Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Best case for traveling overseas?
- Thread starter bordinco90
- Start date
There are no guarantees at all.
I have several friends who have flown around 15 times or more per year with their instruments over the last 10-15 years with acoustic guitars. One of them swore by her top of the line Hiscox (which are advertised with up to 6 people standing on them) until the day where it got completely demolished.
Another one uses a thick mono soft case and has had only one issue where they cracked the face of the guitar in all those years.
My last flight to Australia for a festival we put my daughter's electric guitar in my Gator Pro Go padded bag and it arrived without incident. My younger daughter taped a big note on her Mini Maton case saying "Dear Baggage Handlers, my owner is a teenage girl who saved for a long time for this guitar and needs it to play in a music festival. Please take good care of me". The baggage handlers on the return leg wrote on it "Done... hope the festival goes well". It's one of the few times we've flown with instruments where both guitars have arrived with no damage to the case or contents. I took the safe route and borrowed a bass from our Australian based drummer (actually a bass player) for the festival.
Talking about this with my best friend in Australia who is a senior baggage handler in Sydney I speculated that when some handlers see a hard case they assume that it can have just about anything, of any weight, stacked on top of it whereas when they see a soft case they know that it needs to go on top. He agreed that in most cases this holds true....... but he also went on to say that some of his colleagues are so bereft of common sense you can sometimes be unlucky. He mentioned one day where he went into the hold to check the loading and could smell wine everywhere. One of the team had stacked some boxes of wine, clearly marked as "Fragile, top load only" under numerous very heavy cases smashing the bottles contained. When he asked which dips**t loaded them on the bottom the bloke responded that they were in boxes and should be ok.
So, what's the moral of all this? Doesn't matter what you do, if you're unlucky they can break just about anything.
I travelled to France with the SKB shell (bass in a bag inside). No problem.
I have a trip coming up to Rhode Island and would like to bring my bass; flight time is about 1 hour 15 minutes.
American tells me that they can no longer guarantee that a musical instrument will be stowed in the cabin area (there website says this too).
Between extra baggage costs or buying the bass a seat, I think I will just take the neck off and pack in a suit case.
Just not worth all the hassle (to me).
American tells me that they can no longer guarantee that a musical instrument will be stowed in the cabin area (there website says this too).
Between extra baggage costs or buying the bass a seat, I think I will just take the neck off and pack in a suit case.
Just not worth all the hassle (to me).
We are talking about an electric bass here. Go over to the double bass side if you want to hear traveling & airline horror stories....
This is what I do when travelling so I have something to plunk away on or practice songs I need to know. I have used this butchered travel bass for one live set but wouldn't use it for a proper gig or festival even though it does play and sound pretty good.
It just fits in a medium sized travel bag.
And with just a leatherman to screw the neck on it is playable in two minutes.
It just fits in a medium sized travel bag.
And with just a leatherman to screw the neck on it is playable in two minutes.
If you have to fly with your bass, and your bass absolutely must arrive at your destination in one piece, buy a decent case and check it. Leave the case unlocked as TSA will destroy the case to see inside if you leave it locked. Keep a copy of the receipt for the case inside the case so TSA will see you will be able to file a claim for the case if they tear the inside apart. You can try to talk your bass into the cabin, but I really wouldn't recommend it; you may be able to, but under no circumstances should you consider the notion that getting it into the cabin is guaranteed.
I'm based in SoCal, a little over an hour from the Anvil factory, so I had Anvil custom make the pictured case for my unusually large bass. You can see I had it built with wheels on one end and a handle on the other, so getting it through the terminal etc. is a breeze. Anvil has a number of stock cases for more typical basses. Jan Al also makes really nice flight cases. This case has been on countless flights and taken everything the ground crew monkeys could do to it while keeping my bass safe.
I'm based in SoCal, a little over an hour from the Anvil factory, so I had Anvil custom make the pictured case for my unusually large bass. You can see I had it built with wheels on one end and a handle on the other, so getting it through the terminal etc. is a breeze. Anvil has a number of stock cases for more typical basses. Jan Al also makes really nice flight cases. This case has been on countless flights and taken everything the ground crew monkeys could do to it while keeping my bass safe.
Attachments
That was my thought too. As much as I was flying at the time, it did a stellar job.
Aside to this, when I took it on its first trip, I was on Alaska Air. Their smaller puddle jumper type planes. I was kind of looking forward to seeing how it stood up to the abuse. Unfortunately, the ground crew gently handed it from one person on the ground to another up in the cargo hold. Had to wait for American to abuse it properly.
I've been using one for years with no issues. The other players I travel with have them too also with good luck. The baggage handlers managed to break a handle once and SKB instantly sent me a new one at no charge, great to deal with.
If it was me, I would plan on removing the neck and take it as a carry-on. That's just me. Congrats on the festival gig!
I've been flying with my bass 5-10 times a year for the past 3 years. Fortunately my basses have survived up to this point. SKB has been great.
The Pro Rectangular Electric Bass Case (Model: 1SKB-44PRO) Did me well for about a dozen flights. Finally the luggage killers dropped from their highest height and smashed the corner. The case was still usable but it wouldn't stand on edge when I set it down.
I upgraded to the iSeries Waterproof ATA Bass Guitar Case (Model: 3i-5014-44) and i dont forsee anything every destrpying that thing.
Note that I always pack my bass securely in the case. I use my travel clothes to pack and pad it. In addition to taking some tension off the strings, I support the neck with underwear, wrap the headstock in a shirt, pad round the headstock with more rolled up clothes, put another shirt between the strings and fretboard, and carefully wad socks and underwear around the body to pad and secure it. My basses aren't Fenders so they don't fit the cases exact. Saves me luggage and keeps my bass secure. Been all over the US, Canada, Mexico and Europe this way. Only downside is if you don't get a chance to unpack before you have to play a gig, like airport directly to festival, your sock sand underwear get to come out on stage. Its good for a laugh.
