Just curious, a question to all those who play out regularly. What kind of security measures do you have in place, i.e., how do you keep others from walking off with your gear, either while loading/unloading, setting up and between sets?

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'08 Fender Am. Std. Jazz bass, maple fretboard, charcoal frost metallic finish
'10 Squier VM Jazz bass, maple fretboard, natural finish
Ampeg BA115
'09 MIM standard Strat, maple fretboard, sunburst finish
Fender Super Champ XD

s&w 629 classic, glock 17, glock 23. plus, a few rowdy family members. it never hurts to have a little good luck either.

Well just how much gear do you have that you can not carry it in 1 or 2 trips to get it out towards the van/truck? I mean take a wheeled hand cart of some type, load up the gear on stage, strap it down and haul it in one load. That is how I have seen it done.

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So heres to your survival, swimming up the stream, crossing over one dam after another till we get to Rock and Roll Heavens Gate!

Custom-tuned stainless-steel Colt Commander loaded with Remington 185-gr +P JHPs. My eye is still pretty good and my hand sufficiently steady. I haven't had a thing "walk off" in some forty years now.

Arjay

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"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY

to those mentioning guns... how does that keep someone from taking gear? its not like you can just pull a gun on some fool in the middle of a bar and leaving it in plain sight as a warning wouldnt be much good because they could just take the gun to... how does this work lol?

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Melvins
The Jesus Lizard
Cows
Big Business
R***man
Minutemen
Flight
Minor Threat
Big Black
Shellac
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Scratch Acid
Wipers
Pixies

There is always someone standing in the trailer watching and there is always someone standing at the stage watchin while the rest play pack mule. A good friend of mine lost a 1952 Telecaster from a bar in Edmonton. Priceless. Gone. Never scrimp on security.

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Just think of how awesome a guitar player you could have been by now if you had only spent the last 10 years practicing instead of obsessing over pickups and roasted maple necks.

its called a concealed weapons permit.

There were 4 of us in the last band and we'd take turns so one of us would be at the truck or van at all times getting the gear ready for the next load to be brought into the club.We'd always make it a point to bring our gear in at a slow time of the day when there were fewer patrons there and all the clubs and venues we played at had someone on staff to babysit the gear while we were going for another load.It Also helps to have your smaller gear-foot pedals,mikes,patch cords etc.-packed into one large trunk that one person couldn't make off with easily.The bigger and heavier the gear the harder it is to rip off.

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'65 Strat,65 Mustang,65 Jaguar,4 more Strats,3 vintage Vox guitars,5 Vox amps,'69 Bassman with a '68 2-15 Bassman cab,36 guitars total-15asst'd amps total,2 vintage '60s Hammond organs & a myriad of effects-with a few rare vintage ones.

In a situation like this one guns are always the problem and never the answer. You don't draw a weopon without facing the reality of actually squeezing the trigger. If you don't fire, the gun was of no use to you and your cowardice is revealed and the thief has your guitar while you hang your head in shame. On the other hand say you kill someone for trying to take a guitar and now you have a dead soul on your conscinece and most likely a manslaughter charge to boot but dammit you won! You still have your guitar! You also have a lifetime of sleepless nights and a heart that can never truly love again or have peace again. You are forever changed. Either way, whether you fired at the thief or not, you lose.

Just don't leave your gear unattended and leave the guns at home.
That's the only viable answer.

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Just think of how awesome a guitar player you could have been by now if you had only spent the last 10 years practicing instead of obsessing over pickups and roasted maple necks.

Being just over 6'4" and 250+ someone snatching gear better hope I don't catch them.

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The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.

Thomas Jefferson

Same with our band. There are 4 of us unloading or loading gear at once. There's always one of us inside or by the trailer. Of course, we are all big boys-250 lbs each and over 6 foot. That image helps a bit too.
I have played at a place where the back door was way too close to the stage, and there had been a couple of times guitars were snatched from the stage as the band was playing or on a break.
On the other hand, I can remember playing at a VFW hall where the youngest person there was in their 60's. I left my Strat in it's case, sitting on a piano bench when we packed up and left. I didn't realize it till I got home, 40 miles later. Of course the place was closed the next day, being a Sunday. I couldn't get back in there until Monday to get it. Nobody had touched it. Maybe it depends on where you play, too.

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Life is like a sh*t sandwich. The more bread you have, the less sh*t you have to eat.

We always handle the gear okay, but have had a few cases of stolen vehicles which were parked a couple of blocks away.

One was found in about 3 weeks by the police and one was never recovered.

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Being able to play and enjoy music is a gift that's often taken for granted.

Don't leave home without it!

yeah so many think their gun is the answer to every confrontation.
coward for sure.
i put up a post a while back about security and gear at home
"while your away".
you wouldnt believe the gun replies.
i guess they didnt get the "WHILE YOUR AWAY" part.
if the thief has a 20 ft headstart in a crowded bar
a gun is the last thing you should use. the chance of hitting the wrong person is way to high. so its a foot chase.
if he gets to the door before you do in a crowd, hes gone.

having folks stand by to watch over is your best bet.
the cart method is best too.
as soon as the last song is done and the thank you's are given,
drop all your lose things like cords and pedals in a foot locker.
its harder for a thief to carry and all your lose gear is now ready for hauling to the truck/van/car.
usually its the little stuff that gets stolen, pocket stuff.
every so often theres a brave soul that will grab a guitar or amp.