Guitar Security

Snake Aces

Snake Aces

Singlecut Slut
Hey, anybody ever experience a landlord entering their property illegally and for no perceived reason at all? My girl and I came home from the beach today to find lights on (we never leave any lights on) and a table moved in our place. I am concerned for my guitars. Are there any good tracking devices available for guitar security or does anybody have any bright ideas to keep them safe? I can't afford a nanny ccan right now to prove they are entering so for now it's booby traps.
 
Re: Guitar Security

If you can't afford a nanny cam, a tracker might be out of the question. I've had success with gps trackers from deal extreme. With a bit of know how a little something in the cavities could work. If you're feeling particularly malicious and can trust your girl to be careful, wedge the circuit breakers open and connect the mains to the doorknob.
 
Re: Guitar Security

I am so happy i don't rent. I would go ape **** if someone came into my house while i wasn't home.

Have you called the **** up and told him how you feel?
 
Re: Guitar Security

RF ID tags seem like a good way to go, for tracking. They're super tiny and can be put inside a small drilled hole in a control cavity, neck pocket, or something like that. Then, if you're lucky enough that the thief tries to sell it to someone (store, pawn shop) that uses a reader, the guitar might be recovered that way. I haven't used this system, but I could see it helping.

Aside from that:

1.) Where I live, most lease agreements require the landlord to give you 24 hours notice before entering your apartment, except for emergencies (like there's a water leak, and they need to check something in your apartment while you're not home).

2.) Renter's insurance. Lots and lots of insurance. Goes for anyone with guitars -- renters or owners -- who don't keep their guitars in a vault or something.
 
Re: Guitar Security

Beer$ said:
If you're feeling particularly malicious and can trust your girl to be careful, wedge the circuit breakers open and connect the mains to the doorknob.
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Not only is that a very stupid suggestion, but that's a good way to spend a long time in jail. Anyone could touch it (neighbor, UPS, mailman, child selling Girl scout cookies, etc.) and you wouldn't have any defense should charges and/or a suit be filed against you.
 
Re: Guitar Security

GuitarDoc said:
Not only is that a very stupid suggestion, but that's a good way to spend a long time in jail. Anyone could touch it (neighbor, UPS, mailman, child selling Girl scout cookies, etc.) and you wouldn't have any defense should charges and/or a suit be filed against you.
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Not the FRONT door... the door to the room with all the guitars in it. The keyword was malice. Malicious people go to jail. That's life.

The door to a room with all the valuables gets the juice so you come home to some ****head with his **** ruined inside the house. Doesn't take long to disconnect everything to cover your tracks before you call the cops to report a suspicious entry and a mysterious dead guy.

Give the guy some credit, do you really think he's going to f*ck around with the mains power to kill someone who's trying to steal his stuff?

Lighten up. I was having a bit of fun.

I didn't see you picking on this one
Bludave said:
Change the locks on your place and nobody will be able to get in
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If you're renting, the landlord will have yours for changing the locks.
 
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Re: Guitar Security

I'm sorry about the stupid suggestion. I wasn't seriously suggesting you set someone to get fried.

How about this. Seeing you can't just change the locks... maybe someway of locking up the guitars in the house? It can be done cheaply with some materials from a hardware store, some chain and a padlock, some way to "pen" them in?

The RFID chip is a good idea, but that wouldn't be secure enough for me, because you'd have to hope you run into the guitars again and that just helps prove it's yours. I'd want to prevent them being stolen in the first place as much as possible, or be able to track them (gps trackers can be set so that you send them a text message, you get one back with coordinates to put into google earth and get the precise location. This way you don't have to pay for them to be running in real time all the time. If you know a bit about electronics you could set them up so that they power up when they're moved or displaced so that battery charge isn't an issue.

A bit complex yes, but an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure. It's a tough decision because there will always be that part of you that wants to display them and be able to look at them and just pick them up and play them.

Finally... have you considered striking a compromise with the land agent to have just one room with your own lock and key? Offer to change it back to stock once your tenancy ends and designate that for your music equipment.
 
Re: Guitar Security

I miss owning back home in MN but renting is my option right now for sure. I will look into renter's insurance here in Greece and for the time being we will leave the main power alone. What is this, the goonies? Haha. A good laugh is a good laugh. For now I have decided to turn my storage space in my place into a lockdown space to store them in there when I am traveling and can only bring one of them with me or for when I go to the beach for a few hours. These people are control freaks so we'll see about changing the locks. Thanks everyone for the wisdom. I will look into some GPS ideas for my #1 though.
 
