| Author | Message | ||
| power_engineer
New Username: power_engineer Post Number: 1 Registered: 9-2004 |
All, Thank you for your watchful eyes. Understated Elegance was recovered by the Bellingham police based off of leads from this club. Since I was fully compensated by the Insurance Company, they will post the bass on e-bay to help recover payment against my claim. Please realize that the bass is no longer considered stolen and can be purchased without fear of repossession. Frank Kern Former owner of Understated Elegance | ||
| poor_nigel
Advanced Member Username: poor_nigel Post Number: 224 Registered: 7-2003 |
eBay - Just when you think you are out, they drag you back in! I guess I will be attending just one more auction before I quit them forever . . . | ||
| kungfusheriff
Intermediate Member Username: kungfusheriff Post Number: 155 Registered: 8-2003 |
Yeah, really! I would make a few phone calls to educate your insurance co. about the second-retail value drop of custom-made instruments, give Superbass Steve or Evan Sheeley from Bass NW the call as expert witnesses, then use the settlement funds to buy back your own bass for half the settlement cost! You gotta figure, insurance companies have been putting the fear-screws to us since we were teenagers, so your karma will be spotless, right? Get them back. You have the power. Do it now. Tom, don't be maudlin. What's life without adventure? If you get bored, set up a FedEx delivery account and I'll let you borrow the Little Bass, but only if you promise to dust her. KFS | ||
| poor_nigel
Advanced Member Username: poor_nigel Post Number: 227 Registered: 7-2003 |
Wow, the offer of loaning me your graphite necked jewel is incredibly tempting! Be kind, I am old. The responsibility would finish me off. However, maybe next summer we can do an S II switch for a month or so. That would be un-boring. Seems a bit like wife swapping, but it is the new millennium. Prices on eBay for special Alembics have risen lately, mostly due to the retail price hike, IMO. However, I also believe the level of appreciation for quality instruments and the willingness to pay for it has risen. I remember Understated Elegance being on eBay a while ago for $5,000, with no takers. That is actually the first place I saw this bass. It will definitely go for over $5K now. | ||
| kmh364
Senior Member Username: kmh364 Post Number: 523 Registered: 9-2003 |
So what happened to those who purportedly "owned" this bass, like our EBAY friends the pawnbroker and/or the guy from upstate NY? Did they get off scott- free? | ||
| bsee
Advanced Member Username: bsee Post Number: 298 Registered: 3-2004 |
Must have been stupid thieves to fence it in the same town they picked it up. Yeah, they waited a good while, but still.... These guys should be catchable. | ||
| the_mule
Advanced Member Username: the_mule Post Number: 267 Registered: 1-2004 |
Frank, ever since this story unfolded I've wondered about your feeling about this. It's a beautiful and unique bass made especially to your personal specs, and although the insurance money must have helped, it really can't be replaced. Have you considered (if possible at all, maybe you've used the money for other purposes) to buy Understated Elegance back from the insurance company? Wilfred | ||
| flaxattack
Intermediate Member Username: flaxattack Post Number: 148 Registered: 4-2004 |
i'm flakempt | ||
| apdavis
New Username: apdavis Post Number: 5 Registered: 5-2004 |
Frank what was the neck spacing on U. E.? (Narrow, comfort, etc . . .) Adam | ||
| bsee
Advanced Member Username: bsee Post Number: 300 Registered: 3-2004 |
Wilfred- If Nigel's statement is true, this bass was up for sale prior to being stolen. That would either indicate severe financial difficulty, or more likely, that the owner and bass didn't bond as tightly as you imagine. I don't mean to ask or to pry, but I would suspect that Frank ended up happier with the insurance settlement than with the bass. -Bob | ||
| poor_nigel
Advanced Member Username: poor_nigel Post Number: 229 Registered: 7-2003 |
I will admit to getting a bit thick and senile and being chronologically messed up to the point where I do not remember the month or year even (Was it in 2002???) it was put up for auction, but Nigel's statement is quite true. You do not forget a bass like that being auctioned off. I tried to scrape up the cash, but at that segment in time, there just was no way for me. The auction had a link to Alembic's Archive of this bass. I was quite blown away by such a major bass being auctioned off, and like I said, you just don't forget a bass like Understated Elegance. Whether Frank wants his bass back at this point is irrelevant, and is probably his business. The bass will go to the highest bidder, and to my heartbreak, I am sure it will not be me. Then again, I have a room full of vintage sound equipment (Sunn, Fender, Gauss, JBL, Gibson, Steinberger, blah, blah, etc.) that I never use and seldom even know is there. Hmmmm, nope. If I sell that stuff, I will buy a custom to the exact specs to fit my tastes, talents, and deficits. So, it will go to someone else who will treasure it more. Let’s see if it sets the new record for highest price paid for an Alembic on eBay. I do believe the ‘featured’ bass Goldilocks holds the current record. http://alembic.com/info/FC_goldilocks.html | ||
| bigredbass
Advanced Member Username: bigredbass Post Number: 300 Registered: 9-2002 |
