Monthly Archives: December 2017

Light fingers

20 - light fingersThe last few days before Christmas is a busy time for musicians.  Sadly, it is also a busy time for those with light fingers

We receive reports several times a week asking us to keep an eye open for stolen instruments,  so our #WednesdayWisdom this week is about protecting your instrument.

Cafes and restaurants are prime targets for thieves.  You place your instrument on the floor and then focus on your food, drink, and company making it easy for an opportunistic thief to simply pick it up and walk out with it.  Our advice is to buy a clip-on cut-proof strap (they’re often sold as theft-proof straps for travellers).  Clip it to itself around the handle of your case then, whilst seated, loop the strap around the leg, or clip it around the arm, of your chair.  The effort required to detach it should deter all but the most determined of thieves.

There are also lots of key locators cheaply available these days.  These send a location to your smart phone and allow you to track the location of the instrument.  Many are small enough to be discretely placed in the case or, if you are careful, inside the lining.

If you must leave your instrument in a vehicle make sure you put it in the boot and keep it covered.  Better yet, if it’s small enough to put it in the boot well (assuming you have one) then do so.  If your instrument is too large to keep in the boot, cover it with blankets that match the colour of your car interior and try to park somewhere where lighting will not emphasise that you’ve something covered up inside.

When parking with instruments in the boot, or in small van, try to park such that the boot (or door) is right up against a wall thereby preventing easy access to it.

Finally, make sure your instrument is fully insured.  Double check your household contents policy, especially if your instrument is worth more than £1000, as you may find there are exclusion clauses.  If there is any doubt feel free to contact us as we can recommend insurance policies that specifically cover musicians and their instruments.

We hope this helps.

 

Christmas Opening Hours

The Old Dairy will be closed to visitors from December 23rd and will reopen on January 2nd.

We will be dealing with orders received during the Christmas period from the 27th to the 30th and will open by appointment during this time for those wanting to try instruments*

*Please note that, as we have not done a run down to Cognac recently, we are running low on in stock Dupont instruments and will be unable to get them sent in time should you want to try one we don’t have currently in stock. Please call for details.

19 - opening hours