The Pro Rectangular Electric Bass Case (Model: 1SKB-44PRO) Did me well for about a dozen flights. Finally the luggage killers dropped from their highest height and smashed the corner. The case was still usable but it wouldn't stand on edge when I set it down.
I upgraded to the iSeries Waterproof ATA Bass Guitar Case (Model: 3i-5014-44) and i dont forsee anything every destrpying that thing.
Note that I always pack my bass securely in the case. I use my travel clothes to pack and pad it. In addition to taking some tension off the strings, I support the neck with underwear, wrap the headstock in a shirt, pad round the headstock with more rolled up clothes, put another shirt between the strings and fretboard, and carefully wad socks and underwear around the body to pad and secure it. My basses aren't Fenders so they don't fit the cases exact. Saves me luggage and keeps my bass secure. Been all over the US, Canada, Mexico and Europe this way. Only downside is if you don't get a chance to unpack before you have to play a gig, like airport directly to festival, your sock sand underwear get to come out on stage. Its good for a laugh.
I’ve just started using the Gruv Gear Kapsule. First flight today and it’s come through unscathed and protected the bass perfectly. I was previously using an SKB Bass Safe and after 1 flight it looked like it had done about 10. That plastic takes a real beating. This Gruv Gear really is the future of flying with the bass for me. I did a YouTube review of all its features which I’ll link below too!
https://youtu.be/qebvAgBhcMc
https://youtu.be/qebvAgBhcMc
^^^This is worth repeating. It's quite possible that any half-decent case may survive an international flight. It's equally possible that even the most overbuilt case may get munged in transit.
*IF* your case -- regardless of whether it's only "half-decent" or is legitimately "overbuilt" -- does manage to get munged in transit, and that case is not registered as having passed ATA Specification 300, your chances of getting reimbursed for damages are far less than if you can show that the case is registered as having passed ATA Specification 300.
So think of it this way: Buying an ATA spec case is like paying for insurance...only instead of paying monthly insurance premiums, the cost is all front-loaded, built into the price of the case.
I always use a TSA lock and lock the case, simply because the latches on some of these cases are relatively easy to flip open. The Anvil-type latches not so much though.
The only thing I'd do differently next time I travel is get a case that can roll. Man, schlepping a full-size bass in a non-rolling flight case gets old really fast!
Another +1 for the SKB Bass Safe, works really well. I'd make the following comments on this excellent post:
Stuff the inside of the Bass Safe with your clothes. Wedge them all around the lightweight gig bag. This adds protection, stops the gig bag from shifting inside the Bass Safe, and, depending what you need to pack, safes you an extra bit of baggage. I have one of those lightweight duffle bags that folds down to pocket size. When I arrive from my flight I decant all my clothes from the Bass Safe, leave the Bass Safe at the manager's place or somewhere safe. Then do my local travels with just the gig bag and the duffle bag.
Stuff the inside of the Bass Safe with your clothes. Wedge them all around the lightweight gig bag. This adds protection, stops the gig bag from shifting inside the Bass Safe, and, depending what you need to pack, safes you an extra bit of baggage. I have one of those lightweight duffle bags that folds down to pocket size. When I arrive from my flight I decant all my clothes from the Bass Safe, leave the Bass Safe at the manager's place or somewhere safe. Then do my local travels with just the gig bag and the duffle bag.
One of the things I appreciate most about the Bass Safe is having the gig bag to use upon arrival and not having to schlep a heavy and bulky case everywhere. And the airlines have never charged me an oversize fee for it. When I checked an Anvil flight case, they charged me extra every time, usually just shy of $100....
I'm American living in Europe and go back and forth every year. It's gotten steadily more restrictive and challenging.
They HAVE reduced dimensions. Of course some variation by airline but I usually have gone Lufthansa which has tendend to be more liberal than some other carriers and their current standard size is too small for the bass safe (probably for any standard ATA bass case as well). I have and have used the bass safe with good results for the last 20 years but even then it regularly was treated as oversize baggage (separate pick up, etc) even if I wasn't charged extra.
Used to be the case but much more restrictive now - unless doing business class or first class. Particularly as some airlines (Lufthansa again) now have the practice of everyone other than disabled and families boarding at the same time. It used to be possible to get into an earlier boarding section and then it was easier to accommodate the gigbag in the closet scenario.
Have done this with success in the past but check the current baggage size allowance for your ticket class with the airline. My last trip I did this and the baggage size had been changed. Bought a new bag which was to the CM the maximum size and could only barely get a standard Fender bass neck in diagonally very tightly - no room for padding of any sort or any kind. Could have easily broken with any kind of impact. Still a very good option for short scale or guitar.
They HAVE reduced dimensions. Of course some variation by airline but I usually have gone Lufthansa which has tendend to be more liberal than some other carriers and their current standard size is too small for the bass safe (probably for any standard ATA bass case as well). I have and have used the bass safe with good results for the last 20 years but even then it regularly was treated as oversize baggage (separate pick up, etc) even if I wasn't charged extra.
Used to be the case but much more restrictive now - unless doing business class or first class. Particularly as some airlines (Lufthansa again) now have the practice of everyone other than disabled and families boarding at the same time. It used to be possible to get into an earlier boarding section and then it was easier to accommodate the gigbag in the closet scenario.
Have done this with success in the past but check the current baggage size allowance for your ticket class with the airline. My last trip I did this and the baggage size had been changed. Bought a new bag which was to the CM the maximum size and could only barely get a standard Fender bass neck in diagonally very tightly - no room for padding of any sort or any kind. Could have easily broken with any kind of impact. Still a very good option for short scale or guitar.
