serial numbers

[tug]

its a pain but you gotta write down serial numbers before you neeeeed them

[kingmarki]

Greetings everyone.

I personally keep a detailed list of every piece of equipment I own. I originally wrote it up for insurance purposes. Home owners insurance and/or renters policies generally only offer up to $1,000 of coverage, unless you get a separate rider specifically covering musical equipment. The last time I got the policy, it was only about $75 a year (in addition to the renters policy) that covered about $35,000 of equipment. The insurance company doesn't require such a list, but if your home or studio gets burglarized it sure is a lot easier if you already have a list instead of having to create one after the fact. I also take pictures of my equipment and keep them in a safe along with the list.

It sounds like a lot of trouble, but if you ever get robbed, you are ready to take it to your insurance company to make a claim.

Things like serial numbers, original purchase price, pictures and the like are much appreciated by an insurance adjuster who can easily be swayed to quickly process your claim since you can readily furnish all the information they may need. A pre-written list also makes them feel that your claim is valid instead of feeling like something was stolen and you just wrote up a laundry list of things to inflate the amount of your claim.

Better safe then sorry I say.

The insurance company I use is AllState and Daniel Valadez is my agent (locally here in Sacramento). Although I'm sure any company that offers such coverage is better than none. If my equipment gets stolen, I am out of business and so I can justify the yearly expense of the insurance premium.

Here's to hoping that no one ever needs this info!

[wormdrive66]

Very good advice, I had to amend my insurance policy to cover my gear after a house fire. None of my gear was damaged but my agent told me that most of my stuff would not have been covered if it was damaged. I have a video tape of all my gear i keep at my mothers house. I also marked all of my guitars with my SSN hidden under pickups and such.

Quick story: My guitar and amp were stolen back in 1986 or so and i was bummed. 5 years later I'm at Denios and spot my guitar for sale so i give the guy 20$ to hold the guitar while i go get money from the ATM. I called the cops told them the story and they met me at the auction, I removed the pick guard and revealed my SSN. The cops did nothing to this douche bag who stole my guitar. Never did get back the amp and i still have the guitar to this day ;D

[rand]

That sucks to hear that the cops did nothing to that guy. I've had a couple of guitars stolen that i pretty much chalked it up as never seeing them again. Fortunately you're one of the lucky ones that got your guitar back at least .I had a 1978 left-handed F-360S Takamine acoustic ( yeah, with the lawsuit headstock ) that was stolen in 2004. Never did recover it and I miss it so, so much. Sometimes I almost cry when I run across an old photo of me with that ax. She went just about everywhere with me. It has telltale markings and I have the serial # recorded. If anyone knows of her whereabouts; please tell her to come home. and... KILL the God Damn thieves, if you find them !!!!

[finnman]

To all area musicians, If you have gear stolen, let me know. I buy used equipment and could catch the ******* culprits in the act. John 842-7829

[jlev]

Thanks John.