Thank to god... doing hell of a trip, it would suck if Paul wasn't there! haha

Guitar shipping --
It depends on the airline. Sometimes you can check it, and sometimes you can buy an extra seat and carry it on.
If there's any doubt about the safety, I think you can rent guitars/gear from this studio he's having the lessons at -- call and ask -- and then you don't even have to bother bringing your own. It's probably the cheapest way to work things out if you have a checked-bag fee.
For people who have band-friends in the area, borrowing their guitar for an hour-fifteen might be an option. Although they might get jealous when they find out what you're doing with it - depending on what genre they studied the most... :)

GREAT news that these are sold out, too. (dang, that was quick!)
It's gonna be a lot of teachin'...

edit: hammer-away, it looks like Paul will be busy at NAMM on Saturday - otherwise, why wouldn't the new VIP lesson day be booked for Saturday, a day most people have off work? So plan your heavy-duty NAMM-waiting-in-line for Saturday. Have fun and wear comfy walking shoes. The place is immense. The convention center even has a small airport. It's that big.

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so i got a ticket for this for sunday the 17th. the only dilemma i have is that i live in colorado so flying out would be no problem. i am just not old enough to rent a car. any suggestions to how i would be able to get there and back? preferably not a taxi because i do not want to spend and arm and a leg. thanks gents!

Bus?

Well, looks like my mind was made up for me.. Can't find any airlines that will promise to allow me to carry on my guitar. Likewise, I will not check it as baggage. I will not risk one of my guitars for this.. So it looks like I'm out..

ive flown many times with my guitars going in baggage. Domestic and international, never had a problem. If you have a hardshell case it wouldnt be a problem.

I used to fly around the country for a living. Used to check cases full of tools to and fro for my job installing and repairing X-ray scanners. Several times I had locks cut off cases and tools stolen out of them.. And several times I'd arrive at the airport and need to go to a job site and my tools went to another side of the country..NO WAY will I risk one of my guitars with that.

I've never flown internally in the US, but I've flown internationally from the US as well as through Europe with a guitar. I've always been allowed to take it with me if it's in a soft gig bag. You can ask to sit with it, but most of the time, they put it in one of the storage cupboards in front. I pad the (already heavily padded) gig bag with some clothes and stuff.

Not an option for me.. My guitars don't leave my house without a hardshell case..

Yesterday was the deadline to pay.. I'm not going.

I thought that yesterday was the deadline, too... it's actually tonight at midnight, but only for people who signed up for the first 2 days. If you signed up for the newly added Friday sessions, I bet the deadline is not today - it's probably next week or so.

GMail deleted another one. I e-mailed Paul that I could not go... it has disappeared! I don't even have a great catastrophe story for you guys. Just a bunch of annoying finance stuff that kept me from being able to meet the deadline. Even if I'd begged for another week it would not have worked. It's not even an issue of being "broke" - I couldn't get the plane tickets booked or the PayPal thing paid for 2 separate and equally stupid credit card related reasons. So I e-mailed TJ (in tears) and cancelled, and then while I was in the middle of e-mailing TJ - you guys know how fast I type - Paul e-mailed me, and that *really* made me cry (he wasn't being mean, it was just that it was so coincidental). So I hit 'reply' to his e-mail and... poof, it's gone.
I was just miserable!

I'd even gotten Intense Rock (I & II) a few days prior as a gift. It was like preparatory stuff. Great gift, very inspiring!

So - I'm not going either, and today's the first I can speak of it. I was so hurt. Oh well though, you know? *licks wounds*

A guy on rig-talk will record his session, so, (this should be the phrase under my name) "those of us who cannot attend" will still hopefully get to check out a little bit of the teachin' that goes on.

Hopefully these will all sell out.

Have fun!!

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i'm going! purchased my ticket today. so excited/nervous!

Well today was the big day for the VIP Lesson.
I got there early and had nice chat with two of the other players, one from denver and one from alaska. we sat there talking while paul would walk by casually and warm up in the next room. eventually we all got called in, tuned up and started jamming. i thought i was prepared but nerves got the best of me, and my playing was not at its best but paul was absolutely great. we all had our round of questions and paul answered them with tons of examples and good stories. following the lesson we got pics, autographs, a shirt, and picks. it was a really great experience overall and im really happy i went. i recorded a few audio clips during the session which i will try to upload sometime this week. here are a few pictures:

I was the one from Denver! That was so much fun, but nerves got the best o me as well

haha i know man i got home and started playing fine. i was like damn, why was i unable to play like this an hour ago it was really good to meet you though. when are you headin' back?

I don't know, hopefully soon. I'd love to do that again. I'll let you know wheni come again!

hahahah sharpants gona be pissed!!

cool pics! Thanks for posting!

So you got to pose with the blue Fireman.... jealous!

Here's one of my photos. That guitar is built like a tank. Very hefty. Told Paul that me posing with the Fireman defeats the purpose.

I bet it takes some courage to flip Paul's guitar upside down and take your hands off!

^^^ I love that pic. That really is the iceman vs. fireman for you right there.

Glad to see some of you guys got to take advantage of the lessons! I'm extremely jealous of all those kickass picks.. if you ever need a quick buck you know where to find me!