TSA aborts terror attempt.

Man, I feel safer today than I did yesterday!! She looks a little shifty, especially with that magical flute!! :eek:
 
The TSA has yet to nab even one terrorist. Security theatre at its finest.
 
Listen, you let a flautist onboard, and pretty soon you'll have cellists who want to get on airplanes. The next thing you know the entire orchestra may storm the plane.

Better to cut off the head of the snake before things get out of hand.
 
I wish I had a nickel for every time I had to sleep on the floor at the airport. Wait..... I save over a hundred bucks every time I did...
 
Whew! Thank goodness the TSA was there to protect us from gold flute headjoints. Cuz, there are thousands, and thousands of people dead from gold flute headjoints. That is a very dangerous thing to have around aircraft and a confined group of people. Flute headjoints are nothing to mess with. Think of the children!

So, for anyone not familiar with woodwinds, or basic instruments, the headjoint is where the mouthpiece is, and then a slender tube down to the tenon or barrel, and that connects to the body where the keys are. Basically the same for any woodwind. The tiniest ding, or dent, or distortion close to the lip pad(mouthpiece) is fatal for the instrument. Dents or dings down the body can be serious too, but anything close to the mouthpiece will distort and ruin the entire range of the instrument.

Based only on the pic, that appears to be a Powell custom rose gold(sterling mech) flute. I've never worked on one, but they are ~$25-40k, and to repair or replace the headjoint would be hugely expensive.

https://powellflutes.com/flutes/handmade-custom
 
docmirror said:
Whew! Thank goodness the TSA was there to protect us from gold flute headjoints. Cuz, there are thousands, and thousands of people dead from gold flute headjoints. That is a very dangerous thing to have around aircraft and a confined group of people. Flute headjoints are nothing to mess with. Think of the children!

So, for anyone not familiar with woodwinds, or basic instruments, the headjoint is where the mouthpiece is, and then a slender tube down to the tenon or barrel, and that connects to the body where the keys are. Basically the same for any woodwind. The tiniest ding, or dent, or distortion close to the lip pad(mouthpiece) is fatal for the instrument. Dents or dings down the body can be serious too, but anything close to the mouthpiece will distort and ruin the entire range of the instrument.

Based only on the pic, that appears to be a Powell custom rose gold(sterling mech) flute. I've never worked on one, but they are ~$25-40k, and to repair or replace the headjoint would be hugely expensive.

https://powellflutes.com/flutes/handmade-custom
Click to expand...
Well, at least that one was reasonably new. One of the people mentioned had a stupid used violin. USED! http://classical.rachelbartonpine.com/bio_violins.php
 
nddons said:
Listen, you let a flautist onboard, and pretty soon you'll have cellists who want to get on airplanes. The next thing you know the entire orchestra may storm the plane.

Better to cut off the head of the snake before things get out of hand.
Click to expand...

Absolutely. The last thing we want is carefully-orchestrated attacks.

Rich
 
docmirror said:
Pfft, what a POS. ;)

Me no work on fiddles. Brass, woodwinds(metal too), and a few Fender, Ibanez, Kay or Silvertone guitars. But - I'm no luthier and fiddles are way out of my league.
Click to expand...

I'm actually looking for a luthier to replace a couple of acoustic guitar bridges. They're not easy to find. The luthiers, I mean, not the bridges.

Rich
 
RJM62 said:
I'm actually looking for a luthier to replace a couple of acoustic guitar bridges. They're not easy to find. The luthiers, I mean, not the bridges.

Rich
Click to expand...

What make of guitar and how old? Do you have the parts?
 
docmirror said:
What make of guitar and how old? Do you have the parts?
Click to expand...

One Ibanez and one Gibson. Both about 15 years old. One bridge needs reattachment. The other is cracked and needs replacement.

Neither guitar is especially valuable, so I may buy the clamps and consider it a new learning opportunity. I'm undecided at the moment.

I'm very surprised at how few luthiers there are. A hitchhiker I picked up gave me the number of a guy in Woodstock, but he hasn't gotten back to me. I also sent contacts to a few I found on the Web. Most of them never answered, and the one who did said he's too busy right now.

