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Stolen gear

davidl

By davidl
in The Gibson Lounge

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davidl

davidl

Posted
Posted

I'm curious. What are the odds of ever seeing your stuff again?

Any experiences?

A buddy of mine had an amp and early 70's Strat stolen from his house a couple of years ago.

He happened to go into a local pawn shop and lo and behold...there was his amp. He went home and got his original receipt with the serial number on it and went back to the shop to demand his amp back.

The shop owner refused. Call the cops if you want. Well my buddy did just that. He made the mistake of telling the police that he figures it was his ex wife that went into his house and swiped his stuff. She had done this kind of thing more than once until he got a good security system. The police told him "its a domestic dispute, you're on your own.

Never got his amp back and never saw the guitar again.

 

Dave

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EVOL!

EVOL!

Posted
Posted

This is a topic that pushes a special button deep down inside me. People that steal musical equipment should have their hands smashed with a hammer just like in that film Casino.

 

<knock on wood> I have never had gear stolen, but know people that have had things like boutique pedals go missing after the rehearsal space mates have some friends over for a jam session. If I do not feel like my gear will be safe in a space I don't take it there. My current rehearsal space is very safe/secure and my space mates are all cool. No worries there. If something were to happen there is a pawn shop about a mile from the space where a lot of stolen gear turns up.

 

At shows rule number one when gearing out or in is NEVER LEAVE THE VAN UNATTENDED. EVER. At the very least have your girl hang out. Keeps people from walking away with a guitar or your pedal board. One time while gearing in for a late show while the early show was gearing out (because it went over) a guy tried to walk out with my other guitarist's guitar. Not sure if it was an innocent mistake (black rectangle Fender Jaguar case) or malicious intent, but thank god he was watching out and grabbed the guy in time.

 

Breaks my heart to hear about touring bands having their gear stolen. Sonic Youth lost 20+ years of old, Frankenstein'd guitars back in the 90s. Some scum bag just drove off in their U-Haul. It was a big story nationally because they lost close to a hundred guitars. In the past five years this has become an epidemic for national touring acts. As I said, breaks my heart.

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EvanPC

EvanPC

Posted
Posted

I hate even thinking about this stuff. Unfortunate reality.

 

It's really disheartening when you read posters who have some really nice gear, but never take it out of their homes. I mean, who wants to spend all this money on exceptional things, only to never utilize them in a practical way (well, we do, but...)? It's a shame that some of us feel like we can't bring nice stuff out to gig with. I'd be in that boat too, if I gigged...

 

I FINALLY got renters insurance recently. No excuse to not have had it sooner, but as I started amassing a larger collection of guitars, I realized I was a fool for not having it.

 

If your a member of multiple forums, I would suggest posting something when you've had your gear stolen. I've seen people do this before, and though we're not all in the same regions, you never know...someone could get lucky. You know...one of those "Be on the lookout for..." threads.

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djroge1

djroge1

Posted
Posted

Just this past week a buddy of mine got his guitar back.

 

Someone stole and sold it to a local store (music go round or something like that). My buddy happens to have just completed police training so he is all over filing a report on things. sure enough, the serial number hit. He got his guitar back.

 

The "odd" thing is that he told me that here in Colorado they are supposed to finger print and get a bunch of info on the person selling the gear but there was nothing.... :-k[thumbdn]

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LarryUK

LarryUK

Posted
Posted

When I was 15 we used to leave our gear in a room at a church hall that we rehearsed in. Someone broke in and took the lot. Drums, amps, the lot. Luckily, we always took our guitars home and luckily we were insured. My Ac30 went.

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LarryUK

LarryUK

Posted
Posted

When I was 15 we used to leave our gear in a room at a church hall that we rehearsed in. Someone broke in and took the lot. Drums, amps, the lot. Luckily, we always took our guitars home and luckily we were insured. My Ac30 went though.

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Andy R

Andy R

Posted
Posted

It's always good to hide a little secret identifier on the guitar or equipment as well. Something obvious and something subtle. But not so obvious that a person wouldn't try to sell it or figures out to change it. Write your birthday in the control cavity or pick-up cavity. Make a symbol under the neck if it is removable. Change one of the strap buttons to something a little different. Change a screw in the pick guard to be just slightly larger. Use a different color screw in the strap button. That way if you see it on ebay or craigs list you can spot it or have people looking for it. Same with amps and pedals etc... just making something that no one would really notice but if you know to look you can spot it. I believe Gibson uses some tracking stuff now in their guitars.

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damian

damian

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Have I had gear stolen ? Yes......Whenever any of it was recovered, the thiefs were taught to never steal Damian's gear again..They learned, and I didn't do the teaching to them either.....I'll bet broken fingers and arms and legs hurt.....a lot.....Rectora makes good points as well........insurance is also a good idea...

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Tman5293

Tman5293

Posted
Posted

Have I ever had gear stolen? No, but god have mercy on guy that tries to take my guitar while I'm around. I'd happily shoot someone to protect my guitar. And plan on keeping a gun within arms reach of my bed when I move out.