I think two big THANK YOUs are in order: 1) Hats Off! to the Bellingham PD for taking the time to do the legwork to knock this one off. In some PDs, this sort of thing would be waaayyy back on the list, but not these buys. Well Done! 2) ALEMBIC for maintaining the Stolen Registry. Frank, best of luck on whichever way you go. | ||
| poor_nigel
Advanced Member Username: poor_nigel Post Number: 232 Registered: 7-2003 |
Since Thank You's are being handed out, I believe a large one should be presented to Bob See (bsee) who phoned Alembic (What 800 number?) and got it all started within 15 minutes of the bass being posted on eBay. Thank you Bob! Good catch and fast action. I hope you are around if one of mine takes a walk with a stranger. | ||
| bsee
Advanced Member Username: bsee Post Number: 305 Registered: 3-2004 |
That was actually the second time I 'found' that bass since it was stolen. It showed up at bassgear.com at the end of April within a week or two of the theft, but with bogus contact info. There was another recent stolen bass that showed up and was reported to Alembic as well, but I never heard anything more on it. Some new member posted looking for info on a bass and identified the serial number as 80 1636, which is on the stolen list. I saw it and notified them, but he edited his message in the meantime to remove the number. Since he didn't realize it was stolen when he started posting, I figured that his profile and email address would have been enough to track him down. When you're actively looking to buy, you see a lot of information about available basses. I guess Alembic has a policy not to get back to the reporter on things like this? -Bob | ||
| jlpicard
Member Username: jlpicard Post Number: 82 Registered: 7-2002 |
Bob, I'm happy to report that serial no. 80 1636 has been recovered and is back in the rightful owners hands. I am a good friend of the owner and was able to see and play it yesterday! Thanks to the internet and the good people of this club, Tom is now sitting at home cradling his beloved lacewood series 1 in his arms much like the picture of Ron W. on the inside cover of the Alembic catalogue! Mike | ||
| bsee
Advanced Member Username: bsee Post Number: 318 Registered: 3-2004 |
Hey, that's great to hear! Was it really the notice paid to the posting on this club board that led to the recovery? I'd love to hear more of that story. | ||
| jlpicard
Member Username: jlpicard Post Number: 83 Registered: 7-2002 |
It's quite simple really,I've known Tom for years and when I saw the post,It took a minute for it to sink in. You see this bass has been missing for a couple of years and I hadn't thought about it for quite a while. Tom had given up on it and ordered a new series II in 5A quilt. I happened to run into him at a local music store and mentioned the post about the bass thinking he had probably seen the post already.Well, he doesn't get on the club site very often and was quite surprised to hear that the bass had resurfaced. After doing a reverse email search,(I have no idea how that is done),He was able to locate and contact the seller who helped Tom trace the path back through several people and found out that it was his old next door neighbor who broke in to his house and took the bass! The really weird part of this is that Tom must have really great or really bad karma because this bass has been stolen and recovered now for the FOURTH time!! Twice out of his van, once out of his house, and even once right off the stage at a gig!! I guess that bass truly belongs to Tom. | ||
| geddy
New Username: geddy Post Number: 8 Registered: 7-2004 |
To bsee I am the person you referred to who was in possesion of the stolen 80 series one. You know what? The stolen site had the guitar listed as 1635 at first, subsequently changed weeks later to 1636. The serial on the fretboard is very worn and hard to see, I was at work going by memory and couldn't tell if the last number was a 3 or a 6 (and indicated that in my post), honestly couldn't tell, put another "possible" number of 1635, deciding I was making things too confusing having already posted 2 "possible" numbers (at this point I was ready to break out a microscope to try to read it), hence the edit. And I can tell you it was an honest mistake and back that up with some proof: the bass is back in the hands of the rightful owner now and he can't even read the serial, a 3, 5, or six, he cant tell what it says either. He emailed 2 weeks after I poster here and I had the bass back in his hands 2 days later. Even better we have formed a great frienship and has become in some ways a bass mentor to me and helped me aquire another beautiful alembic. on another subject, why is understated elegance on ebay again? http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=4713&item=3754417109&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW#ebayphotohosting | ||
| geddy
New Username: geddy Post Number: 9 Registered: 7-2004 |
jlpicard "After doing a reverse email search,(I have no idea how that is done)" I don't know where the idea of a reverse email search came from, he emailed me at the address I have registered here and I responded immediately and returnded it immediately. I asked nothing in return, not the $800 I paid for the bass, told tom he was under no legal obligation to pay me pack, yet he was fantastic enough to compensate me and help me get a brand new alembic. | ||
| bsee
Advanced Member Username: bsee Post Number: 338 Registered: 3-2004 |
Geddy- I applaud your prompt return of the bass once you were contacted. That said, I find your statement about your reasons for editing your post difficult to swallow. I don't really care one way or the other, the bass was recovered. | ||
| geddy
