Joined: 08 Aug 2003 Posts: 943 Location: Terra Firma, Ether Sea
Posted: Mon Jun 05, 2006 6:52 am Post subject:
Sorry guys, I know you're all understandably very excited, but the UK is still almost half a year away.
I haven't heard a thing and at this point I doubt if Robben even knows who he'll use or what production we'll take.
I probably won't have any of these answers for you until around October.
And I promise I'll post once anything has been determined. _________________ B C-ing U!
( }:-Daved
"This boy's diseased with rhythm!" -Bing Crosby (Road To Rio, '49)
I would say the tele is a very safe bet Are you going to catch him at a gig in November? I am thinking of going to Nottingham on Tuesday 14th.
Daved,
many thanks again for the feedback. i guess it was a bit premature to ask, but hey, nothing lost. I remember you speaking of the Dumble going through some sort of servicing, so I wondered if it may be fighting fit for the latter part of the year. The majority of Robben's fans love to hear Robben do his stuff through the Dumble . I guess the question with respect to a new CD/DVD still stands. Any news there?
All the best,
DD _________________ Music is the universal language; speak it with emotion, listen with a passion.
Joined: 08 Aug 2003 Posts: 943 Location: Terra Firma, Ether Sea
Posted: Sat Jun 10, 2006 10:42 am Post subject:
diatonicdude wrote:
...I would say the tele is a very safe bet... The majority of Robben's fans love to hear Robben do his stuff through the Dumble . I guess the question with respect to a new CD/DVD still stands. Any news there?
DD
DD, Yes, I too would probably say the Tele is a safe bet, along with, most likely, Robben's 'new' '57 LP gift from Larry Carlton. Those 2 seem to be his current faves.
I don't know about the Dumble rig yet, but my hunch is that it's more likely to be a twin or two along with the Zen pedal.
Tour scheduling often prevents cargoing the gear (For overseas shipments, you usually need at least a week on both ends, plus customs can add delays, and the cost can get very prohibitive for a simple 2 week tour).
Taking the Dumble rig as excess cargo (the way we used to) is getting to be a nightmare, if not impossible. And when they DO allow any excess bags, the airlines WILL charge you your first born... Singapore Airlines tried to charge me $2600 from Singapore to Japan for the Dumble 2-12 cab alone to take it as excess baggage a few years back, EVEN THOUGH the Japanese had arranged a waiver prior to our flight. I talked SA down to $1800 and then the wonderful Japanese folk reimbursed me.
Quantas Airlines, if it's over 75 pounds, will not even talk to you. (Boy, did THAT turn into an expensive episode with Quantas AND a major headache with the U.S. Customs office during our trip to New Zealand a few years back!)
And SAS Airlines regularly hits us up with $300 - $600 charges for each "excess/overweight" item per flight around Europe.
BTW, did you know that most standard large suitcases are technically oversized and they can charge you for that? Or that to comfortably fill one of those for an extended trip will usually put those suitcases over the 50 pound limit and they will charge you AT LEAST $50 bucks for up to 75 pounds and then hit you with AT LEAST another $50 dollars over that, IF they allow you to take it at all?
At 100 pounds, I know of NO airline that will allow you to take your bag at all anymore.
It's bad enough just getting guitars on passenger planes these days.
Let's move on, as this stuff really sticks in my craw.
The airlines will tell you their reasoning is either the unions are afraid of injury to their baggage handlers (funny how a nearly 60 year old man has no problem shlepping this stuff around, but young whipper-snapper baggage handlers can't do it... unqualified labor, possibly? You'd think they'd hire people properly qualified for the job, wouldn't you?) or of the danger of a plane crashing from too much luggage.
I say it's strange how the money of extra charges will eliminate that danger to the aircraft and its passengers.
Plus, although I HAVE experienced (tho very, very rarely) a plane being slightly delayed while they redistribute the weight of cargo for balance. I have never heard of, in the 100+ years of commercial aviation, an airline dropping out of the skies and crashing because the baggage weighed too much... and if it was not a problem, up until about 5-6 years ago, for those old rattletraps of aviation's first century, then I don't understand why it is now such a severe problem for modern technology/aircraft.
Seems they have no trouble squeezing more passengers on the plane, but getting their luggage on the plane IS a problem.
Oops, sorry, rant over.
As for CD/DVDs, Robben still talks about recording a show in Japan for DVD and he says he plans to record a new album this year but it won't get released till next year. _________________ B C-ing U!
( }:-Daved
"This boy's diseased with rhythm!" -Bing Crosby (Road To Rio, '49)
Joined: 26 Nov 2003 Posts: 916 Location: Fairhope, AL
Posted: Mon Jun 12, 2006 7:31 am Post subject: airlines
I feel your pain, Daved. I nearly got arrested last time I flew with a guitar. Delta made me check it with my luggage at the ticket counter. They wouldn't even let me check it at the gate. I'm flying from another airport next time. I'm about 3 hours from New Orleans and it's worth the drive to avoid the hassle.
