Got a call today from a music buddy here on Oahu, Hi... after exchanging hellos, the first thing he asked me was, "did you have an acoustic bass that got stolen"? I said yes, and he asked, "what kind was it", and I replied it was a 4-string Michael Kelly Dragonfly bass, left hand of course, that was stolen out of my van in downtown Honolulu, back in 2009. "Do you happen to know the serial number" he asked. I said I had taken pictures of the bass, had a close-up of the sound hole, and had most of the serial number, as a string was hiding a portion of it.
After repeating the numbers I had to him, he then told me that a fellow guitar player/ teacher, had a student that had my stolen bass in her possession. She'd been given the bass by someone she knew that had come by it years ago by the person who had stolen it, was now feeling remorse for having it, and wanted to give it back to the rightful owner - me!
My buddy told me I would get a friend's request through Facebook from the guitar instructor, which he did, and once I had accepted his request, I sent him pictures of the bass, and serial number. He texted me back, and said he would contact me to meet him when he had gotten the bass from his student.. how cool is that!
When it was stolen, it was brand new, so I'm curious to see what kind of condition it's in after all these years. I bought it through an eBay auction at the time, for the whopping amount, including shipping, for $106, delivered to Kailua, Hi!
It had a beautiful curly Maple top, and received lots of compliments, mostly from the ladies, on how nice it looked. It had a nice sound as well... my only negative comment about it was, the neck was a bit "soft" - I would never change the bronze strings out for flats, for example, as it would bow the neck way beyond the truss-rod's ability to keep it within normal action specs.
The picture below is not a very good one, but when I get it back I'll take pictures of it's condition, subsequent cleaning if needed, and post them up. I'm excited to get it back; never thought I'd see it, or any of the gear stolen out of my van way back on that late night in 2009.
Some months back, I went to a rehearsal studio with friends to jam, and spied a GK 150MBE, that looked like the one that had been also stolen from my van. I convinced the studio owner that if I opened it up, I could prove that it was mine, from the mods I had made to it. He said, if you think it's yours, go ahead and take it, as it had been given to him by a painter/friend of his who had literally found it on the street at a jobsite, in a pile of bulky items that were ready for pickup. It was full of dust and cobwebs, but it was indeed mine! After a thorough cleaning, I now use it for rehearsals, and small gigs; it's nice to have it back! Out of all the gear I lost that night, the GK combo, and the acoustic bass were all that I wanted back. Looks like my wish has been fulfilled!
![[img]http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn172/fivebass52PC boards were full of dust, and a waxy film, cobwebs etc..../GK%20150MBE/20151128_005948_zpsfnymyqol.jpg[/img]](http://s304.photobucket.com/user/fivebass52/media/GK%20150MBE/20151128_005948_zpsfnymyqol.jpg.html){kind=link}