Travel Extravaganza: Part 3

As featured in: Performing Songwriter Issue #68, March/April 2003

By Beverly Bartsch, Fett, Bill Parsons, and Abby White

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Gear:

Our technology editor, Fett, just spent a weekend with veteran touring performers JoAnn & Monte (www.joannandmonte.com). While they’re quite popular in their home state of Alaska, they also spend about six months each year touring the Lower 48, so he asked them about their current setup. Like a lot of musicians, they’ve cut both the quantity and size of their traveling gear with the recent advent of newer, stricter traveling constraints.

For their PA, they use the JBL EON portable PA, which includes the mic inputs and a basic mixer right on the back of the powered speakers. Monte says that the EON system “sounds great whether you’re playing in a small room for 40 people or a concert hall for 400--it really has enough output to easily handle either situation.” JoAnn and Monte pack all their stands and other such accessories in a golf bag. For instruments, Monte carries a mandolin and JoAnn carries an Ibanez AG75 Jazz Box, a tiny travel guitar. JoAnn notes that, “Despite its size, with the great built-in electronics in this guitar, you can really make it sound great in any environment. You don’t have to sacrifice anything by having a compact guitar that’s easy to travel with.”

The equipment that JoAnn and Monte use is typical of a trend of gear that’s designed with the traveling musician in mind. In addition to Ibanez, some great acoustic and electric travel guitars are available from Martin, Taylor, Wechter, Fender, Fernandes, Tacoma, Ovation, Travel Guitar and Takamine. Most models sound surprisingly good and are surprisingly low-priced. Many of the acoustics come with built-in electronics. Of course nowadays there are also lots of great practice amps to take on the road, such as the battery-powered TX15 Taxi combo amp from Crate.

Not to be outdone, other instrument companies are also offering small-scale models, like the Oxygen 8 and Ozone keyboard/ controllers from M-Audio and the microKORG from Korg. Pearl offers a compact, lightweight five-piece Rhythm Traveler drum kit. Weber makes the Sweet Pea traveling mandolin.

For the traveling musician who doesn’t want to leave the studio behind while on the road, most of today’s memory card-based
digital recorders, like the Korg PXR4, TASCAM Pocketstudio 5 and Fostex MR-8 (reviewed in this issue), are battery-powered and pack an amazing amount of features and sound quality into tiny, travel-friendly packages. For the complete lowdown on travel PA gear, see our Tech Feature on page 64 of this issue.

Flying with gear:

Anyone who’s been to an airport recently knows that the rules have changed--security is tighter than ever, and rightfully so. As a traveling musician, you have to worry about more than the typical concerns of removing sharp objects from your purse or having your pocketknife confiscated--you’re transporting thousands of dollars of your own equipment. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) launched a media campaign in late 2002 in order to better inform travelers of any changes in the checked baggage screening process. To read about these enhanced security measures in greater detail, see www.tsatraveltips.us

New security measures require that ALL checked baggage undergo at least one form of screening, which means that the security screeners might have to “forcibly open locked baggage” in order to complete this screening process. Unless you want the locks broken off your guitar case, you probably want to leave it unlocked. The TSA ensures that screeners exercise caution and great care during the process, making sure that the contents are returned to your bag if it is opened. In addition, if TSA screeners open your bag for inspection, they will place a notice in your bag to alert you that they have done so. They will not relock your bag if it is opened for screening, although they will close it with a “security seal.” While they emphasize the fact that their highly trained screeners are careful, if you are missing something from your bag, the TSA will assess claims on an individual basis.

At their website, the TSA also provides a list of prohibited items, including the obvious weapons and explosives. If you bring any of these to a security checkpoint, the item will most likely be confiscated, and you could be criminally or civilly prosecuted depending on the circumstances. For example, nail clippers aren’t prohibited, but other equipment that you may store in your case (such as wire clippers or scissors) may be, so be prepared or you’re probably going to get held up along the way.

Also, be aware that you do have to call the airport ahead of time to get permission to bring a bunch of equipment on the flight. You can get authorization prior to your flight, so you won’t end up delaying everything at the airport. Travel agents and airlines can also make arrangements for you if you need to go through customs with all your gear.

With all the recent cutbacks in carryon baggage, you need truly roadworthy cases to contain all your traveling gear so it ends up in one piece when you arrive at your destination. There’s a new case on the market called Case Extreme from Lamb Productions that goes for about $160 and only weighs a couple of pounds. Companies like Anvil and SKB (which is offering a new wheeled case that costs about $175 and comes with a $1,500 warranty for any damage your instrument incurs while in the case) have been making sturdy road cases of all types for years. Roland makes custom road cases for much of its product line. Calton Case makes the finest custom road cases for guitars in the business, and we recently learned from the folks at Calton that, despite popular belief to the contrary, there is no such thing as an “ATA-rated case.” They explained that the Air Transport Association does not have a process for testing and certifying equipment like guitar cases. Instead, it issues recommended guidelines for travel-worthy cases. So the next time someone tries to tell you their case is ATA-rated, don’t believe them!

Please pass along your own travel tips by e-mailing travel@performingsongwriter.com, and we’ll post them online at our website: www.performingsongwriter.com

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