TSA damages top cellist's bow

Well, there is the one on ebay. Rare and pricy but not completely irreplaceable.

I have season tickets to the symphony this year and I've wondered how these people deal with airport security. Many of them travel a lot. There's a woman with a golden flute, for example -- how does she safeguard that thing at TSA checkpoints? With a flute you can at least carry it on, but what about the big instruments? I guess we've seen here the answer to my question. And I think it's the case with many serious musicians (i.e., the kind that travel) that they have instruments of a quality that you can't just go down to Mike's Music and replace.

This is the first time it's happened, either. There was a guy on the #tsarants hashtag complaining about his guitar being broken. It's probably a pretty common event, as instruments are usually a very specific fit in their cases, and they don't close right if they instrument is not set perfectly in its place. I suppose certain instruments may be made of a metal that the scanner can't see through, but what are they looking for in these string instrument cases that they can't see on x-ray? Clearly they don't know anything about instruments if they're just smashing them back in. We know the checked luggage pillage and plunder crews aren't generally explosive experts. Or is a part of explosive expert professionalism scrawling "get yer freak on girl" and "c'mon son" on the TSA notice, dumping people's shampoo all over their stuff, taking a bite of somebody's cake and then stashing their stolen pills in some kid's suitcase? Anyway, if they're checking to see if the cello strings are detonation cords rolleyes I question how they would know the difference.

 

The comments on the original article (in a magazine for string musicians) are pretty awesome in their snooty outrage:

And this one I like mainly just for the new TSA name:

 

What about a cello would appear to be a threat when viewed by xray. I question what valid reason TSA would have to open the case. A cello case so strings and some metal bits would be expected in any view. TSA screwed the pooch once again.

 

Karen De Coster @ LRC Blog: TSA Breaks Cello Star's Bow (Feb 16 2013)

Alban Gerhardt, an international cello performer, has been in the news this week, and not for his cello playing. Gerhardt was on his way from Berlin to Madison, WI to perform with the local symphony orchestra when the thugs at Dulles Airport decided to search his luggage. The barely functional TSA goons probably thought that was the strangest looking bow saw they had ever seen.​

“My bow must have moved out of its cover, and instead of putting it back in, they just slammed the case shut and broke the bow that way over the bridge,” Gerhardt told Strad Magazine.​

...After checking the instrument in Berlin, Gerhardt rechecked it in Washington D.C. as he passed through customs. It was okay at that time, but he discovered the damage upon arriving at Chicago's O'Hare airport, along with an inspection notice from the TSA.​

The bow is a "rare Heinrich Knopf bow" that is said to be valued at $20k. The TSA brass recommended that Gerhardt file a claim for TSA review and adjudication.​

The average "gotta fly, will submit" serf doesn't care about any of these stories - after all, remember that one-third of the TSA's victims believe that body cavity searches are entirely reasonable.​

 

Unfortunately the TSA will just string him along.

 

Well, unless he gives them a really good rosin to follow through..,

 

Naaww! This is an open and shut case...

 

Decisions will be bassed on the evidence.

 

I hope court proceedings are conducted properly.

 

I bow to y'all's punning superority.

"Pizzicato? What the pluck is that?"

(And... on a lighter note... )

 

Caradoc - The Piano Guys have some good renditions of songs from classical to billboard top 50 songs.

 

I know. I own one of their albums.

Of course, I also own albums by "Gregorian," Richard Cheese, and the Pipes and Drums of the Queen's Own Highlanders (Cameron and Seaforth), so I will admit my tastes are eclectic.

 

Gotcha.

Their video guy is pretty good as well as some of those videos leave me in awe as they are shot on Digital SLRs.

 

You guys might like www.hober.com then.