Stolen Gear

Mustion

Senior Member
Recently my bag of cymbal stands/hi hat stand/snare stand vanished. What a gross feeling, and while I will be reimbursed by the organization that had them in their care, I'd rather just get the gear back especially as I'd had some of it for quite a while.

Any of you have similar stories? Never a fun time.

FWIW it's a 90s-era Pearl hihat, Tama snare stand of similar vintage, and three modern PDP 800 cymbal stands (2 boom, 1 straight). All in an On-Stage bag. Brooklyn, NY so it's a needle in a haystack for sure.
 
Was any of it marked, name engraved etc? Contact the police and the pawn shops. Small engravers are very cheap for in the future
 
How does one go about marking their gear? Do you actually engrave your info on your cymbals? Seems like a good idea. Are there also ID tags that could be applied, like on the inside of your drums? Just looking for input on this.
 
Never any drum gear, but had two guitars stolen by a relative that thought she needed drug money more than I needed these guitars... :(

I was going to press charges, but decided the loss was cheaper than a divorce. I called around and talked to the area pawn shops. One admitted seeing them until the police became involved. Suddenly, they claimed to have never seen them (they were pretty unique guitars).
 
How does one go about marking their gear? Do you actually engrave your info on your cymbals? Seems like a good idea. Are there also ID tags that could be applied, like on the inside of your drums? Just looking for input on this.

I did have it all marked in sharpie just to keep it sorted from others' gear but of course a little wipe with alcohol and that's gone. I now plan to get some sort of engraver and engrave my name somewhere inconspicuous on the replacements like the bottom of the smaller tube, or maybe inside a gear tilter on the boom. Maybe also the underside of the bell of cymbals I have no intention of selling.

An old trick I use with my bike is to write name and some other unique identifier on a slip of paper and stick it inside the handlebar tube.

But realistically... this is New York City. Very hard to find these things again unless it's someone within the same scene and they're bold enough to use it in public later on.
 
I'm real glad no cymbals went missing and that you are getting reimbursed.
The whole thing still sucks though...
 
Recently my bag of cymbal stands/hi hat stand/snare stand vanished. What a gross feeling, and while I will be reimbursed by the organization that had them in their care, I'd rather just get the gear back especially as I'd had some of it for quite a while.

Any of you have similar stories? Never a fun time.

FWIW it's a 90s-era Pearl hihat, Tama snare stand of similar vintage, and three modern PDP 800 cymbal stands (2 boom, 1 straight). All in an On-Stage bag. Brooklyn, NY so it's a needle in a haystack for sure.

You and I must play the same places. Where was it?

I’ve wondered about how easy it must be. All that has to happen is someone else on the bill grab it and it can easily be written off as if they thought they were mistakenly grabbing a band member’s gear if caught on the spot.
 
Having something stolen from you-you feel "violated". I know I do-like some SOB has been messing with my porridge. I felt the same when I lost everything in an apartment fire-violated. It's a curve ball you don't expect and it can send you for a loop. Maybe somebody will show up with it and it will be returned-stranger things have happened.
 
Having something stolen from you-you feel "violated". I know I do-like some SOB has been messing with my porridge. I felt the same when I lost everything in an apartment fire-violated. It's a curve ball you don't expect and it can send you for a loop. Maybe somebody will show up with it and it will be returned-stranger things have happened.

Completely disgusting to me that people can arrive at the end of a logic chain where it's okay for them to take things people earned, hurt people to get what they want, or disregard those around them just to be lazy or self-entitled.

When I see someone intimidated or bullied, I really can't stop myself from getting involved, even at personal loss or harm. It's like I lose my own sense of reason when I see how people treat others sometimes.
 
Thanks for the replies all,

I'm not terribly torn up over it, really just annoyed. It wasn't a particularly secure setup so I knew the risks going in, it's just too bad somebody had to have sticky fingers but so it goes. But this isn't my first rodeo; about fifteen years ago at college someone broke into my band's practice room over the summer and made off with my half-stack, box of gear, and my bassist's half stack and gear (left the drummer's kit untouched). That time felt a good bit worse because an amp is fairly personal (and expensive) compared to a few stands.

Still... annoying!
 
I knew someone that had their professional camera stolen onetime. Went for a swim at the beach and it was gone. I feel bad that this happened to them, but I've kind come to the conclusion, that they weren't ever going to be a professional photographer, even if they had the camera. They just had any number of excuses and this was just another crutch. Kinda weird.
 
I had my cymbals stolen in 2004 from our bassists car as we were packing up as well as my guitarists strat that was older than he was. Didn't know til the next day as we had back to back gigs. Had to buy a whole new set of cymbals the next day.

It's the worst feeling ever know some scummy little shit has helped themselves to your hard earned stuff. Absolute nightmare trawling pawn shops, music shops, giving them a list of what's been stolen and the crime number attached to it, maybe it put them off, I don't know.

Plus side for me was I got them back under odd circumstances, they surfaced at a pub around 6 months later and the cymbal bag looked and smelt like it had been thrown in a bush and left there. It was a bikers pub that wouldn't tell me where they'd got them from but I wan't going to ask questions. Luckily nothing was damaged and the bag got washed and is still in use now.

Sadly the guitar is still missing, my guitarist has said if he ever sees it he'll be taking it back regardless. If I ever found out who it was a steak tenderiser and genitals would meet at hadron collider kind of speeds
 
Take photos of evefrything you own. Write down any serial numbers. Put the info on a CD and give to a family member. Helps in case of fire, flood, theft, etc
 
My drum gear is insured. I have a listing of every instrument I own (with serial numbers) and the current list price, and I update it regularly. I also keep photos of all my gear updated. Call me crazy, but if something happens to it, I'd like to not have to pay out of pocket to replace it.
 
Not crazy. I did mine last year before the Hurricane came through. Every tool, drum, electronic, camera part, whatever. Took a photo of my closets, everything
 
Completely disgusting to me that people can arrive at the end of a logic chain where it's okay for them to take things people earned, hurt people to get what they want, or disregard those around them just to be lazy or self-entitled.

When I see someone intimidated or bullied, I really can't stop myself from getting involved, even at personal loss or harm. It's like I lose my own sense of reason when I see how people treat others sometimes.

Looting is another that makes me shake my head. It’s a mob mentality. The people doing it will tell you they feel would stupid if they didn’t join in because everyone else is.
 
Any of you have similar stories? Never a fun time.


Yes, back in the 1990s, I was 6 hours from home in Chattanooga, TN. I was staying with a friend of mine, and we rehearsed that night, so I took in my kick, snare, hardware, and cymbals. I was driving a Jeep Wrangler, and someone cut the top on it, took the toms, all of my CDs, portable CD player (it was an expensive Kenwood), my very-upgraded stereo system, my console, everything. I had Nationwide insurance at the time, and since my Jeep was in my mom's name (I was paying, but we put it in her name for the cheaper insurance), and they were absolutely fantastic at getting me as much money as possible back for everything.

While the stuff can be replace, the feeling of being ripped off stays with you. That sickening feeling is the worst part of all.

While I don't care about getting any of the stuff back at this point, I'd love to know where everything ended up.
 
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