bluesky636 is spot on - this thread is getting to be ridiculous.

The short answer is "yes they can" and in my opinion, they should be able to! However proving it (in ANY country) is a completely different matter. If you can document your ownership then you are fine - if not, and the other person can, then you may well have bought a stolen guitar (I have had 2 very expensive guitars stolen in my time - and I would not hesitate to call the police if they turned up on a website). Why should the actual owner not be able to claim their property back? how would you feel if it was your 1954 strat and someone was trying to stop you laying your legitimate claim to it - within a very small window of time before it gets sold on and dissapears again forever?

You need to ensure you are purchasing your guitar from a reputable source - if it comes off the back of a lorry and costs you a ten spot, then chances are you should question it's ownership.

An unlikely scenario is that you bought your guitar in good faith, and it turns out to be stolen - in whcih case should the real owner come after you for it in court and can prove it is theirs - you will most likely lose it and be out of pocket. That is really terrible - but it could happen (hence caveat emptor - "buyer beware"). The court will not make it more equitable for the person who owns it (i.e. it is ulikely you will have to pay for any repairs etc needed) but it may seek to restore the guitar to it's rightful owner.

Any suggestion from anyone that you should , or would should want to, try to circumvent this perfectly legal and morally sound principle is, quite frankly, derisable.

hope that helps.

Yes, it has become ridiculous. A ridiculous question that received some thoughtful, insightful answers, that were argued/put down by the OP, leading me to believe that mymindsok is just a troll. What else is the point of asking a question, then refusing to accept any of the answers, being combative and insulting?

How stupid to suggest that my black-eye scenario would be across several states.

_________________
---> "The amp should be SWITCHED OFF AND UNPLUGGED before you do this!" <---

Por favor, disculpe mi español, no se llega a la práctica con mucha frecuencia.

"Can I claim that your guitar was stolen from me?"

You could..........but then I would have to KILL you and decide where to dispose of your severely dismembered corpse...................

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I refuse to have a battle of the wits with an unarmed man!

I'm guessing one of the things you can do is to fill out the registration form you got with your new guitar and send it in. I did that and I'm sure Fender will keep a record of it on file. At least it would one way to confirm that the guitar is yours in the case of it being stolen or a dispute arising over it's ownership.

I'd also take lots of pictures of the guitar and make sure the serial number is clearly displayed. I'd also give copies of the pictures to your insurance broker to keep just in case you suffer fire or some damage that would destroy the originals.

Just a thought !!

To the op the short answer is yes you could claim a guitar is stolen if you wanted to. But that opens a whole can of worms for the owner and the alleged owner.

I never post the serial numbers of my gear or take pictures from such a distance that one would not be able to read it. In my case I have detailed pictures and receipts for all my equipment.

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RK

2007 Fender Highway 1
2012 American Deluxe
2015 MIM Dave Murray HHH
2010 Fender Blacktop
1987 Fender Avalon Acoustic
2012 Marshall DSL 15 watt head

I'm a cop in a big city in CA, and that sounds about right to me.

At the least you would be handcuffed, taken to the station and put in a room with society's outcasts, finger printed, photographed, and held in jail at least until your arraignment or you post bail. This is a normal weekend to some people on this forum (not gonna mention any names), but a traumatic experience to others.

And yes as someone else said, a good attorney would have this case thrown out. Heck, even a bad attorney would have this case thrown out, but not after you've gone through the above process.

Personally, I don't know why you would have to post the entire serial number. Especially with Fender products. I think most of us can look at the serial number guide and figure out what model it is or at least have a pretty good idea, by looking at one or two letters and one or two digits.

Good point axeman417,

The only useful part of the serial numbers for anyone, other than Fender, for the purpose of identifying a guitar, is the first few digits (ie MN7 indicates Mexico 1997-1998). There is not one person on the internet forums, including this one, that can use the last 5 or 6 digits of a Fender serial number to tell anything at all about the guitar.

To suggest that the last 6 digits are useful for any internet ID is laughable.

_________________
---> "The amp should be SWITCHED OFF AND UNPLUGGED before you do this!" <---

Por favor, disculpe mi español, no se llega a la práctica con mucha frecuencia.

ah HAHAHAHAHAHA....see shimmilou, I'm laughing! But on a serious note, you're absolutly right and I believe I am justified in not posting the last few digits of my serial to cover my own A**!

I have to say that I think this thread is totally inappropriate and is just the kind of thing that would cause a less than savory character to try this scam. Why would you feed the fire, especially on this site where there are tons of pics with serial numbers. I think this post is irresponsible and extremely inconsiderate to we guitar owners, especially since I am one of the people with my serial number exposed. Plenty of scum bag criminals out there we dont need to be putting ideas in their heads. I can almost guarantee that 1 of us will soon fall victim as a result of this thread, Thanks ! Some things are better left unsaid !

