ShortScale.org

Guitars ruined by the Nashville flood(Link)

oh dear lord

apparently keith urban lost EVERY single piece of road gear including all the vintage stuff he takes on tour. gibson factory is flooded and the conservatory lost 2 old steinways

Man, what a shame. I wonder what that Goldtop looked like before the water damage.

I also didn't realize such a place existed, where millions of dollars of various folks' equipment would be in one place. I suppose it makes sense, I guess it just never occurred to me.

Paisley's props and dozens of instruments for his upcoming H2O tour were stored at the facility.

Ouch.

"Chris Leuzinger's 1952 Les Paul Gold Top was destroyed by water damage. The rare guitar is worth $100,000."

I guess that caption should read "The rare guitar was worth $100,000"

That really sucks.

dug wrote:"Chris Leuzinger's 1952 Les Paul Gold Top was destroyed by water damage. The rare guitar is worth $100,000."

I guess that caption should read "The rare guitar was worth $100,000"

That really sucks.

I wonder if the top was worn like that prior to, or if the water just melted it all away.

So sad.

When the levee breaks One of the reasons why I'll never invest money into a guitar made before 1987.

Why is this stuff in storage? Why didn't musicians have it with them?

I always assumed you never put anything in storage you aren't comfortable loosing.

Will wrote:Why is this stuff in storage? Why didn't musicians have it with them?

I always assumed you never put anything in storage you aren't comfortable loosing.

That's not true.

A lot of pros in big cities keep their stuff in these types of storage collections because they don't have the space at home and normally these places are very secure and are ran by people who specialize in instruments.

The people mentioned in those articles are some great players and are devastated.

Whilst this sucks am I the only one wondering if anyone checked out the flood history of the river before building a storage place for super expensive guitars near it.. Also 3 foot? I don't know how much I'd want my 10000000 dollar guitar in a case on the floor.

Ok, I thought about this while taking my girlfriend to McD's.

I feel bad that some great guitars are gone. I think someone who actually cared about the guitars could have used them to make great music.

But the people - I have no sympathy. If they actually cared about their craft they wouldn't just stick their guitars in some storage facility, only seeing them every now and then. It's bullshit. It's a disgrace to the instrument to leave it in storage.

Will wrote:Ok, I thought about this while taking my girlfriend to McD's.

I feel bad that some great guitars are gone. I think someone who actually cared about the guitars could have used them to make great music.

But the people - I have no sympathy. If they actually cared about their craft they wouldn't just stick their guitars in some storage facility, only seeing them every now and then. It's bullshit. It's a disgrace to the instrument to leave it in storage.

Your talking complete shit.

LOL, some of the people mentioned in the article have cut hundreds of sides.

WTF are you banging on about? Read the article dummy.

Will wrote:Ok, I thought about this while taking my girlfriend to McD's.

I feel bad that some great guitars are gone. I think someone who actually cared about the guitars could have used them to make great music.

But the people - I have no sympathy. If they actually cared about their craft they wouldn't just stick their guitars in some storage facility, only seeing them every now and then. It's bullshit. It's a disgrace to the instrument to leave it in storage.

That is not being very realistic though. If you are a big touring act, you may have 10-15 guitars set up for touring and keep a collection at your house for regular playing and recording sessions. That is very common. This is especially true if you are gearing up for touring or recording as this place was not just a storage facility, but a practice studio for big name bands. You sure are not going to lug 10 guitars, 4 amps and a couple racks of stuff every time you want to practice. Shit, when we had a practice space/storage place, I normally had anywhere form 3-4 guitars in there, at least 2 amps, and a full PA at all times and still had gear at my house. I probably played the stuff at the studio more than the stuff at my house except for my main acoustic. It's not like they just stuck these instruments in a local store-all place. Also, these people spend months at a time on the road. Often if they do not have families, they do not keep their home up and running during months on the road (why pay a high utility bill to keep a house consistent temp (important for instruments) if you are going to gone for 2 or 3 months.

Last, I will make no comment on their music, but alot of these guys earned their stripes. Keith Urban and Brad Paisley for example, (like them or not) were gigging musicians and studio guys for many, many years prior to having any real commercial success and deserve to have some nice guitars for the years they were playing the same bars and clubs that alot of us have played. Any of us on here who say they would not have a huge guitar collection if money was not an issue and they had worked their ass off to earn them is probably full of shit.

I just don't get it then. I can't imagine putting something I really cared about in storage, least of all a guitar.

I have tons of gear, but the stuff I care about stays with me. I'd never leave something that mattered behind. Never.

Will wrote:I just don't get it then. I can't imagine putting something I really cared about in storage, least of all a guitar.

