4 years ago they stole all my cd's and some microfoons at night in a bar I played.
Last year when I was putting my stuff in my car two guys tried to steal my two CDJ-1000!
Now I try to never leave my stuff allone and make often backups.
People don't allways realize how important and expensive that stuff is for us!

i couldnt agree with you more bro and the best part is when people ask a price and you tell them a price they usually think its crazy but they have no idea how much money and time actually goes into DJing and everything.

Man I feel for you bro! One night I left my Sequoia parked out after a gig for a drop by afterparty that got outta hand and I get to leave and my rear window is busted! But all they took was my huge case of CD's. At the moment I thought "Good, my gear is still here" but then I soon realized, especially after talking to insurance, those big ticket items (tables, mixer, speakers, etc.) were covered, but how could I get back forever for the time I spent collecting, burning, and organizing those CD's!!!! To this day I wish they just took the Technics and left the music, I'd simply get a check from my insurance and go grab some new decks easy!

yeah someone broke into my house and stole my coffin stolen from me when I was out of town. Luckily I had my laptop and hard drive with me. Take the decks, take the mixer, shit take the laptop.....but pleeeeaaase don't take my hard drive. I have a back up but it's not as current as my main.

10+ years ago I dj'd a wedding then went to a rave event in a crappy part of the city with all my in gear inside ( like a dumb a**) ....came out hours later to window gone and speakers and amp and a bag of cables gone, but cd library still there. Thought about it, took a breath and was grateful they didn't take the cd's. Like you said, it would be almost impossible to re-create one's library in a short period of time. These days with mp3s and itunes and beatport quicker, but still...

Hang in there.

Yeah, TTM57SL, Macbook Pro, pair of Fela Kuti raerz, 12":s, camera... A ram packed Creator Bag swiped from my under my feet in a bar. Wasn't properly insured either! I come her to wine on it every 6 months or so.

Stay up.

Thanks for the support guys! Yea, I figured there were others that have been similarly burned.

Thank god they did not get my hard drive or laptop. So I think you guys that had your music/laptop stolen got it a lot worse than I did and there should be no room for complaints from my end!

Luckily, I was insured. Unfortunately, because it falls under the "employment/job" related category my insurance cap is $2500. Essentially my flight case was stolen, so you can add up the TTM 57 SL + 2 CDJ1000s + mics and headphones. Regardless, $2500 is not a bad settlement to rebuild.

Obviously, the first thing to replace is the TTM 57 SL, but I think I'm going to go back to Tech 12's, I miss the feel of vinyl and those CDJs were really just good for portability/weight. Once I upgraded to the Rane mixer, I never went back to the CDJ features and whatnot.

I'm also going to take this time to get more familiar with programming my Trigger Finger as a MIDI controller. I got kind of lazy with maximizing this as an input. Since I've done several shows purely on "internal" mode and using my cue points with P4 on the mixer, I'm pretty comfortable w/o using decks. I think I'll assign the sliders on the Trigger Finger as pitch adjust and try a few shows with just the TTM 57 SL and 1 Trigger Finger before I make the purchase of new Tech 12s.

Best regards

I was always afraid of having my stuff stolen, so when people come up to me and ask me questions like "how much you make a night?" I'm like I make $50......or if ithey ask me how much those techs or mixer costs, I'm like $25 from ebay...LOL

I feel you though. Last week, I finished working, left my laptop inside the place and went outside to smoke. Someone who works there droped my $3g mac laptop, broke it....and no one is talking....I even asked the owner to look at the cameras....I guess the lesson is never leave your stuff unattended.

i feel for u too bro, i had my 2 cdplayers denon 3500 and mixer denon 1500 in a coffin stolen from a weekly gig i use to do about 4 years back. had my stuff locked up in a cage at the place in the back mofo got lock cutters to get into my ish. no insurance and no help from promoter nor manager. never again will i leave my stuff anywhere. i know for a fact i got set up. till this day i still dont have insurance on my equipment cause money tight. just remember, there always someone watching u and ur equipment even at home there someone around watching what u take in and out of ur house so be careful where ya go. i live in a tough city so i always have to watch my back when i get home from a gig late at nite.

