Toronto:Stolen Guitar

Subject: Toronto:Stolen Guitar
From: erinmaidin
Date: 28 Jul 04 - 04:19 PM

The recent posting of stolen instruments made me think it might be worthwhile to post this. I was told, last year, by a psychic that this guitar is still circulating and being played...which was some comfort knowing it hadn't been smashed or laying in the bottom of a lake somewhere.
Some years back...mid-90's..I had an Alvarez Classical Guitar stolen out of a van parked behind an Irish pub in Toronto. The glass was smashed by someone who obviously saw us load the gear. This guitar was given me by my parents when I was a teenager and I played it well into my life. Wrote songs on it...played lullabies for my babies..who are all grown now. It was a sweet instrument and matched my voice brilliantly.
It's dark wood grain on the sides and back with a red front. The usual braiding around the sound hole and down the center of the back.
An interesting "birthmark" was ..the top of the guitar...up near the tuners...the very top...had been pinched by being hung improperly by a clamp..I didn't do this...it came to me that way.
Not being entirely up to speed on the genealogy of Alvarez instruments..I believe this guitar was made pre- Alvarez/Yairi days...(sp?).
Would love to hear from anyone in Toronto who may have seen this guitar out and about...am thinking it was stolen by someone who often attends Irish trad sessions.

Subject: RE: Toronto:Stolen Guitar
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 28 Jul 04 - 04:28 PM

"I was told, last year, by a psychic"

Yer joking right????

" Some years back...mid-90's"

It's gone...

Subject: RE: Toronto:Stolen Guitar
From: erinmaidin
Date: 29 Jul 04 - 03:58 AM

Clinton,
I was not joking....I went to a healer last year who mended my instruments...the same healer..actually ...that has worked on Donovan's guitar. I'd always been at odds with my mandolin and it was not from lack of trying. Since the healing process there is a happy bond between myself and this fine little instrument....a comfort that was never there before. All is not science and calculators my friend!

Subject: RE: Toronto:Stolen Guitar
From: GUEST,Wesley S
Date: 29 Jul 04 - 08:23 AM

A local radio DJ had his National Tricone stolen from his front steps when UPS left it there after it had been away for some repairs. It was sold to a man in a bar down the street for a quick $50. The man put it in a closet and forgot about it. Over a decade later he checked the instrument closly and found a business card of the repair location inside the case - called them - and then was able to contact the owner. National and owner were reunited. Some instruments come back. I hope yours does too.

Subject: RE: Toronto:Stolen Guitar
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 29 Jul 04 - 03:38 PM

EM... You got your 'instrument' 'healed' because you were having trouble 'playing' it?

Your guitar wasn't stolen... it's HIDING!

*shakes head*

Subject: RE: Toronto:Stolen Guitar
From: SINSULL
Date: 29 Jul 04 - 04:12 PM

Clinton - don't criticize what you can't understand.
SINS

Subject: RE: Toronto:Stolen Guitar
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 29 Jul 04 - 04:21 PM

Oh I understand it all to well!

Subject: RE: Toronto:Stolen Guitar
From: GUEST,mike_in_st_c
Date: 29 Jul 04 - 05:47 PM

To paraphrase Shakespeare, "There is more under heaven and earth than your dreams have (devised?)." Not sure of the actual quotation from the bard, but that's the spirit of the quote. Mike

Subject: RE: Toronto:Stolen Guitar
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 29 Jul 04 - 05:50 PM

"Put up or shut up"
James Randi...

Heh

http://www.randi.org/

Subject: RE: Toronto:Stolen Guitar
From: GUEST,belter
Date: 29 Jul 04 - 06:04 PM

What ever works for you dude.

Subject: RE: Toronto:Stolen Guitar
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 29 Jul 04 - 06:10 PM

Fantastical claims must be backed up with fantastic evidence...

:-)

Subject: RE: Toronto:Stolen Guitar
From: GUEST,belter
Date: 29 Jul 04 - 06:18 PM

I don't believe in much that's supernatural, but I figure erinmaidin is welcome to a good plucibal effect.

Subject: RE: Toronto:Stolen Guitar
From: erinmaidin
Date: 30 Jul 04 - 03:04 AM

Clinton, I could play the instrument but I could not enjoy playing it and never felt that it was ever more than just "rote". Now, when I play the mandolin, it sings and offers excitement and pleasure....and what the hell is plucibal...btw.

