Checking bass at airport..!!.

[bucephylus]

Loosening the strings will reduce the tension on the neck, which might help when the case gets dropped or something. So, for that reason, it might be an arguable approach.

However, this business about temperature or pressure affecting the tension on the strings seems dubious. Wood has a thermal expansion coefficient in the range of 32 ppm/C to 42 ppm/C parallel to the grain. If I remember correctly, stainless steel has a value around 25 ppm/C. So, from that standpoint, the wood would get smaller faster than the steel elements (strings etc.) as the temperature drops - meaning the neck would get relatively shorter than the strings. That should tend to detune the strings, if anything; but, in any case, that is not a large difference in CTE. Pressure differences can only be 1 atm, so, that can't be much of a factor.

I personally don't detune at all, if a bass is going in baggage. I don't believe it would help much. If the gorillas are going to kill the bass, they will.

 

[SLaPiNFuNK]

I havent traveld with any of my basses since before 9/11.... I used to have to get 2 first class seats... one for me, one for my upright... 2 meals though!

 

[LaMarquis J]

I took my bass on a plane once. they lost it for two days and ever since then I fedex overnight it everywhere I go.

I whole heartedly agree brother. The airlines offer a measly $300 max to cover losses. No thanx

 

[Rattman]

I took my bass on a plane once. they lost it for two days and ever since then I fedex overnight it everywhere I go.

Same thing.. flew into Virginia Beach with my Les Paul Custom "checked" thru from Calf. Got to VaBeach: no Les Paul.."Sorry Sir we have NO idea what could have happened to it! Needless to say, I raised so much hell that they couldn't wait for me to get my bags and leave.. It was Christmas Eve, and snowing.. I told them "just find it, and bring it to this address in town.."

9:00pm, Christmas Eve, the doorbell rings...a snow-covered airport courier is standing there
with my LP in hand (whew!!!)

 

[steveb98]

Cold...sometimes yes, sometimes no. Live animals are carried in bellies and they're heated.

That said, Air Canada almost killed my lab on a 9 hour flight between Calgary and London. Two inches of ice on his cage when they pulled the cage out of the belly, according to the Animal Reception Center at Heathrow.

When I've flown animals they said to water them good before the flight and don't put water in the cage. It spills and baggage comparment is cold and the animals end up wet and get sick. Where animals are is not as cold as regular bagage, but its cold. In fact in old days before all the airline messes I used to take my guitar to the gate and request they be hand loaded. They would come up to the gate and get my guitar walk down and load it in the same area with animals.

Its ashame how screwed up things are now. Back in the 70's groups I worked with we would fly amps and guitars as luggage. One guy I worked with would fly his Fender Deluxe amp by just packing a pillow in the back of cabinet and slide the vinyl cover on. He never had a problem. I would take my Pbass to the airport in a regualr Fender case and check it in as baggage.

 

[-Sam-]

I flew to Vienna, Austria and had my bass down with baggage the whole time no problems.
I had bought foam and made my self a bit of a travel case from a broken hard case i had and the bass couldn't move. I taped it up and put a locking luggage strap on and i had no damage at all.

The only problem is that at vienna airport on the way home they did some chemical bomb check on it and it turned out the foam registered just slightly so i had to explain. i must say i dont speak german and that was bloody hard!
But the travel thing worked fine i was worried at first but in the end it turned out great!

 

[clockworkwar]

I have to decide real quick here if I am going to mail my warwick back to italy from texas or take it through the airport. It is kept in an skb hardshell case. What would I need to do for either option? Thanks!

Take it on the plane, or pay for an instrument carrier company to send it. The reason if customs question it, they will have absolutely no problem getting a hammer and smashing the case open (if its posted). So what you need to do is go through with the case locked, and wrap take around it to be sure, it should be safe then, in handluggage.

 

[stingray5bbx]

When my jazz combo traveled around last year, I bought the top line Road runner case and carried it on. The soft case made carrying on a breeze and it fit in overhead bins. Didn't have any trouble with security either. I have checked my bass once in a cheap hardshell and will never again. even with teh bass individually wrapped in bubblewrap they still opened it on their own which pissed me off.

