# Have you ever seen the rain?



## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

Musicians lose millions in gear in Nashville flood - Yahoo! News

What a heartbreak for these musicians!

Holy crapoly, and the rumour is that Gibson has lost something like 14,000 instruments at the factory.

Peace, Mooh.


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## puckhead (Sep 8, 2008)

wow. that is awfully sad. The h2o tour is a bit ironic though.


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## Robert1950 (Jan 21, 2006)

*OUCH *!!! Not only is this sad, but it hurts.


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## Hamstrung (Sep 21, 2007)

At least Gruhn's has been spared. What a mess! 

I wonder if Gibson will have a sale on swamp ash bodied guitars... and swamp maple, swamp mahogany, swamp spruce...

Gruhn Guitars


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

My son sent me this: Doubt Bob Dylan ever thought Nashville's Skyline would look l... on Twitpic The picture is taken from what I gather is the bridge that connects downtown with the other side of the river. The large guitar you see near the Hard Rock Cafe sign is at the foot of Broadway. The Gaylord entertainment district, where all the honkytonks are, extends from that point up about 5-6 blocks. BB King's nightclub, however, has entrances on the water side, as do a number of clubs.

Way over on the left side, you'll see a red brick building with a triangular roof. That's the legendary Ryman Auditorium that some of you may know from the Neil Young "Heart of Gold" concert film. The Ryman is around the corner from a string of honky-tonks, and just 200m or so away from Gruhn's Guitars. In that same picture, you can see a beige building to the right of the Ryman. That's two blocks closer to the water. Gruhn's is halfway between them. Fortunately, it's uphill a bit, as is Ernest Tubbs record store - the mecca for anyone interested i recorded country or bluegrass music.

The Cumberland River, snakes around much of the city, and lends much of the charm....when it behaves itself. Unfortunately, its kind of low on the charm scale right now. Check this out: Cumberland River floods Nashville's Grand Ole Opry House - San Jose Mercury News

If you pull up nashville on Google Maps, and zoom in close enough so that you can see the downtown area and Opry Mills at the same time, you'll see a sort of "tongue" sticking down, which is the Cumberland. Gibson is situated at the tip of that tongue, about halfway between the airport and the river.


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## ezcomes (Jul 28, 2008)

that is absolutely shitti...nothing is safe...the world isn't what it used to be...i hope everyone will be alright down there!


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

There's a great tune called *The Cumberland River Shuffle* by Paul Anastasio, in memory of John Hartford. Seems heartbreakingly appropriate all of a sudden. My fiddle/guitar duo plays it often. 

Peace, Mooh.


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## allthumbs56 (Jul 24, 2006)

I stayed at the Opryland Hotel about 10 years ago - just an incredible, domed mega-complex. Today I saw some pictures of the flooding inside. Very surreal I tell ya.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

You can see how and why all that equipment was water-damaged here: Soundcheck Nashville Is Submerged [Lost in the Flood] | Nashville Cream | Nashville Scene


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

mhammer said:


> You can see how and why all that equipment was water-damaged here: Soundcheck Nashville Is Submerged [Lost in the Flood] | Nashville Cream | Nashville Scene


Thanks for the link. Just makes a guy's heart sink, doesn't it.

Peace, Mooh.


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## zontar (Oct 25, 2007)

I know someone who lost some gear from a smaller flood a couple of summers ago--fortunately he was properly insured.

This is the same kind of thing on a bigger scale--I feel bad for them, I'm sure my friend feels worse (for Nashville, that is)


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## puckhead (Sep 8, 2008)

mhammer said:


> You can see how and why all that equipment was water-damaged here: Soundcheck Nashville Is Submerged [Lost in the Flood] | Nashville Cream | Nashville Scene


those are some startling pictures.


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## tapestrymusic (Mar 10, 2009)

When I saw the title of this thread I couldn't resist passing on that I sold 4 Wampler pedals to John Fogerty yesterday. Sad situation for the music industry there.


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## Powdered Toast Man (Apr 6, 2006)

Hate to say this, but wait till all this flood damaged gear starts hitting ebay. There'll be expensive pieces being sold for awful cheap only to show up on your door with warped necks, etc. Hey, it happened on the used vehicle market after Katrina.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

I don't know about that. You can always find another 1996 Corolla to drive, if you sold your other one off after Katrina. You'll have a harder time finding another 63 Bandmaster or 66 Tele. My guess is that we'll see a spate of how-do-I-dry-off/restore? queries on forums. I've seen them before, for pedals. But I suspect it takes a lot more than sticking it in a baggy with some uncooked rice to suck the moisture out of a speaker cab or combo amp.


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## Ten46 (Sep 12, 2009)

*Musicians lose millions in gear in Tenn. flood*

Gear related but may be off topic, not sure where to post it, sorry if this is the wrong spot.

Really sad day for these folks:

Musicians lose millions in gear in Tenn. flood - Music


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## Robert1950 (Jan 21, 2006)

I know that people's homes and livelyhoods have been affected, but the idea of '59 burst or a '57 Strat being destroyed in the floods makes my innards spasm too.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

I'm one of those who finds the obsessive pursuit of "vintage correct" things like $100 bakelite knobs near-moronic. If something vintage can be made to play and sound better, do it, as long as you don't lose what the piece was originally good at. 

At the same time, vintage pieces are not only your working gear, but historical artifacts as well, and when the rareness or "extinction"*of a particular piece of gear in its original form compromises our ability to document or understand why somethng sounded or worked the way it did, that's a loss to the community. When I visited Gruhn's Guitars in Nashville, back in September, I was completely surprised by the presence of noncompensated bridges on the early SG/Les Paul guitars. If there are rare things now growing mouldy, as a result of the flood, and we are in danger of losing an understanding of, say, the relationship between a given style of bracing, finish and tone in an archtop from the 40's, that' s not just losing a piece of gear, that's losing a piece of knowledge.


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

A loss of any kind can hurt. In this case we're talking about tools of the trade, a lot of expensive ones, new, old, common and rare. The grief, inconvenience, cost (yes, insurance is likely to cover lots of it), collateral damage and losses, and heartache over treasured items can be traumatic. If this were my premises and/or my gear I would be grounded from most of my living for at least a few days if not weeks. Lots of property owners may be deciding whether to rebuild, cash out, or walk away. Sucks.

Peace, Mooh.


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## shoretyus (Jan 6, 2007)

Not just geetars...
This is a friend Murphs's shop 
Nashville Pro Hammond


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## the_fender_guy (Jul 22, 2008)

I feel badly for the musicians who lost gear but I feel worse for people who lost lives/loved ones.
Hope there will be some help extended to those who can't absorb their losses(like the average working musician)


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

Wow, that's tragic. Insurance will cover some things but some of the gear lost was old and rare, and in most cases hand picked. 


I'm heading to Nashville on Tuesday. I almost don't want to see it.


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## Steadfastly (Nov 14, 2008)

It's a great place for some "Muddy Waters" tunes on some of those wet Gibsons.


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