bad habits we should all break to avoid instrument theft

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bisontuba
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Re: bad habits we should all break to avoid instrument theft

Post by bisontuba »

One big thing...don’t have a ‘vanity’ license plate on your car saying “Tuba,” ILUV2BAH,”, etc., etc., etc...open invitation to break in.
And don’t be lazy...if coming home from a late night gig, and out back in the morning for another rehearsal/gig...take the horn(s) inside....
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Re: bad habits we should all break to avoid instrument theft

Post by Rick F »

bisontuba wrote:One big thing...don’t have a ‘vanity’ license plate on your car saying “Tuba,” ILUV2BAH,”, etc., etc., etc...open invitation to break in.
And don’t be lazy...if coming home from a late night gig, and out back in the morning for another rehearsal/gig...take the horn(s) inside....
Hadn't thought about the vanity tag risk.
Last edited by Rick F on Mon Sep 25, 2017 11:08 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: bad habits we should all break to avoid instrument theft

Post by TheGoyWonder »

Just put a towel over the tuba in the backseat. That'll fool them.
Cars most-often messed with are trucks, SUVs, "tuner" cars, and japanese sedans (for parts).
So the cars with the lowest profile, to the criminal mind, are probably American sedans and any minivan.
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Re: bad habits we should all break to avoid instrument theft

Post by Oldschooltuba »

My wife spent 30 years as a police officer. Thankfully retired now.
Her words......

"Never leave anything in the car you don't want to have stolen"
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Re: bad habits we should all break to avoid instrument theft

Post by edsel585960 »

Oldschooltuba wrote:My wife spent 30 years as a police officer. Thankfully retired now.
Her words......

"Never leave anything in the car you don't want to have stolen"
Truer words have never been spoken. Also if you drive a $#!+ box no figures you have any money. :)
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bort
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Re: bad habits we should all break to avoid instrument theft

Post by bort »

Sort of related ... Make sure your tuba is insured! Not "maybe" or "it should be"... Make sure that if something happens, you are covered.
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Re: bad habits we should all break to avoid instrument theft

Post by aqualung »

Rick F wrote:Hadn't thought about the vanity tag risk.
A guy I know, not the sharpest tack, had a red hatchback with a BAND MAN plate.
And one late night left it parked on the fringes of downtown Indianapolis, with a MW 25 quite visible, while he had a few post-concert frosties.
You all can surmise how this turned out.
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Re: bad habits we should all break to avoid instrument theft

Post by swillafew »

"Never leave anything in the car you don't want to have stolen"
The less time the horn is in the car the better, and I am sorry for the person who can't do anything to conceal it (in the car at least). I observed a prominent musician in the area carry his tuba into a church, where he didn't have to worry about it.
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Re: bad habits we should all break to avoid instrument theft

Post by Donn »

bloke wrote: ...and again, (just like Wade) I drive manual transmission cars.
How do transmissions figure in tuba thefts?
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bort
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Re: bad habits we should all break to avoid instrument theft

Post by bort »

Donn wrote:
bloke wrote: ...and again, (just like Wade) I drive manual transmission cars.
How do transmissions figure in tuba thefts?
Not sure, but I bet most car theives can't drive stick!
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Re: bad habits we should all break to avoid instrument theft

Post by roweenie »

Schlepporello wrote:And I'll bet fewer of those standards are stolen if they have a 3-speed on the column.
LOL

The last car I owned like this was made in 1979....

Even though NYC is much improved in recent years (I remember very well the "bad old days") I never leave my horns in the car (I guess old habits die hard.....)

