At Tone Deaf, we’re often tasked with reporting on bands who’ve unfortunately had their gear stolen by unscrupulous thieves. It’s never a joy to write about small, up-and-coming bands who get ripped off for thousands of dollars in gear.

Often, such as in the recent case of Indigenous protest band Dispossessed, the band have their entire rig taken from them. But a company in the US city of St Louis has unveiled a new advice which hopes to put an end to this scourge.

As Metal Sucks reports, via Riverfront Times, pedal-peddlers Gigbox have unveiled the Smrt Roadie, a pedal which has full functionality as a tuner, but which also has GPS capabilities, so you can track wherever it goes.

The device holds a charge for up to ten days and can be traced using a website or an app. The idea is that thieves will take it along with the rest of a rig, assuming it’s just a regular tuner pedal that they can pawn along with the rest.

But using the Smrt Roadie’s GPS capabilities, a clued-in muso can track down the pedal and hopefully the rest of their rig. Gigbox hope to have a finished prototype within a few weeks and hope to fund a production line through crowdfunding.

Image via Riverfront Times / Jesse Caron

According to Gigbox founder Jesse Caron, the pedal will run about $149.95, but just think about how much it will save you if it stops a thief from making off with thousands of dollars worth of your gear.

Last year, Tone Deaf reported on GPS trackers made by companies like Dewalt and Spy Tec, which can be placed in an equipment case, trailer, car, or van and allow a musician to pinpoint precisely where their van and/or equipment have gone.

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