Troll? Please...

I asked a legit question and I'm really sorry that some of you don't like it but considering the times I really do doubt that my local police are going to arrest me for a theft in, lets say, NYC, just on the word of some guy who walks in off the street and claims that he owns my guitar or my Nikon cameras that I've owned for the last decade.

You'll also note that in my posts I asked for examples of this happening. Thats reasonable isn't it? I'm under the impression that with all of the serial numbered guitars and other merchandise thats stolen every year, these arrests would be common but they evidently are not and no one appears to be able to come up with an example. That isn't my problem. In actuality, it supports my beliefs.

I posted my inquiry because during the course of my buying, selling and trading instruments, both in person and via Ebay, plus several years participating in discussions on different INTERNET forums, I have never, ever, heard of anyone being arrested or prosecuted through the use of a published or photographed serial number and I think we all know that at least tens of thousands of instruments get bought and sold in any given year and some unknown percentage of those items are or might be might be stolen.

On the other hand, I've never known anyone who's had an instrument returned after a theft. Does that mean that it never happens? I hope not but I rely on my Homeowners Insurance policy.

Most of us never even think about these subjects because we're honest, upstanding people and thats just the way it is.

PS: I spoke to a lawyer friend and he said the same thing, ending with: "Don't worry, it ain't gonna happen and if it does, give me a call."

Wow - whole lot of scare-mongering going on here!!

Steve and hobbyist (cops in NC and CA) - with the greatest of respect - I think you are trying to be helpful and there is some accuracy in what you are saying - but your posts are really quite misleading - I realise you have caveated it with "could" - but your advice is only accurate up to a limited point.

In order to be successfully prosecuted for being in "possession of stolen property" (it's been a while since law school - but I'm pretty sure the actual charge is "receiving stolen goods" - happy to be disabused here) in most countries there would have to be an element of dishonesty on your part. That is to say that you knew, or could reasonably have known, the the guitar was stolen in the first place (or that the person selling it did not have good title to the guitar).

Arresting and charging someone with being in posession of a stolen guitar simply based upon them not having a receipt and someone else having phoned up saying "that's my guitar" is very unlikely. In fact - I'd welcome that kind of response from the police - I'd have the lawsuit against your department up before you had time to close the cell door.

let's take a very simple example of what elements of the crime have to be satisfied here (using California's penal code)

"Every person who buys or receives any property that has been stolen or that has been obtained in any manner constituting theft or extortion, knowing the property to be so stolen or obtained, or who conceals, sells, withholds, or aids in concealing, selling, or withholding any property from the owner, knowing the property to be so stolen or obtained, shall be punished by imprisonment in a county jail for not more than one year, or imprisonment pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 1170."

this applies in the UK too pretty much - and I'd bet my bottom dollar it applies equally in all 50 states or thereabouts.

Again, If you have bought your guitar in good faith, and can demonstrate you have done so - whether or not it is stolen is almost irrelevant to a criminal offence, however, you would (at a civil level) probably still be liable to return the guitar to its rightful owner. All this talk about police be able to rock up to your doorstep and arrest you for buying a guitar off of ebay because someone phoned the cops and you don't have a receipt is just scaremongering. I don't know of a single police officer worth their salt who would take that action unless they were certain the person in possession of the guitar was complicit in its theft or sale/redistribution as a stolen item. I know for a fact you wouldn't get an ADA to let the charge stick!

My question is what, if anything, is the OP so afraid of here? If you know your guitar is legitimate, then there is nothing to be afraid of. I have my serial number for my 1977 strat posted all over the place - but I can prove title so I'm really not even remotely concerned - if it turned out my guitar was stolen and needed to be returned to it's rightful owner - I wouldn't even hesitate to send it back and I'd be happy they were reunited with it. Just my view - but the legal points needed cleared up here too.

hope that helps

I used to see this argument on gun forums quite a bit...to the same conclusions...and being accused of possessing a stolen firearm is a lot scarier than a stolen guitar.

Put your mind at ease,man....I've never known criminals to invite the law into their lives by trying to get a guitar that they could steal somewhere else.
Those types of "scum bag criminals" as you put it,want to stay away from the authorities,...they want to stay unnoticed,under the radar so to speak...and don't want to do battle in court with judges and lawyers....because most have been in enough trouble already...they're trying to stay out of jail.

Malcs,

You completely missed the points raised. Accusing someone and having them arrested is very possible, even if it is a lie, it happens all of the time. Proving it in court is a different matter, but only AFTER you are arrested. Case closed.

It is possible.
It might not be likely, but possible.
No one said that it will definitely happen, just possible.

STFUYSFM!

_________________
---> "The amp should be SWITCHED OFF AND UNPLUGGED before you do this!" <---

Por favor, disculpe mi español, no se llega a la práctica con mucha frecuencia.