Pitchfork

Here we go again: the vile shadow of gear theft struck again today, this time leaving Dears guitarist Patrick Krief bereft and weeping. The culprits apparently broke a window at Krief's Montreal rehearsal space, which he shares with one Mike Nash, running off with pretty much everything save a few cords.

Krief's no doubt upset about the whole ordeal, but one loss in particular had him bawling.

"The thing they took that I really want back most," wrote Krief in a post on his MySpace, "is my White Fender Stratocaster. I cried for hours about losing it. It has extreme sentimental value, and I don't know how I'll go on with out it. 16 people (friends and family) pitched in to buy me that guitar (of which I had been dreaming about my whole life) on my 18th birthday.

"I'm on a serious hunt for that guitar, I'm trying to gather some reward money, but I'm pretty broke right now...I can safely say that I'll give $1000 (my family has raised this ransom money) no questions asked to have it back." The guitar is pictured above, and in detail below.

"Keep in mind," added Krief, "that these people might change minor details on the guitar, but the serial number is listed below." Indeed, check out the complete gear list with serial numbers just after the jump. If you have any leads whatsoever, please contact the man via his MySpace.

Krief recently released his debut solo EP-- which bears the eerily prescient title Take It or Leave-- and has a few shows lined up, which are still on as of the moment. The Dears, meanwhile, play the TELUS Spin festival in Mont Tremblant, Quebec on April 7, and Mexico City's Polyforum Siqueiros on May 12.

Stolen gear:

Fender Standard Stratocaster 1998
$1000 reward
serial #: Mz0198625
details : White, with white pick guard and maple neck. This guitar has 4 Black Graphite saddles and 2 regular. It has strap locks and a brown leather strap. The white plastic tip on the Whammy bar is cracked

Gibson SG special vintage
details: Dark wood grain unvarnished (the back of the headstock was cracked and glued back and sanded. The mark is visible but slight)

Epiphone Casino Tobacco burst

Zoo customs Black wood chrome hardware with bigsby
details: This guitar is completely unique, it says zoo customs on the headstock, and the headstock design is a shape that no other guitar has (kind of a warped rectangle)

Guitar Valleyarts Standard pro 0939

Fender Jazz Bass
details: Yellow wood finish made in Japan

IMAC 5.2 computer
serial#: W86380c4wh5

Kaser External Drive
serial # Y8FUN063250GB

Line 6 Guitar POD
serial#: Poda024037491900

Alesis Amp RA500
serial#: (21)a405010451000

Fender Mini practice amp
details: Hand held

Peavey 50 watt guitar amp

Traynor Amp head
details: Converted from a combo

Yorkville PA amplifier
details: Carpet casing

Suzuki Omnichord
serial #: 073291

Roland Xp-10 Keyboard
details: The display is slightly defective

M-Audio
details : 66 key Midi controller

All the guitars were taken with their respective cases

they also took our oil heater, just to make sure the broken window keeps the room nice and cold.

:-(

Krief live:

04-25 Ottawa, Ontario - Zaphod Beeblebrox
04-26 Guelph, Ontario - Jimmy Jazz
04-28 Kingston, Ontario - The Grad Club
05-05 Quebec City, Quebec - Ninkasi du Faubourg