Greetings everyone. I was going through old threads and I still wonder about this one. Eleven Alembics stolen from Station Music in 2022! Mica still has them listed as stolen. I find it amazing none have surfaced of the 11. Any of our German friends that hang at Station have any info about the robbery? Was it a "smash & grab" or a clean heist. Was anything else stolen besides the eleven? I was also wondering how the whole Insurance claim thing works out. Is the insurance company now the "owners" of the eleven? I hope to Never have to "recover" an Alembic but it would be helpful to know what to do if it happens.
I know this can be a bit of a "downer" thread, like making your own will & funeral arrangements, but it is something we might need to deal with someday. Oh......and Happy Monday! ???
I remember that heist. There was one that especially triggered me... a birdseye maple 5-string Balance K. Man that thing was so pretty.
I don't know how it works. I had a policy with Heritage Insurance on all my more expensive instruments but I decided not to renew it once I reached this depressing place in life where I wasn't playing out much anymore.
It seems like that would be a very difficult group of instruments to fence.
Quote from: Nova Constellatio on July 20, 2026, 02:13:39 PMIt seems like that would be a very difficult group of instruments to fence.
I've thought that for a while too. Admittedly I don't know what the bass-playing community in Europe is like I do here, but I gotta' think 13 new Alembic basses per capita would be hard to disperse even in the continental United States. Particularly those really high-end ones.
Are they just sitting on the loot until "the heat is off" ? It seems unlikely they were ignorant about what they took. I'd guess if that were the case and they realized that reselling was virtually impossible, destroying or dumping would be safer. I don't like thinking that way.
I've got a buddy who is a retired investigator with the State Police. Also a vintage guitar collector and player. He gets roped into a lot of these instrument theft conversations just by virtue of his former profession... and always the answers are the same. After it goes cold, it's usually just a waiting game. Of course it's not usually close to a half-million $ worth of new stuff.