Forget broken guitars – what the TSA did to Vernon Reid’s pedalboard is something else

Vernon Reid of Living Colour performs on stage at The Mill on July 17, 2019 in Birmingham, England.
(Image credit: Steve Thorne/Redferns)

We’ve all heard horror stories about broken guitars on airplanes (thankfully less commonplace now you can bring them as carry-on luggage). But Vernon Reid faced another more unlikely, yet no less undesirable, fate: his pedalboard was torn apart before he even boarded the plane.

The Living Colour guitarist recently shared a photo of what appeared to be a mess of cables and pedals – making the reveal that this was once his pedalboard all the more shocking.

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Michael Astley-Brown
Editor-in-Chief, GuitarWorld.com

Mike is Editor-in-Chief of GuitarWorld.com, in addition to being an offset fiend and recovering pedal addict. He has a master's degree in journalism from Cardiff University, and over a decade's experience writing and editing for guitar publications including MusicRadar, Total Guitar and Guitarist, as well as 20 years of recording and live experience in original and function bands. During his career, he has interviewed the likes of John Frusciante, Chris Cornell, Tom Morello, Matt Bellamy, Kirk Hammett, Jerry Cantrell, Joe Satriani, Tom DeLonge, Ed O'Brien, Polyphia, Tosin Abasi, Yvette Young and many more. In his free time, you'll find him making progressive instrumental rock under the nom de plume Maebe.