Subject: RE: Toronto:Stolen Guitar
From: GUEST,weerover
Date: 30 Jul 04 - 03:44 AM

Clinton,

I am pretty much a "science and calculators" man myself and think that the "healing" referred to is a load of old cobblers, but as it doesn't impinge on my life in any way it's harmless. Why not just live and let live?

wr.

Subject: RE: Toronto:Stolen Guitar
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 30 Jul 04 - 08:26 AM

You were 'sold' a 'bill of goods' EM...

Subject: RE: Toronto:Stolen Guitar
From: GUEST,Wesley S
Date: 30 Jul 04 - 09:54 AM

Clinton - It's very simple - she disagrees. Give it a rest. People ARE allowed to have different opinions - aren't they ?

Subject: RE: Toronto:Stolen Guitar
From: GUEST,belter
Date: 30 Jul 04 - 12:51 PM

I meant "placebo". From a scientific point of view I see a different mechanism at work hear, but I don't deny the results.

Subject: RE: Toronto:Stolen Guitar
From: GUEST,AR282
Date: 30 Jul 04 - 01:30 PM

I had a fretless Rickenbacker bass stolen around 1986. Magnificent instrument. I have never been able to replace it. I'll know it on sight if ever see it and I'm just going to take it back. Try and stop me. People who steal musical instruments should be splashed with a bucket of water and then hit with a cattle prod.

The only thing I don't understand about the original post is that if your psychic knew your instrument was still in circulation, why couldn't this person tell you who had it?

Subject: RE: Toronto:Stolen Guitar
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 30 Jul 04 - 02:23 PM

Maybe because there's no such thing as psychic...

Subject: RE: Toronto:Stolen Guitar
From: mike_in_st_c
Date: 30 Jul 04 - 10:34 PM

Ummm-just to clarify my misquoting of Shakespeare and thus nailing a niggly detail for my own device...."THere are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy." (Hamlet,I. V. 166) There, I feel better having done that. Whether it speaks to the pain experienced at losing a valued instrument, I hope it opens one to the possibilities which may exist. I can only empathize at this point with erinmaidin. I have had instruments stolen myself and can only trust that what goes around comes around. It is comforting to know that you have found a voice/connection with your mandolin. Faeth, and Hoep, Mike

Subject: RE: Toronto:Stolen Guitar
From: Marion
Date: 30 Jul 04 - 10:41 PM

Sorry to hear about that, Erinmaidin, and I hope it turns up eventually. And never mind Clinton, a psychic bit him when he was a child.

Marion

Subject: RE: Toronto:Stolen Guitar
From: GUEST,Clint Keller
Date: 31 Jul 04 - 12:17 AM

I read a book by an FBI profiler -- I think one who was a consultant to Silence of the Lambs -- who said that psychics are often helpful in tracking down criminals. He doesn't believe psychics are really psychic; they just integrate subconscious something-or-other, but they are often helpful.

We all have our superstitions, and that was his.

I used to read Tarot card sometimes. I explained it as

A. The work of Spirits
B. Synchronicity
C. "As above, so below"
D. Subconscious integration
E. A disguised projective test.

& let the victim pick according to his/her belief system. There's no real evidence for any of those explanations, but the cards are often right. So what difference does it make?

Whether you believe in oxidation or de-phlogistonization you can still light a match.

clint

Subject: RE: Toronto:Stolen Guitar
From: erinmaidin
Date: 31 Jul 04 - 04:59 AM

Marion....perhaps the psychic should have bit harder and a bit higher up.

Subject: RE: Toronto:Stolen Guitar
From: GUEST,Sleepless Dad
Date: 31 Jul 04 - 08:03 AM

Actually - it was Clinton's mom that was scared by the psychic before he was born. The psychic said that Clinton would grow up to be rigid and insufferable - and look what happened.

Subject: RE: Toronto:Stolen Guitar
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 31 Jul 04 - 02:36 PM

Hey.. it's like the poster in Mulders office in The X-Files... "I WANT to Believe"... The would WOULD be much more interesting if there WERE psychics... and dowsers... and All that nonsense... but...

In the absence of ANY evidence that means ANYTHING, I find it nearly impossible to even consider...