Junior Username: geddy Post Number: 11 Registered: 7-2004 |
bsee- do you find it difficult to swallow that alembic posted the wrong serial as well and then change it? do you find it difficult to swallow that the owner himself cant read the serial himself? If jlpicard knows him personally, he would look at the serial and say the same thing. TBO I always remain anonymous on the net until I know what type of site/person Im dealing with (including the use of proxy servers), (at the time I didnt know alembic at all) so in this case no amount of sluething technology could have tracked me down short of an extensive criminal investigation and a federal court order, which in the case of a guitar is not likely AT ALL. Yet I promptly returned the bass upon finding it was stolen. Actions of someone trying to cover up something? There was honest confusion on alembic's part, on my part, and on the righful owner's part. I don't like the implication that I was trying to hide something; in light of the subsequent events I find it laughable. | ||
| bsee
Advanced Member Username: bsee Post Number: 339 Registered: 3-2004 |
I find it impossible to swallow that Alembic had the wrong serial number posted on the day you posted the serial number of the stolen bass on these boards. The only reason I became involved with this instrument is because the serial number you posted matched what was then on the list of stolen instruments. So, when did they supposedly post the wrong number and change it? If you really couldn't read the serial number, why didn't you edit your post to say that it could have been 1633, 1635 or 1636 when asking for information instead of editing your post to make it seem you were certain it was 1633? If you thought that 'your' bass might be 1635 or 1636 at that point and you saw a matching serial number on the stolen instruments list, why didn't you contact Alembic then to make sure you had a legitimate bass? If I remember your original post, you did come by this bass under peculiar circumstances and at a ridiculously low price. None of these things made you wonder? Finally, you posted several message over the course of a few days when you received the bass. You seemed awfully keen to know about the construction at the time, and then edited the serial number out of a post and stopped asking. Just an observation, but interesting under the circumstances. Look, I am not saying that you stole the bass or even that you tried to keep it once you found out it was stolen. I am just saying that the whole of the story you tell here doesn't all seem to fit together. Maybe you just didn't explain yourself well. | ||
| mica
Moderator Username: mica Post Number: 1991 Registered: 6-2000 |
I feel I need to step in here. There was confusion over the serial number on Tom's bass here at Alembic. The records indicate both numbers. Since the owner of the bass is very happy with the return, and is on friendly terms with the person who wound up with it (I can confirm from my personal converations with Tom), then I really don't think it's healthly to over analyze this situation. Frankly, it really isn't any of our business. Let's just be thankful that things worked out so well and refrain from conjecture - it serves no purpose. We have changed the serial number position in the years that followed. This isn't the first time there has been confusion after the normal wear on the fingerboard in that area. If you're got an Alembic with the serial number on the end of the fingerboard, I would suggest that you scribe it in another location: perhaps the electronics cavity or under one of the pickups. | ||
| geddy
Junior Username: geddy Post Number: 12 Registered: 7-2004 |
<quote>I find it impossible to swallow that Alembic had the wrong serial number posted on the day you posted the serial number of the stolen bass on these boards. The only reason I became involved with this instrument is because the serial number you posted matched what was then on the list of stolen instruments. So, when did they supposedly post the wrong number and change it?</quote> TBO I still don't know what the real serial is. According to the owner it's "1636," it looks more like 1633 to me, but again worn from 25 years of slapping. I was not even aware of the stolen bass page, my original post on the bass was my first visit here and it takes some navigation to find all these different pages (ex, where is that body shapes page again?). I only became aware of it after I returned it to tom. That night I checked and they had it listed 1635, I checked back later to see if it was still on there, it was with the serial "1636," I believe tom told them that was the serial but it still looks more like a 3 to me. So it was only changed after the bass was returned. <quote>If you really couldn't read the serial number, why didn't you edit your post to say that it could have been 1633, 1635 or 1636 when asking for information instead of editing your post to make it seem you were certain it was 1633? If you thought that 'your' bass might be 1635 or 1636 at that point and you saw a matching serial number on the stolen instruments list, why didn't you contact Alembic then to make sure you had a legitimate bass? If I remember your original post, you did come by this bass under peculiar circumstances and at a ridiculously low price. None of these things made you wonder?