 

[Siberian Cat]

Well, I always managed to take my bass to a plane when I needed to flight (on international lines, by the way). It was always a simple gig bag, I'm not sure if I could get the same result with a hard case.

There were absolutely no problems about putting well the bass inside the plane. More, the flight attendants (mostly the young girls, he-he , always helped me in this with great enthusiasm, often leaving other passengers.

So, it seems like everybody loves a bass player

PS. By the way, remember that the temperature in the baggage compartment generally is 10 C (50 F)...
Do you still want your favorite bass to fly in such conditions with other luggage during hours?..

 

[jwsamuel]

Im not saying that it was just not detuning the strings, but I would say with less tension on the neck, there is less chance of that happening.

Neck damage during shipping has nothing to do with the tnsion on the neck. Necks are damaged because the bass or guitar neck is not supported properly inside the case and is permitted to flop around in transit. In effect, it gets a whiplash break.

The best way to ship a guitar or bass is to use packing materials such as bubble wrap around the headstock, as well as under and over the headstock, to make sure it cannot move inside the case.

Do that and it will not matter if the strings are at full tension, reduced tension or not even on the bass.

Jim

 

[zazz]

obvioulsy the rules change by the minute...but a couple of points

if you are going from very low to very high humidity tight neckplates may well crack..i know because i have had to replace three on my musicman gear when going to asia.

also bubble wrap is ok but nothing can beat something wrapped a million times in clingfilm....its a bitch for the owner to remove let alone a thief and its totally sealed...but if airport security want to look at the bass this could be a real problem.

 

[seebee]

From FAA website

"The maximum size carry-on bag for most airlines is 45 linear inches (the total of the height, width, and depth of the bag). Anything larger should be checked.
No oversize packages or luggage can be stowed onboard"

 

[seebee]

This was on American Airlines website
"Musical Instruments
Small musical instruments may be carried on-board the aircraft providing they meet existing carry-on size requirements and fit in the overhead bin or under the seat in front of you. Case dimensions may not exceed 45 linear inches (width+length+height), except for guitars which may be brought on board only if they can be safely stowed in an overhead bin or approved stowage location in the cabin. The instrument is considered the passenger's one allowed carry-on bag. A personal item is allowed in addition to the instrument."

 

[180+DecibelBass]

I "lost" my at the time brand new cirrus 5er claro walnut that i got in Birmingham alabama, and checked it in to the cargo portion of the plane back home to florida. When it never arrived at the baggage claim, i was furious. I went to report it was stolen. Reviewed the tapes of that claim area, saw nobody ever pick up that kind of case, so it never came into the claim area.

I told them I wanted all my money back and showed them the $1550 reciept for the bass and the new ata case, and they said since it was "lost" in transit and that i cannot prove what was acually the value of it that they could only give me $500 max. At this time, my dad heard this and called his lawyer, and had him talk to their manager on the phone. About 2 hours later, and after his lawyer came to the airport at like midnight and there was a huge commotion and all of us were stressed out, they finally gave in and said if in 3 days it is not recovered, they would send a claim check for $1550 to my house. and 4 days later, it was in the mail, and off i went to hunt a new bass down.
Some baggage handler must have somehow gotten away with my bass, that dirty bastard.

 

[180+DecibelBass]

Oh and I have heard of guys buying tickets for thier upright basses for seats right next to them.

 

[rdmjazz]

I always carry on my bass. It goes in the overhead compartment, or I've had the flight attendant put it somewhere safe or in a storage closet. Some airlines are worse than others. The last festival I did, the rest of the band flew in from L.A. on Delta, they made the sax player buy a 500.00 ticket for his sax,and the plane wasn't even full! Needless to say they also lost the star's luggage and wireless rack as well as all the gear from 2 of the other acts. What a nightmare! I guess soon we won't be able to bring anything but $$ or a credit card and your birthday suit.