Subject: RE: Toronto:Stolen Guitar
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 31 Jul 04 - 03:20 PM

Sorry... that should read the -WORLD- would be...

Subject: RE: Toronto:Stolen Guitar
From: Willie-O
Date: 31 Jul 04 - 06:34 PM

Dowsers like psychics? Not so. My well was dowsed by a guy for whom such activity was a normal routine part of his livelihood--drilling wells. He was bang on in the location, it's not terribly deep (they charge by the foot) by modern standards, and has excellent flow. I watched him do it with a couple of metal rods. He didn't just find one spot, he identified how the vein ran...a few years later my neighbours tapped the same vein across the road, just where Wally had shown us that it ran.

So Erin, I'm wondering...did the healer actually do anything physical to your mandolin or   was this strictly a vibes thing?

Subject: RE: Toronto:Stolen Guitar
From: Willie-O
Date: 31 Jul 04 - 06:36 PM

Also, Erin, if you think your guitar was stolen by someone who regularly attends sessions (a sad thought really), wouldn't there be a pattern of other similar thefts around sessions? Is that the case?

Subject: RE: Toronto:Stolen Guitar
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 31 Jul 04 - 07:06 PM

According to James Randi, dowsers are among the easiest scam artists to debunk... visit his web site for more information...

They are also the ones who most often strongly persist in their delusions even after being exposed...

Maybe ignorance IS bliss....

Glad we're at least keeping this thread near the top...

Subject: RE: Toronto:Stolen Guitar
From: GUEST,Clint Keller
Date: 01 Aug 04 - 02:45 AM

Don't think I got my point clear...try it this way:

I betcha if I told Randi I have a divination system that will give some surprisingly accurate results, because the spirits are with me, he'd tell me it can't work.

But if I said it's a cleverly disguised projective exercise with a little cold reading thrown in he'd agree that it could work.

In either case I'd be doing the same thing. (You choose which I'm doing: spirits or slyness.)

Point is that people tend to judge by theory instead of looking at the practice.

Vance Randolph wrote about an Ozark superstition that it's bad luck to toast food over a campfire on the point of your knife. Well, it is bad luck; it can put a curse on your knife point so it won't hold an edge and it'll tend to bend easily. That's because a campfire is hot enough to ruin the temper of the steel. So whether it's superstition or metallurgy, it's not a good idea. Just because the Ozarkians think it's a badluck sign doesn't mean it's smart to use your good knife for a poker.

And because Randi can duplicate an effect doesn't mean he's duplicating the cause.

You need to doubt everything, including Randi.

clint

Subject: RE: Toronto:Stolen Guitar
From: erinmaidin
Date: 01 Aug 04 - 05:50 AM

He did nothing physical to the mandolin. The process is known as Vortex Healing and is documented with scientific tests done on the instruments before and after the healing process which clearly show a more than nominal increase in sound and richness.

Subject: RE: Toronto:Stolen Guitar
From: DonMeixner
Date: 01 Aug 04 - 10:47 AM

I must admit I am fascinated by this whole thread.

I wonder: I have three fingers that need straightening, several tendons that need extension, some nerves that could use some reconnection and scars that could use reduction.

Does this process work on guitarists or just guitars?

Don

Subject: RE: Toronto:Stolen Guitar
From: DonMeixner
Date: 01 Aug 04 - 10:49 AM

Oh yes, And how much would such a "Healing" cost?

Subject: RE: Toronto:Stolen Guitar
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 01 Aug 04 - 03:15 PM

Mail me 500 bucks DM... I promise you, you'll see results almost overnight!

"documented with scientific tests done... which clearly show a more than nominal increase in sound and richness."

That is just a total LOAD of bullcr@p! Show me this 'documentation'...

Another example of people getting rich of DLDs...

I hope the Sub-Geniuses are behind this... This is a scam of Bob-ian proportions...

Subject: RE: Toronto:Stolen Guitar
From: erinmaidin
Date: 02 Aug 04 - 07:25 AM

RE: Toronto:Stolen Guitar

Subject: RE: Toronto:Stolen Guitar
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 02 Aug 04 - 02:53 PM

That is HARDLY what I'd call well documented evidence... And OF COURSE the people at vortexhealing.com are going to SAY it works! I have good things to say about myself on MY OWN web site too! D'uh...

