It finally happend TO ME!
I say "finally" because I've always known probability says it WOULD happen.
You just never know when or how.
But I am sans basses right now.
Yesterday I joined my fellow Bass Extremes Solo Bass Contestant Zuzo Mouasswer at Victor Wooten's Bass Nature Camp just outside Nashville.
We were the "special feature". Dennis Chambers was the "special" the day before - Mike Gordon is the special today. Pretty sweet company!
Zuzo and I each played a set and took questions - very cool and a lot of fun. Well okay - not COOL - its was 95 degrees and humid as hell. I'm seriously not accustomed to that kind of weather.
We played outside under a pavilion - but still - HOT!! This is camp after all.
Oh yeah - we played through . . . .(imaging me curling my brow and scruntching my nose) Bass Amps.
They were standard fare SWR/Epiphani head and 4x12 cab. They sounded like poo to my ears - but I'm used to playing through just plain loud clean power into the PA and monitors.
Anyway - it's VICTOR WOOTEN'S BASS nature camp - not the Jeff Schmidt show. ,-)
We both had flights out of Nashville in the 5 o'clock hour so wew rode to the airport together. Total side note - but it was great to hang with Zuzo again. He's an amazing player who does things on bass that will totally warp your mind. He's also a great guy - living in Boston now for 2 years while attends Berkely for Film Scoring.
There was bad weather somewhere in the air traffic system so SouthWest flights were all messed up. So the flight I was booked and confirmed and had checked into was no more - so they put me on another flight.
You know where this is going. Another side note - SouthWest's A line, B line, C line is a total sham. Even if you do check in a day early and get the "A" section (I did) you still have to wait in line - not for a few minutes - but people start forming a line for an HOUR before a flight. It's insane. Anyway.
Nashville to San Francisco was a direct flight on the way out - but it wasn't and the return trip.
I had to fly thru San Diego and then up here to Oakland.
So I was suppoed to get in around 10:50pm last night. But instead- after all the delays it was closer to 1am.
Fine - 18 hour days roll off my knife.
So there I am - sitting at the luggage/baggage claim -watching all these bags come off and . . . you know what's coming -
No basses.
My effects pedal /clothing bag came through - but no basses.
I carry 2 basses - the MTD and the Pedulla fretless. I stuff them into a poorly made but appropriately thin Gator gig bag that lets me put 2 basses into the wonderful SKB Roller Bass Case.
It's a neat package that I have high enough confidence with to use for air travel. And I've been traveling more frequently with Basses this year and so far it's been just great.
I know all the horror stories about checking instruments were true - I also know that statistically it's unlikely a bag will be completely lost forever.
I take the risk of checking the basses rather than trying to carry on because
A.) because the odds are on my side the bag will arrive as planned.
B.) I carry 2 basses (size) and I don't want to have to sweet talk Airline checking attendants EVERYTIME I fly just so I can carry them on the plane.
If I don't get to carry them on - they get stuffed - in the gig bag with all the other luggage.
Screw that.
So - I'm supposed to find out today (ha ha!) where the basses are and hopfully get them delivered to me at work. At least this is the highly "hopeful" SouthWest employee's point of view. We'll see. I'm highly skeptical. Cuz that's how I roll.
I was actually too exhausted to be pissed last night. I had dreams about it but I don't remember anything specific about them. And it was the first thought that leapt into my brain on waking up at 7am this morning - knowing I should grab another hour of sleep (I got home around 2am)
All I can say is leaving the airport without your nice basses is a pretty difficult thing to do.
But I'm also realizing I don't have an emotional attachement to the basses.
They're not "my babies". They're nice - expensive basses which will take more time & money to replace than I care to think about right now. But I'm not awash in dread - or fear about it.
We'll see. It's obviously too soon to begin planning to replace them - but seeing as how I can't just run out to the bass store and get a new one - I'll have to draw a line in the sand at some point and begin figuring out what to do.
So I guess this weekend I'll be forced to spend time with . . . no, not my wife - the 6 string!!!
ha ha! Kidding - the wife is away this weekend.
All I have is my 6 string, which I haven't been playing as much as I should anyway.