Thieves steal East Van music studio equipment worth thousands

CTV Vancouver: Music studio thieves steal $7K Local musicians are hit by the sentimental and financial loss of their equipment in East Vancouver.

Local musicians are out thousands of dollars of equipment after thieves broke into an East Vancouver music studio this week.

Guitars, microphones and sound equipment were taken from five rooms inside Suna Studios on East Pender Street.

Suna Studios owner Rob Stewart noticed that one of the recording units was missing and immediately checked surveillance footage from outside the building which shows two suspects eyeing the building before approaching the door.

Video from inside shows the suspects inside the basement throwing a towel over one security camera.

This latest break in comes after a robbery in April where thieves got away with $20,000 of equipment from a studio, also in East Vancouver.

“To get the cash together to replace that kind of thing can take years,” Stewart said.

Stewart said musicians are keeping an eye out for the equipment that may be put up for sale online or in pawn shops around Vancouver.

“These guys were very effective break-an-enterers but they were obviously not musicians. They grabbed a mix of things, some very valuable but some not valuable at all,” he said.

Musician Mick McCann said he was devastated when he learned that his bass guitar was gone.

“That’s the one thing in the world I did not want stolen,” he said. “I own lots of instruments and lots of musical gear but that was the one thing that I felt connected me to every musician I’ve played with over the last decade and every band I’ve ever been in I’ve recorded with that bass.”

The sentimental value of the instrument was most important to McCann.

“Being 17 in Ireland I saved up every penny I had to buy that one proper bass and it was everything,” he said.

McCann said his Fender bass is worth about $800, but to him it is priceless.

“Maybe they’ll sell it for one-tenth of what it’s worth and one-hundredth of what it’s worth to me,” he said.

Stewart is covering the cost of the lost gear and has set up a Kickstarter campaign to help cover the costs of replacing the equipment.

If the campaign exceeds its $7000 goal Stewart plans to donate the rest of the money to charity.

Police investigations into both robberies are ongoing.

With a report from CTV Vancouver’s Scott Roberts