Sound is just volume... and richness, I doubt can be measured at all because it's totally subjective...

Sorry... but Votext Healing is a load of snake-oil....

At the very least though, we have kept this thread near the top... Cause I hope it leads to the recovery of your long lost guitar...

But I wouldn't hold my breath if I were you, EM

Subject: RE: Toronto:Stolen Guitar
From: erinmaidin
Date: 02 Aug 04 - 03:20 PM

Clinton, did you not notice that the audio specialists involved in the testing were a separate entity and also a have their own website?
Are you faltering? I also noticed a mispell of the word Vortex. Get it together man or you'll develop a stammer!
PS-thanks, tho', for the well wishes.

Subject: RE: Toronto:Stolen Guitar
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 02 Aug 04 - 03:41 PM

Ya... they have their own web site... BUT that in no way ensures any competant level of 'objectivity' from them... and well quite frankly the 'results' they post are mostly meaningless...   So I'll maintain... "Vortex Healing" goes on the pile of scams making money off the poor DLDs of this world and contributing overall to continued ignorance, fear and general 'medievalism'... things the human race should be trying to move away from...

Misspellings... they happen... if Mudcat had better 'software' we'd be able to edit our own posts to correct such, like on any other MB worth it's salt...

But that's a whole different thread....

Subject: Stolen Ibanez 5-string bass guitar
From: GUEST,zane
Date: 26 Jan 05 - 03:47 PM

5 string Bass guitar Stolen before a gig on the 14th of jan in Callaghan's pub in Picadilly circus.8pm.
Ibanez BTB405 Serial no:W710846
Ok, so it's not rare or worth a lot of money but it was very personal and i had it set up for me. I would aprecciate any information or sightings.

It has a rosewood fingerboard, maple neck with two dark wood inlays on the back.the body is quilted maple(red in colour), and it looks brand new, no scratches or anything.

Thanks,
Zane

07951 985 207
[e-mail]

Subject: RE: Toronto:Stolen Guitar
From: Biskit
Date: 26 Jan 05 - 06:44 PM

I was in a load brokers office a while back,..(I'm a Truck Driver) and this guy had screwed me on a load a few months before, I rememberd, he didn't..(Chuckle) anyway, I asked him If I could use his phone, he pointed down the hall to an empty office and told me to use that one,..so I went in shut the door and called up one of those psychic hotlines, you know $9.95 per minute, well we talked for a while and then she tells me my lucky numbers and then she tells me she's gonna do my readin' I said okay, so she says you're in a room aren't you,..I said c'mon lady you're in a room too!.. you're gonna have to do better than that! So I tell her wait a minute, I'll do a readin on you,.. we've been talking about 45 minutes and I'll bet you're gonna charge the fella that pays for this phone a whole lotta money, how's that foe psychic?..but I want'a know somethin Miss Sylvia,..before I made this call I stood here and thought about it for probably 5 minutes, If you're so damned psychic,..why didn't you call me? She hung up.
Peace! Through Understanding
~Biskit~

Subject: RE: Toronto:Stolen Guitar
From: Biskit
Date: 26 Jan 05 - 06:51 PM

erinmaiden
I'm really sorry to hear about your guitar though, I've had a few go missing myself, had an Alverez once too.. what a beautiful rich sound. I hope you find it, and the bastard that took it gets a disease.
Peace! Through Understanding
~Biskit~

Subject: RE: Toronto:Stolen Guitar
From: GUEST,tree hugger
Date: 26 Jan 05 - 07:39 PM

"I was told, last year, by a psychic that this guitar is still circulating and being played"

"The only thing I don't understand about the original post is that if your psychic knew your instrument was still in circulation, why couldn't this person tell you who had it? "

errrrrmm.. ever considered the psychic might be the ****
who stole it !
and now the cheeky **** also has the **** to take ,=money off you for 'healing'
while the guitar id hidden in a cupboard in the room you're being healed in..

just a weird feeling.. you can have this one free of charge.

oh yeah.. and this psychic must be the rweal deal..
if recommeded by Donovan

Subject: RE: Toronto:Stolen Guitar
From: GUEST
Date: 26 Jan 05 - 07:40 PM

ps.. can this psychic heal my spelling and typing ?