I'll bet a venue would love to have the "Sewer Drainage" trailer parked outside their establishment on a Friday night.
Talk about hitting the brown note...
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Anti theft measures for gigs
- Thread starter Fret Mumbly
- Start date
Talk about hitting the brown note...
Nothing of mine stays in my car between gigs.
I have only a few pieces to bring in and normally I can do it with one trip, if it is a larger gig that requires more than that I have two people who roadie for me
they also keep an eye on things when I am not on stage.
I have only a few pieces to bring in and normally I can do it with one trip, if it is a larger gig that requires more than that I have two people who roadie for me
they also keep an eye on things when I am not on stage.
An excellent topic with much wisdom in response. Thanks for all of your suggestions! My routine is to load up my SUV just before leaving to the gig. I always lock up between trips in and out of the venue. We all bring in and out sound and light system equipment from a band trailer and have someone positioned at the trailer while it is open. I typically bring only one bass to each performance and it goes into the venue last and goes out to the car first. If there is adequate security, I do the reverse. I would rather have to replace a string or batteries between sets or songs than risk the loss of an instrument. If I have to bring a second as we are doing a warm up set for a featured artist, it stays in its case just behind my amp with chords wrapped around it. Those performances usually have good security. My rhythm guitarist had a spare guitar stolen right off the guitar stand at the back of a stage. A related topic is making sure you have insurance coverage on your equipment. I have coverage through MusicPro which is relatively inexpensive as compared to either business or home policy scheduled coverage. You have to look closely at covering it through your home policy since these often exclude coverage or require additional premium if they deem it to be "business" property. While I am lucky enough not to have had to make a claim, the couple of people I know who have had to reported very prompt and satisfactory claim processing with MusicPro. MusicPro Insurance -- Affordable Insurance for the Music Professional
- Jan 17, 2015
- 114
- 201
- Disclosures
- Someone told me pants are optional.
B-b-but "Sewer Drainage" is the name of my band!
Nothing of mine stays in my car between gigs.
I have only a few pieces to bring in and normally I can do it with one trip, if it is a larger gig that requires more than that I have two people who roadie for me
I also leave nothing in my car between gigs. I've spent considerable time trying to condense and reduce the number of of cases and weight when possible. Since I own the mixer/PA/lights and still have my bass gear it's a car load but I deal with it. I have to take all of it every time and no roadies here!
Yeah, I cringe when I read earlier posts about firearm stickers for this reason. "Insured by Smith & Wesson" doesn't mean anything but 'There might be a stealable gun in this car" unless you have a robogunner watching it while you're not in it.
Best thing to do, is get a trailer (enclosed).
Don't put a band name on it.
Have is Labeled with "Manuel's Mulch and Manure". At least on the back and both sides. Keep it locked. Every time you get out and park it, have a small amount of mulch and manure to put on the ground outside the trailer.
I guarantee, folks will pass on that..... LOL.
Kind of like having Carvin vinyl cabinet covers for your $1000 Schroeder cabs.... (Really folks I do that) But ya gotta do what works these days.
Don't put a band name on it.
Have is Labeled with "Manuel's Mulch and Manure". At least on the back and both sides. Keep it locked. Every time you get out and park it, have a small amount of mulch and manure to put on the ground outside the trailer.
I guarantee, folks will pass on that..... LOL.
Kind of like having Carvin vinyl cabinet covers for your $1000 Schroeder cabs.... (Really folks I do that) But ya gotta do what works these days.
Also... when looking for a trailer, dont get one with a side door. Much easier to have only the back door so you can back it up against another vehicle, wall, light pole etc. if need be.
My old band built a shelf in the far end of ours that all the guitars/basses went on and then a flap closed over and locked shut. Then all the drums went below the shelf and another flap closed and locked over that... then all the cabs and large nonsense were pushed up against the now closed flaps.
This made it a LOT harder for somebody to steal a high priced/light weight item while also positioning the heavy stuff over the axle.
I made the best possible move to prevent theft. I dare anyone to beat my top move: I moved to Switzerland.
I topped that the day I was born. I'm left handed.
Random thought - I may be giving up my family's fortune by throwing this out there, but would this be possible?:
If they can make a special connectors that will arrest the "pop" when you unplug your bass, couldn't that thought be used to provide facility for a make/break circuit that goes to a floor pedal? Idea would be that a MXR Size Pedal would house a strobe, and an obnoxious little shrill buzzer. There would be no foot switch, instead, one of those round key-locks like you seen on a chest freezer. So, this gizmo would just go in your signal chain, and should be pretty ordinary looking, so it doesn't take away form the stealth of just looking like another pedal. If it works the way I think it should, either end of the your cable being unplugged without a key-turn would cause more attention than a thief would like and hopefully save your bass.
What do you say TB? good idea? Some reason it wouldn't work? I read too many of these posts where some slime steals your tools for making a living. Would love to see someone make these and have people use them. The idea of a bad guy on the wrong side of a rather large security staff member just makes me want to giggle a little..
If they can make a special connectors that will arrest the "pop" when you unplug your bass, couldn't that thought be used to provide facility for a make/break circuit that goes to a floor pedal? Idea would be that a MXR Size Pedal would house a strobe, and an obnoxious little shrill buzzer. There would be no foot switch, instead, one of those round key-locks like you seen on a chest freezer. So, this gizmo would just go in your signal chain, and should be pretty ordinary looking, so it doesn't take away form the stealth of just looking like another pedal. If it works the way I think it should, either end of the your cable being unplugged without a key-turn would cause more attention than a thief would like and hopefully save your bass.