Rich
 
docmirror said:
Based only on the pic, that appears to be a Powell custom rose gold(sterling mech) flute. I've never worked on one, but they are ~$25-40k, and to repair or replace the headjoint would be hugely expensive.

https://powellflutes.com/flutes/handmade-custom
Click to expand...

.... Wow. I live a stones throw from Powell and have wondered what they were all about. Good to know that something locally made has an impact...
 
Lot of strain on the bridge of the guitar. I'm betting neither of these have a 'zero fret' which is a fret bar directly below the bridge. So, the bridge is actually the zero fret. On cheaper guitars, there is a raised fret right below the bridge, and that sets the string height. If you do the job yourself, getting the string height perfect is the real job. Use a set of feeler gauges and get the current string height at the first fret for reference. You'll need a good diamond hand saw with several gauges of diamond cut wire to get the bridge string slots done right. If you use the same large size saw for all the string slots the upper octave strings will tend to vibrate. Once you get the bridge mounted you start cutting in the slots. It is a ONE TIME job. If you go too deep, oh well, start over. One more thing, to preserve the strings from breaking, if you are careful, the slots in the bridge should actually be cut in an arc, maybe 25deg tapered toward the base of the nut-pin coming through the headstock, and down toward the first fret, so that the bridge supports the string over the entire width of the bridge, and doesn't have a 'kink' where the string bends abruptly.

Sounds easy! Right? hehehheee

<edit; Hey, look what I found? http://www.ebay.com/itm/GeetarGizmo...uthier-Tool-/131082180112?hash=item1e851b5610 >
 
Last edited:
docmirror said:
Lot of strain on the bridge of the guitar. I'm betting neither of these have a 'zero fret' which is a fret bar directly below the bridge. So, the bridge is actually the zero fret. On cheaper guitars, there is a raised fret right below the bridge, and that sets the string height. If you do the job yourself, getting the string height perfect is the real job. Use a set of feeler gauges and get the current string height at the first fret for reference. You'll need a good diamond hand saw with several gauges of diamond cut wire to get the bridge string slots done right. If you use the same large size saw for all the string slots the upper octave strings will tend to vibrate. Once you get the bridge mounted you start cutting in the slots. It is a ONE TIME job. If you go too deep, oh well, start over. One more thing, to preserve the strings from breaking, if you are careful, the slots in the bridge should actually be cut in an arc, maybe 25deg tapered toward the base of the nut-pin coming through the headstock, and down toward the first fret, so that the bridge supports the string over the entire width of the bridge, and doesn't have a 'kink' where the string bends abruptly.

Sounds easy! Right? hehehheee

<edit; Hey, look what I found? http://www.ebay.com/itm/GeetarGizmo...uthier-Tool-/131082180112?hash=item1e851b5610 >
Click to expand...

Thanks!

I ordered the saw set even though I'll probably wind up hiring a professional to do the Gibson (which needs a new bridge), and the Ibanez is just a re-glue. I mean, the saw set is cheap enough that it's good to have.

Maybe I'll do the easier Ibanez job first and then decide whether to do the more difficult Gibson job.

On the subject of instruments, I've also been thinking about taking up the hammer dulcimer. There's just something intriguing about it. I was actually thinking of building one, which looks easy enough to do -- until you get to the string set-up, which looks pretty hair-raising.

Rich
 
If musicians are allowed to travel freely, the terrorists have already won.
 
A pic is much easier to conceal. We need to think of the children.
 
How much longer do we have to endure the US version of the East German Police?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=2&v=-LDzOi1dyAA

I talked to lady who had this happen:
TSA maroon: "Take off your wig." (where is that written?)
- It's not a wig.

TSA maroon: YES IT IS! GRABS HER HAIR AND YANKS FORCEFULLY AND PAINFULLY!

TSA maroon: Move along.
 
steingar said:
The TSA has yet to nab even one terrorist. Security theatre at its finest.
Click to expand...

Oh, I'm sure they've grabbed many, many terrorists. Unfortunately they didn't know which ones were which, they just groped...errr...grabbed them all.
 
She could have hidden more semtex in her body cavities than the 1" length of cork in the headjoint. Can we please, please, please end this failed TSA experiment now?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top