Stolen Gibson Les Paul Custom

[DivineJ]

Almost 2 years ago my dear dear Les Paul was stolen from our rehearsal room.
I still haven't forgot my precious old friend which i bought in the beginning of 2000 from parents who sold their drowned sons old guitar. It had a story. I've written many songs with that guitar and played several gigs.
My heart is aching already now (and again) when i'm writing this.
Gibson Les Paul Custom alpine white, 1990 serial 91770316
Guitar was stolen in Helsinki, Finland.

How would you proceed your search for your lost friend? Or would you already give up?

 

[ecosse]

I'd always be on the lookout. It would never leave my mind. Posting on forums like this and classifieds online couldn't hurt. Good luck.

 

[paco1976]

Sorry for that. Look at all the classifieds, forums... etc. Maybe post a classified saying you are interested in white LPC from 88 to 93 and check what it brings out.People answer a lot to this kind of adverts, people usually not thinking of selling but reading it they change their mind.

 

[DivineJ]

I have been checking adds and auction sites almost daily but only in Finland. I don't have energy and time to look all the other countries forums etc even if i wanted. Maybe that's why i also posted here. If some one should see this kind of Les Paul on sale then i could get a tip or hint.
Dunno, feels sad and desperate.

 

[defcrew]

sux....abhor thieves

 

[JCarno]

I'll never stop looking for my stolen guitars. I don't mean actively, I mean I'll always have an eye out for them. I just changed my sig today to reflect the MIA guitars and I gotta say, It felt like I was at a burial and the casket was going in the ground. Very sad.

 

[USAPatriot]

Post want ads. Say that you're looking to buy a 1990 Alpine White Custom...your dream guitar. When responses come in, ask for photos, make sure you get a pic of the back of the headstock, and maybe one day yours will be offered to you. From there you find out the owner's history with the guitar, whether he's claiming to be the original owner, or acquired it around the time it was stolen or just bought it from someone last year. In the US we call that a "Sting". His answers dictate your actions. -Rod-

 

[defcrew]

Post want ads. Say that you're looking to buy a 1990 Alpine White Custom...your dream guitar. When responses come in, ask for photos, make sure you get a pic of the back of the headstock, and maybe one day yours will be offered to you. From there you find out the owner's history with the guitar, whether he's claiming to be the original owner, or acquired it around the time it was stolen or just bought it from someone last year. In the US we call that a "Sting". His answers dictate your actions. -Rod-

Kinda reminds me of what they said about that missing jet...we're just trying to figure out which haystack to start with.

 

[boyscout]

You can try regular Google searches for that serial number. A long shot, but maybe.

You can eliminate hits that will probably never show your guitar by entering their domain after a minus sign. Here's a start for you:

91770316 -nih.gov -everychina.com -findagrave.com

Save that string in a text file somewhere, add more -domains to it as you wish, and every once in a while copy and paste it into Google and search. Long shot - even honest people don't usually include serial numbers in their listings - but you never know, it might pop up in a for-sale posting some day.

Good luck.

 

[Tim Plains]

I assume you reported it being stolen to the police with that serial number? Personally, I would have also informed all the local buy n' sell stores / pawn shops when it was stolen. It's probably too late for that now but you never know. It may turn up at one, one day.

 

[Otis Shredding]

I had my full gigging rig stolen about 15 years ago, such a low day. I looked and kept my hopes up for years then gave up. Then a few months ago my full pedalboard with all but one of the pedals turned up at a local shop, who happily returned them to me. I'd have much rather gotten my guitars back but it sparked that hope that maybe I'll see them again one day. I hope the same for you, stranger things have happened!

 

[defcrew]

I had my full gigging rig stolen about 15 years ago, such a low day. I looked and kept my hopes up for years then gave up. Then a few months ago my full pedalboard with all but one of the pedals turned up at a local shop, who happily returned them to me. I'd have much rather gotten my guitars back but it sparked that hope that maybe I'll see them again one day. I hope the same for you, stranger things have happened!

That's pretty amazing. Once the house we jammed in got robbed and a Twin, a Gibson Grabber bass, two Fender Rhodes speaker cabs, two stereo receivers and a bag of pennies got stolen. Sitting in the middle of the room uncased was my Les Paul Deluxe which was left behind.

 

[Otis Shredding]

That's pretty amazing. Once the house we jammed in got robbed and a Twin, a Gibson Grabber bass, two Fender Rhodes speaker cabs, two stereo receivers and a bag of pennies got stolen. Sitting in the middle of the room uncased was my Les Paul Deluxe which was left behind.

There's bittersweet defined right there. Even just physically it's kind of crazy that they'd grab the Rhodes cabs and leave the Paul.

 

[Midnight Blues]

I really feel for you. I hope it's returned to you.

Might want to post the info here as well:

http://www.theguitarvaults.com


Good luck!

 

[Midnight Blues]

Duplicated post.

 

[DivineJ]

I assume you reported it being stolen to the police with that serial number? Personally, I would have also informed all the local buy n' sell stores / pawn shops when it was stolen. It's probably too late for that now but you never know. It may turn up at one, one day.

Yes i did report it to the police and i also got 2000 euros from insurance company but that of course didn't do much. I bought almost new Gibson les Paul custom 2012 but to be honest it didn't feel right. I sold it and now i have 2005 standard. I still miss that guitar.

I also thought about reporting to pawn shops and i also called to one big pawn shop and asked should i report to them also. Well they said yes. But then i started to re-think about that. You see if it's reported stolen they will not take the guitar in. Now, when i haven't reported it to pawn shop they can take it in and put it into sale within 6 months.
I have a pawn shops own reminder set into their site so that when ever a Gibson is put out on to sale it will send me an email before the auction. Then i can just go to pawn shop and show my police report that it's mine.
My friend got his own Les Paul just the same way back.

Then again i think it has gone abroad already.
Heh, i once thought that it could be good idea to hide some weed inside the guitar case. Then if the guitar is stolen and tried to take outside the country, it would be possible that the customs dogs would smell that guitar case.
Then again problems could show up once i would have gigs abroad