My favorite flea power amp has been returned to me after theft. Thank you!

 This is a good story with a happy ending.

In June 2021 my favorite amp was stolen from my van in Brooklyn. I played Russian roulette with my gear many times, it was buried under blankets but on this night I'm pretty sure I was being watched by someone in McCarren Park as I locked my van up for the night. 

I discovered the theft on Saturday as I was picking up a friend. I noticed the passenger side door lock had been tampered with. The funny thing was I parked in a no parking zone for two whole days! So naturally I was annoyed but I pretty much accepted the loss. I did file a police report and unlike me I didn't have the serial number. All I had was a good description.... I put the oxblood bakelite knobs on myself and the smooth sky blue pilot light was my addition too. 

I was annoyed but what are you going to do? In a city of 10 million folks I'm a very low priority for the NYPD. So, that's the way it goes. I did what I could including posting photos on the social media that I have and I wrote to all of the NYC guitar stores I could think of.

So fast forward to a Friday in December and a good friend in Baltimore texts me with a Reverb listing and he asks me "Is this your amp?" 

Yup! I could see my signature on the filter can in the back and it even had the pack of DR Pure Blues strings still in it. The seller didn't seem to know too much about it but he had a years long history and knew that it was a rare amp. I have a feeling he may have seen it on my blog here since I was singing it praises. 

His asking price: $2000! Local pickup only.

So all of the emotions came popping up right away. The stuff I didn't really allow myself to feel back in June. Disgust, violation, rage..... I thought about setting up a meet and showing up and just taking it. But I figured at $2,000 it's not going to go anywhere fast!

So I contacted the Greenpoint precinct. I figured that was a long shot and it was. A petty larceny in NYC? The cops literally have more important things to do. They did get back to me on that Monday but by then I had already gotten it back.

How did I do it?

My gut told me the seller was not the thief. So I simply wrote to him and said "Wow, you found my favorite amp! That's amazing! I would like it back now as it was stolen in June."

I did my best to appeal to his higher self and it worked. I presented photos and social media posts in my first message. He pushed back for one half of a sentence then apologized profusely. He bought it at a table sale in east Williamsburg for $40. He showed me the text exchange he had with a friend about his lucky score.

Within an hour of contacting him he dropped it off at Southside Guitars where I work once a month. I paid him that forty bucks as a finder fee and while I know I didn't need to do that since he was selling a stolen good, I was happy to pay him. Why would I do such a thing?

If I had found a cool amp on at a sidewalk sale I would have done exactly the same thing as him. In fact that is part of how I make my living. It's survival. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. There is little to no accountability in our eBay Reverb world for hot goods. 

When I worked at a shop in Portland two street drug dealers brought in an old saxophone.... I could see it from across the room and knew it was something I could get $2k for. Rare and desirable. The store turned it down so I asked permission if I could buy it. Me and the dealers stepped outside and they told me it plays nice to which I replied "bullshit. I know you don't play so don't try to play me. How much fellas?" They said $40. I took out two Jacksons and sent them on their way.

The horn had been neglected for years. No case, badly tarnished but in good physical shape. I ran it through the Portland Police Department second hand goods three times (I think that was 6-12weeks?) before I had it fixed up to sell. No one seemed to be missing it. I won that time. I could have just as easily lost.......

And I remember the pawn detectives. I think when I started working at that shop the Portland PD had 3 pawn detectives. It was reduced to one soon thereafter.... one moved to Arson and the other was moved elsewhere. That's too big a job for 3 people let alone one.

So for the fella who was trying to sell my amp: Thanks for doing the right thing! It's a good way to live.

J