I have tons of gear, but the stuff I care about stays with me. I'd never leave something that mattered behind. Never.

as stated above a lot of this stuff is road gear. take keith urban for example. his ENTIRE touring rig was in that facility - guitars, amps, mics, PA's, props... everything. you think he should store all that in his house? i can all the semi traliers now... pulling up to the gates of some palatial house... "Is Mr Urban there.... we are here to pick up 4 semis worth of gear"...

Why does it take so much gear to tour, though? Plus PAs, road amps, etc are by no means irreplaceable. That will almost certainly be covered by the facilities' insurance. I'm thinking more about the vintage, arguably irreplaceable stuff. Why the hell would people who care about it leave it anywhere? That's just silly.

Imma buy an amazing, irreplaceable vintage guitar and just LOCK IT UP IN A STORAGE FACILITY. What's the point if you aren't playing it every day? Why not just rent what you want when you need it?

This May Get Loud had Jimmy Page pulling a guitar out of a vault of some kind. Maybe it wasn't his. It's the first time it occurred to me that those guys would bank their instruments. But any one of his guitars could fetch a high price. Insurance must be murder.

You'd think it would be better to tour with copies, but who knows? They have never had flooding to that degree in Nashville. It could have caught anyone by surprise. The same thing must have happened in NO. That bass I am fixing may have been in water. I opened the pickup and it looked like dry vegetation inside. Expect to see some of that stuff being for sale if they can't fix it properly.

Some guitarists apparently do all their recording with one guitar and one amp. John sykes only used his les paul and a mesa boogie mark II C+

the isaac eaton wrote:If this gold top still works I would totally play it, it looks awesome now.

Plus-fucking-one to that. You can't get a cooler looking relic, or a more tragic one. The owners could offset their losses by selling the guitars as projects or salvage or whatever. Wonder if there are any duos in there.

Will wrote:I just don't get it then. I can't imagine putting something I really cared about in storage, least of all a guitar.

I have tons of gear, but the stuff I care about stays with me. I'd never leave something that mattered behind. Never.

Hi guys, I am a recording engineer here in Nashville. I found this site because I've worked with Chris a lot and heard about his losses, and I wanted to read more about it. I read Will's question and thought I could shed some light on the subject. If this stuff has already been said, just ignore it.

Chris has a lot of gear, but if you listen to each of his individual guitars, they have (as you know) a certain tonality and feel to them. It may seem like overkill to bring 25 guitars to a session, but 1) a lot of times, he doesn't know what kind of music he is playing on and needs to be flexible, 2) even though he could get a sound somewhat close to what he wants with 2 guitars and a few pedals, it's not exactly what he wants. He's a very particular and exacting guy when it comes to tone and effects, which is why he will reach into a case and find that specific guitar/pedal/amp combo and get what he needs. It's also why he is playing on so many sessions... you can definitely tell the difference, and 3) along the same lines, have you ever been working on something and thought to yourself, I can't believe I have to take this spark plug out of my lawnmower with this bulky wrench when I have a spark plug socket that would get the job done in 30 seconds? It's the same with him. Bringing those guitars to session saves time, and time is money. His clients appreciate that he can get more done in three hours than someone who has to search for a tone/effect/beef and make whatever he has work.

One of the reasons Chris keeps his stuff in storage is because if he kept it at home his wife would kill him. There's just so much stuff. It's way more convenient to pay a service $100 a session and they put all his stuff in a truck and bring it to the studio. The Soundcheck crew also sets up all his effects and amps, setup and care for his guitars, and pack it all up after the session. Without Soundcheck, he would have to get to the session an hour early and stay an hour afterward. And Chris, like most Nashville musicians, is a family man. He loves the studio, but he wants to get back to his wife and son after the work is done. Most label sessions cover cartage fees in addition to the union musician fee. The producers want the guitarists to bring all their stuff. They want the best that musician has to offer.

He also kept his stuff there at Soundcheck because he uses it 9 hours a day, 5 days a week. If he left all the stuff he cares about at home, it would never get used. And yes, some guitarists only bring one guitar, one pedalboard and one amp, but I would wager that only happens when both the guitarist and the producer know exactly what sound they want. Or it's a cheap demo session that can't afford full cartage/setup.He also kept his stuff at Soundcheck because they're known as the best cartage place in Nashville. Their service is terrific, and the people who work there are all great guys who really care about the equipment and setup. There are other places that do cartage, and they all have their pros and cons, but Soundcheck is very well respected. It's also pretty big, and they have awesome rehearsal stages where the big acts can set up their PA, lights and stage rigs, and practice their shows with all the bells and whistles. I don't think it was always a cartage/rehearsal space though. I think the first building they had there was a warehouse of some kind that was converted. They probably got a good deal on the building because it is in an old industrial part of town, and they probably kept building because they have so much land there.

First post here, by the way. Sad that it had to be about the floods, but I am looking forward to checking out the rest of the forums.