Maybe I'm old or something...
From the original Analog Industries archive. Some links and images from that era no longer resolve.
…but how on Earth does someone walk out of Musikmesse with a god damn Minimoog under their arm? I’ve heard tales from others in the industry that the “public day” of Musikmesse was the day all your shit was stolen, and having spent a lot of time in Frankfurt, I don’t find this hard to believe on the surface. My general impression of that city is that it is basically Pittsburgh with an opiate addiction and a nice coat of paint.
What I don’t understand is how this sort of thing happens year after year. I mean, why do exhibitors even show up on “public day?” In all honesty, if Audio Damage were exhibiting there (which we would have no reason whatsoever to do in the first place, of course) I would just fold up shop on the last private day and go home, because I’d like to return with all my laptops, thanks very much.
In any event, never mind that. What I find amusing is the fundamental stupidity of this person, who is obviously not a musician of any sort. I mean, anyone who knows synths (and would thus be interested in buying this) knows that there are only a couple Minimoog OS units in existence right now. I guess this gives proof to the theory that the vast majority of criminals are simply not very bright. If they were bright, they wouldn’t have to be criminals.
10 comments
Is there anything lower than stealing a working man's tools?
what a douche. i'm as flabergasted as you though... how to leave w/a minimoog under your arm and how did they bit see the guy pick it up and walk away????
The guy (providing that the thief and the seller are the same guy or know each other which probably goes without saying) must either have stolen someone's account or be a professional... The account has like 550 pieces of positive feedback. It seems the other auctions by the same account have been taken down but I saw the same guy was also selling an expensive acoustic guitar just a minute ago. I wonder where he got that one from and if someone is very angry at some guitar forum at the moment.
During AES New York, 1999 or so, someone unscrewed the plexiglass cover over the Neumann display, stole U-47 serial number 1 or something, put the display back and left. I'm sure he got it home, plugged it in, it didn't work because it was a museum piece, and he threw it in the trash.
Bonus story, the really big guy in 1998 who RAN out the front door of West LA music with a Roland JD-800 under his arm. The guys just watched him go, he was like a linebacker running out the door.
We had stuff stolen at every NAMM show, This year it was a DR-1, the year before it was a 17" iMac. That one happened at night while "security" was watching the booth.
I'm suprised to hear any sizable piece of gear disappeared from NAMM. They're usually pretty vigilant about having proper paperwork to carry anything out, and the paperwork must match the ID and exhibitor badge of the person escorting you out. I used to help staff the Technosaurus and Drum Machine booths and even the small stuff like Microcons and Cyclodons didn't walk off. Maybe it's because the booth was small and there were always several folks watching the booth.
If you walk away from it, unsecured, and you leave it within an arms reach, you don't want it. Thieves will be thieves, you should fucking know better! I'm sorry I know it's a lil harsh.
Ever been around musicians that are addicts, protecting everything becomes a way of life???
...and wtf, haven't we learned anything from BT whose done had his studio robbed twice, with alarms.
I'm not arguing that point one bit. I'm of the opinion that if it isn't nailed down, it's going home with someone else, and I've always taken rather ludicrous steps on tour to that end. (Much to the bemusement/annoyance of other members of the entourage, but in years of touring, I've not had a single thing stolen.)
I would also not put any stock in paperwork/vigilance/whatever. I would bet you any amount of money that pretty much anyone could walk in to any convention center or concert and go out with cases of shit. It's just a matter of knowing how to carry yourself, really. Security guards are essentially useless pieces of shit in any industry. They want the trappings of policemen without the commitment, and this is common the world over.
I was more interested in pointing out the hubris (or abject stupidity) of the fellow in question. If there's only one of something, and you steal it and put it on eBay, that's a pretty short line from point A to point B. But obviously hubris is a two-way street.
-CR
One other possibility: inside job? That's the first angle the insurance company's gonna have to rule out before they pay up.
I'm just sayin'.
- c
On a loosely related note: went to see Jean-Michel Jarre open his world tour last night in Glasgow and he's almost exclusively using his vintage gear on this tour. The Royal Concert Hall was Moog Grand Central for a couple of hours last night....
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