Tech To Protect Your Guitars

Imagine one of your guitars being stolen. 😭
Do you have the serial # handy?
Some good pictures?
Any idea when it happened?
Will the Police even care when you report it?
How can you use tech to protect your guitars?

Using Tech to Protect Your Guitars

Like so many of us, I woke up this morning to a slew of weekend sale ads in my email inbox. I’m sure I’m not the only one to delete, delete, delete… but, one ad caught my attention this morning. Amazon had an ad for Apple AirTags on sale with free 1-2 day shipping from Amazon. The sale basically is buy 3 get 1 free, or 25% off which isn’t something Apple does very often.

So who cares?  Why in particular, would a guitarist care about Apple AirTags?

Tracking my guitars! These little nuggets of technological marvel are just the right size to hide somewhere in a guitar case, or even on or in the guitar itself.

Guitarists and Apple AirPods

You can use some 3M Adhesive tape to secure yours inside your favorite acoustic guitar, or even stow one inside a cavity on one of your electric guitars. They’re small enough to easily fit inside the pot box or in a pickup cavity on Strat type guitars. .. and yes, because they’re Bluetooth they will easily transmit from just about anywhere you can hide them!

Using the “Find My” App on your Mac, iPhone, or iPad you can easily track and locate any of your AirTagged guitars. They even have bluetooth tag tracking apps available for you Android users out there, although the functionality is not as good just yet.

When you open the app and click on the “items” tab, you’ll see a list of connected Apple AirTags along with a precise GPS location of each. You can even assign custom icons like I did for my keys, guitar, and a flamingo for my wife’s keys. 🦩

How I Use Apple AirTags On My Guitars

Currently I have 3 tags setup. 1 for my car keys, 1 for my wife Celeste’s keys, and one for my beloved Taylor 724CE LTD. I have another tag I’m going to use for my PRS Custom 24 too. Typically, I’ll only bring one guitar to my acoustic gigs, but if you’re someone who brings multiple guitars, why not tag each one?

I have my AirTag hidden inside a D’Addario Humidipak which keeps it hidden inside the case. I like that I can track it from any of my devices, and if it moves it notifies me. You can track it live on Maps just as if you were getting driving or walking directions on-screen. Very handy feature and it gives me piece of mind when I’m at a gig knowing that if someone did steal my guitar, I could easily locate it with or without the aid of Police.

These little guys have a ton of other uses too. Slip one in your teenager’s backpack. Fasten one under the seat of your Mountain Bike. Stow one in your wallet or purse. Whether you’re a gigging pro guitarist or someone who just practices at home, the uses for these little tags are nearly endless. 

Apple AirTag Features

• Keep track of and find your items alongside friends and family’s devices inside the Apple “Find My” app. Also traceable on Android devices.
• One-tap setup easily connects AirTag with your iPhone, iPad, or Mac.
• Play a sound on the built-in speaker to help find your things, or just ask Siri for help
• Locate via sound with the built-in speaker.
• Use Maps to find items further away with the help of hundreds of millions of Apple devices in the “Find My” network.
• Splash, water, and dust resistant.
• Easily replaceable, common sized CR2032 watch batteries which come included and installed on all Apple AirTags.