Re: Subject: [Harp-L] Stolen!! case of harps and mics

[Cara Cooke <cyberharp@xxxxxxxxx>]

I'm glad you mentioned that, though it still may not prevent your losing
your instruments to a thief, but it is a worthy try to make your instruments
unique.  If they ever turn up, at least you have something to ID them with
-- something with which you can argue with the police.  One of the
harmonicas stolen from me was the XB-40 that Rick Epping signed in Dallas in
2003.  Interestingly enough, the police were not convinced that this was an
identifying mark, even though the instrument was high dollar, new on the
market, and there were very few signed in Dallas by Rick -- and likely only
one of them in the state (mine).  I also had others with identifying marks
which the police similarly discounted as important.  So it is possible, even
having your name or some other identifier on your harmonica (even
pictures) still will not make it possible for it to return to you -- mostly
because of the ignorance of the police and their interest in what they are
looking for.  To them, a harmonica is a harmonica -- regardless of any
identifying marks.  If they find a crackhead or a transient with a
harmonica, they aren't apparently concerned with looking to see if it
belongs to someone who was the victim of a theft -- even if the instrument
is one of the more expensive models.  The harmonica will probably just be
counted as part of the fellow's personal effects [info from an anonymous
police officer].  The killer is that no matter what precautions you take,
there will always be a point in time when you can become a theft victim.
And the perceived simple nature of the instrument will make it difficult to
be recovered.  My sympathies to anyone who has gone through this scenario.

In the world of bluegrass, every now and then, someone has the bad manners
to steal an instrument from one of the musicians.  These instruments have
serial numbers and are generally fairly expensive and unique.  However, the
police are not usually instrumental in the recovery of the items initially.
They are usually spotted by another bluegrasser, often in a state other than
the one in which the instrument was stolen, who had seen the listing of the
theft and the description of the instrument on the bluegrass list or who had
learned about the theft from other bluegrassers along the way at the
festivals.  They all vigilently watch out for the instrument the moment they
learn of the theft (and have a low tolerance for such criminals); and they
usually have the knowledge to understand how to identify the stolen
instrument -- knowledge that tends to escape the common policeman.  It is
their vigilence and communication that enables the owner to be reunited with
his instrument -- which does happen more often than not.

We should all keep our eyes open similarly for items that were stolen from
harp-l listers.  Our stuff may be harder to identify uniquely, but we will
be better at it than the police.  Let's keep our eyes pealed for Mike's
stuff on the off-chance it is being pawned somewhere around us.  A vigilent
community is the only real defense against crime.

Cara


On 1/6/06, fjm <mktspot@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
> Every single harmonica I own is engraved with my initials and the date
> of acquisition.  I got into the habit of doing this because I'd become
> confused about how long they were lasting before they failed.
> Customisers engrave the plates with the manufacture date and then the
> date of subsequent repairs.  If you were really worried about losing a
> harmonica you could always engrave your driver's licence number on the
> back.  I have lost all of my harmonicas at once but it was my fault for
> leaving them in the car of a stranger who had given me a ride.  fjm
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