Mandolin Secutity

[GreenMTBoy]

I have had a several break ins in my neighborhood recently.
Lately I have been worried about someone walking off with my mandolin
Was thinking maybe about a gun safe to lock them up when I go out .
They can take all the rest of the crap in the house But leave my mandolin alone !
Any thoughts ?

[Astro]

Not sure about mando security but I heard on this forum there has been a nation wide rash of problems with banjo security. Apparently if you're not careful scoundrels will break in and leave banjos. Be sure to lock up well.

[GreenMTBoy]

Oh my God that’s terrible !

[Ray(T)]

If some scrote wants to take it, they’ll take it. Insurance?

There’s nothing like an old banjo joke!

[Mark Wilson]

Piece of mind. I've removed a shotgun from my gun safe to make room for one more mandolin while on vacation.

[DaveGinNJ]

I have had a several break ins in my neighborhood recently.
Lately I have been worried about someone walking off with my mandolin
Was thinking maybe about a gun safe to lock them up when I go out .
They can take all the rest of the crap in the house But leave my mandolin alone !
Any thoughts ?

You don't say how much your mando is worth but if you are worried lock it up. That said, most break ins are done by drug addicts, not professional mandolin thieves. They are looking to score cash, drugs and small stuff to sell. They are probably not wanting to carry out a mandolin and they probably how no idea how much your mando is worth

[Roger Adams]

I have had a several break ins in my neighborhood recently.
Lately I have been worried about someone walking off with my mandolin
Was thinking maybe about a gun safe to lock them up when I go out .
They can take all the rest of the crap in the house But leave my mandolin alone !
Any thoughts ?

A gun safe will provide excellent security.

[Pittsburgh Bill]

Burglers, Wow! I have mostly lived in rural areas and have as yet never had to deal with these concerns. Gun safe sounds like a good option as I think of home burglers being of sub intelligence and probably not adept at safe cracking. Get your instruments insured as I am currently in the process.
The Viet Cong used punji sticks. Just a thought if you don't have young children or pets.

[pops1]

My brother had a break in, they took the safe.

[GreenMTBoy]

I live in a rural area and have never locked my doors ,don’t even know where the keys are.
Break ins were never a problem and I never worried about it
But have had 3 break ins in the last year to my 3 closest neighbors
I was also thinking a heavy duty work steel job box bolted to the floor and locked

[JEStanek]

In my neighborhood (200+ homes) it's the addicts going into cars and open doors looking for stuff easy to carry and pawn. In a case under the bed is likely a safe stowage place. If they're well organized, a gun safe may be an attractive target for the "weapons" believed to be inside.

Jamie

[desertnight]

I'd suggest a good quality/capacity gun safe. Sporting goods and gun stores have them and there are excellent safe company's too. They can be bolted to the wall or floor and with enough capacity are good for holding instruments(guitars, mandolins), laptops studio mics etc. If you are gigging you can probably write it off as insurance! Good luck.

[Eric Oliver]

Put the mandolin in the banjo case.
Turn in the banjo at the police station - they have a no-questions-asked policy...
Juuuust kidding.

[Zac Hilbert]

Not sure what your budget for security is, but as an alternative to a gun safe, you might consider an instrument humidor. I am sure you could get one that locks, but you may have to worry about someone easily just breaking the glass. Check https://americanmusicfurniture.com/. If you can find something that is secure, you get the added benefit of protecting your instrument from humidity/dryness...which could, in fact, be more dangerous than burglars.

[Northwest Steve]

First thing I would do would be update the locks (deadbolt)on your doors and USE THEM. Unfortunately no place is safe this day and age, sad but true. If they want to break in they will. A gun safe would work fine but I would not leave it in there for long periods of time. Not sure about humidity, moisture, mold due to lack of air flow. You can also buy old safe cheap and you might find one big enough to fit a mandolin or two. Possibly with out the case, wrapped in towels or make a sleeve for it? All you need is a bolt or two to the wall and it's not going anywhere.

Security cameras or the one at your door bell may not prevent a break in but may make it easy to identify the thief.
I have wondered about a tracking device. they make them for keys, etc. Not sure if the make one that you can track from a distance, not just around the house. That would also help if it walked away when you were traveling with it.

I have been thinking about this as I have a really nice mandolin and my daughter has a great violin would be hard to replace.

[DocT]

A good fire proof gun safe that has shelves and hangers is a lot of peace of mind. Laptops, documents, jewelry, and mandolins can all go inside. They are best if also bolted down.

[Hudmister]

Put the mandolin in the banjo case.

This deserves an award, very funny and could work.

