P i s s e d !

Today was a rather rare, warm, sunny, summer-type day. I say "rare" 'cuz compared with last year when the temp seldom dropped below 30° C for about 4 months, this year has been cool and wet.

Since she-who-must-be-obeyed was out walking the dog I thought I'd take my second beer outside with a guitar and my little Danelectro Honeytone amp like I've done many times over the years.

I strapped on the Spectrum SX and turned to pick up the amp...couldn't find it.
It was not in the rack with the other misc. guitar effects, etc.

I stood there puzzled for a moment, then started looking all over the room for it. Nothing. Nada. Zilch. Bugger all.
It was gone!

I don't use it often, only on these sort of occasions, or to quickly check the output on something. So I ordinarily would not pay much attention to it.

All sorts of scenarios went through my mind but it kept coming back to the same conclusion: it had been stolen!

The question then became, by whom? The only culprit I can think of to blame is one of the several repair technicians we've had in the house over the past few months, for the washing machine (twice) and the heating/air conditioning (also twice). The latter fellows seemed to be reputable and  I don't think it would have been one of them.

The washing machine guys however...two of them on the last visit...are suspicious. I think one of them commented on the guitars (you have to pass though the music room/area to get to the laundry and furnace rooms). And since the amp is small and these guys carried a large tool box, well...

Only a guitar player would have zeroed in on this item. Like a lot of my stuff, it's a bit of a collector's item, especially in the Daddy-O Yellow colour. The bastard! It's speculation of course and well after the fact now, so I'm well and truly buggered.

I'm really upset and pissed that I trusted these guys to do their work without hanging over their shoulder to "supervise". Just goes to show ya. Can't flippin' trust anyone these days. Guard yer goodies!  

Oh, FFS!! And the real tragedy is that whichever cock pinched yer amp has now put pause in the minds of those who need a tradie!! 
You're sure your good lady hasn't tidied it away somewhere? Or you did?? ( I only ask 'cause you're a bit old and forgetful, mate... )

Flippancy aside, that sucks, Barry!

corsair wrote:...You're sure your good lady hasn't tidied it away somewhere? Or you did?? ( I only ask 'cause you're a bit old and forgetful, mate... )...

Yeah, yeah, senility is always a factor in everything I do!

But I re-checked this morning, without benefit of alcohol, and the bugger's definitely gone. The good news, if you can call it that, is that I checked Kijji (in a desperation move really) and don't you know it, there is an amp just like mine for sale in Hamilton, about 40 minutes away.

At first I was delighted since it's the only one I've seen online that's in the hard to find yellow colour. And the price is cheap, about a third to a quarter of what these go for these days.
LINK to Ad

Then I started to wonder, ya know? The suspicious/cynical part of my brain began to generate all sorts of scenarios. Was this mine? Did I find the culprit? Do I kick him in the goolies when I meet him? Etc.

What's driving me nuts is that it is complete with the manual and the receipt, just like mine was! If the receipt is dated 2008 and is from the store I bought it from I'll know for certain. I also had the original box, so we'll see if that's included too. These amps did not have any sort of serial number on them.

The seller has replied to me and I'll be picking it up either today or tomorrow. I'll have a better idea, maybe, when I see it. But even if I see it's mine I can't prove it, and a confrontation would likely result in my getting beaten to a pulp and not leaving with the amp.

Film at eleven.

It could be tricky if the guy selling it is the one who was round your house previously... Take a bigger stronger pal with you, just in case, or the Police, if they're interested in these apparently tiny crimes.

If he's pinched your amp, he's probably nicked other stuff too, so hopefully they might like to attend with you.

Bring in The Marines and Kick his ass and take it back. I hate thieves and from the description it almost has to be yours. Hope you get it back OK.

I'm all for the kicking of "arses". And as Arthur suggests, get Her Majesty's Royal Marines along for the kicking. 

But seriously, don't go into this unprepared. You don't want to come off worse afterwards.

Don't go on your Jack Jones....

Yeah, buddy... go with a mate and get the amp; that's the first order of business. Then - if you and your oppo are keen and the amp is indeed yours! - return and mallet the light-fingered w*nker!!

Or - and this should really be the course of action  -let the local federalès know what's going on and let them deal.

