Ya'll ever had a guitar STOLEN!

Mark Metdker · Post by **Mark Metdker** » 17 Nov 2004 6:25 am

Thank God it wasn't one of mine, but our frontman had his old Martin D-18 stolen last night. His mother bought him the guitar when he was just a little kid. he learned to play on that guitar. Then, as an adult, took the thing to Nashville, and wrote/recorded dozens of songs with it.

So, he was onhis way to do a live radio thing here in Dallas last night. He and a buddy stopped at a restaurant before the gig. They Valet parked the car. When they brought his car back, the guitar was gone. Of course, no one will fess up. The cops said it was probably the valet guys, but what are you gonna do.....Other than beat the crap out of a couple of car parkers! Looks like insurance will cover it, but that guitar can never be replaced.

Just had to vent. We are all a little pissed over it! Glad I have never had anything stolen like that.

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BMI S-10
Peavey Session 500

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Farris Currie · Post by **Farris Currie** » 17 Nov 2004 7:07 am

mark i don't know just how to word this,but i would never have stomped one or two guys,i'd have gotten ever one on duty.be sure the one that got it got his a$$ stomped tooooo.he would think ever time he looked at that guitar,Wow,I sure got it over this one!!!hate a dxx thief!!!
farris

Ed Naylor · Post by **Ed Naylor** » 17 Nov 2004 7:14 am

This thing happens a lot unfortunately. When I was in Nashville I drove an old Van and would tell me friends-Someone broke in my van--and left something. Try this- Buy an old Telephone Co non window van, And have a sign painted on the side--PUGH and PUGH Sanitation service.w/ We make your place STINKIN' Clean Phone----. I doubt many would break in. Ed Naylor Steel Guitar Works.

David Doggett · Post by **David Doggett** » 17 Nov 2004 8:24 am

Last year someone broke in my house and stole my Fessy uni, a Vibrasonic amp head, POD XT and a small Behringer mixing board. Since I know the other two people in town who play pedal steel, I can't imagine what the neighborhood thieves did with this great equipment.

Jim Phelps · Post by **Jim Phelps** » 17 Nov 2004 8:35 am

.[This message was edited by Jim Phelps on 17 November 2004 at 07:25 PM.]

Larry Bell · Post by **Larry Bell** » 17 Nov 2004 9:00 am

. . . none of my business . . .
. . . but . . .
If I played acoustic guitar there's no way I'd be playing my vintage Martin on gigs. With as many great sounding -- REPLACEABLE -- acoustic and acoustic/electric guitars being made today, I'd leave the old Martin where it is much safer -- at home. As Dave points out, even locked up at home is no guarantee, but it's much safer than on gigs.

Just MHO.

oh, and another thing . . .
pedal steels are sometimes not stolen when other items are. They're just so heavy and bulky that thieves will just leave them and take 6-string guitars and small amps and fx and stuff they can carry out more easily. One of the FEW ADVANTAGES of playing a heavyweight instrument (in more ways than one).

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Larry Bell - email: larry@larrybell.org - gigs - Home Page
2003 Fessenden S/D-12 8x8, 1969 Emmons S-12 6x6, 1971 Dobro, Standel and Peavey Amps
[This message was edited by Larry Bell on 17 November 2004 at 09:06 AM.]

Mark Metdker · Post by **Mark Metdker** » 17 Nov 2004 9:17 am

Lots of wisdom being spoken here:

I NEVER valet park my vehicles....NEVER

I drive an old '95 Camry with tinted windows and 1 hubcap missing as my daily driver. I have nice vehicles that I drive at other times, but I choose to drive a car that looks BAD for the reasons outlined above. If a thief looks at my car, or a new SUV parked right next to mine, he will probably not even looka at my car twice.

I have been telling my buddy to hang that Martin up on a wall and start playing a Takamine, or something like that. I guess he wil have to now. the Martin needed a fret job and just about everything else. He had played the crap outta that thing for years.

Gene Jones · Post by **Gene Jones** » 17 Nov 2004 9:19 am

Good words above....when my Fender 1000 guitar was stolen they left the pedal board on the bandstand, obviously not knowing that it was a necessary part of the guitar.

The value of the new Standel amplifier that they also took, was of course known to anyone.

I had to refinance to pay off the debt for the one that was stolen and to buy it's replacement.

