Re: Moving The Titanic #101

[mwolk@awod.com (Michael Wolk)]

    Is this an old thread, you betcha..but its got a good ending. Ok, back
in Jan '95 I was purchasing a B3 and looking for an appropriate vehicle to
move it in. Got tons of good advice on this; everything from old horse
trailers (sans horse turds) to particular MiniVans. The best advice was to
get an Astro (Tom Tuscon). This did not fly with my girls so it was a
Caravan. The used '94 I located (Grand Caravan) was too costly so I ended
up buying a regular '94, short wheelbase. Well a gig situation that
justified the B3 did not occurr until a few weeks ago and even that was
pushing it: Hilton Head Is., 2 hrs. from here, one nighter. Good people in
the band all around, very accomodating.
   Saturday morning a fellow came by with a clipboard running for
schoolboard. I put his ass to work for the promise of a few votes. We had
the B in the Bus in 5 minutes. Door clearance on the sliding side was less
than one half inch on either side (incl. Leslie Switch). Key point: The
Roll Or Kari wheels (lowered) were resting on the footboard. I thought the
door would never close. Guess what: NO PROBLEMO! Note the back of the organ
was up against the front bucket seats.
   Next I backed it in the garage and slid in the 122. It was up against
the lower R.O.K. strap which I loosened (for some reason this was not necc.
last night). The bench went in alongside the 122. Barely enough room. I
dropped the milk stool with the cords in it on the upside down bech and
threw in a couple mike stands. A floor monitor went on the passenger seat.

   Now the job (technically oriented people skip this part). As soon as it
entered the room people came around and asked dumb questions ("that's one
of those things that hums alot, aint it?"). As it was a bar, the appearance
of this large object did divert people's attention from the braves game for
about 5 minutes. From the opening song and the first note smiles lit up on
all the faces of almost everyone there. Ladies came down and sat at tables
directly in front of us and they began to clap and groove to the music. Now
I've sat in this same bar playing my clone stuff with many of the same
licks to almost no response.

   Did I enjoy myself? God yes. Never having played a B3 with a band I
could not believe the sound. It cut through the wash of 2 guitars like
nothing. Of course they were playing at reasonable volumes and nobody was
walking on anyone else. The expression of the thing was incredible. When we
played "Bring It On Home" and "Stromy Monday" I was estatic and so were
most of the people in there.

   Now the bad stuff. At 5:00 AM on the drive back I had to snooze. Just
try sleeping across those damn front van seats with a monitor poking you in
the side. The Combahee river boat landing was somewhat safe, but if you
live up North you might want to make sleeping arrangements. At 7:00 I got
up and drove the rest of the way home. Got a 13 year old from accross the
street (avg. size) to help unload it. Again, not problem. Was it worth it?
The advice of my drummer who has done this since the '50's is to bring it
on 2 nighters. I think that's good advice balancing the musical benifits
and logistic hassles.



   "Walkin' Wolk"