STOLEN TUBA

Jobey Wilson · Post by **Jobey Wilson** » Sat Oct 21, 2006 2:27 pm

Bump...

windshieldbug · Post by **windshieldbug** » Sun Oct 22, 2006 12:30 pm

tubaguy9 · Post by **tubaguy9** » Sun Oct 22, 2006 3:03 pm

tofu wrote:It really sucks when your horn gets stolen - especially when it's a tool you use in your livelyhood. I really hate leaving a horn in the car, but I find I end up having to do it all the time. I can't imagine as a serious amateur how you can avoid it, but a pro playing all the time would have no choice.

That is why I have the best alarms I could install on the car, but they will only slow a good thief and not stop them if they really want it. I also try to park as smart as I can in highly visible well trafficed areas, but that is not fool proof.

Maybe we need to invent some Tuba alarms.
I wonder what the legal implications would be if a thief electrocuted himself on a wired tuba?

I would think that a rare horn like yours stands a better chance of being spotted by a repair person or another pro and possibly such a large horn would be harder to sell due to its size to anyone but another pro. I hope that it doesn't get banged up before you get it back. Best of luck getting it back.

Sucky thing about your electricuted theif, is that he'd find out who you are and sue you for more than the instrument is worth, and win for whatever damages he gets.

tubaguy9 · Post by **tubaguy9** » Sun Oct 22, 2006 3:03 pm

imperialbari wrote:I tend to see two bumps, even if one of them is half covered by the sign.

Klaus

I found 4.

Leland · Post by **Leland** » Sun Oct 22, 2006 3:05 pm

imperialbari wrote:We all remember the lucky recovery of Lelandâ€™s stolen 3302 (or whatever B&S BBb).

"Lucky" is mostly right, although the fact that a number of people knew what they were seeing on eBay really was awesome.

Chronicled here:
http://www.chisham.com/tips/bbs/jan2002 ... 83076.html
and here:
http://www.chisham.com/tips/bbs/feb2002 ... 86767.html

I've never, ever heard anything from the cops afterwards. There are probably too many other things getting stolen around here, never mind all the people getting shot.

Letâ€™s hope the same goes for Jobey. His fate is sad enough already. Last year an airline took the beauty out of his B&S F-tuba. He plays in a quintet with a female horn player, who will break his nose, if he raises anything but his voice. And now this.

Man, that really, really sucks....

imperialbari wrote:If I were Jobey, which I in this present situation am fortunately NOT, I would alert Gronitz about the theft. There have been cases where thieves have sought competent evaluation of the stolen goods. This is well known from the art world.

Interesting -- I had no idea (I'm obviously not involved in the art community very much...). I'd also say that legitimate retailers would get calls about something like this, or (unfortunately) maybe just website hits. The asking price for mine was about equal to retail at the time.

Scooby Tuba wrote:I don't know that story, but I bet some reporter might want to cover this one. Maybe contacting the local TV stations and telling them about this may inspire a "human interest" story. Something like Jobey sitting with the quintet NOT playing his parts. Could generate similar "buzz".

I'd like that idea, and it makes me apprehensive, too. Publicity helps get people to pay attention, but at the same time, more people would know how much these things are worth, drawing what I would consider to be unwanted attention. If some crackhead thinks he can get a couple grand (at least) instead of a couple hundred, it'll be a lot more tempting.

Then again, the typical crackhead doesn't care how much something's worth, just that it's worth "enough". And, maybe, getting the word out about how tightly-knit the music community is and how difficult it can be for a stolen instrument would deter other thieves.

Man, I dunno... it just sucks all around.

Jobey Wilson · Post by **Jobey Wilson** » Wed Oct 25, 2006 1:14 am

Hey guys,
I talked to the detective tonight and nothing came up on this week's pawn lists. I've contacted every music store I could find a number or e-mail address for and alerted them...fortunately I know someone at majority of these shops, so I know they're keeping an eye out. I'm gonna continue contacting the pawn shops personally. I've been thinking about contacting the press, as some have suggested, but as Leland mentioned, I think it might do more harm than good. The most intelligent thing these guys could possibly do is trash the horn (my heart just skipped), and if they saw it on TV, I believe they most definitely would immediately dump it. I just hope they're dumb enough to try to pawn it off. Thanks so much for the help, everyone!! jobey

Jobey Wilson · Post by **Jobey Wilson** » Thu Oct 26, 2006 12:10 am

Bumpity-bump.
Some lighter news...
Lee Hipp shipped me back "our" old Alexander to use in the interim. I received it two days ago, and got to reminisce with a small program tonight:
Meistersinger
Shostakovich Violin Concerto Op. 99
Brahms 2

I can't tell you how many times I've played Brahms 2 on that Alexander. My very first gig with the Alex was a similar "small" program with the Irving (TX) Symphony in 1996:
Sensamaya
Rachmaninoff Paganini Variations
Brahms 2

...trying to look at the positive side of life...jobey

Getzeng50s · Post by **Getzeng50s** » Thu Oct 26, 2006 8:02 pm

MW215588 wrote:I sleep with mine

You need a girlfriend

Rick Denney · Post by **Rick Denney** » Thu Oct 26, 2006 8:26 pm

Jobey Wilson wrote:My very first gig with the Alex was a similar "small" program with the Irving (TX) Symphony in 1996:

Musta been you I was trying to unseat. I was called to sub in the Irving Youth Orchestra in about '96, which rehearsed at the same facility as the Irving Symphony. I had never been there, and I walked in behind other musicians and followed them onto the auditorium stage where they were setting up for rehearsal. It wasn't long before I was recognized as an imposter and directed down the hall. But even the "youth" orchestra was a pretty good group. I nearly had a heart attack when I opened the folder and saw the Damnation of Faust, when I was told I would not need an F tuba (he says as if he can play it worth a darn even on F). It wasn't on the program, and I remember being ALMOST disappointed.