Thank you my friends that helped me through that low period...you know who you are!
www.genejones.com

Bill Hatcher · Post by **Bill Hatcher** » 17 Nov 2004 9:45 am

Sorry for your friends loss, but I have to be blunt, but this is your friends fault. Leaving such a valuable instrument in a car while you go into a public place and let others park your car?!?! They have the keys and access to the trunk and all compartments. Don't blame anyone for this. He made a bad call.

I can't tell you the number of times I have walked into restaurants, theatres, music stores etc. with my instrument that I refused to leave in a car in a situation where it might be stolen.

Valet guys are infamous for stealing stuff or for having one of their buddies waiting to heist things while the valet guy returns to the front of the building like nothing has happened. All the valet guy has to say is "I didn't see a guitar". How is your friend going to even prove the guitar was there in the first place.

I personally know several musicians who have lost instruments to valet parking. Don't ever do it.

If I was in a situation where I absolutely HAD to, then I would alert a security person or the valet supervisor that there was equipment in my car that needed to be watched and I would show it to them. That way, if they accept your car for parking then they accept the liability of the items in your car and cannot claim to know nothing about it.

Jim Hankins · Post by **Jim Hankins** » 17 Nov 2004 9:54 am

My parents gave me a D-18 for christmas when I was in 8th grade, still cherish it. I understand that was a primary guitar of Elvis too. Jim

Mark Herrick · Post by **Mark Herrick** » 17 Nov 2004 12:00 pm

...but what are you gonna do.....Other than beat the crap out of a couple of car parkers!

Sounds like the answer to me...

That way, if they accept your car for parking then they accept the liability of the items in your car and cannot claim to know nothing about it.

Not true. Every valet parking ticket I have ever received has a very long disclaimer printed on the back stating that they are not responsible for any loss or damage to the vehicle.

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[This message was edited by Mark Herrick on 17 November 2004 at 12:02 PM.]

Ben Slaughter · Post by **Ben Slaughter** » 17 Nov 2004 12:26 pm

Had a blonde Telecaster B-bender lifted from a club I was playing, about 2 years ago. 99% sure I knew how to find the person responsible, but, better things to do with my life.

Mike Perlowin · Post by **Mike Perlowin** » 17 Nov 2004 12:28 pm

EVERY GUITAR PLAYER I KNOW, without exception, has had their instruments stolen at one time or another. Some on gigs, some from home burglaries, and here in L.A. there have been a few armed robberies of recording studios.

My instrument room is protected by 4 heavy duty security doors with multiple high tech locks on each, 2 alarms, one of which is loud but doesn't do any thing, and the other of which is silent, but calls both the police and a private armed security service, AND a 75 pound pit bull.

That might be more than is necessary, but I'd rather have too much security than too little.

BTW I agree with Larry Bell. It's better to take an inexpensive and replacable new guitar to a gig than a priceless vintage piece. But it's also a shame that we have to do that.

Stephen Gambrell · Post by **Stephen Gambrell** » 17 Nov 2004 12:49 pm

I had a Martin D-35(my first Martin!)stolen at a bluegrass festival back in '81 or so. Taught me a lesson about leaving an instrument with people who SEEMED trustworthy.
So when I do a bluegrass gig, I watch my '55 D-28 closely, the banjo player watches his mid-30's Gibson, etc. Hey, we bought these things to PLAY, not display! If I'm offered a gig where I've gotta worry too much about my ax gettin' ripped off, I don't take the gig. And I give thanks for my day job, that allows me to be a little bit selective.
All that being said, anybody who'd steal somebody's guitar, is lowdown scum, who lives in those dark places otherwise populated by lawyers and catfish.

Mark Metdker · Post by **Mark Metdker** » 17 Nov 2004 1:02 pm

I kinda agree with that. I have some cool guitars that I LOVE to play. So, when I gig I like to play them. I am about to take posession of a Zum, and I would hate to think I could never take it out and play it. .....hmmmmm......I guess the valet parking thing was the mistake here. I'll tell you another thing....if somebody really wants something out of your car, they are gonna get it. Alarms just keep the honest people out.

Charles Curtis · Post by **Charles Curtis** » 17 Nov 2004 1:44 pm

The last time I took my steel to Emmons to get work done, I took the guitar in my motel room. It's easier to get another Toyota than a psg and it's a shame that it has come to this. I can think of a solution but it's rather drastic.