OT - I actually preferred the "bad old days", FWIW.....
Last edited by roweenie on Sun Sep 24, 2017 4:37 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: bad habits we should all break to avoid instrument theft

Post by Mark »

bloke wrote:If a tuba is hidden in the trunk - but is stolen, simply, because the entire car is stolen, very few thieves steal manual shift cars.
I'm curious, how many manual transmission cars have trunks big enough to hold a tuba?
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Re: bad habits we should all break to avoid instrument theft

Post by tofu »

One thing often overlooked is disable the inside trunk release. Rear seats that recline are often useful for hauling stuff (including tubas) but a fixed rear seat combined with either no (or disabled) remote inside trunk release means that thieves will have to use crowbars to pry open your trunk to get your tuba. Unless they know there is something they really really want in there -they just aren't going to want to spend that amount of time or effort. It takes a lot of time to pry open a trunk. Even if they know what is in there they won't want to spend the time or have the tools necessary to do it.

Also - if you have a trunk mounted battery install a remote battery disconect (you can install a bypass with/fuse to keep radio presets etc.). They can't start your car and even if they figure it out -they will have to pry open the trunk. You can also install hidden fuel kill switches. You can do this with a battery under the hood but you will need a chain and lock for the hood so they can't just use the inside release. Not hard to do but people are lazy.

New cars are a lot harder to steal without the key/fob these days and that is why you have such a huge jump in car jackings. So in any urban area even on a busy street in the middle of the day you really need to have your head on a swivel when entering or exiting your vehicle. If you keep your remote battery kill or the security remote that comes with your car separate from the ignition key if a carjacker demands your keys give them up - run 25 yards away and hit the kill switch - the thiefs will jump out and into the car they came in when it quits running. A lot of cars unfortunately have integrated the remote into the key head making this moot - but a separate fuel kill will still do it. Another heads up: around here the carjackers like to do soft bump you from behind with their car - many folks get out of their car (leaving the car running) to look at the rear end - the carjackers accomplices then jump into your car and take off. So don't leave your car running if you get bumped - call the cops first and/or then drive directly to the police station.

One other thing get a cheap cell phone and put that in your trunk. I use my old iphone with my old legacy pay as you go plan from t-mobile - so I just have to add $10 a year to keep it going. If the car gets stolen (along with tuba in trunk) the cops will be able to track it with the find my iphone app. A high percentage of stolen cars get dumped - if the tuba is in a secured trunk - even if the car gets stripped - you probably have bought enough time for the cops to find it before anybody is willing to go through the time/effort/get the right tools to pry open the trunk - assuming your trunk has a separate lock key from the ignition. If it does keep that key with the remote / separate from the ignition key.
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Re: bad habits we should all break to avoid instrument theft

Post by bort »

Dumb warning here -- make sure you lock the doors!

I was responsible for getting my girlfriend (now wife)'s car broken into in Baltimore about 10+ years ago. It was an old Saturn, nothing to look at, no power locks. Her: "Are you sure you locked your door?" Me: "Yeah, of course"

And of course, I didn't lock it. :oops: They only took some spare change and a dinosaur of an emergency car phone. It was nice of them to close the door, though, and make sure it looked like nothing happened. Could have been much worse, and glad I didn't lose Mrs. Bort over something that stupid!
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Re: bad habits we should all break to avoid instrument theft

Post by pjv »

Guys, geeez, just take your tuba out of the car. Really, you'll survive. Schlepping the tuba is part of the gig.

Forking out thousands of $$$$ for a replacement, now THAT'S a drag. Missing your gig cause you left your tuba in the car for the thieves to snatch it; a nightmare!

If you stop to eat, make sure you can see the car; otherwise bring the tuba in with you.

I do not constantly have more than one horn with me, only occasionally. When I do I try to plan things better.

When I bought my car I specifically chose one with a large trunk (not accesable from inside the car). The 2nd hand market is filled with cars so it wasn't that difficult (and seriously, I don't have the cash to make elaborate choices). And I have a steering wheel lock to scare off joy riders.

A friend of mine was the creative/lazy type. He welded a chain onto the inside of his van and would put that through the tuba. The chain was amply protected with a rubber tube and had a serious lock on it. He just assumed that 99% of the thieves breaking into a car do not have a hack saw with them.
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Re: bad habits we should all break to avoid instrument theft

Post by tofu »

pjv wrote:Guys, geez, just take your tuba out of the car. Really, you'll survive. Schlepping the tuba is part of the gig.
Well thanks Captain Obvious!

