High End mandolin cases... and theft

[fentonjames]

Well, they don't call the blue Martin guitar cases, "Steal Me Blue" for nothing. If you have a fancy case, people will know you have something fancy inside....

[sblock]

Well, they don't call the blue Martin guitar cases, "Steal Me Blue" for nothing. If you have a fancy case, people will know you have something fancy inside....

I'm not sure there are any data that support the notion that Martin blue guitar cases subject their contents to higher rates of theft, though. This is something of an urban legend. As others have pointed out, the vast majority of instruments thefts are crimes of opportunity, likely to happen when the case is left unattended or in a relatively insecure location, or after a break-in, and not crimes involving much in the way of advance targeting or forethought. The vast majority of such thieves don't know much at all about what they're stealing. They might no even realize it's a mandolin, in fact, perhaps thinking it's a uke! Only a small fraction of thieves have any idea what a mandolin is.

Do high-end thefts occur? Yes, absolutely. But low-end thefts occur too, and in higher numbers. Case color probably makes little difference. One the one hand, a bright color draws the would-be thief's attention to the case -- at least initially. But most thieves also have to reckon with a way to get away, and an attention-grabbing color is not preferred for that. It's more about where the case happens to be located, what the surroundings are like, and who might be looking after it at any given time.

On balance, I would not worry about the quality and/or color of the case for this aspect of things. The quality of the case matters much more for protecting the instrument from other types of assaults -- not for theft.