Has anyone ever had their stuff stolen

[Roscoe East]

Yes, on three separate occasions (not counting the time when I was 11 years old and someone burglarized our house and stole my nascent LP collection).

Lost three basses and one guitar. The guitar had really special meaning to me, mucho emotional value, and I still to this day, 33 years after it was stolen, think about that guitar and miss it and rage at the asshat who broke into my apartment and stole it.

The basses were all Peavey and Gibson so I don't miss those.

[khutch]

I've never had any musical gear stolen but then I have never played in a band other than school bands and now a church band. I have however had a rental car stolen out of a motel parking lot on a business trip. I know that feeling. Even though the car was not mine and the hassles of dealing with the police and the rental car company were a lot less than you might imagine, I know that feeling.

Ken

[heynorm]

'65 bassman stolen from back seat of my locked '76 Nova back in 1977.

[rupture]

Originally Posted by Kmonk

The only time I had anything stolen was when in the mid 1980s. I left a 1978 Fender Jazz and a 1972 SVT head and cab at my drummer's house because our band had broken up and I was moving. When I when to pick them up, he told me that he didn't have them because he had traded them for an Alembic bass. He eventually paid me for them but I would have rather had my gear.

This right here is why people suck. I would have broke his wrist,enjoy drumming now bi#ch

[klejst]

I had one of my cables stolen once at a gig. Now I know it's nothing like a bass or amp, however it was still stolen and I am still pissed about it

[two fingers]

Carvin 6 string bass was stolen from my truck inthe one minute it took me to run something inside. Came back out and it was gone, but my wallet (with about $500 cash) was still sitting there in the open.

[JIO]

1978 - moving from KC/MO to Chicago later that week. Went out w/friends as a farewell night. Farewell to my '63 T-bird II as well. (yes, a '63... I have not seen one of these 1st year birds since) It was an inside job as I lived in an apt and the folks across the hall saw us leave for the night. I knew it was a closed door away and had no way to prove it. Also took a new Fender practice amp (a combo w/4-8" speakers?) and my turntable. (nothing special) Aside from the loss, we felt our personal space was violated and stayed w/friends the last few days before moving. I had renters insurance and within the month bought a closet classic '64 II (for $750! - vintage price for the day)

I had made a custom ebony/abalone pickguard for the '63 that looked like this, but cruder. (this was my second attempt at inlay, made for the '64) I always wonder if I will ever see it again, as it would stand out from a standard T-bird sporting this pg. As I figured I'd never get it back, I at least hoped I'd see someone 'famous' playing it some day. You never know.

[Troph]

It definitely pays to keep the serial numbers of all your instruments written somewhere safe (e.g., in "the cloud").

Talkbass has enough members that it might actually be worthwhile to have a system for reporting lost instruments with serial numbers or unique markings...

We have a wide enough audience that we have decent odds of encountering the lost items when they turn up on the secondary market...

[eban3]

I lost a Rick 4005 in 1977 ,taken out of my locked car at Columbia University , in a brief 10 minutes that i went back into a dorm to get my amp , fast forward 21 years later to a music store in Berkley California where while browsing the shop on one of many trips to the area .......I found it !!!!

[CTC564]

I was going through a divorce about 6 years ago and there were multiple issues regarding her 17 year old son's drug use...came home from working night shift to find my last bass (1997 Lakland 55-94 Cherryburst w maple fretboard) missing with no evidence of a break in.

:-(

It was never recovered and to this day I miss her terribly....I have my suspicions that it was done by her son in an attempt to "teach me a lesson" but I have no proof. Tough to let that one go....

[VBassRookie]

In Wisconsin they have a 10 day pawn shop law (not sure what it is called, that is what they called it) for musical instrument sales. I just bought a used bass from a Guitar Center and they couldn't give it to me until the ten days were up from the day it was traded at the store. I'm not sure if they have to report every used piece of musical gear traded in to the police or what, but I thought that was pretty interesting. The bummer for me was I bought it when I was out of town so I had to have it shipped after the grace period was up to my house.

[pbass6811]

I've been jacked a couple of times. 1st time was about 1998 or '99. I was playing my last gig with the band I was in at the time(it was an amicable parting). After loading my gear into my pickup, I went back into the bar to say "see ya' and take care" and came out less than 10 min later and my almost new Modulus Q5 Sweetspot with a stunning spalted maple top and the top half of my rig (my amp and 410 cab) were gone. You would've seen a grown man cry if you'da been there. I will find that bass some day...