Re: Guitar Security

That stinks. Do you rent from a private individual or a complex? Most of the time, you lease includes an agreement that they can enter for maintenance or whatever. Id ask for notification before entering and sadly, it wouldnt be preventative, but after the fact, but Carvin is now selling kits where you can install chips in your guitars like they use when they build them that you can install in the guitars.

So, check your lease agreement. and then do what you can to protect. I know that doesnt help prevent the theft, but sometimes there is only so much you can do legally if you dont own the home
 
Re: Guitar Security

I would still change the locks then when he try's to come and can't he will have to ask permission when you are there. Yes it could cause some friction but I would just simply ask him if he is going to be responsible for all the gear? We no he is going to say no so there you have it. You will have to be home before he can come in. I did this on every apartment I was in and never had a problem. I surrendered the key when I moved. If they get their pity's in bunch too bad. I don't want anybody in my hone when I am not there
 
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It's from a private owner of the whole building. I'd like to chip all my guitars when it becomes more accessible!
 
Re: Guitar Security

Bludave said:
I would still change the locks then when he try's to come and can't he will have to ask permission when you are there. Yes it could cause some friction but I would just simply ask him if he is going to be responsible for all the gear? We no he is going to say no so there you have it. You will have to be home before he can come in. I did this on every apartment I was in and never had a problem. I surrendered the key when I moved. If they get their pity's in bunch too bad. I don't want anybody in my hone when I am not there
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I like your style, I may be borrowing a page from your book on this issue.
 
Re: Guitar Security

Man, if you live in Greece then you can safely disregard most of the above.

You are MOST CERTAINLY allowed to change the locks on an apartment that you rent, in fact if you'd like you can even ADD locks, although there's the issue of damages*. Furthermore the landlord CANNOT under any circumstances enter your house for WHATEVER reason on his own.

In Greece that is EXACTLY the same as ANY individual entering ANYONE'S house i.e. it is considered breaking and entering. As long as you rent it and you pay your rent and the bills, legally-wise it is YOUR home, not his.

In short, just change the locks, ideally without altering the door itself to avoid any extra "damages" costs and be done with it. You can simply replace the old lock when you leave and that'd be that.

(*In Greece the landlord has the right to check the apartment for any damages done by you while you lived there like a broken door handle or lock or a drilled hole on a wall or door and can charge you for the repairs)
 
Re: Guitar Security

KeeperOS said:
Man, if you live in Greece then you can safely disregard most of the above.

You are MOST CERTAINLY allowed to change the locks on an apartment that you rent, in fact if you'd like you can even ADD locks, although there's the issue of damages*. Furthermore the landlord CANNOT under any circumstances enter your house for WHATEVER reason on his own.

In Greece that is EXACTLY the same as ANY individual entering ANYONE'S house i.e. it is considered breaking and entering. As long as you rent it and you pay your rent and the bills, legally-wise it is YOUR home, not his.

In short, just change the locks, ideally without altering the door itself to avoid any extra "damages" costs and be done with it. You can simply replace the old lock when you leave and that'd be that.

(*In Greece the landlord has the right to check the apartment for any damages done by you while you lived there like a broken door handle or lock or a drilled hole on a wall or door and can charge you for the repairs)
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Awesome! Thanks a sh!tload! This is the most helpful anybody has been on this issue! Yeah, I'm in Patra and this is all great info to know! Will be changing the lock immediately. My girl and I got a good deal on this place but it was a sh!thole until we cleaned it, replaced some faulty things, installed high quality closing drain covers, painted, cleaned for days, and even still she is not completely happy with the landlords. We are currently fighting a cockroach problem and it's not from us since we are clean freaks so it's been a dance so far. What a beautiful country though, I am looking to stay here for the long haul and I don't mind the bugs, she does. I guess that's probably the way it always goes though. Thanks for helping a brother out!
 
Re: Guitar Security

How many do you own? You can get a small rifle safe for pretty cheap, mine could probably hold 4 guitars when carefully placed (assuming they aren't acoustic or hollowbodies).

Other than that, take some party poppers, a roll of duck tape, painting tarps, and iodine. Make yourself a thief marker.

Step 1: Remove confetti, seal the bottom inside so the iodine can't get to the charge with duck tape, pour some iodine soaked paper towel strips in there, and seal it lightly.

Step 2: Tie the fishing string to the pull string on the popper, and tape popper down very secure on the wall at door knob level, then tie the string to door knob. Do this AFTER you are outside with what you need to leave, and the painting tarps are set up to keep the inevitable mess at bay.

If it works right, you'll notice iodine stains on his hands if he breaks in. Or if you can find iodine, you can mix up some nasty grape+blueberry (for dark color) coolaid with WAY less water than normal so it's a syrup consistency. That stuff stains real good.
 
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