Stolen Instruments: How to Possibly Prevent It

[Brazenkane]

I'm a professional musician w/ thousands of dollars worth of gear. NO! I'm not gonna tell you where I live Then I'd have to kill ye!

I have always been one to go to great lengths to keep my instruments mine. I never EVER leave my instruments in my vehicle (read that one again). Where I live, the law allows my rear, and side rear windows to be tinted xtra dark. So, if I do leave speakers in there, which are replaceable..most likely one couldn't even look in and see what they were.

Once in a hotel, I was worried about my concertina. I had no idea where to hide it, until I opened the closet and saw a wee safe....barely. I took the tina of it's box and in the safe it went. Be creative!

We keep our storm doors closed on the outside sliding glass doors when we leave to insure no one comes in. Sliding glass doors btw, are very easy to defeat. Look into making them and outher sliding windows more secure. I purchased musician's insurance (1800-VIVALDI).

I have read so many sad internet watch ads about stolen instruments. I'm wondering if some of this is careless, forgetfulness, or just plain sh*t luck? Obviously, there's no way around the latter of the 3.

Most makers I've dealt w/, having known there was a theft, bring the victim to the top of their list so they can get an instrument ASAP. I think this is the righteous and kind thing to do. You should have insurance to cover the expense as well.

When traveling in airports, my soft case, which holds pipes, tina, and flute, NEVER leaves my side. When I put it down, there is a shoulder strap that I clip to my belt (from the gig bag itself). If someone is going to run with it, they're in for some added weight (and a choke-hold).

If I'm at a sessiun, the instruments, ALL OF EM stay at my feet. If I get a drink I get SOMEONE I KNOW to watch 'em, or I ask for someone to get me a drink and I offer to watch their stuff.

I think we all need to be more aware. Talking about it keeps the awareness up. I'm very careful about my surroundings. This is an effort that requires practice, not just lipservice. I make mental notes of who's playing what. If I see anyone pick up a case that I have not recognized earlier, I always make it a point to stop them and make small talk like, "hey YOU"RE A FLUTER TOO? cool...whatcha got in there?" Or, I'm new here what's your name? At a tionol, or summer school...never leave your stuff unattended.....ever. So what if you have to carry your stuff around?! You get excersise, and your stuff stays your stuff

AT very least, lets try and minimize theft and keep our beloved hard-sought-out, long-waited-for-instruments OURS. At very best, perhaps we might get some instruments returned, and bring some of those A-holes to justice. It may sound fantastic, but that very thng happened just a few months ago to Fermanagh (now living in Cali.) uilleann piper Gabriel McKeagney. Check out the "Piper's Review" for that incredible story.

Adh Mór,

k.paddy.o

PS this announcement was not subsidised by 1800-Vivaldi, nor the Piper's Review

[keyedup]

I agree with everything you've said. I too am VERY careful with my instruments. They reside either in my hands or in their case. When at festivals it's in my backpack with me at all times. Never left in a tent or vehicle or wherever. I know this isn't possible with bigger instruments but most festivals have instrument lockups which should be sussed out.

I've seen beer spilled directly over an expensive flute that was left on a table so full of rubbish most folks wouldn't even want to touch it. I've seen guitars and fiddles crash to the ground after being left balanced precariously against chairs and tables or walls. I've seen concertinas and flutes and all manner of instruments just left on tables as the owners are off at the bar or wherever (sometimes for very extended periods).

Amazing...absolutely amazing....and many of the owners would have saved for years to pay off these instruments that they possibly also waited years to have made for them or took years to find them in a shop. It makes me wonder how they treat the things they don't value if this is how they treat the things they do???

[Brazenkane]

..another puzzling thing is outa 66 readers (so far)...there's only a single responder, yet there's 10's of authors to contribute to a ridiculous post like "Whats "better" Olwell or Murray."

[Matt_Paris]

I have a quite embarassing question... Imagine you're in a pub, and after your seventh pint you have to go to the, well, toilets.

