Editorial: MAY – In Which We Tell Thieves to F.O.

Regular readers may recall a clean-cut but troubled-looking young man featuring in this column, named John Jeffries. An apprentice gas fitter, John is also a keen outdoorsman, going to Scotland, deerstalking with his dad and being a multiple trophy-winner in the slingshot tournament scene. All in addition to being one heck of a craftsman in his hobby, making functional works of art for bushcraft use.

Now tool theft is the act of scum, with boot fairs and Facebook Marketplace having a lot to answer for. As do the vermin who buy obviously thieved tools, complete with the last owner’s initials carved into them, where the owner clearly intended to keep them until they reached end-of-life. Bloody vile.

And John’s lovely Ford Ranger 4×4 truck was broken into while he was at college, with his tools taken and damage done to the hardtop lock. He was so dispirited and unhappy that he was ready to just give up, which would have been truly bloody horrible a consequence.

This made me angry. I am not nice when I am angry…. so I did my own little version of Hulk Smash…

In the past, I have been the journalist to hook The Deserving up with The Promotional. This is because while there are a lot of idiots who think they are God’s gift to the 12V trade, there are also those who are a fit with the happy exploitation bit. To be that ‘fit’, you need to be already in possession of a few things. The right vehicle, the right look and the right attitude. That last is the most important of all. The odd thing is, that wanting ‘sponsorship’ actually itself disqualifies you from it! And the products we all love in cars and trucks and so forth, all need that major life-investment of a thing with wheels on to put it in.

So, as a journalist, I can be the matchmaker, the Maven, the flippin’ TINDER app! And here, I saw a sad and ugly crime, upon a good person, who owns a shiny pickup truck by Ford and was good media, who was happy to take pics and take part… so I called up a company I have known since I left pro audio to go work in car HiFi. Advanced Vehicle Alarms – back then (30 years ago) it was dahn the Deptford Bridge road at the bridge itself, all newly redeveloped now. It was legendary as the home of the best vehicle physical security dude in all London. Larry ‘The Lock’ Scott. It was he who tackled the South London villains, with massively serious locks, plates and alarms, fitted to all sorts of wagons and cars. Some work was stuff he wasn’t allowed to talk about. Is all I know… and oh boy did they do big audio fitments. It was Larry who coined the phrase, “That system drops a NOTE!”

I had been hearing good things about AVA’s audio side these days as well, so I asked some cheeky questions and found myself welcomed like an old family member. At a time of a shrinking trade to leave only the high end and hobbyist, AVA have risen to a prominent ISO 9001-approved outfit, dealing with high level security and safety equipment for fleets of trucks as well as having the inestimable Bill Finch running their posh audio shop, where they stock JL Audio. Do go look at the feature.. and take care of your rides, they are at worse security risk these days, due to the foolishness of use of the aether to send stuff through, than ever before.

Drive safely, enjoy the weather and try to avoid the old BOOMPH-tinkle…

Adam Rayner On Line Editor, Talk Audio – Talk Stuff.  2008 – 2018