Here’s something to think about: If someone stole your saxophone, how long would you wait to report it to the police? Personally, I’d be on the phone with them before the ringing in my ears brought on by the house alarm stopped. But hey, that’s just me. I’m clearly quite attached to my horns.
A man in Decatur, GA, obviously wasn’t nearly as attached to his saxophone. He waited 2 days before reporting the theft to the police department.
In today’s Fire And Crime section of the Decatur-AvondaleEstatesPatch, there is the following article:
A saxophone and a box of CDs were reported stolen Jan. 4 from a Chewning Way residents [sic]. A man said the items had been left outside the residence and that he thought they were taken Jan. 2. The saxophone was valued at $500, the CDs at $20.
So not only did this guy wait 2 days before reporting the theft, he had his horn sitting outside. Perhaps he didn’t report it, because he didn’t notice the sax and the CDs were gone. Oh yeah, he was really attached to his horn.
I wonder what kind of horn it might have been? Alto? Tenor? Student model? Intermediate level?
Since Decatur, GA—with a population of just under 20,000—is a suburb of Atlanta, I’m wondering why anyone would leave anything of value outside. Reading through the rest of the crime reports in the Patch, it’s clear that break and enters are a regular occurrence in this affluent suburb. I know I wouldn’t be leaving any of my beloved saxophones outside.
How about you? I suspect if you read my blog, you care enough about your horns not to leave them on your back step or front porch. But I could be totally wrong with that assumption.
So for what it’s worth, here are a few tips for keeping your valuable saxophone(s) safe:
- Keep them stored inside the house.
- Keep the house locked.
- Don’t keep your horn in your car—not even for a short while. Keep it with you at all times.
- Don’t leave your horn unattended at clubs or other venues where you’re playing.
- Make sure you have the proper insurance on the instrument. Eg: homeowner’s insurance will generally not cover the instrument if you take it out of the house and make money with it. Some policies/companies won’t even cover the horn if you take it out of the house for unpaid shows. Check with your insurance agent to find out exactly what kind coverage you have through your policy. In many instances you might need a special rider, or a special insurance altogether.
- Record your horns’ serial numbers. Save these numbers in a safe place.
- Take photos of your horns to record their condition and serial numbers. Save these in a safe place.
- If you have recorded the serial numbers and photos digitally… Back them up! Save the backups in a safe place like a safety deposit box. It’s a really good idea to save at least 1 copy of this information in hard copy.
- Keep any bills of sale that you might have for the instruments, and any major repair/restoration bills as well.
These points are just the ones I could think of off the top of my head. Does anyone else have any more suggestions to add to this list?
I am planning on writing at least 1, but more likely a series of articles, on saxophone security, insurance, etc. If anyone as any ideas they’d like to see me write about or research, please let me know.
A horn valued at $500? It was his practice or backup horn and quite possibly LIVED in his car. Figure $200 for a mouthpiece and $300 for some self-repadded eBay horn, and you can see why it would live in the car. I’ve certainly had nights where I came back from a gig and had multiple loads of stuff to carry inside where I chose to take only the highest value items so as to make just one trip. This generally means the music stand, drum stool, and other such things stay in the trunk — but sometimes this can mean a backup horn, if I have higher value items to worry about. (My electronic gear is worth more than most of my backup horns.)
Then perhaps circumstances prevent me from getting to unload the car the next day, and it takes me a while to notice the car has been broken into. I could see this happening to me.
As for insurance, it doesn’t make sense to spend $50 a year to insure a horn you can replace for $500, unless they go missing on average more than once every ten years (in which case you can expect your rates to jump after the first loss). I’d insure a $2,000 horn, or even a $1,200 horn that’s hard to find (presuming I really wanted another just like it), but there seems little point in insuring a customized Jupiter 767 alto. It doesn’t matter that it’s now a great horn — even if I got another one (which actually I have), I’d have to customize it all over again. It’s not that hard to start with a new platform when I change almost everything about the way the horn feels anyhow.