Thanks fellas, but we can all stand down. Miraculously, it wasn't my amp, and he wasn't the guy! Turns out it's all completely innocent.

This chap was a very well spoken young feller who is an elevator technician, as well as a drummer/guitar player/keyboardist. He's also suffering from GAS big time! His tiny house was very crowded with his stuff and his wife is about to have his nuts on a plate.

The clincher for me was the receipt. Not mine. And the amp was not in pristine condition, good but not perfect. Turns out he got it with a Fender Squier Bullet he just bought (I know, I know   ) I saw the guitar in question, along with a few Schecters that he's collecting.

We had a good long chat, and the bottom line, he ain't the guy.

But what mysterious Karma placed that particular amp at that particular time on Kijiji, eh? I had been beside myself with anger, and then, poof! There it was.

Maybe Rev. Chad can explain. It's not my perfect little collector's item but it's a darn good replacement considering you are hard pressed to find a Daddy-O Yellow version of this amp anywhere. And certainly not for $20!

All in all much calmer today.

Good one.

'Course, I still have no idea who ripped me off in the first place.

You might enexpectantly find you have two... 😁

Adey wrote:You might enexpectantly find you have two... 😁

That would be nice, and staggeringly embarrassing, but doesn't look like that will happen.

Your son hasn't taken a recent liking to hard drugs has he?
just a thought   

Nope, he hasn't, thank goodness, and he's a diabetic.
He hasn't lived with us for some time either, he's in Toronto.

Also, it happens to be his birthday today, Canada Day!
22 yrs old.

Happy Birthday Son!

So it would be fruitless for me to try to pin it on Col. Mustard with his pipe wrench in the library then?...

Colonel Mustard may be a blaggard and a scoundrel, but he don't play geetar and wouldn't know his G string from 'is arse!

Meantime the tale of woe thickens.

I tore down the recently acquired Spectrum LX and identified the double bladed bridge humbucker is a Schaller, just like the one I put into my ST back in the day to replace the wimpy UBC. 'Thought it looked familiar. I finally replaced it a few years ago with a MMK45.

I strolled over to my shelf unit to locate my old Schaller for comparison. Guess what? No schaller! Gone. Presumably lifted by the same bastard who took the amp.

At this point I don't know what else may be missing. It's one of those situations where you have bunch of stuff but the inventory is all filed away somewhere in yer head. You know you have something but you don't normally think about it until you need to use it. Ya know?

Man! This is just one steaming pile o'

The guitar, man!! What about the guitar??

Do you want/need a bridge 45?

You know, if it was the serviceman who pinched your stuff, I'll bet he's waiting for the axe to drop, eh; worth a quiet word in the ear of the bosses of the various firms who've been through your gaff??

Could it have been an opportunistic theft? We've had two instances here where grubs have come into the house and thieve stuff off the kitchen table... while we're sitting there!! Caught the second lot and conveniently had a axe handle laying about...

'oly crap Barry! When it rains it pours.

corsair wrote:...Do you want/need a bridge 45?

Thanks matey. 'Twould be nice since that's what was there originally but I haven't got that far along in my thinking yet.

The Schaller has a strong output, just over 14K. I might leave it in except that it looks a bit out of step, but then I had the identical situation on my ST for years. I also have a GFS Crunchy Pat bridge in the box which will do nicely as a replacement.

I'll give you a shout if I change my mind and we'll work something out.

You know, if it was the serviceman who pinched your stuff, I'll bet he's waiting for the axe to drop, eh; worth a quiet word in the ear of the bosses of the various firms who've been through your gaff??

Dunno if I'd get anywhere or not. I may yet go that route. The bottom line of course is that I cannot prove a damn thing.

Could it have been an opportunistic theft?

Absolutely. I left the kids alone in the candy store!

DimensionIV-addict wrote:'oly crap Barry! When it rains it pours.

Don't say "rain" this year!

Yeah, I'm a bit uneasy now wondering what else was lifted. Very frustrating situation. Still, once again the Gods have smiled (well smirked really) and I have another Schaller pickup to replace the one stolen! Too weird.

That Karma thing again? Chad? Wuzzupwidat?

Please see this NEW THREAD for a continuation and explanation of what happened.