I also subbed for the Mesquite Symphony. I got to rehearse the Shosty 5 several times, but never got to perform it.

Was that the Alex that Lee played before he got the Neptune?

Rick "out of that scene now" Denney

zachattck514 · Post by **zachattck514** » Sat Oct 28, 2006 1:33 pm

bump...

dude that sucks. I'm real sorry.

~Zach

tofu · Post by **tofu** » Sun Oct 29, 2006 1:12 am

Jobey,

Has any of the other stuff stolen out of the garage been recovered by the cops yet? The reason I ask is 5 years ago we were having a rash of very high end ($3,500-$8,000) bicycle thefts here in the Chicago area. The bikes would just disappear never to be found and many of the thefts would happen at bike ride invitationals. The bikes would be stolen after riders finished the ride and were inside eating the after ride meal with the bikes on their car bike racks for the drive home.

I was president of my bike club and when our own invitational happened in the later part of that summer I was on the look out and set up a team to be on alert. Well sure enough a guy dressed like a cyclist and looking very much like a racer with a rack on top his car with a high end Colnago shows up, but never gets the bike off the rack. So he's hanging around for the early century riders to get back and I'm video taping him and the bike on the rack matches a bike stolen at a ride the week before. We call the local cops (this ride happens out in the sticks and the local Barney Fife shows up). He was told to not come with lights and horns and of course shows up with the whole circus going. The thief sees him & takes off and disappears into the HS school that was our starting and end point.

Barney says he can't do anything because we didn't have the stolen bike serial number with us from the week before. This was the cops 2nd day on the force and he was wrong, but during the debate the thief had managed to slip back into his car and takes off. Barney Fife tears off after him, but stops at the city limits because he didn't think he could continue pursuit. So the guy gets away. Fortunately I had the guys license plates, car, video of him and the numbers off the bike. Got the chief of police on the phone and determine it was a Chicago plate. Got the Chicago cops involved and long story short they nail the ring. These guys were all Polish Nationals and they would steal the bikes and then would go immediately to Fedx and ship it to Poland. They only stole bikes that while not that usual here are very common in Europe like Colnago's and thus wouldn't standout like they would here. In two years they had stolen over $500,000 in bikes.

If you haven't already I would suggest contacting all the international shippers (especially to Europe) who would handle something the size of a tuba. If nothing from all the thefts in the garage hasn't turned up yet then I'm guessing these guys are real pros and the stuff is being iced. Did they steal your car or just break in? If they stole the car then the horn was incidental and the car is in a container and either in Mexico or Europe with the horn probably still in it. I also would contact pawnshops and instrument repair folks in Europe.

I'm sure you and the police have done all this already, but I just remembered my own bike thief incidence and thought I'd pass on the info. I don't know for sure, but would guess a Gronitz would stand out less in Europe then here, but also would be amazed at thiefs sophisticated enough to know this.

Michael Woods · Post by **Michael Woods** » Sun Oct 29, 2006 1:56 am

This was the Alex that Lee had before he got his Neptune.

Jobey Wilson · Post by **Jobey Wilson** » Mon Oct 30, 2006 7:00 pm

No word on this week's pawn shop reports yet...bump...jobey

Jobey Wilson · Post by **Jobey Wilson** » Wed Nov 01, 2006 1:44 pm

Bump...

Getzeng50s · Post by **Getzeng50s** » Fri Nov 03, 2006 12:35 am

jobey,
if i find it im gonna keep it. hahaha j/k. anyway, i am gonna come back to boston round xmas.... ill bring knox's horn if u want to play it. or if u wanna pay for it, ill bring it with me on thanksgiving on the flight. i dont think it would cost much.. i might even be abl to get away with not paying at all. let me know. otherwise, im gonna take my tuba home with me.

Mike

Tubatoad · Post by **Tubatoad** » Sat Nov 04, 2006 10:15 pm

windshieldbug · Post by **windshieldbug** » Sun Nov 05, 2006 2:50 pm

WHUMP!

Jobey Wilson · Post by **Jobey Wilson** » Tue Nov 07, 2006 1:19 am

bump....

Jobey Wilson · Post by **Jobey Wilson** » Wed Nov 08, 2006 12:55 am

Update...
As I'm leaving BC tonight, I get a call from the Radisson Hotel in Cambridge saying they had a bag of music with my name on it that has been sitting behind their front desk for couple of weeks. I immediately drove over there and found my gig books, which were also taken out of my car that night...even got cut by a bit of leftover glass in the bag. They have security cameras there, so hopefully we'll find someone carrying an unconspicuous little green bag on their back!!!
Jobey "sharpening my hunting knife" Wilson

Tubaguy56 · Post by **Tubaguy56** » Wed Nov 08, 2006 11:59 am

Good luck! My heart goes out to you, I play a Gronitz PCK as well, and I would die without it....