Foam bass trunks for airline transport?

Steve Swan · #1 09-03-2007, 12:02 PM

A friend who has a traveling band has a Kay bass player who has successfully used the foam and fabric lightweight bass trunks for airline use. It seems pretty dicey to me. Anybody have positive or negative experiences with these things?

coreybass · #2 09-03-2007, 12:53 PM

I've been using a hard foam and fabric lightweight case for flying for the past two years. I've flown about 50 times with it in two years and have had two instances of damage to my bass. That's a 4% rate of damage.

Flying to Colorado a year ago on Jet Blue it got a small rib crack. It was easily repaired. Coming home from Denmark last fall on Air France the neck was snapped off entirely. I actually watched this happen while changing planes in Paris. The bass fell about four feet from the top of a moving luggage trolly at a fairly high speed. The bass hit the tarmac, scroll end first and went end over end. There was no other damage, just the neck, which probably happened on impact with the pavement. It's hard to say if any case would have protected it from that! I know several bassists who have had similar damage in Gage and Stevenson trunks. The bass has been repaired and is sounding better than ever.

Since then I've stopped bringing my carved bass on the road and bring an Upton Hawkes Laminate instead. It's a great bass and much more durable to the vigors of the road. I wouldn't recommend flying with any bass in any type of trunk that is not heavily insured and replaceable.

Personally I think you are about as likely to sustain damage in a lightweight trunk as you are in a heavier one. You are really taking your chances anytime you put an instrument under an airplane, no matter what case you use. I personally like my 4% odds better than I like stick basses, renting, loaners or being refused at the ticket counter in an airport.

There are two significant advantages to the lightweight case that I can see. One is that you are never overweight. My case with the bass in it weighs 49 pounds so I always get it on the plane. I don't even get charged oversized about a third of the time, even though it clearly is. With many airlines dropping their weight restrictions down to 70 pounds for overweight, this ensures that it gets on the plane.

The second thing is that because of it's light weight, I think it gets abused less by baggage handlers. It's so much easier to deal with and move around. One person can easily lift it. It's got a good set of wheels and is really easy to manage. Also because of the light weight, if it does get dropped the impact is a lot less and the foam absorbs the shock more than a rigid fiberglass material.

The disadvantage is that it is not nearly as durable as the more traditional trunks and gets torn up pretty good. It's strong enough for me to stand on it over the bridge without it caving in at all, but I'd imagine if it were crushed under something really heavy it would eventually give. The likelihood of it being under two hundred plus pounds of sustained pressure is anyone's guess. Again, I think you take your chances no matter what and so far I've had a decent experience with it.

I know at least two other bassists who are also using this type of case to fly and as far as I know they've had no damage to their instruments.

Hope that helps.

Corey DiMario

www.crookedstill.com
www.lissafiddle.com

milomo · #3 09-03-2007, 01:38 PM

What do these things look like? Could either one of you post a couple of pictures, or a link to a seller?

coreybass · #4 09-03-2007, 09:04 PM

Here are some pictures I found. This is not my bass, but it is exactly what my case looks like. My Upton is quite large and I put it in the case like this, without the soft case. It is a perfectly snug fit. With my carved bass, which is a bit smaller, I am able to fit it in with the mooradian bag on it, but as I said before, I don't fly with it in this case anymore.

Kevin Hsieh · #5 09-03-2007, 09:08 PM

I just flew from LA to New York in one of these. It's actually very sturdy.

coreybass · #6 09-03-2007, 09:15 PM

Hi Kevin,

I'm curious where you got yours. I bought mine from a shop in New Zealand two years ago. At the time it was the only place I could find that would sell it to me and it was a royal pain to import. I have been trying to find a better source here in the states, but haven't found one. Because these cases get torn up more, I think it's inevitable to have to replace them more often. Luckily they aren't nearly as expensive as a gage or stevenson trunk!

Keyser Soze · #7 09-04-2007, 09:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kevin Hsieh

I just flew from LA to New York in one of these. It's actually very sturdy.

How did you breathe?

Was it hot? Cold?

Ike Harris · #8 09-04-2007, 12:51 PM

There's another possibility of a lightweight case. I travel often with a guitarist who uses a case with a kind of corrigated synthetic material for his vintage Epi's for the last two years. It's called CaseExtreme. Looks like heavy black cardboard, has foam inserts, and he's had zero damage. I heard there was a bass case in the works. I'll check on it and get back. http://www.casextreme.com/models_all.htm

Ike

coreybass · #9 09-04-2007, 02:01 PM

Those cases look very cool. One for the double-bass would probably be pretty massive with that coffin-like shape. But then again, all bass trunks are massive. I like the idea a lot though. I think there is a real market for innovative case designs. As airline restrictions get tougher and tougher flying with a heavier case is less of an option.