Anyone ever have your own Dj partner jack you? I started spinning in 95. And I hooked up with this guy who owned all the equipment and and I had all the music. Mainly CD's those days we used regular CD players lol. Well we did a middle school Halloween party and at the end of the night my 2 CD cases were gone. We looked everywhere and the partner helped me. Little did I know that he had a friend take them and store them in his car. I found out a year later from his ex. I was devastated and almost just gave up djing till I met a DJ who taught me how to spin on vinyl and even though I was jacked I believe it was for a reason. It introduced me to the world vinyl and have not looked back.

Dj Roue hang in there! Everything happens for a reason, just wait and you will find the answer!

do you have the serial number still?

give it to rane,perhaps this idiot wants to use your warranty^^

What kind of insurance do you have that gets you $2500? Is it renter's insurance?

Damn, I knew this would start a discussion!

Actually, it's been pretty sick since then because now I just travel light with just my mixer, laptop, and trigger finger all in my backpack. I get in and out in a snap--no hassle of carrying big gear. There is only one place I spin at that doesn't have their own decks in the booth, so I haven't missed the decks at all. It's more of a rockband place, with a stage and everything...so I kind of miss the turntablism from the showman aspect of my gigs but no biggie---using this MIDI controller instead has opened up my creativity in another way.

I have my MIDI controller programmed to the max and love it. The 4 sliders on the trigger finger are set up with both broad and fine pitch adjustments for the 2 channels and I use the velocity sensitive buttons for pitch bends. Couple that with the knobs handling crate movement and end result is that I can search for and beat match the next song in about three and half seconds---the slow part of the process is Serato recognizing the waveform (which takes about 1.5 seconds). Coupling this speed with the Snipz versions of videos and my shows are pretty high intensity and dynamic, I burn through over twice as many tracks in a set now. Now I am starting to look at acquiring a Monome pad to take this control to the next level....


================
Liav-- that sucks about someone smashing your book bro, sorry to hear that. Funny story about breaks---one time I knocked out this drunk douchebag who pushed me outside this frat formal I did in college while on a cigarette break, spent the night in jail but the story is legendary. I came back the next day to get my stuff and the staff of the place gave me a round of applause, everything was just how I left it (even still powered on!). The owner actually ended up referring me for several other gigs. After college I stopped doing anything related to a formal/wedding/dance...only clubs now.

Donnydee-- really blows to get set up like that, but definitely look into getting insurance it is not expensive at all. I have the extra electronics and laptop theft coverage and it's still below $20 a month.

AlxXx-- thanks for the encouragement! Hope you tagged his ex for revenge...

FlowJay-- actually I got the serial number from Guitar Center for the report. Thanks for the advice I will call up Rane and inform them.

T-Pott-- yes, renters insurance. However, since I told them it was a paying gig they reduced my coverage to the $2500 max. If I had not said that, they would have paid me full replacement value for all items stolen. Keep that in mind......

Man these are some horror stories...getting my shit jacked is the worst thing that could happen to me right now.

I think when ever I feel like leaving my equipment out i'll look back at this discussion!

What up Alxxx, hows video going for you?

My 3 month old 56 got stolen from a club here in Scottsdale the weekend before last. No insurance = SOL

Condolences...

lost a ttm 57 to redman & method man at the orange peel asheville, nc 2008. the peel called me for a rental in a pinch. so i helped 'em. i was at work so my roomate dropped off and picked up. when she went to pick up, all that was left was an empty case. she called me crying and yelling and screaming at people while on the phone with me. the orange peel replaced the mixer- thank god. but the method man/ red man dj or crew stole it- bastards. you'd think they'd have they're own shit- no respect for those cats anymore.

Wow that sucks....

Even though replaced...Thats shitty business.

In Arabia they cut your hand off for stealing rane mixers!

Guess in Arabia the 57 would be useless with no hands unless you are raida,

"handless facepalm" ;-)

djroue

Where and how did you equipment get stolen.

I live in Houston so I would like to know the details.

Did you have a car alarm?