Some of us lead incredibly complex lives and sometimes the horn just has to come with all day. This is especially true for those whose full time careers are something other than music
If you stop to eat, make sure you can see the car; otherwise bring the tuba in with you.
A lot of places just aren't going to have either the space or the willingness to allow you to lug a huge tuba inside. Especially better restaurants. Since I can afford better restaurants I prefer to eat in those places. I can also afford to eat the loss of a tuba. I just don't want to have spend a lot of time searching to replace a special axe if I don't have to.
A friend of mine was the creative/lazy type. He welded a chain onto the inside of his van and would put that through the tuba. The chain was amply protected with a rubber tube and had a serious lock on it. He just assumed that 99% of the thieves breaking into a car do not have a hack saw with them.
Nobody uses a hack saw anymore. Modern technology has made life easy for thieves. The new battery powered grinders are cheap/light/ and will cut through anything in less than 30 seconds. A lot of thieves are carrying these things around. They are easy to conceal and the wheels can be had for a buck. They have tested every bicycle & motorcycle lock out there (some costing $500) and they all failed. The same for almost all chains. It is really comes down to does it take them 15 or 30 or 60 seconds to cut it. The very best ones took less than 2 minutes. The only downside is the noise but these guys are so brazen these day they don't even blink with lots of people around. And unless you have a gun who is going to confront a guy wielding a grinder? So it comes down to making yourself less a target than somebody else. You don't have to be the fastest gazelle when the tiger is chasing - just faster than the one behind you! :twisted:
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Re: bad habits we should all break to avoid instrument theft

Post by Michael Bush »

Okay, okay. I went out and got it out of the trunk and brought it inside!
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Re: bad habits we should all break to avoid instrument theft

Post by pjv »

I think tuba thefts are both opportunistic and scoped out. Since most thieves breaking into cars want to get in and out as quickly as possible the chance that they'll have a grinder with them is slim; it just isn't something you need to break into a car. The hack saw comment was of coarse metaphorical. Locks are either ground open or cut.

Better restaurants? I've been to better restaurants in Paris (quite famous for cramped spaces) and have never had a problem taking a tuba with me. The "better" restaurants are always willing to accommodate a musician everywhere I've been all over the world.

TN is the perfect forum for blanket statements. No one comment applies to everyone. The topic is about theft and bad habits. Some tuba players (thus not everyone) are throwing up a smoke screen of excuses not to have to take their tuba out of the car. I believe the intentions of the OP were to help discourage this and maybe even pick up some good ideas if possible (for those moments when we do choose to leave tubby in the trunk).

The chained tuba idea isn't uniek. Bass players have been known to build cage, trunks or closets in their vans.

Make it more difficult and add an alarm.
And a battery disconnect.
And a pitbull.
Or troll the thieves by replacing your Hirsbrunner with a Tiger tuba. They'll never steal from you again!
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Re: bad habits we should all break to avoid instrument theft

Post by Tubajug »

Mark wrote:
bloke wrote:If a tuba is hidden in the trunk - but is stolen, simply, because the entire car is stolen, very few thieves steal manual shift cars.
I'm curious, how many manual transmission cars have trunks big enough to hold a tuba?
I had a manual '92 Corolla that could fit my 186 in the trunk, in a gig bag.

I haven't had a tuba stolen (from anywhere, thank goodness) from a church, but I did have a black, Stetson fedora stolen. I left without it after a rehearsal and went back for it later that day and it was gone. :cry:
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Re: bad habits we should all break to avoid instrument theft

Post by iiipopes »

Oldschooltuba wrote:My wife spent 30 years as a police officer. Thankfully retired now.
Her words......

"Never leave anything in the car you don't want to have stolen"
+1!!!
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