Where the x#&&" do you put your flute??? I you have friends in the place, what is usually the case, there is no problem, but in a city you don't know, and fellows you have never seen?

I read the a lot of great flutes were stolen in pubs, this even happened to Matt Molloy.

[fantomas]

hmm, i'm not very acquainted with this issue myself but i can relay that to Kevin Crawford who lost a one of a kind Michael Grinter C FLute. Sad event, it happened at the backstage of a venue.

No one know if he managed to get it back?

I think one of the mistakes a lot of people do is to think that no one could suspect the value of your instrument so it is safe because of the thief's ignorance, and i have to say i am lucky , because my house was broken into some months ago, they took some small valuables, but left my very very precious G.P. Barrancos Classical Guitar untouched.
However, i wont take the same risks again, it's just foolish to be an open target to theft and only learn after you're a victim.

[andrewK]

Perhaps you had said everything that was worth saying, Brazenkaine ?

The moral seems to be NEVER leave an instrument unattended in a public place if you value it.

[amar]

hmm, i'm not very acquainted with this issue myself but i can relay that to Kevin Crawford who lost a one of a kind Michael Grinter C FLute. Sad event, it happened at the backstage of a venue.

No one know if he managed to get it back?

I think one of the mistakes a lot of people do is to think that no one could suspect the value of your instrument so it is safe because of the thief's ignorance, and i have to say i am lucky , because my house was broken into some months ago, they took some small valuables, but left my very very precious G.P. Barrancos Classical Guitar untouched.
However, i wont take the same risks again, it's just foolish to be an open target to theft and only learn after you're a victim.

It's not that he lost it, his flute was stolen, and not only his flute, other band-instruments, lots of cash, all sorts of stuff the asses could get their filthy hands on!
And no, they never got their gear back.
By the way, welcome to the board.

[spittle]

The moral seems to be NEVER leave an instrument unattended in a public place if you value it.

True, very true!

Though I thought I was being extremley careful with the bag my flute was in, I was more concerned at the moment for the safety of my mother and pregnant wife in a dodgy, unfamiliar place late at night, all the while trying to keep tabs on our baggage which would have been checked on a plane had travel plans not gone utterly awry.

Seems there's no avoiding being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Otherwise great suggestions all - I wish no one to experience the depair of losing a precious item (flute or not) at the hands of such an 'opportunist'.

Cheers,
- Ryan

[andrewK]

Do you keep an explosive charge of longlife purple stain triggered to be blown over the thief by the unauthorised opening of your bags, Spittle ( Ugh ! ) ?
Are you related to Topcat's Officer Dribble ?

[peeplj]

I have a quite embarassing question... Imagine you're in a pub, and after your seventh pint you have to go to the, well, toilets.

Where the x#&&" do you put your flute??? I you have friends in the place, what is usually the case, there is no problem, but in a city you don't know, and fellows you have never seen?

I read the a lot of great flutes were stolen in pubs, this even happened to Matt Molloy.

If you're going to a pub to drink 7 pints, you're going to need a friend to drive you home anyway, so have your friend hold your flute while you're using the facilities.

My own view is drinking is like swimming: you should never do it alone.

--James

[cocusflute]

