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March 2002
Posts: 873
Location: puerto vallarta, mexico | well, i made it back from detroit with no wounds, a few extra pounds, a few items missing from my luggage, and the what the hell is this aka per cwkII "vomit on toast" guitar which also was damaged by the airline. it had two big fragile tags on it. (gotta love detroit's "airport with an attitude".) it arrived with two broken case latches and a small crack near the edge of the top. the electronics also had a rattle and no longer worked. (anybody know about the stacked knob amps? this one had two small transformers that were shaken loose. they will solder back into place easily. there are a few possible possibilities of how. any schematics around?)
it WAS a 1979 josh white 1624. the "appallettes" were certainly added and at least the tools were sharp. the neck was straight. the gold hardware was very good for it's age. it had 70% of the mop binding gone and the nut was made from a shortrib buffet leftover and narrower than the neck; i think the notches were filed in the dark with a sharp piece of flint. a little quick leatherman work in the motel and i had it in temporary playable condition. this was a really beautiful guitar at one time. wide flat neck good for fingerstyle blues. nice spruce top with a cherry burst? finish. i can just imagine how it felt to take that guitar out of the case on day one in 79.
since i never have played a josh white i had nothing to compare it with, but this one sounds fine, at least up to my artist bowl balladeer. the artist bowl, is something i like allot. especially if i am playing sitting down. so the electronics will go into my 83 collectors and this will become my beach party guitar after a new nut and a setup. (even a dog looks better by firelight) who knows how the airlines will settle. maybe i got it for free. |
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Joined:
March 2002
Posts: 1380
Location: Central Oregon | Originally posted by musicamex:
well, i made it back from detroit with no wounds, a few extra pounds, a few items missing from my luggage, and the what the hell is this aka per cwkII "vomit on toast" guitar which also was damaged by the airline. it had two big fragile tags on it. (gotta love detroit's "airport with an attitude".) it arrived with two broken case latches and a small crack near the edge of the top. the electronics also had a rattle and no longer worked. (anybody know about the stacked knob amps? this one had two small transformers that were shaken loose. they will solder back into place easily. there are a few possible possibilities of how. any schematics around?)
it WAS a 1979 josh white 1624. the "appallettes" were certainly added and at least the tools were sharp. the neck was straight. the gold hardware was very good for it's age. it had 70% of the mop binding gone and the nut was made from a shortrib buffet leftover and narrower than the neck; i think the notches were filed in the dark with a sharp piece of flint. a little quick leatherman work in the motel and i had it in temporary playable condition. this was a really beautiful guitar at one time. wide flat neck good for fingerstyle blues. nice spruce top with a cherry burst? finish. i can just imagine how it felt to take that guitar out of the case on day one in 79.
since i never have played a josh white i had nothing to compare it with, but this one sounds fine, at least up to my artist bowl balladeer. the artist bowl, is something i like allot. especially if i am playing sitting down. so the electronics will go into my 83 collectors and this will become my beach party guitar after a new nut and a setup. (even a dog looks better by firelight) who knows how the airlines will settle. maybe i got it for free.
I'm glad at least *you* got back in good condition. As for your guitar, I'll wager you got it all right, but I doubt if it's going to be free. Or painless.
My dad sent me a reel-to-reel tape deck by air once from Kodiak to Fairbanks. Somewhere along the line they squished the front. It still worked, but it was all bent. They took it to have it "evaluated". After that I had various people from the airlines blow smoke up my ass a few times but that was it. Never saw it again. That was in 1966. It wasn't worth suing them & they knew it.
A few years ago I had a pair of binoculars packed in the middle of a suitcase with cloths all around 'em. When we got home from Mazatlan & unpacked, one of the lenses was knocked out. The airlines told us we should have reported it before we left the airport, & have a nice day, sucker. I guess you're supposed to open all your bags & check everything before you leave the baggage area. I'm sure they would come up with some other bullshit excuse if you did.
Maybe service has improved since 9/11, but I doubt it. Good luck getting anything out of the airlines.
Come to think of it, they kinda remind me of the Lily Tomlin skit about the phone company.
Airlines lady- "When you gotta go, you gotta go, & we have all the big jet propelled tubes... or would you like to drive to Hawaii? snork!-snork! Tug, tug." :p
Welcome home!
Nils |
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Joined:
May 2002
Posts: 3005
Location: Las Cruces, NM | Russ
I was intrigued by that guitar and it is interesting to know that a good guitar resided in that mistreated thing and it now has a good home.
