things stolen from your studio by clients

[henryrobinett]

I've been lucky. The only things I've had stolen have been from a fellow engineer who worked for me. He took off (his last day) with an Octapad and an electronic Kick trigger. Both borrowed from someone else. Obviously I had to make good on them. I bought a used Octapad off eBay. Have yet to replace the Kick.

[concentric]

We don't get a lot of big stuff stolen... It wouldn't be difficult to figure out who took the vintage ELAM or an M49 or something since we do a daily inventory.

What does disappear are the little things, 57s, mic clips, cables, guitar stands, 414 shockmounts, etc. It irritates me and our engineers to no end. Do you guys tag things or place a visible mark on your accessories?

Jason

[brokemusic]

How many pillows in kick drums have you guys lost, I can't even count.

[mac black]

We had a uk 'hiphop' artist going round London stealing stuff from different studios (he used to come with an entourage of assholes) but a few emails later... Studios just got too busy to book him..
He's in prison now for gbh...
I wont say names

I remember that in one of the studios I worked in one of the clients used 87 as a door stop... asswipe


mac

[T_R_S]

CD's, Guitar Tuners, and power adapters for effects pedals, Mic Cable (they only take the Monster and Mogami's ). I had a band take 2 mics at a live recording gig - but I was under contract with the venue so they had to pay me for them - so I guess I sort of lost them.

[enharmonic]

I recently had a band try to take my mics at a club where I was mixing. Without going into details, I retrieved my mics, plus the mics that they tried to switch out on me, plus their cut of the door.

I'm such a bastard

[pan]

Lighters - every session so far...good thing is, you get them back at pubs or partys;-)

Cables...

[VotaIdiota]

Originally posted by mac black
We had a uk 'hiphop' artist going round London stealing stuff from different studios (he used to come with an entourage of assholes) but a few emails after and he couldn't get in other studios.
He's in prison now for gbh...
I wont say names

I remember that in one of the studios I worked in one of the clients used 87 as a door stop... asswipe


mac

GBH? This sounds like a Slick Rick kind of thing....

[juniorhifikit]

Occasionally, I have been robbed of my desire to come to the studio the next day.

[muziqfreek]

sheesh..!!! what is it with bands & 57's...?!!! I reckon we lose 1 a year....

I've had a Leatherman Wave disappear... A pair of DT50's, a really cool 1930's ashtray (inherited from my grandfather), and most bizarrely - a coffee mug with my name on it..!!!!

maybe we should start a blacklist page for people renknowned for stuff disapppearing around..?

[camitchell]

Originally posted by muziqfreek

, and most bizarrely - a coffee mug with my name on it..!!!! [/B]

Hey, think of it as free advertising! LOL!

Craig

[7rojo7]

Sharp pencils, pens and nobody has ever even asked if they can smoke in here, clients take coffee at the bar because non bar coffee fa schifo

[alphajerk]

Originally posted by juniorhifikit
Occasionally, I have been robbed of my desire to come to the studio the next day.

ha! i was about to say my sanity no many occasions.


actually, i guess i have been lucky as i have collected more things left by bands than anything taken from me.

[C.Lambrechts]

I've been fortunate with gear so far - touching wood - but then again I tend to be a little bit paranoid about it too.

CD's however ... dfegad CD's. I should have had a freaking Bizillion CD's collected over the years yet when I look at the CD rack ... .

'Hey Chris, can I borrow Blah Z to the X ? '

'Sure'

one month later

'Hey didn't you borrow Blah Z to the X', can't seem to find it anymore'

Hate that ... little in the studio will dfegad me off, but if I find out abouot a missing CD, my day is ruined ... not kidding ... completely ruined and I might as weel stop for that day alltogether.

[Wiggy Neve Slut]

Sharpie's..

Rizzla papers

Guitar leads

Tuners

and sanity!

Wiggy

[joeq]

If petty theft is a problem at your place, an idea to try would be to print up matchbooks, guitar picks, pens etc so if people want "souvenirs" at least you will be getting some advertising from it.

only thing I ever had stolen was my little red MXR Dyna Comp ...


and some precious time!

[picksail]

IME, the only thing that has ever come up 'missing ' is an occassional SM57 but otherwise....

I watch people like a hawk-very discreetly mind you. I also, perform daily inventory checks (yes, I'm THAT anal).

Don't be afraid to enquire about a missing guitar cable, often times they have thrown it into thier guitar case and off they go.

Moreover, I feel that it is important to know who is being allowed access to the studio. Screen the shady people-they don't belong there.

I mean, does a retail clothing store really want to conduct business with a customer who shoplifts from them?

More appropriatly, someone should begin a thread regarding things damaged during a session.

[not_so_new]

Originally posted by picksail

More appropriatly, someone should begin a thread regarding things damaged during a session.

Worked at a studio years back (the owner posts here sometimes actually). Anyway the engineer had a Hip Hop session in and he was in the office on the couch when the owner showed up. The engineer was too scared to go into the control room so he told the guys "he would be down the hall if they needed anything."

Apparently the "act" wanted the sound of a gun shot on the track and not knowing the Hollywood Effects CD was on the shelf, they decided to shoot holes in the ceiling with their "glock". Nice....

They then decided to record the sound of a low C sting on Yamaha full grand being hit by a ball peen hammer. Nice again...

When the owner walked in they had the mains so loud they were literally smoking.

Last I knew holes were still in the tracking room ceiling…..

