Alembic Guitars Club
Alembic products => Alembic Basses & Guitars => Topic started by: cnematik on August 26, 2023, 04:49:33 AM
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My home was burglarized last night and my purple 1991 Stanley Clarke Deluxe along with 3 other guitars were stolen. Im absolutely gutted, but we are all safe and it could have been a lot worse.
Attaching pics here is a bit difficult on mobile, but here is a link to another thread in the old club alembic forum showing multiple pictures of the bass. http://alembic.com/club/messages/411/7266.html?1077906383 (http://alembic.com/club/messages/411/7266.html?1077906383)
They didnt steal the Spoiler that i had picked up just a week after the Stanley, which is nice. But i really grew attached to this bass in spite of my initial reservations. They also stole my first guitar (Mexican HSS Strat), a Gibson ES335 (my #1), and a Gibson SG Standard. Super, super bummed.
I filed a police report and emailed alembic at alembic dot com, but if you guys could be on the lookout for a purple stanley clarke please let me and the admins know. If any of you also have experience or advice for how i can maximize my chances of reclaiming them, it would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks.
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Very sad to hear that. Glad you and family members are safe. The community here has some good eyes and will be watching.
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That's going to be an easy bass to spot, especially if it shows up online. Lots of eyes here scanning every day.
Mica will post a 'Stolen Bass' alert here too, when she gets word.
Hopefully you will recover them all. Keep watching local CL, pawn shops, etc.
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So sorry to hear this.
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Sorry to hear this. I hope they make their way back to you.
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As I said in the other thread where you posted this, I would contact the local music stores and pawn shops so they’ll be on the lookout. In addition, I would check the local craigslist and facebook marketplace several times a day. Good luck.
Bill, tgo
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This would be awful news under any circumstance but the fact that you have owned the SC bass for such a short period of time makes it even worse. The purple finish may be an upside, can't imagine there are many purple SC basses so if it crops up anywhere in public marketplace it is going to be easy to spot. Really hoping you get some, or all, of your instruments back.
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So sorry to hear!
Was anything else stolen other than music gear?
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Ouch theft is such a cruel thing for someone to carry out. I hope you get them back and the thieves get brought to justice. Echoing the above we all keep our eyes open when one of our own is affected by things like this.
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Very sorry to hear this, hope they all make their way back to you. As mentioned, keep an eye on local Craigslist music stores, and pawn shops.
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There is also a way to do a global search of the entire Craigslist system. Google "search all of craigslist" it will pull up the link. I don't use social media but if there are ways to search Facebook, Instagram etc globally it would be worth a shot.
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thanks for all the support and suggestions. i truly appreciate it.
Was anything else stolen other than music gear?
it appears they only stole the guitars. the whole thing lasted under 5 minutes.
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I just saw a tip that i wish i had thought of. Maybe now is the time to start tagging your more important items.
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There was a brief discussion of the Apple air tags here recently. Great idea on the surface and could be helpful but there are some drawbacks, the post below details them.
https://club.alembic.com/index.php?topic=27928.msg283811#msg283811
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I have excellent news. My stolen Purple Stanley Clarke (along with 2/3 of my other guitars) have been found! And the thief is in custody.
She’s bruised and scraped, but she’s coming home. Thank you everyone for your help and support. I knew i’d find it eventually, but i feared it would take years or decades
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Well that is at least partially excellent news. How bruised/scraped? Is it touch-up-able, or need more serious repair?
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Guessing they did not take the cases with the instruments? Great that you got your SC back and some of your other instruments, too. Almost as importantly they caught the thief, let's hope that there are consequences for their actions.
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FAR EFFING OUT!!!!!
Great news! Glad you got your Alembic and most of your guitars back. Still sending good vibes that the missing one will show up soon.
Bill, tgo
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Yeah!
Glad to hear this news. As long as they didn’t pull out the electronics everything else is cosmetic.
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Congrats!!! Nice to read some good news, and especially in this case!
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Was hoping that when you indicated " she was bruised and scraped that you were referring to the thief.
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Guessing they did not take the cases with the instruments?
Yeah, they left the cases. I think they saw the guitars in my music room, grabbed one in each hand, went through the broken glass door and left. And that they were also not careful when they brought them back to their car/home.
How bruised/scraped? Is it touch-up-able, or need more serious repair?
The Alembic hasn't been released to me yet. I wasn't able to touch it due to fingerprints, but i was able to look from arms length. The front and back have
alot of heavy scratches from glass and various dents. The neck seems to be scratched as well, but i only got a glance.