Thought you might be interested in an article in the Las Cruces Sun News dated today 7/13/2003, titled "Sculptor Equates Fluidity of Music With Molding Iron" about someone named Christopher Thomson, an iron sculptor who seems to be working out of Las Vegas,NM now, giving classes, making iron sculpture etc.. It appears to have been published originally in the Las Vegas Daily Optic.
Quote from story, "he has a passion for music and said creating ironwork designs is sort of like improvising music." Wonder where he picked up that kind of nonsense, probably from hanging out with the wrong kind of Ovation player. "Some of Christopher Thompson's iron sculpture students made a table for him using the skills he taught them." As an ex school operator, I would guess that he is stupidly teaching students things they would like to learn, as opposed to our school systems.
This is the kind of stuff us New Mexicans have to put up with, Iron sculptors competing with "real" teachers.
Any comments?
Bailey (I'll save the article) |
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Joined:
March 2002
Posts: 873
Location: puerto vallarta, mexico | bailey,
sorry it takes me so long to reply to these. i have been busier than a one legged man in an ass kicking contest.
christopher thomson is one of my very close friends. i just spoke with him at my old shop and studio just before i read your post. i sold my 10,000 sq foot studio to him in 1990. he started blacksmithing working with me on several large projects, and he was the likely candidate to be the new owner of what i had started. some people you just know will do well. i have returned regularly to do my own projects there, which included building a sailboat over two summers.
you will be hard pressed a nicer more artistic guy. we have played music together on numerous occasions. he on flute and me on one of many ovations. you should meet him and check out his web site to see photos of my old studio and some of the type of work possible with the tooling i had. type ctiron or his name in google. |
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Joined:
May 2002
Posts: 3005
Location: Las Cruces, NM | Russ
You told me in an e mail some time ago that Chris had bought your shop, when I saw the article it clicked and I reread your email so it wasn't a coincidence exactly that I made that post. It was a very good article and if you wan't it and can't get it I will mail it to you if you want and if you will email me a mailing address. I particularly liked the idea of the training of students in the art, seems like a good thing for someone to know how to do. My wife and I had a computer training school for a few years and did a lot of vocational training for various organizations.
As I have mentioned, I spent a lot of tme with iron workers and welders and the good ones are artists when they build things. My son, who worked as a millwright at the High Energy Laser site on White Sands had a pretty good band called "Dust Devil" with some of the welders from that site. Is there something about burning iron that leads to playing music?
Bailey |
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Joined:
November 2002
Posts: 3665
Location: Pacific Northwest Inland Empire | Fumes, and brain damage. Just kidding, Ol' Boy! Probably the need for relaxation and self-expression, in an otherwise regimented, and usually constrictive, occupational environment. How's that for conjecture? |
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Joined:
May 2002
Posts: 3005
Location: Las Cruces, NM | Sessquare
Welding is a tough skill. |
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Joined:
November 2002
Posts: 3665
Location: Pacific Northwest Inland Empire | Yeah, Bailey, don't I know it! I hire out all my work, even though I have a small rig myself. Wish it was that easy with my guitarplaying! My intent was not to denegrate the welding profession, in the least. Just a general observation on people's need to unwind and alleviate some tension, kinda like this forum. Thanks! |
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Joined:
May 2003
Posts: 4389
Location: Capital District, NY, USA Minor Outlying Islands | As for dealing with airlines ... to make a long story short ... I was travelling to Tampa from NYC...upon my arrival I went to pick up my luggage ... I picked up my skate bag (My other hobby is long distance/street skating) and it was curiously light ... light because a package handler had pilfered my $300 skates ... I marched over to a baggege claim area waiving my empty bag demanding to know what the f*** they were gonna do about it ... they gave me a form! Argh. I filed a claim, and when I came back to NY I bought an equivalent pair of new skates and sent continental the bill ... and to my surprise ... they sent a check to cover the cost of the replacement skates. I don't know if this is applicable to what happened to you ... but I'd send the airline a bill for whatever it costs to replace your lost or damaged goods, and sue them if they don't. Even if they don't pay, you'll feel better. |
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Joined:
May 2002
Posts: 3005
Location: Las Cruces, NM | an4340
You are saying there is some hope in the world of Gov't control, I guess I'll postpone the revolution until we have looked in to this aberration. I suspect that in a year or so you will get a bill from the Gov for reimbursement plus interest and penalties of 10 times the amount, backed up by the threat of a levy on your bank account and any thing else you own unless you remit a check immediately (in 10 days). |
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report on the vomit on toast guitar