</quote> I did say something similar to that, that I couldn't read it clearly, and I was at work going from memory, which is %100 true. 1633 is the number I posted, and as I said because of the wear there is confusion. Alembic said 1635, tom says 1636, I say 1633. I suspect Alembic's original number was the correct one. You ask me why I didn't notify them that I had one on the stolen page, again I didn't at that point know such a page existed. Why didn't I contact them? What do you think my post was, a friendly hello? I posted details of this bass and was given no indication it was hot until tom emailed me. And you imply that I was trying to make it look like 1633 was the number. Go back to the archives and look at it, I deliberately said that I wasn't sure what the last number was. A note about the "rediculously low price": I've been playing for under six months now and had no idea what an Alembic was. I knew it was a fine instrument, actually if it hadn't had the trussrod plate engraved with alembic I might still have it, not knowing what it is. At the time 800 seemed like a lot to me for a used bass, although now I know different. <quote>Finally, you posted several message over the course of a few days when you received the bass. You seemed awfully keen to know about the construction at the time, and then edited the serial number out of a post and stopped asking. Just an observation, but interesting under the circumstances.</quote> Not hearing a response made me wonder, maybe I had posted the wrong number, maybe they were too busy at the moment. And no I did not "stop replying," I was waiting for a reply and answered the second I received tom's email. To say I stopped responding is a gross mischaracterization. Either way at that point I was begining to understand what an amazing company alembic is an what a fine board this is, and did not want to seem like an IMPATIENT NUISANCE to alembic. I already explained why that edit was made, because at that point it seemed pushy and needless to post another number FROM MEMORY that may or may not be right. I was expecting a birth report on 1633 at that point. And of course you're not saying I had any part in stealing it, that would be slander. It was gone for four years and all of a sudden I'm going to pop up on this site? Not likely actions of a thief. I'm sure it went through many hands before arriving in mine. To finish, the owner, the authorities, and mother susan herself have all been involved in this and have never implied that I did anything wrong. For me that's enough and should also be instructive for you I hope. | ||
| geddy
Junior Username: geddy Post Number: 13 Registered: 7-2004 |
Thank you for clearing that up mica. Things have turned out wonderfully for both me and tom, mostly thanks to Alembic, but it was stressful going through this and I apologize if my above replies were a bit terse and defensive. These insinuations were just not something I was expecting to hear. | ||
| lbpesq
Member Username: lbpesq Post Number: 62 Registered: 7-2004 |
Geddy: For body shapes, click on "the products" on the lower left of the home page. Then click on "Basses" and I think you'll find what you were looking for. To paraphrase Mica and Billy Shakespeare, all's well that ends well! Keep playing, enjoy your new Alembic, and don't worry, be happy. Bill, the guitar one | ||
| geddy
Junior Username: geddy Post Number: 16 Registered: 7-2004 |
Thanks Bill Enjoying it I am! I thought going from the series I I had briefly to an orion would be a *small* letdown, but it's not. Every bit as special and amazing, and quite a bit easier for me to play in the weight and balance department. And eq knobs I actually understand . . . yay! ;) I'll be posting pics and a very gushing thread soon, the grafted walnut top is a gorgeous sight man! | ||
| tom_z
Junior Username: tom_z Post Number: 42 Registered: 7-2004 |
Jon - congratulations on your acquisition. As you are discovering, playability is amazing and the craftsmanship is of the highest caliber. I'm glad that the circumstances surrounding the Understated Elegance bass have been resolved and that you are able to experience the joy of owning an Alembic. Incidentally, we are almost neighbors (at least in Desert Southwest terms) as I live a quick jaunt South on I15 in Sin City. Enjoy your new bass. Tom | ||
| pookeymp
Intermediate Member Username: pookeymp Post Number: 166 Registered: 7-2002 |
Hey Geddy, Welcome aboard and enjoy that great bass. I think it's real cool that you helped in the return of Tom's bass, and he in turn helped you in the acquisition of your newly found treasure...now that's the spirit. Mikey/ | ||
| bob
Advanced Member Username: bob Post Number: 342 Registered: 11-2002 |
"Moderation" - from Mica, no less, one of the rare times we've seen anyone perform in that official capacity (thankfully). It's a great concept (moderation). There is a lot of passion here, ranging from love/defense of Alembic instruments vs. fraudulent copies, to (reasonably justified) paranoia about eBay scams, theft, and so forth, regarding these beloved instruments. Having just read this entire thread for the first time, it feels like Bob (The Other Bob) had some reasonable questions, and after all he is our resident eBay and used pricing expert... though maybe he pushed a bit hard this time? But keep in mind, he just asked honest questions, and was never abusive (a little insistent perhaps...). Geddy, as far as I can tell, you have no need to defend yourself further - welcome. And now, let's all go back to playing. -Bob | ||
| davehouck
Senior Member Username: davehouck Post Number: 919 Registered: 5-2002 |
The body shapes page is here: http://www.alembic.com/info/bodyshapes.html | ||
| geddy
Junior Username: geddy Post Number: 24 Registered: 7-2004 |
thanks for pointing that out guys but I was just using it as an example ;) |
