December GOTM!

[VitaminG]

Re: December GOTM!

who? Phoebe Cates? [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[Drsracing]

Re: December GOTM!

Same difference LOL

[Drsracing]

Re: December GOTM!

I'm sure there's a Hot chick Named Fibi Kates too [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[NickCormier]

Re: December GOTM!

Im so confused. lol

[jgcable]

Re: December GOTM!

[ QUOTE ]
Fuck the words in that movie.

I'm picturing Fibi Kates in my mind right now [img]/images/graemlins/drool2.gif[/img]

[/ QUOTE ]

And that great Cars song!!!!!

[MBreinin]

Re: December GOTM!

"You know, I have always thought you were cute, Brad."

[Badseed]

Re: December GOTM!

Doesnt anybody fucking knock anymore???????

[Brad_Olson]

Re: December GOTM!

All I need are some tasty waves, a cool buzz, and I'm fine. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[johnboyx1]

Re: December GOTM!

[ QUOTE ]
wow that totally sucks.. That was nice... I think if I was leaving in that Katrina storm, I would take my guitar with me lol

[/ QUOTE ]

A lot of people aren't really aware of the course of events preceding the storm - it has a tendency to make people who lost things seem like they didn't care or weren't concientious enough to save precious items. I'm not at all angry about the comments - I'm known for making some very cynical comments myself. But I thought everyone would like to find out how something like this happens...

The guitars were at my shop in New Orleans (along with a Marshall half stack, a custom 7 string / 31 fret neck thru, a '91 Jackson USA Soloist that didn't quite fall apart that badly, a Nuno Bettencourt, Fender Tele, Fender Strat, my wig AND my fishnet/pleather stage outfit - www.brah.net )

The storm hit Sunday night. But on Friday the storm was out in the Gulf having just cruised through southern Florida as a relatively minor annoyance. It was predicted to gather strength and hit Florida around Tampa as a medium strength storm. By Friday afternoon the path had changed - Katrina was now projected to hit Louisiana as a stronger storm. When I left work Friday this prediction had only just occured and, as was most often the case, was expected to change several times before landfall. I left work for my 45 minute commute to my house north of Lake Pontchartrain.

Late Friday we made the decision to possibly prepare to evacuate. Evacuations have become a relatively common thing - we do it about 1 - 2 times a year. But remember that at this time (late Friday) the storm was only a Category 2 hurricane.

Saturday morning everyone woke up and saw that Katrina had been upgraded to a Category 3 storm. By noon the interstates were becoming gridlock. I had a decision - do I drive back to New Orleans (the direction AWAY from my evacuation route) to batten down the hatches and sit in traffic for several hours just to get back to my house upon which we would probably be evacuating for another 8 - 12 hours (the year before it had taken our bass player 12 hours to get to Baton Rouge - usually a 1 hour drive) on the road?

At 4:00 all inbound traffic was reversed - a process called contraflow - setting my decision in stone. I proceeded to board up my house and prepare for evacuation Sunday morning - hoping the forecast would change.

By Sunday morning Katrina was a Category 5. We hopped in our cars and drove to Atlanta - our home for the next few weeks. We watched the news, checked for updates on the web, and the bad news started to roll in.

As was mentioned before by someone on the forum, the guitars were the least of my worries when I returned. Most of my family was completely homeless - we just recently moved from a place called St. Bernard which was completely submerged under 10 feet of water for 2 weeks. I was basically the only one left with a house (we have 8 - 12 people living with us now depending on who is in town.)

Having said that, I was pretty upset when I went back to check out the damage. My sign business (which is where I housed all my gear) had about 3 feet of water from the lake. Pretty much everything was destroyed. And this was a 100 year old building that had never flooded!

The Jackson case weighted about 50 pounds - it was totally saturated. The latches were rusted shut. When I opened the case I gently tried to pull it out by the neck - and that's when I saw what had happened. I'm pretty sure it's not fixable or worth fixing. Most of the binding is separated from the neck. One of the inlays fell out (when I was moving it I suppose.) The Floyd is rusted so bad the allen wrench holes are no longer usable. The joint in the neck has partially separated - I don't think it will survive with string tension.

