Klarinet Archive - Posting 000561.txt from 2000/11

From: Gary Truesdail <gir@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] Stolen instruments
Date: Thu, 16 Nov 2000 01:06:46 -0500

Nice work, Mr. Bush. Have you considered running president? You should.
You have already accomplished more that the other two contenders.

Richard Bush wrote:

> 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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