Air Travel with my Guitar

MahlerGrooves · Unread post by **MahlerGrooves** » Tue Apr 12, 2005 10:25 pm

So, I am heading back to Germany on Saturday, and I intend on bringing my 410 with me. I think that TECHNICALLY my guitar is too large to be brought into the cabin, but I have heard that they occasionally make exceptions.

It has the Taylor hardshell case, but I dont know how strong that really is.

Has anyone here flown recently with their axe? What case did you use? Did they make you check it or did you get to carry it on board (even if it was after some polite begging)?

I have also heard that saving it to be checked in at the gate works well, as it is the last thing on the plane and more carefully handled.

Thanks for the info!

Usaj88 · Unread post by **Usaj88** » Tue Apr 12, 2005 10:57 pm

i've flown four times in the past year with my guitar. What they'll probably make you do if it's a hard case is check it on. I just checked mine in when checking in my luggage. And don't wait for it at the normal baggage claim, look for the oversize baggage claim, it will come out of there. They will open up the case and inspect it and leave you a nice little notice. It kinda screwed me over cause it was pouring out when they checked mine and apparently some retard forgot to relatch one of the latches so a little rain got in, but it didn't do any damage. Good luck

saleen · Unread post by **saleen** » Wed Apr 13, 2005 12:05 am

I tried it with southwest once and they told me I would have to buy another seat or check it, I gave it back to my roomate who took me to the airport and lived without a guitar for a few weeks. When I was overseas for 6 weeks I just rented one when I was there, like 100 dollars for 6 weeks.

rekeen01 · Unread post by **rekeen01** » Wed Apr 13, 2005 12:37 am

I think they say to loosen the strings due to the air pressure....is this correct?

Usaj88 · Unread post by **Usaj88** » Wed Apr 13, 2005 1:03 am

i didnt do anything physically to my guitar before and after transporting it and it sounded fine didnt even really need retuning or anything. But my guitars not that great, and mayeb it did some kind of damage i cant see right now but will in the future lol

mbgreen · Unread post by **mbgreen** » Wed Apr 13, 2005 3:45 am

I had a friend who had an HD-28 get ruined from packing it on a flight. Make sure you tune wayyyy down and get the tension off of the strings. He didn't and his neck snapped from some mis-handling.

My good friend just flew from Los Angeles to Germany two weeks ago and they let him take his hardshell case/guitar on as a carryon. The flight attendants just stowed it in a special case. Don't know if every airline is as accomodating though.

taylordb · Unread post by **taylordb** » Wed Apr 13, 2005 5:24 am

Yes, def take all tension off the strings and pack the neck (particularly the headstock) as tight as you can all around it....both below and above. You should have to use some effort to close the case.
Tightly pack all the sides of the body, and pack the top, but not so tight that you are putting alot of downward pressure on the top when you close the case.
One of the things I did was arrange to meet with airport security and have them fully inspect everything...inside and outside...then I repacked it in front of them while they watched...then they wrapped the case with a tape only they have that indicates the package has passed security so no one else messes with it (like re-opening the case) along the way.
Do a search on the subject because I know there is a thread on this topic where I posted links on suggested ways to pack you guitar (with pictures!)

Good luck with your flight!

mlb1399 · Unread post by **mlb1399** » Wed Apr 13, 2005 8:44 am

Man, this industry really has gone down the shitter. Terrible service, cramped seats, prices going up and doing a shitty job taking care of guitars it sounds like.

gvntofly · Unread post by **gvntofly** » Wed Apr 13, 2005 9:05 am

i fly with my guitar 2 to 3 times a year usually from VA to AZ. just lower the tension on the strings and pack it tight with a few t-shirts (thats what i use anyway). SouthWest has always been really good about taking care of my guitar. When i checked it one time the ID card on the case was a little worn so the lady that checked my guitar filled out a new card for me and made sure that it was secured to the case. most people understand how much your guitar means to you.

CWMCALL · Unread post by **CWMCALL** » Wed Apr 13, 2005 9:23 am

check out this article about flying with your guitar...

http://www.frets.com/FRETSPages/Musicia ... king1.html

DRMusic · Unread post by **DRMusic** » Wed Apr 13, 2005 9:37 am

rekeen01 wrote:I think they say to loosen the strings due to the air pressure....is this correct?

i find this hard to believe. the pressure on the neck induced by the strings (in tensions) is wayyyy higher than the effects of atmospheric pressure. even if the change in pressure has an effect, the neck would only relax a bit while at high altitudes.

MahlerGrooves · Unread post by **MahlerGrooves** » Wed Apr 13, 2005 10:09 am

mbgreen wrote:I had a friend who had an HD-28 get ruined from packing it on a flight. Make sure you tune wayyyy down and get the tension off of the strings. He didn't and his neck snapped from some mis-handling.

My good friend just flew from Los Angeles to Germany two weeks ago and they let him take his hardshell case/guitar on as a carryon. The flight attendants just stowed it in a special case. Don't know if every airline is as accomodating though.

What airline was it? I am flying on British Airways, and I hear they are pretty fair about stuff like that.

MahlerGrooves · Unread post by **MahlerGrooves** » Wed Apr 13, 2005 10:19 am

CWMCALL wrote:check out this article about flying with your guitar...

http://www.frets.com/FRETSPages/Musicia ... king1.html

Thanks! I did a yahoo search and didn;t find ANYTHING like that. Thanks to everyone for all the helpful hints.

czech · Unread post by **czech** » Wed Apr 13, 2005 11:14 am

MahlerGrooves wrote:
mbgreen wrote:I had a friend who had an HD-28 get ruined from packing it on a flight. Make sure you tune wayyyy down and get the tension off of the strings. He didn't and his neck snapped from some mis-handling.

My good friend just flew from Los Angeles to Germany two weeks ago and they let him take his hardshell case/guitar on as a carryon. The flight attendants just stowed it in a special case. Don't know if every airline is as accomodating though.
What airline was it? I am flying on British Airways, and I hear they are pretty fair about stuff like that.

british air is pretty bad. those people are morons.
And when you say hard shell case do you mean a chipboard case or an actual "Hard-shell"?

Davy28 · Unread post by **Davy28** » Wed Apr 13, 2005 1:21 pm

rekeen01 wrote:I think they say to loosen the strings due to the air pressure....is this correct?

Yes. I always de-tune my guitar before taking it on a plane, because I take great pride in the are I take of my guitars and do not want to take any risks while traveling with my guitar and having it the neck snapped by pressure changes.

I always take it directly to the gate and get a gate-check tag so I can retrieve it right at the gate when I get off the plane.

DMBTabs.com

Air Travel with my Guitar

Air Travel with my Guitar

Who is online