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Flying with a bass might get tougher...

bassrique

bassrique

Nov 27, 2007
4,910
1,775
Florida / New York
#1
They are starting to charge for the FIRST checked bag now. I'll take a wild guess and say that people will now try to bring as much as possible as carry-on. The inside of the planes will be crammed. Less room for the bass.

Mods, if this is in the wrong forum I apologize.
 
#2
Yeaaah just saw that on the news too. It really sucks for families as well, who travel with young kids, because of the amount of bags they naturally have to bring.

Its almost worth it now to get a super heavy-duty flight case, plaster your address and info all over the thing and check it.
 
#4
bassrique said:
Bump.

Opinions?
Click to expand...

I'm planning on flying to the mid-west for a family reunion this summer. I've never flown with my bass.

1. Were you folks able to carry-on your basses at one time, and can you still do it?

2. What do you think about flying now?

3. If you check your bass, what happens to the instrument in a depressurized luggage area?

4. Are the SKB cases good enough for flying, or do I need a coffin case?

Thanks ~

Sal
 
#5
yes
for flying take a bass u dont care about
and check it in after all it is a tool of the trade and should be depreciated over five years, and if you insist on taking your good bass then buy it a seat
 
#7
Always call the airline you are going to fly,and find out for sure what the rules are on taking instruments in the cabin.They all have different rules,and they seem to change all the time.Last October I was going to take a bass on vacation with me,and it was going to cost me an outragous amount of money,because the case dimensions were considered oversize.I work for that airline,and they wouldn't waive the fee. So call ahead just to be sure.
 
#9
Not for everyone, but...I recently travelled from the USA home to Australia with two basses...I took the necks off, wrapped them in bubble wrap and put them in my suitcase...
It worked for me...I had a little damage on a body where I didn't wrap in bubble wrap and had a tuner key bend which was jammed in the corner of the case...
(note to self: next time bubble wrap on necks AND bodies...remove top tuner key, too)

What was the cost to do this? nothing except a little extra setting up time at my final destination (my home, so what)
 
#10
Rick Auricchio said:
The luggage area is pressurized (otherwise liquids and aerosols might leak), but it's not well heated. So the issue is that it'll be much cooler than the cabin.
Click to expand...

I don't know why people worry about this... Yes it does get bloody cold but it's not going to destroy your bass. The only thing it will do is mess up your action. Seperate the neck, take the strings off and leave it all in your case, and you'll be fine. Given that you've got a decent flight case and the bass is secure inside and not able to roll around there will be no damage.

I mean hey, my dad has a cheap plastic travel bag like this one, made of fairly thin plastic and he's been using it for over 10 years, no problems, cracks or anything.

P.S: My dad's one doesn't have a penguin on it. :p

tuxstickerV11.jpg
 
#11
I took the necks off, wrapped them in bubble wrap and put them in my suitcase...
Click to expand...

FTW!

That's what I do. It's worth the time it takes so as I don't have to worry about BS. [I never had a tuner prob though.]

This is a huge reason why I don't like basses or guitars that aren't bolt-ons.

Anyway, the more I think about the direction of commercial flying the more I :scowl::rolleyes::rollno::eek::scowl::rollno:

Edit:

Seperate the neck
Click to expand...

This is funny. I've read many bass/flying threads waiting for people to post that they disassemble their basses like I do. I don't think I've read about one TBer doing it until two people show up on this thread to confess to the same thing. :D
 
#12
Today I thought of a funny scene that would be good for a comedy film.

Our sad-sack, for example Bill Murray, puts his bag into the overhead. Another guy comes along and sees that the bin is full. Flight attendant comes along, guy flashes his premium frequent-flyer card. Without a word or expression, the flight attendant yanks Bill's bag out and throws it onto the floor. Guy puts his bag into the overhead bin, and Bill stands there stunned...
 
#13
I do fly quit a bit. I so far have not had any major problems with checking the bass and having it go under the plane. I only once was able to have the bass in the overhead bin and that was in 1999.

I used to use the SKB44 Universal case but from flying a bunch the cases corners got destroyed. I’m not sure if it’s a design flaw or not. I now use the SKB44RW, the bass safe. I like it because you leave your bass in a gig bag put the gig bag in the case and wheel it around the airport. I am not a fan of dragging around a flight case in an airport.

The only problem I ever had flying was in Jan of 06 I was living in Germany and came back to the states to do a gig and they never loaded my bass on any plane. So… when I came to Germany it was still in the Nuremberg Airport where I left it and paid something crazy like 200 euro to have it actually get on the plane.
 
#14
I used to fly from California to Virginia every other week for work. I took a bass with most weeks and carried it on the airplane in a gig bag. Though the flight attendants did not always like it they always found a place for it in the passenger cabin.

For reference I was on American about 95% of the time. This was in 2005. I have also carried on on a Southwest flight and the flight attendants could not have been more accommodating.

If you have a one shot (round trip) I would use a gig bag and try to carry it on.
 
#15
what i have always done is check basses underneath in either flight case or hard shell with the strings loosened a bit. a music man hardshell eventually died from airport abuse but nothing ever happened to the basses (knock on wood, im flying with a couple in a few days). and we're talking national, international and cross-atlantic flights.
 
#16
Fender (way back when) once touted the benefits of their bolt on neck--- simply remove the neck and you have a portable instrument (convieniently forgetting troublesome de-stringing, stripped neck threads, neck pocket wear, truss rod angst, etc....) Ah well, good marketing angle, tho, for the 1950's gigging musician....fits in the rumbleseat of a DeSoto...
 
#17
jojo99 said:
Fender (way back when) once touted the benefits of their bolt on neck--- simply remove the neck and you have a portable instrument (convieniently forgetting troublesome de-stringing, stripped neck threads, neck pocket wear, truss rod angst, etc....) Ah well, good marketing angle, tho, for the 1950's gigging musician....fits in the rumbleseat of a DeSoto...
Click to expand...

It's not a problem, unless of course you do it a hundred times with taking the proper maintenance measures.
 
#18
bassrique said:
It's not a problem, unless of course you do it a hundred times with taking the proper maintenance measures.
Click to expand...

+1...de-stringing is hardly "troublesome"...I just loosened them and pulled them out of the tuners (left them in the bridge, coiled them into a ziploc bag and put bubble wrap around the bag).

Stripping the screws? Here's a tip...wax your screws, then put a couple of drops of superglue into each hole...screw the screws in...let the glue set overnight...screw in and remove the screws at will, you've just reinforced your screw holes...
(another option is brass inserts, of course).

Neck pocket wear...not if you remove the neck properly, you can put it on and off a hundred times, easily...

Truss rod angst?...not really...count the number of turns you've detensioned...mark it on a piece of paper stored with the hardware...
 
#20
GianGian said:
This thread makes me wonder if pros put all their guitars and basses to pieces after every show.
Click to expand...

I can only speak what works for me, as I don't fly every week. Flying sparingly, my aim is to avoid the arbitrary screw-arounds that airlines are known for. I'd have a stroke if a gig bagged bass of mine was to be "gate-checked" over my objections.

Heavy-duty flight cases also give me nightmares, but they do work for many heavy travelers.
 

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