2008-Some major dbag breaks into my garage and steals my Basson 410 cab, which I found somewhat amusing because a) it was pretty much blown up. And, b) that was one of the HEAVIEST cabs I've ever owned, I would've tried to pick it up and said "forget this"! They also stole a mini Kustom rig, which was also not in perfect working order. The good gear stayed in the house...

I really HATE thieves!

[Jazz Ad]

Ampeg SVT-3-Pro
Genz Benz 210 and 115

I was 25 and had saved for years to get a good rig. It was stolen from my cellar. After that I had to play on borrowed crappy amps for way too long.

[Mojo-Man]

I had a nice P-Bass stolen after a gig form my car.
My brothers guitar was also taken. Had to have followed us from the gig. Stopped at a all night dinner for coffee.

[dougjwray]

In 1978, I purchased a new MXR envelope filter. The very next day, I brought it to an outdoor gig at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and someone reached up on the stage and swiped it. Not as bad as some of the pre-CBS Fenders, etc., already mentioned, but still annoying.

[Baird6869]

I had my 1974 "Geddy" Jazz stolen out of my truck. It really sucked.

Insurance was great and bought me a nice new expensive bass, but my Jazz was one of the good ones.

I have been able to piece together a very similar 1973 Jazz, but it isn't the same.

[Yerf Dog]

Originally Posted by eban3

I lost a Rick 4005 in 1977 ,taken out of my locked car at Columbia University , in a brief 10 minutes that i went back into a dorm to get my amp , fast forward 21 years later to a music store in Berkley California where while browsing the shop on one of many trips to the area .......I found it !!!!

And...

[mcnach]

In 2001 I joined a band my drummer friend was starting, as a guitarist.
We found a great practice space, in the grounds of a storage company. Essentially they gave us a small room to do with it what we pleased. Small for them for storage, pretty large for a rehearsal place. WE had keys and access anytime.
We cleaned it, painted it and layed cement on the floor, put carpets...
WE shared the space with the other band the drummer was in. Rent amonth all of us was very cheap.

The room was in a small building, locked, and the whole place was secured with a locked gate and CCTV.

After a month or so, I bought a new amp, and I took it there. A heavy beast, I left it there, and for a week I left my previous amp there too.

For a week, because that's how long it took me to receive the call "dude, someone broke in last night".

They took EVERYTHING.
My two amps, a half stack and a guitar belonging to another guitarist, bass amp, drum kit, and lots of other bits and pieces.

Cameras? Oh, they "malfunctioned" that evening, so nothing was recorded. No broken locks either. Clearly an inside job.

We reported it, of course. The officer assigned to the case was into music himself, so he took care of these cases as he knew his gear and where people buy and sell stuff. WE gave him pictures, serial numbers...
A month passed, and nothing. The police told us that if things were not recovered in teh first 3-4 weeks, then our chances were very low.

It was lost.

Then, about 6 months later... another call "dude, they found our gear!"

They found everything, except my amp's footswitch.
Where?
IN some idiot's house. All piled up in a room, untouched, perfect condition. The police went in for an unrelated matter (drugs), found all that stuff there and got suspicious...

Result! BUt the band never reformed.

Another time I was helkping a friend of mine buying a guitar. She wanted an acoustic guitar and knew nothing about guitars, so when she saw a nice looking one at a pawnshop, she called me and I went to meet her and check the guitar.
We were outside, she pointed at the guitar, and while we were there, two police officers and a young guy walked into the shop. They spoke to the shop owner... and he came to the window and... took the guitar we were looking at!
It was stolen and that young guy was the owner.
Close call!!!

[tdub0199]

Originally Posted by jgroh

I said it before in a previous thread, but wouldnt it be cool if there were a chip or small GPS device we could install in our bass in case something like this happens. Just like the Find My iPhone app.

I'm sure you could put a chip in them..

[Roscoe East]

Originally Posted by eban3

I lost a Rick 4005 in 1977 ,taken out of my locked car at Columbia University , in a brief 10 minutes that i went back into a dorm to get my amp , fast forward 21 years later to a music store in Berkley California where while browsing the shop on one of many trips to the area .......I found it !!!!

Wow. That's awesome. I still carry the original Warranty Card from the guitar that got stolen from me 33 years ago in hopes of a similar serrendipitous moment, but it never occurred to me that it might actually happen!