What do you say TB? good idea? Some reason it wouldn't work? I read too many of these posts where some slime steals your tools for making a living. Would love to see someone make these and have people use them. The idea of a bad guy on the wrong side of a rather large security staff member just makes me want to giggle a little..
Locally we have some old friends on the 1% side... it’s not bad to have allies like that sometimes. It can make for an interesting evening in the venue. Some folks get a little uncomfortable when a dozen or so patches show up to catch a set.
We arrived to do a gig at a Sydney pub once and there were about 50 Harleys parked at the kerb outside. I have to say I was just a little bit apprehensive at what lay ahead.
Inside the bikers were the only punters there. Nobody else would come in so we played to them. Some interesting conversations were had in the breaks.
My wife was the BL and singer and one guy said she had no reason to be afraid.
“We **** the guys first” was his way of assuring her that she was safe.
They asked if we would play at their big get together on a country property out in the bush. There would be strippers and beer kegs and everything else - it would be a great night. The BL graciously declined.
A nervous night for the band.
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Hey, it worked for the Rolling Stones... errr wait maybe someone shoulda rethunk that one.
I've played a few gigs for biker clubs and I have to say they were some of the friendliest and most fun loving people I've ever played for. Plus they didn't let anybody mess with our gear.
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Actually I live in Burque.
This past week the Smith's at Coal/Yale had someone drive by and sprayed over 20 shots randomly into the parking lot. The stories of hotel vehicle thefts are easily searchable on local news sites.
Truth and fiction roll into one another, but the arrest list for the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Detention Center is updated hourly with booking info and pictures. Having formerly had a job which led to my name being on Mugshots.com over 300 times for people I've dealt with, arrested, etc... I actually feel I have a better view of what actually happens in Albuquerque, NM than many longtime residents who were born and raised here.
Though the Smith's that got the 27 shot drive by to its parking lot this past week is only 5 blocks from my place I feel far safer here than when I lived in Baltimore. People steal anything not nailed down but violence isn't a random sport against non-gangsters the way it is elsewhere.
As far as sex trafficking goes, Edgewood has bigger problems to worry about, like elevation, cold and wind. Burque has real issues with sex trafficking. Just Google "New Mexico State Fair" and "prostitution", the fact our state fair brings in pimps from as far as Illinois and California will show up in search results. An OG S. Valley guy I worked with (midnight shift in the warzone) was taken aback. He had never seen junkies travelling the streets and alleys as they did in the Warzone (International District) all night long.
All respect to yourself and Spectre Gunner, but Albuquerque actually has the type of things I'd mentioned and a lot worse. I speak from professional experience.
Blessings!
p.s. a day later I decided to post a link to the driveby near my home as an edit to this post.
Invalid Link Removed
(Sorry for a long and musically irrelevant post)
This past week the Smith's at Coal/Yale had someone drive by and sprayed over 20 shots randomly into the parking lot. The stories of hotel vehicle thefts are easily searchable on local news sites.
Truth and fiction roll into one another, but the arrest list for the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Detention Center is updated hourly with booking info and pictures. Having formerly had a job which led to my name being on Mugshots.com over 300 times for people I've dealt with, arrested, etc... I actually feel I have a better view of what actually happens in Albuquerque, NM than many longtime residents who were born and raised here.
Though the Smith's that got the 27 shot drive by to its parking lot this past week is only 5 blocks from my place I feel far safer here than when I lived in Baltimore. People steal anything not nailed down but violence isn't a random sport against non-gangsters the way it is elsewhere.
As far as sex trafficking goes, Edgewood has bigger problems to worry about, like elevation, cold and wind. Burque has real issues with sex trafficking. Just Google "New Mexico State Fair" and "prostitution", the fact our state fair brings in pimps from as far as Illinois and California will show up in search results. An OG S. Valley guy I worked with (midnight shift in the warzone) was taken aback. He had never seen junkies travelling the streets and alleys as they did in the Warzone (International District) all night long.
All respect to yourself and Spectre Gunner, but Albuquerque actually has the type of things I'd mentioned and a lot worse. I speak from professional experience.
Blessings!
p.s. a day later I decided to post a link to the driveby near my home as an edit to this post.
Invalid Link Removed
(Sorry for a long and musically irrelevant post)
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Have played at small town summer or labor day festivals with many bikers. Several of us in the band have bikes and we wear Harley clothing. They have been the friendliest folks and tend to be older and more mature actually.
That is nice to know and is reassuring. I can only relay my own experience which in the end, didn’t turn out badly but for us but I had in my mind at the time, recollections of a very famous altercation between two bike clubs - the Commancheros and the Bandidos here in Sydney in 1984. It was well documented in the news media.
They had a gun fight at a pub in Milperra in broad daylight and 6 members plus a young girl bystander were killed - 28 were injured. It became known as “the Milperra massacre”.
I’m sure there are many great clubs that don’t go down that path but it happened here in Sydney and I found it hard to ignore at the time.
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Well if it's that bad, should we all pack up and leave? Like California, no one is leaving because the earthquake faults are there, same with Hawaii and volcanoes. My daughter is at UNM, even though she got accepted to SDSU. She shops at that Smiths grocery store. We have asked her to change but I am not sure she will.
I was a volunteer EMT in Bernalillo county also in the late 90's It wasn't like there were gunshot victims everyday. Albuquerque is an easy target for the media. Always has been. It's not white bread suburban America but the bad areas are in a very small part of town, every big city in America has that. Sorry you have to deal with that but that's not isolated to Albuquerque. Hotel U-Haul thefts, gun violence can occur even in "peaceful" places.
