Question Protect your Gear

[dave1812]

Hi Y'all
So after my Father in Law's Shop was attempted to be robbed today, and robbers broke into his mothers home and stole every last Piece of her Jewelry,
And my Neighbour had a break in a few Months ago, and the Police, useless as they are, don't have a clue or suspects.

Now my Idea was, in the Case that some Lowlife...
... was going to break into my Apartment, there's not a whole lot you can do except the usual Door Security.
But my thought was to Implant a GPS Tracker into my EBMM Guitar Cases.
Somewhere where you wouldn't see it, and if someone took my Baby's I could call up the Coordinates of the Tracker, and kick in the Guys Front Door, and take back what's mine.

There are numerous kinds of Tracking Devices out there, and they aren't too expensive, compared to what my Balls are worth.

I think I'm gonna put one in every Case, maybe cut a Pocket in the Headstock Area to put it in.

What do you Guys think? I believe it's a good Idea.

 

[kestrou]

Dave,

Having a few guitars myself, I'm also security conscious...

I have a monitored alarm system on my home, complete with motion sensors and glass breakage detectors.

I have all my guitars "chipped" with RFID chips registered through Snagg.com - one time fee of $10/guitar (in bulk).

I've glanced askance at GPS systems - but the "how long do they hold a charge" is what was holding me back on them. What system are you looking at? I'd be interested if the cost were right and I wasn't worry about having to re-charge the units all the time...

Kevin

 

[ksandvik]

Also install a cheap video recording system, it always helps the police in case something sad like this happens as then they could track down the culprits. Also, in some cases the smarter thieves avoid places with extensive video surveillance.

 

[dave1812]

@Kevin
I just started looking into all the Stuff that's out there. The RFID Chip is another Cool Idea, for the Guitar itself.
The Issue with the Powersupply was also one of my Concerns. Any System is worthless if the Battery's are dead :/

There are also different kinds of Trackers, GPS or GSM Based. I thought the GSM might be better because the Cellphone Infrastructure is more reliable, GPS might not work if the Stuff is inside Buildings, there's also a ton of different Manufacturers from 20-200$$$ or more. That's why I was hoping for someone to chime in, who did this already.
Guess I'll have to crawl through some Forums and Reviews.

BTW does the RFID not interfere with the Guitars Electronics?

Edit:
Just checked the SnaggTag Site.
Their GPS Tracker is supposed to have a 3 Year Battery Life.

 

[mikeller]

Very concerned about this too. Not that I have anything rare or extremely valuable - but they are mine and I worked hard to get them.

I have a monitored security on my home as well and further, keep my most favorites all tightly locked together thru the case handles with a chain and lock, with the thought if someone would get thru the security, they would have to take the time to saw thru the chain or try to handle multiple cases at one time.

Unfortunately for many of us - homeowner insurance is worthless if you play professionally and the insurance definition of profession is getting paid for playing. With most if not all homeowner insurance - once you take a dime for playing out - your risk increases dramatically and coverage is null.

 

[Jeong]

GPS tracking seems a little extreme...Wouldn't it be sufficient just to take pictures of the original receipt, COA, and serial number?

 

[dave1812]

GPS tracking seems a little extreme...Wouldn't it be sufficient just to take pictures of the original receipt, COA, and serial number?

I'd say no.
Because the Person who stole might not sell it, or they might sell it privately, to someone who doesn't care where it comes from.
Thus you might never find out where your Guitar landed.