[picksail]

Classic.

[muziqfreek]

Originally posted by alphajerk
ha! i was about to say my sanity no many occasions.

he he hee... Another vote for loss of sanity/motivation/ear function (insert function or emotion here!)

Originally posted by alphajerk

actually, i guess i have been lucky as i have collected more things left by bands than anything taken from me.

...yeah overall i reckon i'm up on the overall deal, as over the years i've gained a korg n264(coupla broken keys but fine as a module), a lovetone ringstingerfx pedal (awesome pedal - use it for loadsa things) & a sabian signature ride ( the original owner got it for the session - decided he hated its sound and gave it to us!!!!


so can't really complain (much) !!

[ine-kpro...]

why dont you put cameras, either hidden or not or have signs that say cameras operate on the premises.

[Mario-C.]

and mix some fake cameras too in places where no one will notice they are fake

[thenoiseflower]

57's and ebows (one a year )

some dudes girlfreind tried to take my favoite pedal, (EHX 16 second digital delay)
bitch, I cought them and the next day I handed him a a few dvd's with the sessions on them, they were done. and done, thats my baby.

had a ****** steal a theramin a few years back,

Never had any "HIP HOPPERs'" steal anything, and we get our share, just gotta be real with it you know, and stay focused on their vision, play the part so to speak, BOB your head, and appreciate whats happening thumbsup


usualy rockers (sorry for the stereotyping), are more brash when it comes to Theivery.

[Pepe Ortega]

sony 7506, sm 57, cables, tuners, sheet music,
sugar, coffe and tea boxes!!!tutt

Somebody left a trombon and another guy left his new tama bass drum pedal. they never returned..

[HudHudson]

I consider myself very lucky that the only two things ever to "walk out" of the studio were mothballed ADATs, boxed up for head-tweaking before I put them on eBay...why someone passed up all the A-list gear I will never know. Maybe it's the only gear the culprit recognized ("OH, COOL, ADATs!!!"). I'm sure they were disappointed to learn that neither unit would run for more than a few seconds before getting an error message.

[sage691]

I've had some close calls. I used to do alot of rap here in New Orleans.

One kid and his possie tried to rob me 2 years ago. He pulled a Glock and had it pointed at me from about 3 yards away. He was in the control room with me alone, and the other 5 guys (they ALWAYS come in packs!) were outside the glass. I used to keep a BIG 44 (very intimidating looking) under a towel on top of my QSC 2450, which is positioned under the table where I sit. I was calm, and told him that the cops were on the way from a button that I had pushed under the table, and I told him he was on video camera as well as I turned my chair sideways. He said "where's the camera ?" and I pointed up to the corner of the ceiling, and when his eye was off of me in that second I grabbed the 44 and had it pointed at his face. I asked him if he was ready to die, and told him that I was a Gulf War veteran and former marine (which was a lie, but I sounded very convincing). I could see his possie through my big glass and they all looked pretty scared at that point. One guy had duck tape in his hand, so I assume they had intended to tape me up.

So, I grabbed my cell phone and told him they had 20 seconds to vacate the premises or I really would call the cops. They were really just kids, poor and stupid. They jetted pretty quickly, while issuing vague threats if I tried to report them. I was stupid for even letting them in, but since they were recommended by another good client I let me guard down. After it was over I called that client and told him to never attempt to call me again. He said he met them in a club, and I told him he should have informed me of that. I never called the cops to report it because if I did try to get them in trouble for attempting to rob me, they would probably try to burn my studio down or shoot me in the back when they got out a few weeks later. All I did was earn respect, which goes a long way in a city like this which is really just one big ghetto.

Now my mortgage is paid off so I can pick and choose my clients much more carefully these days!


Sage

[edvdr76]

Originally Posted by muziqfreek

sheesh..!!! what is it with bands & 57's...?!!! I reckon we lose 1 a year....

I've had many of those taken from my place. Also an AKG C535 and many cables.

[Jay Kahrs]

Originally Posted by HudHudson

I consider myself very lucky that the only two things ever to "walk out" of the studio were mothballed ADATs, boxed up for head-tweaking before I put them on eBay...why someone passed up all the A-list gear I will never know. Maybe it's the only gear the culprit recognized ("OH, COOL, ADATs!!!"). I'm sure they were disappointed to learn that neither unit would run for more than a few seconds before getting an error message.

So they were kind of doing you a favor?!


I've been lucky (knock on wood!) over the years...

Someone left with a Boss Metalzone or whatever it was (horrible little thing!) that some other kid had left behind years before.

One time I had a whole spindle of 100 CDR's disappear from the supply closet, turns out the dolt who took 'em was a friend of the bands that came by to "hang out" for a little bit and I did get most of 'em back a few days later. The band was aplogizing up & down but it sucked for them! Since their 'buddy' had taken all the blanks I couldn't burn discs for them or back up their mixes at the end of night! They had to leave empty handed and come back a few days later.

Mic clips & cables have disappeared over the years but to me that stuff is kind of a lighter...pretty much communal. I try to keep track of it all but if I lose one or two here & there over the course of a year I never sweat it because I know that someone else is going to leave one behind and balance it out.

Karma and all that.

[HudHudson]

Originally Posted by Jay Kahrs

So they were kind of doing you a favor?!

Yup. BTW, I held on to my "vintage" blackface ADAT, hoping I can someday, like Glen Ballard, make a record that sells 16 million copies with a piece of shit.