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Has anyone ever thought about micro-chip recovery ?
- Thread starter mixx80
- Start date
If you mean the kind of meecro-chips we put in our pets, those don't contain GPS, so you can't track them. They're just for ID purposes.
Carvin puts SNAGG chips in their basses at the factory. it doesn't send out a homing signal, but it can be programmed with the owner's info and be scanned.
It's a great idea....the "problem" (at least as I see it) is expense. Something along the lines of Lo-Jack would, most likely, increase the price on ANY bass by 20 to 30%.
I'd personally LOVE something like this, but I believe (that to the builders) it would prove to be cost prohibitive.
I'd personally LOVE something like this, but I believe (that to the builders) it would prove to be cost prohibitive.
It's entirely possible. Just use the same technology that enables iPhone users to track their lost or stolen phone. Just not probable.
You better get to work on that. There probably are some very high-end instrument owners that would be interested. The only drawback is that it would be difficult to make it permanent to the perp doesn't rip it out and attach it to a varmint, Total Recall style.
You better get to work on that. There probably are some very high-end instrument owners that would be interested. The only drawback is that it would be difficult to make it permanent to the perp doesn't rip it out and attach it to a varmint, Total Recall style.
How about a Low-Tech solution like putting your contact info on the back of the access cover plate on the back, so if it gets worked on or looked at by a pawn shop they would find it. And it could be a sticker or a business card to not hurt the value of the guitar.
"THIS GUITAR IS STOLEN - PLEASE CONTACT ________"
"THIS GUITAR IS STOLEN - PLEASE CONTACT ________"
...and how long would it take a thief to figure this out and replace the cover? Look, bottom line is that if a thief wants to rip you off, he will do it. Unfortunately, unless you add a rider to your homeowners or renters insurance, there isn't much call to bring out the cops for a bass guitar.
Seems like today, they have much more important things to worry about.....damn shame, but true....
i was gonna post this, but wasent sure if i remembered correctly. thats what i recalled reading.
unrealistic, but to some extend comforting i guess- if you have to prove in a court that its your instrument, you can.
Sure, they may find it, or they might not. But it's just an extra layer of protection. Wouldn't that be better than doing nothing? I'm going to do it.
If they were able to construct a GPS device small enough, a tiny GPS device would be a perfect solution. (Though it may not prove useful if the theif decides to break down the instrument to sell for parts.)
I bet some smart electrician/engineer could figure out a way to wire a GPS chip into an active basses pickups. Basically whenever the battery is in the bass it would be able to be tracked. This would also make it really hard to remove without taking everything apart and then re-assembling it.
Sure you could just take the battery out, but then as soon as one gets put back in it will be active again, and no pawn shop or buy would buy an active bass without putting in a battery to test the electronics.
It would be pricey, but a 3000$ active bass would be worth the 200$ to some...
You could probably do the same with amps, have it active whenever its in use. Maybe send a signal to some computer program that gives you a time and location on Google Maps like the iPhones do...
Sure you could just take the battery out, but then as soon as one gets put back in it will be active again, and no pawn shop or buy would buy an active bass without putting in a battery to test the electronics.
It would be pricey, but a 3000$ active bass would be worth the 200$ to some...
You could probably do the same with amps, have it active whenever its in use. Maybe send a signal to some computer program that gives you a time and location on Google Maps like the iPhones do...
The only way it's feasible would be to embed the device in the guitar body. If a phone can be tracked (and even disabled) from your home computer, same is true for anything else you embed the device in. Like a bass or a cheating spouse.
I'm sure you could make something like this work.
It is a little large in it's stock case 3 1/8" x 2" x 1 but I think if you took it out of the case you could fit it in a bass with a little work.
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It is a little large in it's stock case 3 1/8" x 2" x 1 but I think if you took it out of the case you could fit it in a bass with a little work.
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Couldn't harm anything! If a couple hundred of us do it, it would go undetected by thieves, but if companies started adding them to the bass, it wouldn't be too long before that would be the first thing the thief would check.
Shoot, I may just do the same thing right now!!
The SNAGG chips are a good idea, but the problem is that it's not very widespread technology. I get the feeling Carvin did it more so they could keep track of builds than for security purposes. They then marketed it as a feature.
DiabolusInMusic
Functionless Art is Merely Tolerated Vandalism
As said, my Carvin has a SNAGG chip... the only problem is that maybe 12 pawn shops in North America probably have the technology to actually scan the freakin' thing.
I don't even know how to register my SNAGG chip, I just registered my warranty with Carvin.
I suppose it doesn't even matter, my Carvin is pretty unique so I would recognize it if I saw it.
I don't even know how to register my SNAGG chip, I just registered my warranty with Carvin.
I suppose it doesn't even matter, my Carvin is pretty unique so I would recognize it if I saw it.
At the moment you can't economically do it. Here's such a device for dogs: https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?pID=124371
It's $300 just for the tag (so you need to shell out more if you don't have a device that can already track it), and it only gets 24-48 hours battery life. You might have difficulty getting it into a cavity on your bass. It'll also add about a 1/2 pound to your bass (could be a problem for some). It's just inconvenient overall, and there's no way factories will start doing it as standard until we have a GPS/battery revolution. You can't do this passively; you need a battery so you can tell the satellite where the tag is and update that fairly frequently. To get good battery life you need both of these: GPS units with significantly lower power consumption and tiny, lightweight batteries that hold a lot of juice.
Possible in the future, but even when the technology works it might not become a real thing. Someone with a multi-thousand dollar bass (i.e., the people who would want this the most) probably won't want to have it carved up to put a tracking device in. People with cheaper instruments would likely just decide to get an insurance policy if they're so worried and then just buy an identical bass with the settlement cash.
It's $300 just for the tag (so you need to shell out more if you don't have a device that can already track it), and it only gets 24-48 hours battery life. You might have difficulty getting it into a cavity on your bass. It'll also add about a 1/2 pound to your bass (could be a problem for some). It's just inconvenient overall, and there's no way factories will start doing it as standard until we have a GPS/battery revolution. You can't do this passively; you need a battery so you can tell the satellite where the tag is and update that fairly frequently. To get good battery life you need both of these: GPS units with significantly lower power consumption and tiny, lightweight batteries that hold a lot of juice.
Possible in the future, but even when the technology works it might not become a real thing. Someone with a multi-thousand dollar bass (i.e., the people who would want this the most) probably won't want to have it carved up to put a tracking device in. People with cheaper instruments would likely just decide to get an insurance policy if they're so worried and then just buy an identical bass with the settlement cash.
