Have you ever had the misfortune of Stolen Gear or Missing Gear?

[GQ Daddy]

I was surfing online for some ideas on new pedals (wah, tubes) so I could go in locally with an idea of what I was looking for and in alot of the different reviews, guys are always mentioning "stolen" or "lost" gear. Has anyone here ever had this happen and is it something that happens alot either at a gig or when you're out playing? What do you do to keep people off your stuff?

[pfslik]

thankfully, i never have, but know people who had gear stolen. Worst one I heard of was a new guy where I work, had his uhaul stolen while in transit to this state, everything gone. Furniture, clothes, a Rhodes RR1 and a jcm900.

[Warped]

Furkin' slime bags will steal anything. I've never had it happen to me personally.

[mcnach]

Originally Posted by gqdaddy

What do you do to keep people off your stuff?

I cover the amps in superglue, and when the would-be thief gets stuck, I let a pack of hungry Dobermans loose...

No, just kidding... I merely shoot any suspicious characters on sight.

Nah... just dreaming.

Only once I had the experience. We had just got a new rehearsal place, in the estate of one of those companies you can store stuff with. They had this small building and we took over part of it, did the floor and walls, made it nice, carpetting... and we used it for about a month. I bought a Laney VC50 to replace my previous amp... that was on Saturday. I left both amps there. On Thursday I get the call: we were cleaned out. Everything was gone.
Fortunately 5 months later (stolen in September, and this was February) the drummer who was the "liason" with the police, got a call from the police: we got everything back, except for one guitar (not mine). Well, the 4-way footswitch of my Laney was gone, but everything else was recovered in perfect condition. The story we were told is that the police went into somebody's house for unrelated reasons and found all the gear in there...
Lucky.
However that was the end of our jams... and it's a shame because it was starting to look up.

Personally, I'd be happy to break a few bones from anybody who even tries to steal gear... or burgles your house, or steals the stereo in your car... etc... Nothing lethal... but damn painful and taking months to recover.
But that's another matter, that I write about in alt.psychopathic.tendencies

[eamon7]

when i was in college (1978) we had a band and durring the summer we would rent a farmhouse and get a booking agent and hit the road for a while as our summer job here in wisconsin. one weekend while we were gone someone broke into our house and cleaned us out. took our practice gear, stereo stuff and almost everything else. they even drank all our beer and ate our food. of course they knew we would be gone because it was advertised in the newspaper where we would be playing. well they eventually got caught and we got most of our stuff back. not the beer though.

[GoldenEars]

When playing live its important to use some common sense and keep an eye on your stuff. Luckily when I toured I had the budget for a crue and I made sure that they were anal about watching our stuff.
When it was up to me I would base my set ups on the stage. For Example, I played in one club where the side of the stage I was on which is always stage right from my perspective (I'm a lefty and do not want to bump necks with the bass player). was right beside the exit and I mean inches away. So I never once left my gear alone, if I had to go somewhere I would leave someone else behind with instructions. The other thing I did that was a really cool idea was to get some fairly Strong chain and string it through literally everything we owned then rap that through the lighting rig or PA cab handles then I would lock it with a secure lock and keep the lock out of site. Now when the would be criminals would come and try to steal and its usually a grab and run deal and if they had ever tried (I would not know because I have never lost anything) they would find the stuff all attached together and just take off. Its not likely that they would have bolt cutters on them.
Also as much as people like to show off their gear, if you are in a sleasy place or are dealing with a sleasy looking audience then you should try and disquise your gear. I did this in Montreal Canada, playing at a ruff club.....I put all of my amps behind a curtain (Our back drops) it sounded the same but did not attract the attention of would be thiefs.
Keep your guitars with you inbetween shows. Bring them to your hotel room and hide them somewhere and not just under the bed (to obvious) Also put a randsom note in your guitar cases and say that you will pay 2k cash for anyone who returns the instrument without any police involvement. Then when they call you (and they will because it is a quick cash sale) you can call the police and set them up or just set your randsom amount low enough that you can afford to pay it (they are just going to say they found them anyways) so you can thank them and move on with your gear and hate them just in your mind lol. I did this as well but never needed to put it into effect. It has been many years since I have had these worries because I have been playing more high end shows but I still follow the same procedures...and I have seen it all lol.
One time these bikers came on stage and grabbed our guitars and started playing in TO Canada....it was a concert in a hall with no security. We asked them nicely to put our stuff down and that did not work...personally I can throw hands quite well but I have never been in a band with guys that could as well and I was not going to fight 10 guys or so myself so I sent a crew member to make a call. This is pretty funny and witty. I had him go to a pay phone and call the police and say that their was a gun fight about to happen hahahahaha.....that got the police there asap and the bikers gone and we were out 5 minutes after that.
In conclusion, use some common sense and when you have a bad feeling about something double check or put a system in place like I did and just be carefull and you should not lose anything.
If I was to play in a ruff club with todays technology I would set up a hidden camera in every club that recorded to a pc controlled by a motion senser and if anything got stolen I would have the proof that I needed and some clues to find my gear. A set up like this would only be a hundred dollars or so.
When it comes to rehearsal spaces, take home your head or POD and your cables, pedals etc. All of the small stuff and of course always bring your guitars home as well. Not many people are going to steal a four by twelve cab its just not worth the hastle it is usually the little stuff. And if you have great gear you do not want someones kid and there buddies cranking up your guitar amp with a bass for example and wrecking it.....so once again just use some common sense. I hope this was helpful

Good Luck! Golden Ears

[BrianUV777BK]

I had a whole crap load of stuff stolen at a gig one time. All my pedals, cables, tuner, tools, flashlight.......I had all that kinda crap in a big gym bag. We played our set. Kept our gear in sight right next to us for the rest of the night as we watched the other bands. It wasn't until we got ready to jam at our next practice that I realised my stuff was gone. What a bad feeling. Bastards.......

[fretwire]

Had my POD, floorboard, and the bag they were both in stolen out of my car. 6 months later I was surfing ebay looking to replace it and found the bag and the POD.

I called the police, explained it to them, and from the statement I gave them when it was stolen they were able to seize the items and eventually after a court hearing I got em back.

[mcnach]

Originally Posted by eamon7

well they eventually got caught and we got most of our stuff back. not the beer though.

well, I for one wouldn't want that one back!