Klarinet Archive - Posting 001295.txt from 2000/05

From: LeliaLoban@-----.com
Subj: [kl] STOLEN: Bass Clarinet
Date: Tue, 30 May 2000 17:25:44 -0400

Edmund William White wrote,
> Hello, fellow clarinetists. I am sorry to report that my 1998 Buffet
>Prestige (1193-2 serial #31117) bass clarinet was among the items stolen from
>my apartment during a daytime burglary in Evanston, Illinois last Tuesday,
May
>23. The instrument was not insured. ...A police report was filed, and I
will >keep tabs on the pawnshops in the Chicago area and EBAY.

Sorry to hear about this. Watching eBay sounds like a good idea. In fact, a
guy posted on the www.sneezy.org bulletin board within the last day or so the
good news that he *found* his stolen clarinet on eBay and got it back! An
employee at his school had stolen it. The school fired the employee and the
clarinet player plans to press charges. He was able to identify his
instrument because this thief was such a nincompoop that he left the rightful
owner's recognizable, personal items in the case, where they showed up nicely
in the eBay photo.

You might also keep an eye on alt.music.clarinet and the sneezy BB, in case
someone suddenly pops up there saying, "My granny willed me this nice-looking
bass clarinet and, gee, I wonder what it's worth...." You then reply that it
all depends on the serial number, which you will be happy to look up.... The
rest of us take note -- if someone does pop up this way soon with a Buffet
bass, *don't* give out the e-addresses of the sites with serial numbers the
way we usually do. Wait and try to get the person who asks the question to
post the serial number.

Check out your local flea markets and antiques or junktiques stores, too, and
alert the local music stores that sell used instruments. (The fact that the
clarinet is not an antique makes no difference. Most of the dealers can't
distinguish old musical instruments from young ones.) Contrary to the
stereotype, most flea market dealers *love* to help put the crooks out of
business, because they give honest flea marketers a bad name. It's an open
secret among the regulars at one of the big markets I go to that one of the
dealers is an undercover cop. Dealers there who run into some sleazebag with
a fishy story just smile sweetly and say they don't need any more of whatever
it is the suspicious character is peddling, but they point out the cop and
say, "Try *him*--I've heard he pays really well!" :-)

Since a bass clarinet is an unusual item, you could "pull a Lovejoy," too --
run a want ad in the local papers seeking to *buy* a bass clarinet and see if
someone offers to sell you your own horn. I know someone who recovered an
expensive camera that way. Good luck in getting your instrument back!

Lelia
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Unspeakable Law: As soon as you mention something, if it's good, it goes
away; if it's bad, it happens.

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