I pity the fool steals my instrument.
If I go to the jax I leave my instrument on the table in clear sight of other musicians. I don't try to hide it in a corner. I make sure that somebody there knows I'll be off for a minute or two so he keeps an eye on the thing. Hopefully the other musicians would notice a muggle picking it up.
If it's the concertina it goes right back in the case and put where the other musicians can see it. I don't leave it out where somebody could pick it up and 'try it.' Sometimes I take the flute apart to make it that much harder to walk away with.
The instruments always travel with me. As Mr. BK says, right by his side, always. The instruments never travel in cargo. Never. Can't you just imagine a baggage inspector seeing the flute as a terrorist weapon? A bodhran maybe....
They are NEVER left in a car, locked or otherwise, not in the trunk or locked glove box. Even if it's just to pop into a friend's house for a second. When I lock or unlock the car the instruments are between my feet-- not on top of the car, where they might be over looked when I drive off (which some people say might have happened to MM's flute).
If I spend the night in a strange house when on the road, the insruments come into the bedroom with me, not left in the living room or somewhere where I can't see them. I never leave an instrument on a soft surface (bed, chair, couch). Somebody might sit on it and break it. I put it on a table or other hard surface.
Once I had a man break into my house and steal a mandolin. That man is dead.
I have a friend who plays a bodhran. He left it in his car in NYC even though I thought he was crazy. In the morning when we came back to the car a window was smashed and two more bodhrans were in the back seat.

[Matt_Paris]

Dear peeplj,

What you said was absolutely true... "Seven pint" was an image... When I play, because I try to respect my audience, I never drink more than a couple.

But even just one beer obliges you eventually to leave the table, and then, where do you put your flute? I take it with me personnaly, under my arm, like french people do with their baguette... Not very easy to handle...

I was just wondering if someone had some special C&F system. I discovered the flute beard on that board.

(BTW, I don't drive at all, and don't even have a license.)

[BillChin]

When traveling with bags, I tend to use a stall or a corner urinal away from people. If in a busy pub, I suggest packing up the flute and taking it with you. Far better to look a little compulsive then leaving an expensive instrument with people you don't know. The temptation is too great.

Another tip, that might have prevent the recent episode posted, is to ALWAYS have physical contact with your bags. A blink of an eye is long enough to snatch an unattached bag. I imagine instrument cases are like laptop computer bags, in that they attract professional thieves, usually working in groups.

It is also a good idea to be guarded about talking to strangers about any instruments. I was in one bar and someone mentioned that his pipes cost $10,000. It was probably safe there, but he didn't know me, and that kind of talk attracts unneeded attention. Best to be casual, and not even mention brands or costs unless you know the person.

Of course a lot depends on the specifics of the setting.

Some people have specific travel instruments of lower value, so they don't have stress so much during a vacation trip or for a first time at a new unfamiliar location. Of course someone could break in and steal it from the home while a person is away, and this is not a viable option for professional musicians playing gigs.
+ Bill

[peeplj]

Dear peeplj,

What you said was absolutely true... "Seven pint" was an image... When I play, because I try to respect my audience, I never drink more than a couple.

But even just one beer obliges you eventually to leave the table, and then, where do you put your flute? I take it with me personnaly, under my arm, like french people do with their baguette... Not very easy to handle...

I was just wondering if someone had some special C&F system. I discovered the flute beard on that board.

(BTW, I don't drive at all, and don't even have a license.)

Point taken, and I wasn't meaning to come off sounding like a prude. I have been known to drink a few pints myself, and as you point out, there have been times I felt I would have played better if I hadn't had quite so much.

For a serious answer to your question, if you are playing with other musicians you know and trust, hand it to one of them to look after while you're in the facilities.

If you are playing alone, or with a group you don't know well, the situation is dicier. Then, as you say, you almost have to either take the flute with you or take the risk.

Maybe we flutists need some sort of sling that can go across one shoulder pirate-style (or Wookie style, maybe if you are a follower of Star Wars) and hold a flute and some whistles. Actually, in all seriousness, such a thing would be quite handy. There's been many times I've wished for one.

--James

[Cynth]

A strap to attach to yourself or put your leg through is a real good idea. My mom had a purse (not as valuable as an instrument, of course) stolen from right next to her feet by a professional---at least the police said that. She still can't figure out what happened but she never saw a thing----maybe another one created a distraction so slight that she can't even remember it.

I'm not a musician, but having attended some festivals I've noticed that people get sort of all happy and excited and thinking we're all friends here and no bad people would like this kind of music, etc. It's just part of the atmosphere and just when a person is likely to let up his/her guard.