that damned fly wrote:SIMMO.
YOU.
FUCKING.
PRICK.
Thanks.
ampeg77 wrote:I agree it's probably stolen [...] If you are a good hearted person, I would contact your local police and see if someone has a theft claim on it [...] I'm not a fan of thieves.
Me neither, I can't stand thieves, and having my instruments stolen is my idea of a nightmare. I like to think I'm a good-hearted person, but I really, really don't think this bass has been stolen - or if it ever was, the guy I bought it off bought it stolen however many years back. Maybe if I explain the circumstances of me coming across this thing, you'll agree...
I bought this bass because it was advertised very publicly to all staff and students by a student at the university where I work. He was advertising a whole bunch of other items - a printer, a tv, etc. Here's the original message, posted on the internal buy/sell student message board:
Student is going back to Japan so needs to sell these items by Wednesday 26th September
For Sale:
A3 HP Printer with paper £30
A4 Canon Printer £10
Gibson Bass & an Amplifier £60
Panasonic Colour TV £10
Philips Video Cassette Recorder £10
If interested please contact Aya on:
Mobile: *************
Email: *********@yahoo.co.jp
I phoned up, got the address of their flat, and went round on my lunch break. When I got there, I found two Japanese students, probably a couple, packing up their house ready to move. They couldn't speak much English, but the girl told me they were going back to Japan the next day. Everything was in boxes, they were clearly moving out.
Not wishing to sound prejudiced or small-minded, but let's face it, middle class Japanese students living in a cosy flat aren't normally the thieving types.
I barely conversed with them at all - the guy showed me the bass, I looked at it for about two seconds, bought it, and then left. Even though I had £60 in my hand, he insisted I only paid him £30. Why would you do that if you'd stolen the bass? Why would you do that anyway, for that matter? I don't know.
The bass came with an incredibly shitty practice amp called a Washburn Bad Dog 12, a stand, two leads and nearly some kind of Behringer distortion pedal but I told him to keep it. He was clearly keen to get rid of that stuff too, but I very, very much doubt that a Washburn Bad Dog 12 had been stolen!
If the bass was stolen, it was stolen from someone who didn't give a shit about it. It is covered in grime - described by my guitarist at practice last night as quite the filthiest instrument he'd ever seen. I played it for about ten minutes, and afterwards I had to go and wash my hands as they felt so dirty. The action's out and the contacts need cleaning - a lot of crackle. There's nothing fundamentally wrong with it, and under the surface it seems in very good working order - but it's not been loved. In fact, I'd be very surprised if the string on it weren't the ones it was sold with in 1997.
Moreover, if it was stolen from someone in this town, I'm pretty sure that myself or someone amongst my friends would have heard about it. Not wanting to sound like a dick, but we're pretty at the heart of the music scene of a small, provincial city. Whenever instruments have been stolen from bands in the past, the news spreads very quickly and everyone keeps a look out.
My best guess as to the history of this instrument is that the guy had no idea of its value, and probably bought it from someone who had no idea of its value either. Perhaps it was stolen when he bought it, perhaps not. Perhaps he's just stupidly rich (as a lot of Japanese students over here are) and didn't give a fuck. Having been round to his flat, I can vouch for the moving back to Japan story - it all checks out.
If people here still think after reading that that it's stolen, I'll do what I can to find the original owner. I've no idea how to go about doing that, so if anyone can give me some advice I'd appreciate it. I think it's more likely I just got very lucky.
