had his own private storage unit, as opposed to a rental. Something isn’t adding up. I smell a rat!

 

What I’ve heard from professional thief stories is initial thief unloads full take for pennies on the dollar. Then the knowledge network moves items over time.

 

The worst part is that making it public also makes the thieves aware

I see many terrible refinish’s and defacing coming

What a shame super rare guitars there

 

I'm of the "going over seas contingent". First thought was Europe (close) but now my money is on Japan. Large number of moneyed collectors and players and no chance of showing up on a local CL. Maybe one or a few eventually making its way to Reverb or ebay in a couple years but I'm just blowing hot air seeing as I have no more evidence than was linked.
Speaking of contingents, I'm also in line with the "hang 'em high" school of thought.

 

I think a good punishment would be to force them to read grammar na?i posts until the end of their mortal days.
That, in my opinion, is endlessly annoying.