Apple Air tag hidden inside my guitar

[Tollywood]

I play out with my Les Pauls and I am always worried that someone will steal one of them when I'm in the bathroom at intermission. I was thinking of hiding an Air Tag inside the guitar in the electronics cavity. Has anyone done this?

 

[J T]

Anything will help, but that can be seen and pulled out by a bad guy. It's also limited to shelf life as with any computer related gadget. Will it even be readable in years to come as Apple obsoletes it's own stuff every year?

FWIW: Just an idea to throw out there:
Microchips were put in guitars a few years back and all they need is a generic reader to spot them. They are hidden, the size of a grain of rice, and do not alter the appearance of the guitar. These are not the Gibson chips because Gibson chips are proprietary and useless to anyone other than Gibson. These are the same chips as the ones put in pets. Can be read by any one with a chip reader. If your guitar gets pinched, and by the remote chance you happen to recognize it for sale on Facebook, you can prove it's yours by scanning and matching the number. Hopefully, bad guys are clueless about that and can't be bothered checking before they walk into a pawnshop or list it somewhere.

If you ever sell the guitar, just pass the number to the current owner.

I'm not going to show my guitars that have them or their numbers to anyone, especially on a public forum, but I hope you get the idea.

 

[Tollywood]

Anything will help, but that can be seen and pulled out by a bad guy. It's also limited to shelf life as with any computer related gadget. Will it even be readable in years to come as Apple obsoletes it's own stuff every year?

FWIW: Just an idea to throw out there:
Microchips were put in guitars a few years back and all they need is a generic reader to spot them. They are hidden, the size of a grain of rice, and do not alter the appearance of the guitar. These are not the Gibson chips because Gibson chips are proprietary and useless to anyone other than Gibson. These are the same chips as the ones put in pets. Can be read by any one with a chip reader. If your guitar gets pinched, and by the remote chance you happen to recognize it for sale on Facebook, you can prove it's yours by scanning and matching the number. Hopefully, bad guys are clueless about that and can't be bothered checking before they walk into a pawnshop or list it somewhere.

If you ever sell the guitar, just pass the number to the current owner.

I'm not going to show my guitars that have them or their numbers to anyone, especially on a public forum, but I hope you get the idea.

Great idea, thanks!

 

[jb_abides]

Many HJ-era Gibsons already have a factory-installed RFID chip.

Find a scanner or call Gibbo with year and serial number, they might be able to tell you.

 

[Wilko]

Air tag is a great idea. Do we not understand what an air tag is?

RFID is only good if you have the guitar in hand. Air tag shows you where the guitar is.

 

[jb_abides]

AirTags may be OK for the 'immediate grab and give chase' use case, but not good for long term ID after stealthy theft plus they carry with them certain risks. AirTags are easily discoverable and removable by bad actors, this is known by an overwhelming amount of bad actors. Savvy baddies actively scan and search for tagged valuables left out of sight which are snatched surreptitiously given an implied sense of security. A double-edged sword capability...

 

[SpencerD]

Stolen Les Paul guitars at intermission has been a serious problem..... for a long fuckin' time!

This might get all sorted out. sweet.

 

[Tollywood]

Yeah my intent would be to engage the police to help me find it right away.

I don’t even bring a backup guitar to gigs anymore.

 

[Xpensive Wino]

Air tagged or chipped? No need to decide between 'em, is there?

 

[lapstor]

Yes, I've already thought about doing the same with my Strat, and hiding an AirTag in the electronic cavity seems like a great idea to me. As long as it doesn't interfere with the components or the resonance, it's discreet and reassuring. Nowadays, we are never too careful in concert. I say go for it, especially if you care about your Les Paul!