Stolen equipment

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Nothing to do with us, but picked this up on Facebook, so just a heads up to those in the area.

 

Unfortunately, our van, parked outside the Holiday Inn Express, Walsall, was broken into over night and most of the band's guitars and small items were stolen. We would like to thank all the people and bands who lent us equipment in order for us to play the Strummercamp Festival Sunday night. The stolen equipment incl...udes both Marshall's Gibson Les Pauls and Justin's two Lowdens that had previously survived the fire(!). We would be very grateful for any help in retrieving this equipment - the full list is:

 

Gibson Les Paul Custom - red (serial number 2051429) Gibson Les Paul Standard - black (serial number 90362428) Epiphone Riviera - red with tremelo arm (serial number R97C0572) Lowden 025 acoustic guitar with pick-up (serial number 5131) Lowden 025 acoustic guitar with pick-up (serial number 12288) Gibson SG - black (serial number 8176566) Fender Precision bass - black

 

All these items were in new or nearly new Hiscox guitar cases

 

Evolution Keyboard (serial number MK361C - 222941) Ampeg SVT 3 amplifier head Fender Blues Master guitar combo (serial number B-181446) USA model 110volts. Custom built pedalboard containing three way control unit for Blackstar combo amplifier, 2 x Boss digital delays, tremelo and tuner pedals and a Cry-baby wah pedal Boss pedalboard containing Boss digital delay, bass overdrive, chorus, compression, and tuner pedals Gator 2U case containing AKG guitar radio receiver (serial number AK3254-001272)

 

All these items were in new or nearly new cases

 

Heavy multi-guitar rack Flight case containing tools for guitar repairs Bag containing microphone stands/drum loom Bag containing guitar cables, looms, power supplies, plectrums, capos, two guitar radio transmitters

 

If you have any information please call the Police Station (crime number 20WS/91324T/12 -Walsall Police Station 0345 1135000) or email us at info@newmodelarmy.org

 

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Not being funny but people - take note! Be careful of where you park your van, this is going on so commonly it's unreal, every week I see a new band putting an ad on gumtree trying to get their gear back.

 

Organised thieves will watch you load out, seeing where you put particular items in the van. They will then casually follow you to the hotel, watch you get out of the van, wait an hour, and then empty it. Don't assume that driving an unmarked van is enough, these people are not stupid and will happily put in a day or two's work if it will yield a few grand in pay. Wouldn't you?

 

Equipment can then cheaply be shipped out to Eastern Europe or even further afield... America, Australia, etc... and sold on with little fear of it being traced as might be feared in the UK. It doesn't cost an awful lot to fill a shipping container with stolen stuff (of all varieties, from musical instruments to laptops to cars... thieves work in groups) and ship it wherever you want and sell it's contents. Interpol aren't really interested in thefts from unattended vans so it's a fairly safe practice to be involved with from a thief's point of view.

 

Also be on your guard about discussing your instruments with people at gigs. I know they're your passion and when some punter comes up after the set it's cool to say "yeah this is my custom Gibson Les Paul it used to belong to Jeff Beck and it's worth a gazillion quid" but they will see you put it in the tweed guitar case, watch the tweed case go in the back of the van, and then raid it knowing they're after a tweed guitar case, and also knowing the guitar's history ready to sell it on. Yes these people go to some lengths, they are not the drug addict wasters who just accidentally stumble across a van full of gear and have no idea where to sell it, that people might have you believe.

 

There is a lot of naivety about it all, just be aware that instrument theft is organised crime and people will put in a day or a few days work if it's going to yield good profit. A little bit of discretion (parking doors-to-the-wall, UV marking gear and publicising that fact... I know of a band who even stick stickers on everything from a made-up GPS tracker company stating the gear is fitted with trackers even though it isn't; loading in/out off the street; keeping any particularly high-value items on the down-low; etc) will go a long way. And above all, if something really means a lot to you, just leave it at home. I've been in a tour bus fire and the amount of "I wish I'd just used that guitar in the studio and not had it in the bus" hindsight was high.