Break-in November 15, 2007
Posted by Phillip in Amps, Church, Effects, Guitar, Worship.trackback
Our church was broken into last week and a money box containing several hundred dollars was stolen. Nothing else was taken, fortunately.
We have an alarm system, and the police were onsite within a couple of minutes, so the money box is all they had time to grab. However, there are a couple of amp heads behind the stage that are worth a heck of a lot more than whatever was in that money box. I also had my pedals up there. I’m really glad that whoever did this didn’t grab that stuff.
I really hate the idea of lugging that stuff back and forth twice a week.
WorshipGuitarist 
Lug it. Its just a matter of time before someone realizes the value and they may even be a part of your congregation or staff. Don’t let your guard down, even in church.
I’m sure that it was a member of the congregation (however marginal they may be), and I have a suspicion about who it might be.
The church leadership has assured us (the guitarists) that our gear is insured while it’s in the building, but I really don’t want to go through the headache of filing claims, not to mention the inconvenience of not having an amp in the meantime.
I guess I’ll probably start moving my stuff. Ugh.
When I was in college I bought my first electric guitar. It was an epiphone Les Paul styled guitar with Blue Sparkle. I had dreamed of owning one, didn’t know they made them, and then walked into the store and there it was.
I never liked leaving my equipment at church, especially my new guitar and if I did, I left it in the sound booth in the youth room which was upstairs.
Well, it had been a few months and I got a little comfortable. We were going to play for New Years and I decided it would be ok to leave the guitar on stage downstairs (I usually took it home) since we’d be back in two days to play. Well the church got broken into and my guitar got stolen.
I got insurance money but I couldn’t find the blue sparkle guitar again. Pretty bummed about that. I also had to pay extra for a new guitar because the price I paid for my guitar was less than the cost to replace it (the sales guy cut me a break on the guitar when I bought it cash). That was my first taste of insurance bitterness and why I never leave my guitar anywhere.
I still do leave my amp and effects board at church when I play, but Betsy is my baby and I can’t lose her (although I certainly wouldn’t mind her having a sister).
I’m definitely with you on the guitar thing. I would never leave my Les Paul or my strat at church. In fact, I’m pretty sure that if either of them had been on stage, they would no longer be in my possession.
I leave my stuff at church, but it’s locked in a closet out of sight. And I have the only key to that closet.