Thanks

These stories make me paranoid. With Serato there's alot less stuff to carry and makes it easier for thieves to just grab your shit and run. I live in an apartment and maintenance dudes go inside our place to do routine checkups every season. My setup is one of the first things you see. I'm paranoid they'll tip off one of their boys to steal my shit and let them in my place. They dont look like the most trustworthy group of guys. I'm thinking of installing a web cam to keep tabs on my shit.

Things I've learned:
Dont leave your shit in the car! The stories here explain why
Never leave your equipment at a club even if you have a regular residency there
Dont tweet or facebook to everyone that you're on vacation
If you're really paranoid get insurance!

If you let someone borrow your shit, Make the person write you check for the amount your equipment is worth. When they return your equipment tear up the check in front of them.

^^^^

New rules to live by...
I play at one spot ever friday since the new year started and every other thursday and one sunday a month...needles to say Im there alot....

I left my gear decks, ttm57, cable and mic bag, 15' monitor, and stand there last friday since Id be back sunday anyway...

I get there sunday everything slightly shifted and my speaker stand is missing...even though it was left in the "SECURE BACK ROOM"...

My fualt completly (well almost) I should have know better ... but you live and you lean...Ill never do that again...regardless of how comfortable I feel...

(at least it was a 100 stand and not my 1500 mixer!!!!!!

My Homeboy who lives in Texas also got his whole car stolen with his Decks... TTM57SL Coffin...Everything.... Gone.. And he only had liability Insurance on his car........

It would be cool to have some sort of anti theft device to disable mixer from unauthorized use...

Retina Scan!

Ahhhh ha and a laser that blinds when its not your eyeballs.

Whoever makes those tracking chips for dogs should make them for anything. Put one of those inside your mixer and turntables.

Lojack!

I would pay for that... Actually bet they have it already... Feel sorry for the ninja that stole it and gets tracked down...

Sorry to ressurect. Was actually looking for a thread about the 57sl and the trigger finger together (sounds dumb, but I hate the tiny buttons on the sl).

Anyway. to add to this post. I was spinning at a bar in the hood, had my 57sl, 1 technics 1200 turntable laptop, hard drive, in my duffle bag
parked about 15 minutes away and carried this shit to the bar at 10. left at 3 am walking back in the ghettoest neighborhood.
i am a small asian guy. for SOME reason... nobody robbed me. i passed by many groups of thugs. one of my flight cases clearly says TECHNICS on the side. wow

Two great tips for everyone are 1. customise your equipment to make it unique and 2. check for ads local in the area your stuff got nabbed. ie. local papers, ebay, gumtree, etc...

I had a Pioneer 909 which I customised by making the VUs light up purple at the top (the red clip led) blue in the middle and ice white at the bottom. the effect panel was white also and all the other indicators I changed to purple as well. Point is, there's not another one like it.

Anyway, it was stolen along with my decks after a gig once and the stupid little numpty put an ad on gumtree with a picture of it all lit up and the spec. was all wrong. I called him up acting as a buyer and arranged to collect it. Little did he know I was going to turn up with 3 of my mates. He and his mate put up a fight, we won, left with my mixer(still in its camo gigskin) and large bag of mellow which I sold on (and enjoyed) to get my decks back. Happy Daze!

I do think the previous mention of a tracker is also an awesome idea. Coz if the thieves keep the equiptment for themselves, my two ideas are rendered useless. I guess I was lucky.

Back in 2001 i was in Detroit attending the Electronic Music Festival, I had parked my car along Jefferson Ave (downtown), in the back seat i had 2 decks my mixer and 7 crates. I came back to the car a few hours later and my window was busted, 3 of my crates were gone (the 3 crates they took were all ghettotech/databass shit that cost me around $13 a record.) and 1 of my decks was gone. I was so crushed. and what made it worse was that it was in broad day light with hundreds of people walking around. I learned my lesson that day.



So True... When I rent my equipment out to 3rd parties, I draw up a contract with a deposit of the total equipment replacement value, and i just keep 10% of what the items cost as my rental fee when the item(s) is returned.

example: wireless mic cost me $250, I make them put up $250 up front, when they return the item in the condition they received it, i give them back $225 and keep the $25 for my rental fee.