[dhergert]

The problem with gun safes is that they do tend to hoard humidity; with guns they promote rust. With mandolins or other instruments, who knows what you'll experience.

There are lighter, thinner metal gun lockers available that could be drilled out to allow air flow, and mounted against a wall inside a temperature/humidity controlled home. They do lock well, but they are not fire safe and could potentially be broken into by heavy handed burglars.

Honestly, I think the best bet is insurance, but that's a call everyone has to make for themselves.

Or, a big dog.

[OlDanTucker]

I had a break in at a house we lived in about 10 years ago. Took microphones, some PA stuff, a laptop, but largely left my instruments alone. They took my wife's harmonicas. (Yuck, used harmonicas) I found my Eastman 515 in the driveway because they couldn't carry it and the hammer drill. Fine with me. Since then I have converted a closet in my music room for instrument storage. Heavy steel door, exterior locks and deadbolt and hinge protectors. It also means I can control humidity. It's not maximum security but would sure slow someone down.

And yes: insurance. With serial numbers and pictures. Because most likely theft would not occur in the home but somewhere I'm playing.

[Doug Brock]

Put the mandolin in the banjo case...

Lol.

I have a couple of Martins and some years ago was worried about them being stolen. I can't remember where I heard or read it, but the gist was that a Martin was generally not attractive to thieves and didn't have the name recognition of a Gibson, which might be considered easy cash. Now that I think about it, that's pretty much the truth with Martin and Gibson mandolins!

[allenhopkins]

Two somewhat related anecdotes:

One of my folk music friends had a set of Northumbrian smallpipes (like mini-bagpipes, only more tolerable) stolen from his Boston residence. They were in a nice rosewood case, so the burglar evidently thought "valuable." I wondered about how some crack-head would be able to fence smallpipes on the stolen-goods market, or even get a few bucks from a pawn shop. Sadly, they probably ended up in a Dumpster somewhere.

A local musician had a Gibson mandocello stolen during a break-in. His kid later overheard another kid in high school talking about the "cool eight-string guitar" he'd just acquired. The 'cello was back home within a few days, and the kid was in "juvie."

I have a decent, monitored home security system, which of course ain't infallible, but I'm pretty scrupulous about turning it on every night, and whenever the house's empty. We've had break-ins in our neighborhood, but what's been stolen has generally been the "obvious fast cash" goods: computer/electronic gear, jewelry, purses left out, firearms. I'd worry a bit more about a (more recognizable) guitar, than about a mandolin.

Home security systems are, by and large, the best investment. The newer smart-phone based ones are proliferating widely; they give surveillance and immediate response capabilities. I'd pick those, over attempts to "harden" in-house instrument storage.

[Br1ck]

With all the stuff being dumped on front porches these days, no junkie wants to bother actually breaking into a house. Too much trouble.

Our local PD says thieves hate cameras. Neighbors looking out for neighbors is good too.

[Jeff Mando]

I had a break-in 30-years ago and the thieves took two guitars and......my brand-new microwave oven! Right beside the guitars was a vintage Fender amp, but I guess the microwave looked better, in their eyes! One guitar and the microwave was recovered, due to me having the serial numbers on file. The other guitar was not recovered. The "fence" said he paid $60 for the guitar -- to give you an idea of how little the thieves are getting on the black market.....

I'm not sure what I could have done differently to prevent it. The idea of a "hidden room" appeals to me, but after 30 years I still haven't built one. On the plus-side, I haven't had another break-in -- knock on wood! We did move to a small rural village, not necessarily in response, but we do feel safer -- crime-wise.

[MikeZito]

Several years ago my house was broken in to. The geniuses took my daughter's broken boom box, a jar with $50 worth of change and probably $100 worth of assorted junk . . . and left $5,000 worth of guitars that were in my closet.

Gotta love dumb criminals . . . .

[Folkmusician.com]

I really like the strategy of leaving decoy items around.

A jewelry box filled with costume jewelry AND a big stack of money. Something like 200,000 in Vietnamese Dong. Then a large expensive looking item like an older professional Camcorder. You may be able to get all of this for $20-$30.

When the average crack-head opens that jewelry box, they won't even worry about taking anything else.

On the subject... We just had 4 people murdered durring home invasions (three different homes in less than 1 week). The couple lived a two miles from me in a nice part of town. It was a 19 year old kid that had worked as a landscaper for them last year. He pawned stuff and was caught a few days later. I don't think drugs were involved, but still not a rational person.

Also recently... A newspaper delivery person and his wife burglarized homes that put paper deliveries on hold. One more thing to be careful of....