unstring bass for flying?

[kontogiannis]

I recently bought a bass online and was wondering if I should have the guy unstring my bass in oder to ship to me by airmail.

[Theonestarchild]

I wouldn't worry about it. But then again, I'm not anal about my equipment.

[Stox]

No stringed instrument should be left unstrung for any length of time. De tune the instrument half a step before flying so as to keep the neck under some tension. If you leave it unstrung it will take ages and constant adjustment getting the instrument to play right.

[elros]

No, I don't think so.
When strung up, a bass is stable. The truss rod force and string pull is in equilibrium. When I travel, or when I ship an instrument, I make sure it is tuned. And in most cases, it'll still be in tune on arrival.
Taking off the strings makes no sense at all to me.

[Lorenzini]

Grasshopper from Bass Central wrote to Bass Player mag and it was published in the letters section in the March of '06 issue.

He stated that it is a bad idea to detune or unstring a bass to ship. For exactly the same reasons stated above. The trussrod is used to high tension and when you take that tension away, it will screw up the neck.

[Garry Goodman]

fwiw, I don't loosen strings if my bass goes in the cabin of the aircraft, but if it goes below in an unpressurized area, I always loosen the strings a bit.It gets cold down there and the wood contracts , the neck moves.WhenI haven't done this, I've noticed J get fret buzz when I play the bass later.Flying higher than 800 feet does affect the instrument.
just my opinion.

[Lorenzini]

Originally Posted by Garry Goodman

fwiw, I don't loosen strings if my bass goes in the cabin of the aircraft, but if it goes below in an unpressurized area, I always loosen the strings a bit.It gets cold down there and the wood contracts , the neck moves.WhenI haven't done this, I've noticed J get fret buzz when I play the bass later.Flying higher than 800 feet does affect the instrument.
just my opinion.

Good points.