I toured in 1995 to Europe, South America & the US with Branford Marsalis. I wasn't a piano tuner at the time & we didn't travel with a piano but I took care of the gear & the stage. If you're talking about extra parts & such, I can give you my experience. We had an 88 key Fender Rhodes that was constantly breaking. At the beginning of the tour, we didn't have a case for it. Something that heavy is going to get mistreated without a case. We ended up finding a used case in Philly about half way thru the US leg of the tour. The keyboardist brought a duffle bag full of spare parts, tines, hammers, etc.. If he hadn't, I don't know what we would of done. The bigger the name, more money, more options. For instance, on Neil Diamond, Every piece of gear, lighiting truss, PA gets shipped everywhere the tour goes, no matter what! On Whitney Houston, they had so many people & so much gear out that everything was barcoded during rehearsals. AS it went on the truck, it got scanned into a handheld computer. At the end of the night, they new exactly what was missing if anything & what it was. First rule of touring - the toilet on a tour bus is for urinating & not the other option. Second rule of touring - always sleep with your feet pointing toward the front of the bus. If you have specific questions, you can email me directly if you like. rabyn@flash.net ra byn james
This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC