Comment Re:not just diy devices (Score 1) 380
It isn't just do-it-yourself gear that can arouse suspicion. My Zoom H4N digital recorder has elicited attention from the TSA. The two built-in mikes at the front apparently make it look a lot like a Taser on the scanner.
I routinely fly with a Pelican case full of microphones. Of course the case is decorated with the usual backstage-pass stickers and whatnot, and there's alway a roll or two of gaffer tape and printouts of stage plots and input lists in there.
The TSA people at PHX are always baffled. "What are these?" "They're microphones." "They don't look like any microphone I've ever seen!" Duh, you're not a professional sound engineer, so that's why you've never seen a Shure SM91 or Beta98 or a CAD E-100 or an EV 408. Sorry to burst your bubble, but not all microphones look like the shit you see on "Glee."
So they have to search the whole fucking case every time, open up every pouch, and swab each one, trying to prove that everything is safe. Then I have to re-pack it all, because I don't want anything to get wrecked.
What's funny is that the Boys from the 'Hood who man the stations at EWR see the case come up on the xray, and they always say, "ah, microphones! What band do you work for?" And I'm pretty sure that those guys would have no problem taking down any real terrorist who came through their security line.