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* This is a note from a customer who's diligence and patience paid
off. Good things do come to those that wait.
My name is Justin and would like to share a brief story about Music
Folk with you. My uncle was my family but he was also one of my
best friends. He struggled with addictions throughout most his life.
In 2005 he ended up in jail and while talking to him one night,
he asked me if I would buy back a guitar of his that was pawned
but had since hit the sales floor. He said it was literally about
all he had left at that point. It was a beautiful Alvarez Silver
Anniversary Edition and while they made very few of them, it was
a moderately priced guitar. So, I picked it up and held onto it.
I returned it to him in 2006 and in December of 2006, he passed
away. The guitar was no where to be found. I figured there were
three likely scenarios:
1. In a pawn shop
2. Sold to an individual
3. In the shop for repairs which he had spoken about prior
I thought it would be nice to be able to find a couple of them
and keep them in our family. I started the search and since he had
hundreds over the years, I narrowed it down to ones that I knew
were extremely important to him and ones that I had photos/serial
numbers on leaving me with about 4. I started off my search by calling
and visiting any pawn shop or guitar repair shop that I thought
had even the slightest chance as he frequented a lot of different
places. I posted on Craigslist, music forums and local St. Louis
forums. After I came across some information in January of 2008
and I found his Ovation Adamas 1885-5 in Nebraska after being sold
from the pawn shop to a new buyer and then resold on Ebay. I gave
the guy a call and he couldn't have been nicer and was happy to
sell it to me as he knew it meant more to us. So, shortly after,
we were reacquainted and I promptly headed to my grandmothers house
to show her the find. While we were all ecstatic, the Alvarez was
the one that meant so much to me because I can still hear the tone
of his voice in that conversation. So I continued my search, updating
forums and checking Ebay and Craigslist almost every single day.
Over the years, I switched email addresses and only check my old
account every couple months or so. However, on June 15th, 2011 I
checked it and the second thing in my inbox with 2,000+ unread items
was a reply to one of my posts on a local site stating, "Might
have your guitar. What was your uncle's name? A guitar like yours
was left at our shop for repairs in 2006". But, there was no
other contact info and the person only had one post which was this
one. I couldn't believe that it was literally the second message
as I would have easily missed it in the thousands of unread emails
I had. So, I obviously replied and also sent him a private message.
I couldn't wait so I started calling random music shops to see but
efforts seemed worthless. While I was in a store my cell phone rang
and I looked at the number and I just knew. I answered and the gentleman
said, "Yes, I'm calling from Music Folk". He explained
that my uncle had brought it in for repairs in May, 2006 and had
never picked it up despite numerous attempts to contact him. I asked
him what he wanted for the guitar and he said that he wanted no
money for the guitar except for the repair costs and he was happy
to see it back in the family. It was a late Friday and he gave me
the hours for the following day and made sure what people would
be there so I could have someone to ask for. Truthfully, I had never
been to Music Folk and when we pulled up it looked like most the
other small Webster Groves storefronts. However, when we walked
in, it opened up to the size that blew me away. I couldn't believe
how many instruments were in there and how uncluttered it was. Guitars,
fiddles, banjos, dulcimers, and too many more to list. We asked
for Andy and he knew right away who we were and why we were. I then
met Mark, who was the one who replied to my post. He not only took
the time to reply to my thread but actually created an account to
do so. Not that creating account is some extremely labor intensive
role but many people would have simply stopped there. My guess had
been that the person found me because they had the guitar so long,
they probably Googled the model number to find out the specs, value,
etc…and came across my postings which were approximately the
top ten listed and that is exactly what happened. He saw the red
flags and took the initiative to get it to us. They printed out
a receipt with all the information of what repairs had taken place,
we took some photos and after almost five years of searching, my
wife and I strolled out of there and headed to my grandmother's
house to show her his guitar. I can't really describe my grandmother's
reaction but let's just say it was a good one.
So, I wanted to write the entire organization of Music Folk and
personally say thank you. This is service that is almost expected
to NOT be at the big box stores. However, just because a business
is smaller or family owned or say they go the extra mile, doesn't
make it true. Actions speak louder than words so thank you for everything!
Justin Gould & Family
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