Klarinet Archive - Posting 000538.txt from 2000/11

From: Richard Bush <rbushidioglot@-----.com>
Subj: [kl] Stolen instruments
Date: Wed, 15 Nov 2000 09:49:10 -0500

After reading the long thread on the stolen Selmer bass clarinet, I have
a story to tell.

Every once and a while, a friend who works in a guitar type music store
brings me stuff that comes into their business. Sometimes it is being
considered as trade-ins, or consignments, or even just to buy and
resell. Since they know nothing of band instruments, the friend seeks
out my advice.

He called this last Sunday and said he'd like to bring over two alto
saxophones and an oboe. Over the phone, he asked if I had heard of
Renard. He said it looked like a nice instrument and had been used very
little.

When he came over, I could tell right when he was getting out of the car
that the Renard wasn't an oboe but a bassoon. I didn't say anything.

First I looked at the altos. They were student model 21M's. They were in
pretty good shape. One had some scratches in the lacquer and the other
one was almost new.

Then I looked at the bassoon. The bassoon was a mint condition Renard,
Model 222. The swabs weren't even dirty.

I asked my friend what the guy said when he brought them in. He told me
that the guy said that his daughters had been playing them and quit
band. They were just taking up space and collecting dust. He'd take
almost anything for them. He said he had paid $1,400 for the 'oboe' and
that it was a really nice one.

RIGHT!

Red flag went up the pole. Looked very carefully at the bassoon. No
I.D.---just the serial number. In the case were some old reeds. Two of
the reed containers had price stickers on them that had the name of a
music store in the Boise, Idaho area. (These instruments were taken into
a guitar music store in Bountiful, Utah, about 250 miles away.)

Told my friend that the 'oboe' was a bassoon, that the bassoon had a
current suggested retail of $6,395. With he and his boy standing in the
living room, I got on the phone and called the police. Being Sunday, and
a big snow coming down, it took many hours for them to get back. (They
were all out dealing with fender-bender accidents.)

When an officer finally came to my house (11:00 pm) he ran a check
through NCIC. None of the serial numbers were listed. He told me he
couldn't do anything because 1) they were taken into a music store in
another town and it would be the Bountiful Police Department's gig, and
2) they probably wouldn't do anything either because there was no proof
that these instruments were stolen property.

I went to my computer and emailed Chip Owens of Fox at his home, asking
that he email me right back the minute he got to work Monday morning. I
needed to know to whom Fox sold the bassoon.

He did so. The bassoon was sold to Taylor Music in South Dakota. It was
made in 1996.

Called Taylor music. Talked to Stan. Stan told me their computerized
info only went back to '97. He said they were having a huge snow storm,
that the gal who does all of that paperwork wasn't going to coming in
because of the snow and he was shorthanded. He told me he didn't even
know where to look for the paperwork, but if he could find out anything,
he'd call me back.

He did. He told me when it was sold and to what school in what district.

Called the school and talked to the band director. Yes, it was his, but
it had been stolen 5 years ago when it was brand new and the school had
just been built and opened. He also said that two alto saxophones
belonging to individuals had been stolen at the same time.

I told him to IMMEDIATELY call their local police, have the serial
numbers entered on NCIC as stolen, and in the mean time, I'd call the
Bountiful Police and get them involved.

Right now, I don't know what's happening. The three instruments are in
the custody of the police.

I'll keep you posted and tell you the end of the story when I find out.

It sure made my day. I couldn't help but think how I would have felt had
that been my bassoon.

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