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a family member had his $40,000 violin stolen from the case a few years ago... is this something that AirTags can protect?

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BlueMoose

macrumors regular
Original poster
Sep 23, 2019
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a family member had his $40,000 violin stolen from the case a few years ago... The theft went undetected because the thieve took the violin but not the case... the instrument insurance company processed the claim and cut him a $40,000 check within one week. However, it took him another 3 months of searching to find a suitable replacement.

is this something that AirTags can protect? he currently has the AirTag attached to the violin case.... but like the previous theft, if the thieve steals the violin without taking the case, it will probably go unnoticed again. It's not possible to attach the AirTag to the violin itself.... or has other violinists or musicians figured out a way?
 
The thief would immediately remove the air tag so this idea is pretty useless. It's not as if you could hide it and permanently sticking it on would probably not be something you'd do with a 40k violin.
 
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BlueMoose said:
is this something that AirTags can protect? he currently has the AirTag attached to the violin case.... but like the previous theft, if the thieve steals the violin without taking the case, it will probably go unnoticed again. It's not possible to attach the AirTag to the violin itself.... or has other violinists or musicians figured out a way?
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Here's an idea... find a way of locking the case.
 
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BlueMoose said:
a family member had his $40,000 violin stolen from the case a few years ago... The theft went undetected because the thieve took the violin but not the case... the instrument insurance company processed the claim and cut him a $40,000 check within one week. However, it took him another 3 months of searching to find a suitable replacement.

is this something that AirTags can protect? he currently has the AirTag attached to the violin case.... but like the previous theft, if the thieve steals the violin without taking the case, it will probably go unnoticed again. It's not possible to attach the AirTag to the violin itself.... or has other violinists or musicians figured out a way?
Click to expand...

A $30 device is a rather poor substitute for an actual insurance policy.
 
BlueMoose said:
don't you mean "complement"?

*(flashback of when I got yelled at by my high school English teacher, Ms. Walsh, who was the only teacher that I had a crush on in my life)
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Hahaha, you’re right!
 
robjulo said:
AirTags are basically good for finding lost keys and that is about.
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Not even, when people steal the AirTag and leave your keys (speaking from experience). People suck. There should be a big campaign highlighting how a AirTag of someone else cannot be used by anyone else to make it less likely to get stolen after being "found"
 
contacos said:
Not even, when people steal the AirTag and leave your keys (speaking from experience). People suck. There should be a big campaign highlighting how a AirTag of someone else cannot be used by anyone else to make it less likely to get stolen after being "found"
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I'll stick with old fashion matchbox-sized GPS live trackers placed under the dashboard of my girlfriend's car then....
 
xraydoc said:
I would not trust a $40,000 item to a $29 keyfinder.
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But if it was $39 you'd be all over that? ;)

These can complement (see? there's that word again) :D other precautions (eg - my $49k SUV has one under the hood) - doesn't mean that it doesn't have an alarm and I don't lock it and keep it in a secure parking garage. :)
 
fischersd said:
But if it was $39 you'd be all over that? ;)

These can complement (see? there's that word again) :D other precautions (eg - my $49k SUV has one under the hood) - doesn't mean that it doesn't have an alarm and I don't lock it and keep it in a secure parking garage. :)
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How do you have it affixed that it's resistant in that environment? thought early on about doing this w my car as well. The problem is that it needs to withstand the heat of black sheet metal in 110F summer heat, and also be somewhere that's easily accessible for battery re-ups.
 
harrisonjr98 said:
How do you have it affixed that it's resistant in that environment? thought early on about doing this w my car as well. The problem is that it needs to withstand the heat of black sheet metal in 110F summer heat, and also be somewhere that's easily accessible for battery re-ups.
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Info on the silicone pouch posted here: #107

Frame member at the front of the engine bay. Nice flat metal. Gorilla glue on the bottom of the pouch - then duct tape over top of the whole thing (and onto the metal) - two-fold - protects the airtag from being vibrated out of the pouch via that slot over time and as a second means of attachment in case the Gorilla glue doesn't hold. :)

As it doesn't have contact with the hood, I'm sure it won't bake as badly as some other areas of the car (the engine compartment is open air - it should actually stay cooler there than inside the passenger compartment on a hot, sunny day).
 
If there’s a place on the violin to hide the AirTracker, sure. Within the chinrest would probably be the best location. Maybe someone can design/3D print a chinrest with a hidden AirTag compartment.
 
Jony Five said:
If there’s a place on the violin to hide the AirTracker, sure. Within the chinrest would probably be the best location. Maybe someone can design/3D print a chinrest with a hidden AirTag compartment.
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Thank you for my laugh of the day.
 
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BlueMoose said:
a family member had his $40,000 violin stolen from the case a few years ago... The theft went undetected because the thieve took the violin but not the case... the instrument insurance company processed the claim and cut him a $40,000 check within one week. However, it took him another 3 months of searching to find a suitable replacement.

is this something that AirTags can protect? he currently has the AirTag attached to the violin case.... but like the previous theft, if the thieve steals the violin without taking the case, it will probably go unnoticed again. It's not possible to attach the AirTag to the violin itself.... or has other violinists or musicians figured out a way?
Click to expand...

No. AirTags won't prevent theft, and a thief won't hesitate to damage a $40k instrument to dislodge a tracker-- it didn't cost them $40k.

What AirTags will help with is finding it if you left it in the back of a cab or at a venue.

BlueMoose said:
don't you mean "complement"?
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I usually hate pedantic typo comments like this, but I've been speaking English (badly) my whole life and I'm not sure I realized these were two different spellings. I'm now left to wonder if I somehow subconsciously picked the right spelling each time, always used one spelling for both meanings, or just kind of randomly flopped back and forth since spell check never would have raised a flag.

I suspect that last possibility is most likely.
 
nicho said:
People are paying $40,000 for an instrument to sound a specific way. The one thing you don’t do, is mess with the instrument and destroy it’s sound.
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Would an airtag mounted on the topside of the exterior chinrest destroy the sound? I admit I don’t know that much about violins, so I’m honestly asking. LOL
 
I agree with others, AirTags are good for finding your keys and reminding you that you left stuff behind.
 
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Jony Five said:
Would an airtag mounted on the topside of the exterior chinrest destroy the sound? I admit I don’t know that much about violins, so I’m honestly asking. LOL
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Pretty sure the OP is likely a professional musician...having something so unsightly likely wouldn't go over well with their employer or peers (also, a little cringe-worthy to hot-glue a tracker to something so beautiful). It would be akin to putting a firebird logo on the hood of a Ferrari :D
Also, anything to help in theft scenarios needs to be hidden. Thieves will remove it if it's visible on the exterior.

As noted earlier in the thread, best solution is to have an AirTag inside a case with a sturdy lock.
 
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fischersd said:
Pretty sure the OP is likely a professional musician...having something so unsightly likely wouldn't go over well with their employer or peers (also, a little cringe-worthy to hot-glue a tracker to something so beautiful). It would be akin to putting a firebird logo on the hood of a Ferrari :D
Also, anything to help in theft scenarios needs to be hidden. Thieves will remove it if it's visible on the exterior.

As noted earlier in the thread, best solution is to have an AirTag inside a case with a sturdy lock.
Click to expand...
Alas, my Airtag chinrest was not to be. I was going to call it the AirChin.
 
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