Paul King · Post by **Paul King** » 17 Nov 2004 1:45 pm

Mark, I have never had anything such as music equiptment stolen and I am not wanting to start now. I just find it about as low as a person can get being a thief. I know we have had a couple of items stolen at our church therefore causing us to install a burgular alarm. Guess what? They still broke in but left without anything due to the alarm going off. Stealing from a church,a funeral home or a cemetery is downright ruthless. Some people just have no dignity.

Ken Williams · Post by **Ken Williams** » 17 Nov 2004 2:04 pm

Never had a steel stolen, but about year or so ago I had two amps stolen. They were in the care of a friend who was going to work on them for me. They were in one of those storage rental buildings. They were a 74 session 400 and a session 500. He offered to pay for them, but what the heck, he had a bunch of equipment stolen too. I didn't feel that he should be held responsible. I just chalked it up to experience.

Ken

Jim Peters · Post by **Jim Peters** » 17 Nov 2004 2:21 pm

My son had a bunch of equipment stolen outside the Blue Note in Columbia, Mo, including an 88 Strat,a lot of vintage pedals,original fuzz face, Dyna Comp, cry baby, and more. $7000 of drums and hardware,a brand new Hammond(XB3 or something,$1800) and a $4000 bass and rig! The thieves broke the front windshield of the van, and worked their way back, and only got about 1/2 the stuff.They missed the swamp ash Tele,and the back 1/3 of the van. None of the equipment was ever recovered. Almost everyone I know has had equipment stolen. JimP

Darvin Willhoite · Post by **Darvin Willhoite** » 17 Nov 2004 3:42 pm

I had a Gibson EB3 bass stolen from a church about 15 years ago, never saw it again.

Then about 3 years ago I had two guitars in a storage room at my church, I went to get one of them one night and they were gone, and had been for a few weeks. We filed a police report and nothing happened for 3 or 4 weeks, then one day I just happened to check out the Takamine guitars on Ebay, and there was one of my guitars. I got the sellers information and called the policeman that was handling the case, and he called the seller and got my guitar back. The seller know where the other guitar was and the police got it back also.

It seems the church was paying a homeless man to do odd jobs around the church, and he was supposed to straighten up the storage room, and he did, he took my guitars right out of it. He sold them to a dealer that sold them to two different buyers at a city wide garage sale. The guy that originally took them was already in jail on another charge.

One of them had gotten a few more nicks and scratches, but the other one only had a broken lock on the case. I had the serial numbers in my records which made the recovery much easier.

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Darvin Willhoite
Riva Ridge Recording

Savell · Post by **Savell** » 17 Nov 2004 4:21 pm

.[This message was edited by Savell on 31 May 2005 at 01:22 PM.]

George Plemons · Post by **George Plemons** » 17 Nov 2004 4:59 pm

There is a simple solution. A big bouncer stole my guitar one time in Ennis Tx. I found out who did and explained to him there was no need for a fight because when he got off I would be waiting in the parking lot in my car and I was going run over him at least once or however many times it took to kill him if my guitar was not there when I got off. Miraculously it showed up about third set. Tell the valet people about this simple process and they will understand the procedure.

Joe Casey · Post by **Joe Casey** » 17 Nov 2004 5:11 pm

I had my Martin D-41 stolen out of my locked van. They took the guitar and left the hard case. Figure that one out.I never replaced it, couldn't afford too. Thanks to the late Dick Curless who got me an Ovation from the factory.That was the last guitar I ever used. I sent it to Richard Bass when I retired.

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Smiley 15-4 Crank&pull pro model Deluxe with auto string changer.200 ft. roll.

Doug Jones · Post by **Doug Jones** » 17 Nov 2004 5:41 pm

I had my mandolin stolen about 5 years ago. Fortunately it wasn't an expensive one, but nonetheless, getting ripped off congered up some violent emotions. I consider it no great loss now because I wasn't that good at it anyway. DJ

Kurt Graber · Post by **Kurt Graber** » 17 Nov 2004 6:14 pm

10 years ago I always left my steel setup in the club for the weekend and would tear it down on Sunday. It didn't matter where I played, I always left it setup in a different club or venue every weekend. Those days are gone. I beat the odds for a lotta years but I seriously watch my stuff very carefully now.
I once fell asleep at a party many years ago and woke up to find that 2 of my 6 string guitars had vanished. It's a sick feeling when that happens.