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Sweetwater reports major theft

Well that's an inside job if I ever saw one. The thieves obviously knew what was in that truck, where and when it would stop.

I know I shouldn't be throwing accusations out in the wild, but to pull out a heist like that easily, you'd need the driver of the truck to be in on it. Giving intel about the whereabouts of the truck. Loading that specific pallet at the back of the trailer.
It's way too fishy. And now that the serials are public (counterfeiters are gonna love that), it will be very hard for them to sell them off in the US, so they're pretty much guaranteed to head overseas.

Just my $0.02, though.

I don't necessarily disagree, it was likely inside, but with all these mileage tattlers and online tracking for shipping logistics, seems plausible a truck could be tracked and found completely unbeknownst to the driver. I don't know where Gibson & Sweetwater are, but if you are long haul trucking anywhere across big chunks of the US, you're probably sleeping & showering in a travel plaza at some point.
 
This was a random theft and they ended up with high value, very identifiable guitars. $94k is the retail value, not what thieves will fence them for. If anyone will even take them. The likely end for these will be that they are dumped and burned somewhere in the woods.
 
The guitars might never have been on the truck irrespective of what the paperwork says. The thieves knew the driver would get blamed because delivery drivers get blamed for all the gear problems in the world. Thirteen neck heavy guitars would have tipped over the forklift at the warehouse, and nobody saw it? Yeah, right.

I'm starting to doubt whether those guitars were built at all.
 
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The guitars might never have been on the truck irrespective of what the paperwork says. The thieves knew the driver would get blamed because delivery drivers get blamed for all the gear problems in the world. Thirteen neck heavy guitars would have tipped over the forklift at the warehouse, and nobody saw it? Yeah, right.

I'm starting to doubt whether those guitars were built at all.
How would 13 guitars in cases tip a forklift?
Let's be GENEROUS and say the shipping weight of each is 30lbs. That's only 390lbs, plus the skid. That's not going to tip a forklift.

Unless this was sarcastic..
 
These are limited edition guitars that were pre ordered and paid for. So they were stolen from all of the INDIVIDUALS who ordered them and waited a long time for them to be delivered..... even though they had not taken possession of them yet.

And, while we're at it, I have grown incredibly weary of this anti corporation sentiment that makes it "OK" if a large company falls victim to a crime.... because they're big enough to absorb it, or somehow deserve it. Every single company you deal with is made up of humans. Those humans have to deal with crap every day just like you do. And the PEOPLE at Sweetwater.... the "little guy" employees who work in the warehouse... are about to have to jump through all kinds of hoops with regard to security because one jack hole decided to steal.

Nobody should be stolen from. Thieves suck. Period.

I'm gonna go have my morning coffee now. :mad:

(Seriously, I hope you have a great day. I have a cold spot in my heart for thieves. I've been a victim of their worthless butts too many times, both in my personal and professional life.)

There's one thing that you left out: the person that "pays" for theft is ultimately the customer.

If the retailer isn't insured, they build in loss/shrinking into their margins. If the retailer is insured, then they're paying premiums, which are built into the pricing structure.

The cost of theft always flows to the end of the chain.
 
Anybody else wonder why Sweetwater obfuscated their post a bit? What the heck is a travel center, and are those really sold to fans as implied?

Or is it just stolen out of a shipper's warehouse or in transit to Sweetwater for retail sales? Or stolen while in Sweetwater's possession like one of their remote warehouses?

I think it's the later, and some employee(s) is/are going to feel some unemployment and prosecution love. But hey, they had some redeeming quality in that they left the basses alone.
$95k worth of Gibson Adam Jones 1979 Les Paul Customs stolen in premeditated theft | Guitar World
 
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Anybody else wonder why Sweetwater obfuscated their post a bit? What the heck is a travel center, and are those really sold to fans as implied?

Or is it just stolen out of a shipper's warehouse or in transit to Sweetwater for retail sales? Or stolen while in Sweetwater's possession like one of their remote warehouses?

I think it's the later, and some employee(s) is/are going to feel some unemployment and prosecution love. But hey, they had some redeeming quality in that they left the basses alone.

Travel center is the family friendly name for a truck stop.
 
Anybody else wonder why Sweetwater obfuscated their post a bit? What the heck is a travel center, and are those really sold to fans as implied?

Or is it just stolen out of a shipper's warehouse or in transit to Sweetwater for retail sales? Or stolen while in Sweetwater's possession like one of their remote warehouses?

I think it's the later, and some employee(s) is/are going to feel some unemployment and prosecution love. But hey, they had some redeeming quality in that they left the basses alone.

A "travel center" is a fancy name for a truck stop.
 
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