I went to see Glenn at his shop, where he not only was able to fix my issue right away, he also showed me some of his models and told me a little bit about the business. “It takes me about 25 hours for one guitar”, he told me, which is, given the fact that if you look at the fine quality, does not sound that much. He uses a CNC lathe for cutting the exact form and shape out of the wood and, after assembling the neck etc., he sends the baby off to LA for finishing.

On his website, you can check out his current guitar models as well as his amp models. In addition to that, Glenn also offers various other guitar and amp-related services. You can also check out his videos on YouTube to see that not only can he build these things, but is also quite the master on the fretboard.

Making use of the web, Glenn can also be found on Facebook and he will also have a stand at The 2010 NAMM Show, January 14-17 in Anaheim, California. Should you make your way there, definitely pay him a visit and check out his work. It is really great and made with real passion for guitars and music.

I was planning to take my Washburn Acoustic/Electric guitar with me to Vienna so I can play and practice a bit, but I did not want to check it in with the other luggage. First and foremost because of the low temperatures inside the cargo area of the plane and second because I don’t have a hard case for it.

I flew with Austrian from London to Vienna and called their helpdesk in the morning to check whether having a musical instrument inside the cabin would be okay. Their conditions did not really make it clear, as they were only talking about instruments in general. The helpdesk guy told me that I can only take hand luggage with me that does not exceed 55cm x 40cm x 25cm and, surprise, surprise, a guitar is bigger. That man is a genius, I thought. He also advised me that I would need to book an extra seat if I would want to take it with me. This sounded a bit crazy, but I considered this to be true – cause after 9/11 everything seems to be in favor of more restrictions to increase the security of the passengers. Allegedly.

The thing is, I was also considering taking my guitar with me when I was flying EasyJet at Christmas. I am glad I finally did not, because of the very delayed flight et al. but the thing is: They (kind of) allow you to take a music instrument with you, but the guys at Luton Airport would not allow you to proceed through security, because of the “one bag only as hand luggage” rule. Awesome.

I also did some research on the web where people mostly reported that they had no problem bringing their guitar on board. Some told that they had to do a “gate check” which means that you leave your guitar at the door of the airplane (at the gate), similar to strollers etc., and Airport personnel then puts these things manually in the luggage area of the plane. Still not good, because of the temperature differences which can harm the body of the guitar.

So I finally decided again not to take the guitar with me to Vienna this time, but wanted to check with the staff at the airport if I could have.

First, I checked with the guy at the Austrian check-in counter. Answer: Yes, I can take it with me.

Second, I checked with one of the flight attendants on my flight: Answer: Yes, you can take it with you, if the guy at check in said it is ok.

Third, I checked with another ground staff at Vienna International Airport. He told me that booking an extra seat is nonsense and only applies if you have a really big instrument, like a chello or something comparable in size. A guitar can either fit in one of the overhead compartments or in special compartments that the crew has to store things like that. So yes, no problem at all, he said.

So it seems this checklist should be sensible to go through next time:

• Check with airline web site or helpdesk if they have any special hand luggage restrictions regarding instruments
• If you fly with Austrian Airlines, just take it with you
• Just to be safe, use a hard case for the guitar instead of a regular soft bag
• If you want to be really safe, do it like a pro

Further reading

• Tips For Traveling Safely With Musical Instruments (US)
• Official letter from the Transport Security Administration
• How to get a guitar on an airplane. (Or any other musical instrument, for that matter.)
• Can I carry a guitar in a plane? (Askville)
• TSA: Transporting Musical Instruments (US)

Some of you might not know who Andy McKee is. A couple of months ago, I did not know him either but then I stumbled across one of his videos on YouTube. It was almost unbelievable to see him play like that. And luckily I found out on his web site that he is touring and will be playing in London end of November. So getting a ticket was almost a must.

The gig took place at a pub called George IV, located in Chiswick. I have never been there and for some reason I expected a rather smoke-filled and dark place, crammed with people. But it was totally not like that. Very spacious, bright and tables to sit at (their event room is normally used for comedy nights as well).

Isodore and Clay was the band that played before Andy came on stage. I wouldn’t call them a support band, cause they were clearly more than that. The five guys, led by Michael as the front man, delivered a great performance and I really liked their soft and harmonic tunes. Full of emotion, I would say, and a great introduction of things to come that night.

When Andy came on stage, very down-to-earth and like the guy next door, wearing jeans and a Marshall t-shirt, the welcome by the audience was just amazing. He started the evening with a couple of songs on his “regular” guitar, including Drifting, Rylynn (dedicated to his best friends daughter), For My Father (dedicated to his dad) and Art of Motion. In between the songs, apart from re-tuning his guitar, he had little chats with the audience, showing what a funny and down-to-earth this 28 year old chap from Topeka, Kansas, really is.

After the intermission, he showed us his harp guitar, introducing it with “Are you ready for the tuba?”. The guy next to me said, with a smile: “What are you trying to compensate for?”. You can see him play this instrument on YouTube as well. The group of people who play harp guitar is reasonably small, but maybe you can spot Andy in one of the pictures of this elite group. Again, I have never seen someone play such an instrument, but – as everything that evening – it was pretty WOW. Songs after the break included Toto (the chorus part is probably my favorite), Heather’s Song (dedicated to his sister), Into The Ocean (in reference to his experiences when spending time in California), Shanghai (written almost entirely in a hotel room when being on tour in China) and She (dedicated to his girlfriend). He finished off the evening with an encore which will be featured on his new duet album, where he plays together with another amazing guitar player he got influenced by: Don Ross. The album is due to come out in January.

After the show a lot of fans stayed at the venue to buy CDs (the ones I wanted were out of stock already), get an autograph or have a little chat with the maestro himself. We got lucky and were one of the first ones in the queue and he signed our tickets for us. During this little chat I found out that he will be playing in Linz, Austria, next year and that he is – indeed – just a great and nice guy. And apart from having a great time, that evening made one thing clear to me: He just purely loves what he is doing – the love and passion for the music and the instrument. YouTube helped him to become famous in a way, but even if that would not have happened, he would still love playing and performing. He just loves what he is doing, and considering the response from the audience, people really appreciate that.

I was very thrilled by the nice and friendly atmosphere (I tried to capture it with some photos which can be found in the Photos section), that’s why I would say it was one of the best concerts I have ever been to. Normally, you don’t get that up close to such a great musician and I really enjoyed every second of it. So if you are lucky and Andy plays a gig near you…well, you know what to do.