Sad story of guitar theft

[Elwin Ransom]

And worse, probably an inside job.

I really hope not. However, the building has been there for quite some time and a lot of keys have floated around over the years.

 

[Elwin Ransom]

Sorry to hear that; I wish you luck in recovering the stolen items.

As far as a Tele goes -you don't say what kind of USA Strat you have so I'm going to make the assumption it is modern spec instead of vintage spec, so I would suggest trying these 4 models (moving up in price as you go): Player Tele, Player Plus Tele, American Performer Tele, and American Professional II Tele.

I just went through this process at the end of November and wound up with the American Performer; it ticked all the boxes for me, but everyone is different. I didn't try the American Professional II though - I don't care for the neck shape on them (or the shape on the American Ultras for that matter). Also over the past 10 years I find myself drawn more to Teles than Strats; so I didn't mind paying more for my Tele than my "Strat" (which is an import Strat-type from Schecter):

The player plus is definitely top of my list right now. I’ll be sure to post an update if insurance comes through. First gotta file that police report, cause you know, a couple of stolen guitars will be top of their list I’m sure

 

[Steadfastly]

Stealing is bad enough, but stealing from a church? Good grief.

My Father-in-law had a piece of equipment stolen by someone IN the church's congregation. Seeing the record of the clergy, should we really be all that surprised?

 

[ViperTim]

Stealing is bad enough, but stealing from a church? Good grief.

Here in Sweden the church steals from us ‍

 

[DGTCrazy]

Post edited and thread moved to SGR Forum.

 

[Elwin Ransom]

I too had a MIM strat stolen from a church a few years back. It’s the worst man. Good luck recovering it. Have you hit local stores and CL for info about it?

Not yet. I'll be checking Kijiji and making sure the police have the photos and serial #.

 

[Elwin Ransom]

A thief is a thief.
A thief has no morals.
He doesn't care if it's from a church or the thing you love.
I am fortunate to have never been robbed [MOD EDIT]

Yup, that's pretty much it.

It's a sad state of affairs no matter where the theft occurs.

 

[wraub]

Not yet. I'll be checking Kijiji and making sure the police have the photos and serial #.

If you haven't yet, you may want to post here also-

https://www.guitarscanada.com/forums/stolen-gear-registry.48/

 

[hank57]

If you use the church’s insurance you’ll hurt the church.

Insurance isn’t really good to use for hundreds of dollars in loss. Insurance is for the building burning down. Use their insurance you’ll get their rates raised, get them dropped from their insurance, or both with the rates going up and the next claim getting them dropped.

Sorry about the loss. When I had over $10,000 worth of guitars and tools stolen from my garage I connected with the California Insurance Commission and asked what I should do they explained what I stated above. They said it’s wrong but it’s what happens.

 

[Elwin Ransom]

If you use the church’s insurance you’ll hurt the church.

Insurance isn’t really good to use for hundreds of dollars in loss. Insurance is for the building burning down. Use their insurance you’ll get their rates raised, get them dropped from their insurance, or both with the rates going up and the next claim getting them dropped.

Sorry about the loss. When I had over $10,000 worth of guitars and tools stolen from my garage I connected with the California Insurance Commission and asked what I should do they explained what I stated above. They said it’s wrong but it’s what happens.

Wow, that's brutal! Kind of defeats the purpose of having insurance doesn't it? Seems like its own brand of theft...

 

[Ozzie31220]

Sorry to hear this, OP. I hope things turn up somehow.

 

[DJ_17]

Time for security cams, or at least dummys.

 

[RicOkc]

Talk about bad Karma !

 

[presence]

If you use the church’s insurance you’ll hurt the church.

Insurance isn’t really good to use for hundreds of dollars in loss. Insurance is for the building burning down. Use their insurance you’ll get their rates raised, get them dropped from their insurance, or both with the rates going up and the next claim getting them dropped.

Sorry about the loss. When I had over $10,000 worth of guitars and tools stolen from my garage I connected with the California Insurance Commission and asked what I should do they explained what I stated above. They said it’s wrong but it’s what happens.

The rates will increase anyway on a regular basis. I would make the insurance claim. That's what it's there for. If the rates immediately increase after making the claim, or if the subsequent periodic increase is greater than the historical periodic increase, the church can change insurers.

 

[Lullaby]

Every church I ever played at got broken into at least once. The one time I was the person who had bought and paid for the new sound system. Beautiful oak veneer speaker cabs I custom ordered, stained and hung with my wife's help. They pried them right off the wall. Mackie mixer, mics, everything, gone. Sorry man, I hope you receive something better.

I do have an odd story involving music and theives. I was playing out of town and apparently some hanger-on who would come watch us rehearse broke into my garage while we were all gone, at the gig. No instruments stolen, just my bike and bunch of stuff. Made theinsurance claim, got paid and forgot about it. About a year later I get a call from a cop, "hey,we have your bike" "Really, is there anything left, it's been a while?" "Nah man, it's been in evidence for a year. Looks like the night before you reported it stolen some guy (the hanger-on) was driving it down 9 Mile(Detroit) at like 3 am and a drunk driver dragged him for a few hundred feet. Ok, it DOES work in mysterious ways. It had none of the satisfaction of Instant Karma but

 

[Lullaby]

And worse, probably an inside job.

I suspect that is half right. I definately think some of the thieves might have visited a week or two before.* Casing the place so to speak. I used to attend at a place in a rougher area and myself and a few other men would make sure to walk the building to make sure nobody conveniently got locked inside. And people approaching workers inside and outside is anothe sad target for various scammers and theives. About the same as any office building. * I avoided the "c" word so my thoughts can be applied to any non-residential situation. *It' not religious discourse, it's about theives. imo. No interest in breakin the law here.

But yeah, could have been someone from the inside. Double sad. Hope they really needed it. *I'm not a theif, but I'm a dedicated people-watcher of their activities and behaviours. Better to know, I think. Not much harder than a computer game - a lot of it is just patterns. 2-3 chords.

 

[Guitar Josh]

My friends church had their HVAC system stolen. The blower and the compressor. For a huge building. Thieves will do anything. They do not fear eternal retribution.

 

[Ordy]

when I saw your guitar I did a double take and ran to the photo album to see my daughters Strat. Slightly different.

bummer about your guitar. Hope insurance comes through for you.

 

[Soundhog]

What goes around comes around.I hope you get your strat back my friend.

 

[rykus]

I only had 1 guitar stolen by an ex room mate. He sold it to a kind of friend of mine I'd known a long time. It was wierd.

He offered to sell it to me for what he paid for it and I was like WTF it my guitar lol I paid like 20$ for it as a wreck in my high school friends basement closet. It was his dad's old les paul custom copy with a bolt on neck. And was missing half the parts. I fixed it up and made it play.

He said that the guy would have sold it to someone else as if that made it ok, he paid 150$ I didn't have and didn't want to spend buying my own f#*king guitar on. So we became way less close of friends.

The guitar fell and broke a few months later and he still had the pieces last I saw him. I got a job and bought a real 1969 Les Paul Custom and he battled mental health issues and still lives off disability so I guess I came out ahead long term but man thst opened my eyes to a few levels of dirt baggedness .. sad to say but it usually is an inside job in lots of cases.

My friends bandmates once said he should get better insurance instead of getting a security system. He chose to get new bandmstes as well as the new security system.

Lots of degenerates out there. Doubt this economy is going to help it either.