Ike Harris · #10 09-04-2007, 09:30 PM

OK, they are making them, for 1k apiece. I have pics, if someone would pm me how to add them in the text part of the post. Seemed to have maxed out my space in the attachments.

Ike

Cathead · #11 09-04-2007, 11:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by coreybass

Those cases looks very cool. One for the double-bass would probably be pretty massive with that coffin-like shape. But then again, all bass trunks are massive. I like the idea a lot though. I think there is a real market for innovative case designs. As airline restrictions get tougher and tougher flying with a heavier case is less of an option.

Corey, I don't mean to highjack this thread, but I must interject this. I visited your group's web site and not only was I impressed with your music but highly entertained. I will be purchasing some of your music. I love it! OK, y'all were saying............

coreybass · #12 09-05-2007, 12:16 PM

Here are the pictures of the case Ike Harris was referring to. Looks pretty cool to me. Ike, do you know the approximate total weight of the case + bass. That's an important factor.

M Ramsey · #13 09-05-2007, 01:29 PM

I'd be interested in the details of a double bass case. Please forward any particulars here to talkbass.

Thanks,

Ike Harris · #14 09-05-2007, 03:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by coreybass

Here are the pictures of the case Ike Harris was referring to. Looks pretty cool to me. Ike, do you know the approximate total weight of the case + bass. That's an important factor.

Don't know any more details, but plan to ask about weight, wheels, bass size limit(will the bag fit?), and history of any instrument damage, etc. If there are more questions from you guys, let me know, and I will relay them along with mine. This one is the prototype and the next batch will be in white. Shipping is about $400(yikes!).

Ike

Ike Harris · #15 09-06-2007, 09:22 PM

Alright, here's the poop thus far: The case weighs 37 lbs, has 5 detachable wheels that stow inside. Comes with a roof rack that is also stored inside. He intends to make it so a gigbag will fit, but is in the developmental stage as far as how to make it fit different basses, etc. He has only worked with the Kay that someone gave him to use so far, but is wanting to know about other basses, so I told him about the deal with there being no standard size, etc. And the shipping quote is for coast-to-coast from San Diego. He's only gotten a quote from one shipper that will do the crating and packaging, so there could be some leeway there too.

So, he(Bruce) seems to be open to suggestions about all this, which is good, and I will try and lend some facts and ideas his way. Maybe there's a decent lightweight, durable(and affordable)case in our future. Will keep you informed.

Ike

Ed Fuqua · #16 09-07-2007, 11:08 AM

SWANSONG - as far as the original post/case - I wouldn't trust it. I flew out of Newark with a Gage case and got to watch my bass get tossed into the baggage cart where it sat in July sunshine with the neck down in the cart and the bottom bout sticking up in the air. Terry Clarke also told me a "funny" story about going to Japan, he was sitting in the plane looking out the window as the baggage crew was tossing his drums, which were the last things to be loaded, up onto the pile of stuff on the baggage cart. Bass drum, boom. Snare, boom. Floor tom, boom. And then the mounted tom, which would hit the top of the baggage pile, roll down and off the cart and hit the tarmac. They'd toss it up again and it would roll off and drop again.
He said he made through about 5 cycles of that before he just pulled down the shade and ordered a drink.

I want to keep as much between my bass and them as possible.

blastoff · #17 09-07-2007, 03:43 PM

just.. for what its worth, ive flown all over and the gage has never let me down...

coreybass · #18 09-07-2007, 06:32 PM

I agree, the Gage cases are great, as are the Stevensons and the Kolsteins. My only complaint with them is the weight, which becomes a major factor if the overweight limit is 70 pounds as it is on several airlines now. With those trunks you are pushing or exceeding 100 pounds and if they decide to weigh it and you are over, they can refuse it, and then you are stuck. Also many of the small European flights charge by the kilo so the cost can get pricey.

Again, I wouldn't put a priceless instrument in a hard foam case, but it does ensure that the instrument gets on the plane and doesn't make you go bankrupt getting it there.

Aerdna · #19 09-08-2007, 01:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by coreybass

I've been using a hard foam and fabric lightweight case for flying for the past two years. I've flown about 50 times with it in two years and have had two instances of damage to my bass. That's a 4% rate of damage.

Hi Corey,

Did your case get damaged as well those two times?

coreybass · #20 09-08-2007, 10:29 AM

[quote=Did your case get damaged as well those two times?[/QUOTE]

In those two instances where i had damage to my bass, the case was fine. A few rips in the fabric and dings in the foam is all that was wrong. I really think a lot of damage that happens to instruments happens from the hard impact of it being dropped etc. Like I said before, I know half a dozen bass players who have had similar damages to their instruments in the more traditional flight trunks.

The fabric on the case has gotten torn up quite a bit and I've had to repair the stitching on the handles etc. My feeling on these cases is that I'll have to replace them every two or three years because at a certain point they are just too ripped up to make repairing them further make sense. But at the same time, they cost a fraction of what a Gage or Stevenson costs.