In a message dated 2/19/2008 3:52:40 A.M. Eastern Standard Time, jeffc@netaxs.com writes:
won't put the wear and tear of humping it down 2 flights
of stairs, loading it into... oh wait - i need to rent a van,
then humping it down 4 flights of stairs at the station,
playing for an hour [and not using the mellotron for every
moment of that], then doing that all in reverse at 4:00 am.
my serial is 364 - one of the older ones still around, and
i feel every ding, every nick, every scratch VERY deeply.
it's in amazingly good shape - better than any other i have
seen in person for an m400. i guess is could bring the other
that's here, but it's not mine and who is going to do all
the carrying at that hour?
i'll drag it downtown for the RMI guys to use when they
are in town - happy to do it, but for me to go through
all that for a performance it takes me longer to get to
than i'll actually be playing for? nope. it's for a radio
show at 2:00 am that probably 20 people will hear.
...jeff
That's why God created flight cases. For me it's not so bad. I just roll is out of the basement door onto my deck. Then I push it around through the side gate and up the embankment to the driveway, lean the flight case against the rear bumper of my Expedition and lift the bottom of the flight case. It just tilts up and I shove it in.
I imagine the M4000 will be a whole different story. That's why I have my wife in weight training.
I can see your point. If it was that much of a hassle I wouldn't do it either. As for risking damage, I don't ever let anyone wrangle it but me and it always travels in the crate. I will always accept assistance loading and unloading, though.
If I arrive home from a show really late, it sleeps in the car until the next day. My neighbors already think I'm nuts. Wheeling a giant flight case around to the back yard at 4 AM would only enhance the myth. Why bother?
Frank