There's just no word for how much this sucks, Dave. I'm so sorry for you.
 
A few months ago we received a call from ADT while we were out running errands - we dropped everything and came back home. As it turns out, a cat had triggered the alarm. But from the time it took from Home Depot to the moment we got here and I inspected everything, I was a mess. Of course, material can be replaced (even though you don't just replace certain musical instruments), but all the work cannot.
 
That was just apprehending the worst - I can't imagine seeing it come true.

sounds like they have been casing you out, have you noticed anyone hanging around near where your studio is, theres a good chance they might know you and like wise you know them, they have been very specific in how they went about that, thats no random robbery !!! feel for you there man

just read the new development part, i say its the neighbours aswell 

1. Call off the cops so they think you've given up
2. Set up new surveillance cams and a few critter cams in the yard
3. Buy all new gear (with the insurance money)
    OR borrow your buddies gear
4. Set up the gear in the yard in full view of the neighbors like you're having a yard sale over the weekend
    OR make a display of loading & unloading it into your car for several days each time you go out
5. Lay in wait for them to strike again
6. Catch them in the act

craigb
How about "Crime doesn't pay..."?
 
Of course, you could steal the stuff back.  What are they going to do?  Report it? 

Sadly this has been tried before and actually backfired. The crooks did report it and the original owner got jail time. If for nothing else, breaking and entering and trespassing.

Wow, I went through this very thing about 6 years ago.  Same ordeal.  They took everything, instruments, computer, amps, drums, all of it.  I lost all of my projects and everything I was working on.  All of those years of work, just gone.  
 
Insurance didn't replace everything - we had replacement level coverage, which is the better kind, but there's still depreciation so I was only able to replace about 70% of what I lost.  And that does nothing for the sentimental value of my guitar that my wife had bought me 20 years previous.  
 
Bit, I hope you handle this better than I did.  I fell into a deep depression for a long time and I've never quite returned to form.  I don't record nearly as much, and I constantly think about all of the work that disappeared and the energy and time it would take to attempt to recreate it.  
 
This is partly why I firmly believe in death as justice for stealing.  Maybe not for stealing a doughnut, but sweat and time go into things that we own.  We rarely get things for free - we work for them.  They are NOT just "stuff", easily replaceable.  Bullsh*t.  Everything you own cost you time and energy to acquire - lots of it.  To steal "stuff" is to steal time out of your life - directly.  And that's before we get into the sentimental nature of it all.  
 
Death to thieves.  
 
  

Voda La Void
 
.....Insurance didn't replace everything - we had replacement level coverage, which is the better kind, but there's still depreciation so I was only able to replace about 70% of what I lost.  And that does nothing for the sentimental value of my guitar that my wife had bought me 20 years previous.  

 
Yeah.... especially if it's a classic guitar which actually increases in value with time.....

Voda La Void
Wow, I went through this very thing about 6 years ago.  Same ordeal.  They took everything, instruments, computer, amps, drums, all of it.  I lost all of my projects and everything I was working on.  All of those years of work, just gone.  
...
Bit, I hope you handle this better than I did.  I fell into a deep depression for a long time and I've never quite returned to form.  I don't record nearly as much, and I constantly think about all of the work that disappeared and the energy and time it would take to attempt to recreate it.  
 

Thanks for commiserating. Yes, now that you mention it, I am showing signs of depression and anxiety. I've slept and eaten very little since then. Several times a night I wake up and go to the window. I obsessively carry my laptop with me everywhere I go, since it's all that's left - had they taken that, too, I wouldn't be here talking about it. I'd be under a bridge wearing a tinfoil hat mumbling curses at passers-by. So thanks for sharing your experience, it's strangely reassuring.
 
Everybody around me has been supportive. The cops, not so much. Too bad they're not musicians.

bitflipper
 
Everybody around me has been supportive. The cops, not so much. Too bad they're not musicians.

I'll say this Dave with hopes it'll help...
 
The cops probably can't tell you everything they're doing. I can understand them not wanting to get your
hopes up and also keeping what they're doing and what they know quiet until they're ready to make their move.
 
Of course I don't know that for a fact but it makes sense to me.
 
Keep your chin up. You're still alive and a musician...they didn't steal what's most valuable.
 
I too hate thieves. They make me think about doing things that I don't want to think or do.
 
Mike

spacey
 
 ...They make me think about doing things that I don't want to think or do.

Oh, you got that right, Mike. Rage is the only emotion I have left ATM. I really, really don't like that feeling.
 
I have a gig tonight and tomorrow, which I'm now able to do thanks to the loan of a keyboard from somebody I don't even know. I will be concentrating on that kindness tonight, so as to not look like a bitter sourpuss on stage.