I do have my Gibson ES-335 in my possession. That one is in similar shape. Significant cosmetic damage with deep scratches in the neck. Its probably not be too serious, but could be an annoyance. The positive on the ES-335 is that its a orange/black sunburst, and most of the damage is on the black areas.
I haven't seen my Gibson SG yet, since it was sold to a different pawn shop. I'll get it tomorrow.
My first guitar, the MIM Strat wasn't recovered. I switched the neck out and can't find the new serial number. Stupid me. I have dozens of pictures of it, but not from the back.
The fun thing about having your stolen goods found at pawn shops is that you have to buy back your own gear! At least in my state.
As long as they didn’t pull out the electronics everything else is cosmetic
I sure hope so. The action on that bass was lower than i thought was physically possible. I hope its structurally the same as before.
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Like I said on the phone, these things tend to work out really quickly, like within a month, or take a loooong time to show up. So glad that it was recovered and the thieves found. I'll update the stolen pages.
So glad for the good news!
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You’re awesome, Mica. You went above and beyond, thank you so much. I’ll probably be contacting you guys about refinishing.
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You’re awesome, Mica. You went above and beyond, thank you so much. I’ll probably be contacting you guys about refinishing.
Not sure if you are familiar with the process Alembic uses for their tinted finishes. The instruments are finished first with a clear finish. Then the tinted finish is applied over the clear. It is done this way so that the color doesn't penetrate the wood. Makes it easy to return to natural wood or change color in the future. If you decide to have your bass re-finished you could stay with the Amethyst or go with a different look.
Hope you get your bass back quickly!
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That' good news and that it happened so quickly. Hopefully with the thief in custody the remaining guitars will find their way home too.
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You’re awesome, Mica. You went above and beyond, thank you so much. I’ll probably be contacting you guys about refinishing.
Not sure if you are familiar with the process Alembic uses for their tinted finishes. The instruments are finished first with a clear finish. Then the tinted finish is applied over the clear. It is done this way so that the color doesn't penetrate the wood. Makes it easy to return to natural wood or change color in the future. If you decide to have your bass re-finished you could stay with the Amethyst or go with a different look.
Yeah, i saw Jazzyvee's thread on his refinish. It came out great. I also unscrewed the serial # plate on mine, and saw the natural maple.
Hope you get your bass back quickly!
I got it back today! I haven't had much time with it, but the damage wasn't as extensive as i originally thought. There is some deepish scraping on the back of the neck and front of the body. There are many surface dents on front and back. The knobs are chipped. I definitely need to do something about the neck, but the rest of it is right at the line that I would consider tolerable. I'll try to share pics when i get it home.
If i refinish, it would stay Amethyst. Before i bought it, I read the post history from the previous owner. It feels wrong to change the color after all this bass has gone through over the years. I grew to love it as it is and I assume no one else in the world will want a purple Stanley Clarke anytime soon.
My bass is purple and I'm owning it. ;D
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:)
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Wow. That's great news.
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+1 on leaving it amethyst. So glad you got it back!
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So glad to hear that you got it back. I actually saw your post on TB first - could you share the story here too of how you got it back?
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Congratulations on getting most of your gear back! That must be a huge relief.
Ken
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could you share the story here too of how you got it back?
Things are still pending so I dont want to comment on specifics in a public forum. I'm just going to say that many things needed to happen all at once, and I was very fortunate.
Also, I never gave an final update on the condition. The Alembic ended up being wayyy better than I thought once i cleaned everything up. I didn't take detailed before pictures, but the most serious looking scratches ended up just being stucco, glass, and paint that was stuck on top of the poly finish. I'm still in the process of cleaning it up but almost all of it came off.
- The neck still has some cracks and scratches in the poly but nothing that affects playability.
- The back has some gnarly scratching and poly cracks. But i've seen worse belt rash.
- The front is mostly fine except for a finish crack in the horn. Most of it could possibly be buffed out.
Its worse IRL than the pictures suggest, but the fact that most of the damage is hard to photograph is a massive win in itself.
The Gibson ES335 looks like someone keyed it front and back. Nothing affecting playability, and it was my #1 so I'll take it as a win.
The Gibson SG has dents in the finish front and back. I still dont have it in my possession, but it didn't look like anything too major.
The MIM Strat is still missing.
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I am so glad your SC was spared. The ES is a heartbreaker. I don't know if many people understand the attachment between players and their instruments.