Frank
For our Finland trip the airline just told us that for the instrument inside the aircraft we would have to buy an extra seat which would cost € 1160,- but no airport taxes! Looks like an offer we can't refuse
So we will take a risk and check in the instruments as luggage, nothing ventured - nothing gained
Joined: 23 Feb 2004 Posts: 13 Location: Chicago ('Burbs)
Posted: Tue Jun 13, 2006 4:54 pm Post subject: Flight Oversweight
I hate to disagree, but the singer Aaliyah went down on takeoff becasue it was overweight. Apparently her manager wanted all her gear on the plane, or something like that. I vaguely remember hearing about that. I think it was in the bahamas after filming a video.
Joined: 08 Aug 2003 Posts: 943 Location: Terra Firma, Ether Sea
Posted: Thu Jun 15, 2006 8:20 pm Post subject:
I'm sure it IS undoubtedly possible to overload a plane, TJ, which IS why commercial airlines and the FAA have baggage weight limitations in the first place.
My dad was a pioneer in commercial helicopter flight, taught me to fly helicopters when I was a young teen, and was always very concerned about proper weight distribution as balance and lift in a rotary wing/vertical flight aircraft is extremely important.
It's just odd to me, though, that if you pay the airlines extra money, those weight restrictions are not as crucial or valid.
Leaving me to wonder, was it a smaller private or chartered plane (The kind of plane that would most likely be used for island hopping a video project and is far less stable than a commercial aircraft and far less likely to be governed or weight controlled) or was it a standard commercial airline specifically designed to carry large capacities?
Also, was it possible the weight was not properly distributed versus just too much weight? THAT issue I HAVE seen addressed, as I've mentioned before. If the crash was on take off then possibly there WAS an overweight issue, something much easier to sneak by with a smaller. privately chartered aircraft.
<< Apparently her manager wanted all her gear on the plane, or something like that. >>
If it WAS a commercial airline, then her management must have paid a tidy sum to 'lighten the load'. After all, they say a bag weighing over 50 pounds is a danger, HOWEVER if you pay them their excess baggage fees, then excess weight, "up to 100 pounds per item" for the general public, is no longer a threat.
My point is though, if weight is a safety issue (And, I know it can be) then shouldn't there just be a hard set cut off point instead of this idea that extra money will lighten the load and/or remove the risk? _________________ B C-ing U!
( }:-Daved
"This boy's diseased with rhythm!" -Bing Crosby (Road To Rio, '49)
What drives me crazy is that carry on bags are now almost all small suitcases. You can never find overhead space. So they let all these bulging bags be carried on but you can't bring a guitar in a soft case. Annoying.
BTW - Daved, is there going to be a Toronto date? Maybe a nearby Buffalo date?
Joined: 26 Nov 2003 Posts: 916 Location: Fairhope, AL
Posted: Fri Jun 16, 2006 6:17 am Post subject: airlines
You're right about that, Cal. The last time I flew (when I thought I was going to get arrested!), I had to check my guitar at the ticket counter instead of the gate and some guy came on with a backpack that wouldn't fit in the overhead or under the seat, and nobody said anything to him. I got to the airport in Dallas and saw two young people with full size acoustic guitars in gig bags flying the same airline as me. I asked them about carrying their guitars on and they said they'd had no problems.
Daved, if I remember right, Aaliyah was in a chartered plane and not a commercial jet. I could be wrong, but it seems like I remember that.
Frank
Joined: 17 Jul 2003 Posts: 908 Location: Tampa Bay, FL
Posted: Sun Jun 18, 2006 6:18 pm Post subject: Worst case scenario....
Two summers ago I watched baggage handlers as they loaded luggage onto the plane I was going to board. The luggage wagons were boxcar-like and had roofs. They put my acoustic, which was in an ATA case, on top of the luggage wagon, and tossed all the other baggage onto the belt, going into the plane. When the luggage wagon was empty, they drove off across the tarmac. I watched my ATA case fall off the top of the luggage wagon. Luckly, they heard, or saw, it fall and turned around to retrieve it, and put it on the plane. I had to buy a new case, because the metal rim on the case was beyond repair, but there was no damage to my guitar. _________________ Travelling by train of thought
I had my guitar in my Hiscox case and checked it in with the baggage, to Helsinki everything went fine but it didn't come back with me to Munich. Sure I will get it back as there were about eight people looking for their baggage. But next time I will just put it in a gigbag and take it with me. Don't ask at any desk if you may take it inside, you get silly answers!
Joined: 26 Nov 2003 Posts: 916 Location: Fairhope, AL
Posted: Mon Jun 19, 2006 6:09 am Post subject: Baggage woes
I didn't ask either. They saw the gigbag and told me I had to check it. I think a lot of it depends on the airport. Airports that see a lot of musicians like New Orleans, Memphis, Atlanta, New York, etc. don't stress over it like airports that don't see many of us. I tried to get Delta to give me something in writing about letting us at least check guitars at the gate, but they wouldn't do it.
Frank
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. I guess the question with respect to a new CD/DVD still stands. Any news there?
