Tubas stolen in Mexico City

[jsswadley]

Hello Everyone! I'm posting this message for Hector Lopez, the lobo, tuba in the UNAM orchestra in Mexico City. His instruments were stolen from his apartment in Mexico City on Tuesday afternoon. They are a Meinl Weston CC 2155, 4 pistons, a B and S Perantucci F (blue gig bag) and a 5/4 Rudy Meinl BBb with no laquer. It is not impossible that these instruments could surface in the US and we would appreciate a message if you hear anything about these tubas. Amigos latinos, apreciaramos mucho un mensaje si escuchan algo de estos instrumentos. This is a very unfortunate situation for the Lobo, hope he can recover his horns. Thanks, John

[bort]

Freakin terrible. I hope they find the guy, jam his head into the Rudy, and let "the Lobo" rip on it. Deafness by tuba is the only fair and ironic punishment fitting for this.

But seriously, I hope he gets them back. All 3? What is wrong with people...

[michael gilleran]

Hey, I was just posting because Ive had experience with having an instrument stolen from me before. More importantly, I recovered that instrument within 3 days of the theft.

My best advice, is check ebay/craigslist/mexican equivalent hourly. Many times, sellers will only put expensive items online for short periods of time to prevent the owner from finding it.

Also, call local pawn shops DAILY near closing hours.

Most importantly, make sure you have the serial numbers. Even if you did manage to find the instrument, you can barely do anything unless you have the serial numbers. Also, in the police report, make sure to include any identifiable damage to the instrument. If you include in the report that the tuba has say, a semi circle dent in the bell next to the logo, and then you see that same dent on ebay, it will be easier for the police to get a warrant from ebay

If the instrument is on ebay, be prepared to buy the instrument yourself first, and then wait for reimbursement once the seller is proven guilty

Best of luck.

Not to get your hopes up, but its highly unlikely that the thieves were tuba players, which means their probably going to try and sell the instrument. I dont know what Mexico is like, but I cant imagine too make black market people who would want the risk of holding a tuba. All three will probably show up somewhere

[SousaSaver]

If your friend has pictures, please post them. This could help as many people on the board hit eBay and craigslist daily. Serial numbers could be helpful too. Good luck to your friend. Let's hope the horns turn up soon.

[chenderson_86]

So, a tuba player stops at a shopping mall to run a few errands. He leaves the tuba in the back seat. So he goes in an runs his errands, and as he's leaving he can see that his windows are smashed. What does he find?

Two tubas.

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I do apologize for that highly inappropriate joke, but this post reminded me of it. I seriously don't know what I'd do if I had one of my horns stolen. Best of luck in your search.