CrunchSamaritan: Reporting stolen double bass in Santa Barbara

Are you in Santa Barbara? Have you seen a suspicious double bass floating around — possibly stolen from a church sanctuary?

Poor Kim had a boatload of gear stolen from the Free Methodist Church, including a big tan vintage double bass, a big green amp, and a bunch of other stuff. Click through for the business.

From Kim Collins:
Dear Friends & Musicians,

Today (10/6) sometime between 2:00-5:30 p.m. my acoustic bass and 2 amplifier
rigs were stolen from the stage of the Free Methodist Church, 1435 Cliff Dr.,
Santa Barbara, CA. The main sanctuary doors are always unlocked during business hours, and we
speculate that someone must have seen me bring the equipment in this a.m. (I
normally don’t bring my own rig from home) and waited their chance for when
the church was quiet. It would have taken 2 trips to get all this stuff (or 2
people) and someone knew how to release Neutrik twist-lock cables from their
sockets to grab the stuff quickly. I filed a police report as soon as I
discovered the theft, but I would appreciate you all forwarding this to as many
people as you can think of who can be on the look out (pawn shops/ebay/Craig’s
List/music stores/etc.) to see if I can recover the much valued tools of my
trade (especially the bass, as it has great sentimental value as well) Here are
the descriptions:

KAY M1 3/4 SIZE DOUBLE BASS: circa 1950’s, tan finish (probably was blonder
in early years) rather worn-esp. on body by fingerboard where thumb & fingers
follow through. It has some unique modifications: the original brass tuning
keys mounted on matching plates (Tyrollean style) have been replaced by
individual nickel plated tuners mounted on custom cut wood veneer plates that
don’t match the rest of the wood either in color or grain. Also, the back and
belly have had their edges sanded down & refinished to be level with the binding
around the body EXCEPT in the ‘C’ curves of the bouts where the edges still
protrude past the binding. I had mounted an Underwood pickup and a Countryman
Isomax condenser mic in the bridge. Both a 1/4” and XLR connector are lashed
to the tailpiece with black elastic hair ties. I also had a bow quiver mounted
uniquely to the tailpiece, but these things would be easy to remove. The tuning
keys and sanded edges you couldn’t hide. One more thing: I had made an endpin
out of a thick dowel rod painted black that was nonadjustable. It has a
standard silver hose clamp around the top to keep it from cracking.

GLASSER FIBERGLASS BOW: French style, 45+ years old, chocolate brown paint,
well worn (present from my dad)

BLACK NYLON BASS BAG: chrome hardware, bow pocket on front, zippered utility
pouch on lower front, double ‘D’ rings on back to adjust straps. One unique
feature: I had bolted a 3” round rubber foot to the bottom to protect the
zipper from wear.

ACOUSTIC IMAGE BASS AMP: Clarus II model-2 inputs (1/4” & XLR) These units
are not available in most mainstream music stores-dual level, about the size of
a cigar box, with a handle on top level and controls on lower. The thief
didn’t take the padded bag that goes with it.

AMPEG 110H SPKR. CAB: black ‘fuzzy’ covering, about 16” cubical with a
slightly rounded-up face. 10” woofer & 2” tweeter inside. Grayish metal
grille plate with the Ampeg logo on front, variable tweeter control dial on
back.

CARVIN AG100D GT./KEYBD. AMP: 12” woofer & 2” horn. 3 channels w/ 5 band
graphic EQ. These units are most distinctive for their forest green vinyl
covering.

It’s late and I’m tired-I probably forgot some details, but I wanted to get
this out ASAP. I haven’t had time to dig around my records for serial
numbers. When I find them, I’ll send them on.

I would appreciate this list going as far and wide as possible, as I realize my
stuff could already be in LA, SF, San Diego or Timbuktu by now. So if you could
take a minute to think of who might be a good “relay person” and send it on,
I’d be grateful. Those of you who have special instruments know that it feels
less like theft and more like kidnapping when you have one taken!

Thanks & Blessings To You,
Kim Collins