I've been writing and editing news stories for guitarworld.com for nine years now. If I had a dollar for every one I've written or seen about one band, artist or another who's had their guitar or another part of their rig smashed, lost, or otherwise mishandled while in air transit, I'd be able to comfortably retire (I'm 31).
Ask GA-20 what happened to one of their guitar cases in a TSA inspection, or Vernon Reid about what TSA did to his pedalboard. Ask Emily Wolfe about what happened to one of her Epiphone signature models on a flight to Las Vegas, or Madi Diaz about the fate of her beloved Martin (that was in a heavy-duty case with a “Fragile” sticker) while on a Delta flight. And just a few months ago, there was that viral video of a baggage handler carelessly throwing guitars on the ground at LAX.
As we all know, unless you exclusively fly by private jet (cheers to you, I guess), airport baggage and security rules and procedures change seemingly by day, and are enforced on a depends-on-which-side-of-the-bed-someone-woke-up-on basis. So, touring musicians, has your gear ever fallen victim to the pitfalls of air transit?
We want to hear about the gear that went on the wrong connecting flight and was halfway across the world when you need it (or disappeared entirely en route, never to be seen again), broken guitars, upturned pedalboards... and anything and everything in between.
Let us know your stories in the comments below.