Like I said, I'm very happy to have ordered a new SL-2. Hopefully it will play as well as this one. Black metallic - has anyone seen this color up close?

Check out our website for more pictures of the '86 Soloist in action. I am "The Licker."

www.brah.net

[img]/images/graemlins/headbang.gif[/img]

[Zerberus]

Re: December GOTM!

Nice site, and really too bad about the guitar. I hope you´ll be happy with the replacement, but it is a different guitar. You´ll likely have to get used to the non-recessed Floyd..

But I kid you not when I say everything can be fixed.... it will take a hell of a lot of work, but it´s possible... Dan Erlewine tells fondly of the near death of Albert King´s Lucy and the tenuus restoration process, and I´ve repaired my fair share of flood damage as well (though never salt water)....

The floyd and such will likely need to be replaced, but I´d like to take a crack at it, if nothing else to prove myself right or wrong.... PM me if you´re interested.

And good luck getting everything else sorted out and getting your life halfway back to normal [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

[MBreinin]

Re: December GOTM!

Johnny's story is very close to mine. Friday afternoon there wasn't much to worry about. I left NOLA Saturday morning and headed to Lafayette to pick up my kids. When I got back to Mandeville (which may be where Johnny lives, North of the Lake), I could see that there were tons of cars already lined up at the gas pumps. We went to the grocery store and shopped, it was pandemonium. I cooked all day (Gumbo of course) and watched the news. Finally, around 4, I decided to get the hell out. I had my babies with me and there was no choice, really. Packed up the kids, the food, all of my pictures, my late mother's mink coat, some clothes and my guitars. We then drove to where my ex-wife was living, which is a little rice town outside of Lake Charles, where she grew up....called Bell City. Took almost 6 hours, using many backroads.

I had taken my girlfriend to the airport that day to leave for Connecticut. She was visiting her parents. I, like Johnny, had a choice to make regarding going back to NOLA, since my girlfriend's cats were there at her apartment. I chose not to return since the evacuation for Ivan the year before had resulted in me being stuck on the Causeway for close to 5 hours...something I could not do with the kids.

Eventually the cats were rescued by a friend who is a Vet in Baton Rouge.

Then, Rita came through and trashed Lake Charles. My ex-wife and her new husband moved with my kids to Denver as a result.

I have been working in Montgomery, Al now since a week after the storm. I had finally been back in NOLA when the storm hit, I had 3 weeks home and then I was gone again. I have been away from home now for ovre 11 months, nearly continuously.

I used to see my kids every weekend. I haven't seen them since October.

The strain of these storms and the resulting damage to people's lives has dramatically changed many, many people...including me. My girlfriend and I were engaged before the storm, now we are on the verge of breaking up.

So, in realty...a couple of guitars lost is really pretty insignificant in comparison to what people have lost.

Mike

[Hamner1]

Re: December GOTM!

Well it certainly could be worse. Glad to hear your loved ones made it out.
Remeber pics are mandatory when the new soloist arrives.

[NickCormier]

Re: December GOTM!

Do you all get flood insurance? like do u get money for everything you lost? cause if the guitar is $2000, You could just get it back.. only bad thing is if there are rare guitars that cant be replaced =/

But I know when my house got flooded afew years ago, everything we lost we got money for, and just bought more important things.. like we lost a shitload of stuff, so instead of buying it all back, we bought a new house instead, even though we had like no furniture or anything hah Oh well.. I think my dad was lucky and had his guitars at his jam place when the flood happened... Cause I don't remember him losing them or his stack

[Emthrax]

Re: December GOTM!

Wow John.
I'm speechless. [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]
I'm happy to see your fallen Soloist as Dec's GOTM though! [img]/images/graemlins/headbang.gif[/img]
I'd have the guitar framed.

Cheers,
Em