 

Good old Texas Justice for ya! msp_thumbup.gif

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davidl

davidl

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Have I had gear stolen ? Yes......Whenever any of it was recovered, the thiefs were taught to never steal Damian's gear again..They learned, and I didn't do the teaching to them either.....I'll bet broken fingers and arms and legs hurt.....a lot.....Rectora makes good points as well........insurance is also a good idea...

 

Yup, broken fingers, collar bones, ankles, noses ...hurt. Thankfully mine all came naturally from sports or clumsiness.

And yes, insurance is a must to me.

 

Dave

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jnastynebr

jnastynebr

Posted
Posted

Had a partscaster stolen from a bar a few years back. It was a piece of junk that I lugged around for a backup, So I didn't loose much sleep.

Here is how you never get a piece of equipment stolen at a gig:

1) Bring a combo amp to the bar gig. Leave the full stack at home. No need to pack 100W of punch to the hole in the wall bar that only has enough room for a billiard table, some chairs, and a pickle card machine.

2) Pack your #1 in a hard case, but carry your back-up in a gig bag. A gig bag is way more portable and will protect your ax as long as it doesn't get hit by a truck. If your one of those tools that brings 5 guitars to the weekend bar gig, stop reading now. I cant help you. No one can help you.

3) Bring a duffel bag big enough for all of your pedals, picks, and patch cords.

Your stuff is most at risk during loading and unloading. If you follow my formula, you can get all of your equipment in one trip. After the first trip into the bar, leave a band member in the bar to watch the stuff while you go back to get the rest of the trap set. Keep your gear in sight at all times. Under musician rule #374K-9D4 section 3-A, you are required to let your buddy in the next band use your combo if he asks. Your just going to have to stay until he's done. Don't let him drop it off the next day or leave it at your drummer's house later.

Adjust your renter's or home owner's insurance to include your guitars and stuff. If someone robs your crib, you don't want to spend the next month going to pawn shop to pawn shop looking for your gear. Take the pay out to replace your stuff and let the insurance company worry about who hocked it.

Keep an eye on your stuff, and have a Merry Christmas, or Happy Hanukkah.

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FirstMeasure

FirstMeasure

Posted
Posted

Never had anything stolen (Knock On Wood), but a strange thing happened to me once.

 

I had a rack mounted Digitech effects processor back in the 90's. At one point I couldn't find it, looked everywhere but came to the conclusion it was stolen. A few weeks later a friend of mine comes over with the exact Digitech Processor. So I tell him mine been missing and he turns white. "Oh No, I didn't think it was stolen" he said. He'd gotten it in trade for some services. Well, he just returned it to me for nothing, but I still gave him $45. I trusted him and knew he didn't steal it.

 

Well, a month goes by and I'm cleaning out my messy Closet when I find MY Digitech Processor. It wasn't stolen and the one my friend brought me was totally legit. It may have been the exact same model, but it wasn't mine. I called him back immediately and told him I found it. He was as relieved as I was that his friend hadn't received stolen goods. Anyway, I felt really bad so I gave him another $65 and sold it myself $80. Then, since I hated the damn Digital thing anyway, I gave mine to a friend who was taking up the guitar and liked the processor. It was Christmas after all.

 

But that's my story about why it's never a good idea to jump to any conclusion, no matter how damning the evidence may seem.

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TommyK

TommyK

Posted
Posted

Never had anything stolen, but I have a friend who does DJ work at weddings and such. All his gear fits on a rolling cart, one of those that converts from a hand truck to a four wheeled cart, not a cheap one mind you. His motto: "One trip in, one trip out." If it doesn't fit on the cart, it doesn't go to the gig. Much easier now since DJs don't have to haul stax-o-wax. Heck, now-a-days, he can almost do it without the cart, if it weren't for the cheezy dance lights.

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Guest rogerb

Guest rogerb

Posted
Posted

I had a 1968 D-28 stolen a couple of years ago. Fortunately I had the serial number and photoographs of the guitar. We emailed this info to the entire music community in Nashville. I got the guitar back within 48 hours. As a friend commented, "you can outrun the law but you can't outrun the internet"! [laugh]

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  • 2 weeks later...
guitargreg1993

guitargreg1993

Posted
Posted

It's always good to hide a little secret identifier on the guitar or equipment as well. Something obvious and something subtle. But not so obvious that a person wouldn't try to sell it or figures out to change it. Write your birthday in the control cavity or pick-up cavity. Make a symbol under the neck if it is removable. Change one of the strap buttons to something a little different. Change a screw in the pick guard to be just slightly larger. Use a different color screw in the strap button. That way if you see it on ebay or craigs list you can spot it or have people looking for it. Same with amps and pedals etc... just making something that no one would really notice but if you know to look you can spot it. I believe Gibson uses some tracking stuff now in their guitars.

 

that is a great idea... i never thought of anything like that before, but i will definately do that to all my gear [thumbup]

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