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Flying with a small head

JimmyM

JimmyM

Apr 11, 2005
127,260
125,184
Plymouth NC
Disclosures
Endorsing: Yamaha, Ampeg, Line 6, EMG
#1
Got a LM II I want to fly with for gigs. For those of you who fly with small heads, do you find it hard to put on the oxygen masks? Oh wait...sorry...will an LM II get through security if I carry it in a laptop bag? If not, are there mixer bags that are more well-suited to flying than others? By well-suited, I mean that it needs to be as small and light as possible, have a pocket big enough to carry an EBS Microbass II when I get there, and have more than enough padding to take a direct blow by the airport gorillas. I'd like to avoid taking a hard case if I can help because I bring enough crap with me on a road trip and a hard case is just something else that'll add weight instead of making my life easier. So please throw me some ideas for bags here.
 
#3
Wow! Just based on the title of the thread alone, I came in here to make a joke about small heads...as in tiny craniums. But I see you already got that out of the way and then went on to ask a serious question. Now if I make my joke I'll look dumb. *sigh*
 
#4
I pack my Focus SA amp and tuner in my suitcase and check it. They opened the bag once in the last year of flydates. I suppose if I didn't carry my laptop I would carry the amp in a computer bag and take it out at security just like a computer. I am waiting to change the Focus for the mythical EA micro300 .
 
#5
I took mine on a tour and just flew with it in my backpack. Sometimes I just treated it like a laptop and put it in a bin by itself when going through the screening, but other times I just left it in the bag and they never even asked about it. This was on US and international flights. The LMII rocks!
 
#6
That's good to know that you didn't get hassled carrying it on. I can't afford to have it delayed or lost because some of my flights cut it close to start time. My bass, hey, I can get the promoter's kid's MIM Fender and cut the gig, but getting a 300w bass amp on short notice takes a lot of effort.
 
#9
The F1 is a very good head and as good as any other solid state head out there except for MB's more expensive heads. I decided I'd rather suck up the extra money and the extra pound and get an LM II.
 
#11
So I won't get hassled by TSA if I try to carry on my amp? I check my bass because if something happens to it I can always get a bass, but try getting a 300w bass amp in Hooterville on a Sunday.
 
#13
JimmyM said:
So I won't get hassled by TSA if I try to carry on my amp? I check my bass because if something happens to it I can always get a bass, but try getting a 300w bass amp in Hooterville on a Sunday.
Click to expand...


This is so contrary to my own experiences...

I've never had trouble renting a perfectly serviceable bass amp anywhere in the US. It'll probably be an Ampeg, a G-K, or a Hartke, but it'll work, it'll sound good, I'll be able to get my sound across, and (most importantly) it'll get delivered & set up by someone other than me!

Whereas I *hate* playing other people's basses. Especially when I don't have a choice.
 
#15
Hoover said:
This is so contrary to my own experiences...

I've never had trouble renting a perfectly serviceable bass amp anywhere in the US. It'll probably be an Ampeg, a G-K, or a Hartke, but it'll work, it'll sound good, I'll be able to get my sound across, and (most importantly) it'll get delivered & set up by someone other than me!

Whereas I *hate* playing other people's basses. Especially when I don't have a choice.
Click to expand...
I own a few basses and I do a lot of changing up anyway. I can always do a quick setup on someone else's Fender bass and get the sound and feel I need. If it's not perfect, eh, I'm playing oldies. It's not like I need supreme playability to play "Shout." But if I can at all help it, I never want to play out of any other amp again. Bad enough I have to accept Hartke cabinets when I want Ampeg or SWR. At least I'll know I can always have my sound in the house no matter what bass I play.
 
#16
AUNTY EM - I've never had a problem flying with my Walter Woods. I have a Mooradian bag and it's always been carry on and stuffed under the seat in front of me. They've rolled it back and forth under the x-ray machine a couple of times (oh, what's that?), but nobody's so much as asked me what it is.
The Mooradian has a zipper pocket on the front that's got room for a lot.
 
#17
Ed Fuqua said:
The Mooradian has a zipper pocket on the front that's got room for a lot.
Click to expand...

+1, but if time is tight between flights and you don't want to be given the extra-careful thrice-over at every security stop, be careful about what you put in the pockets.

I found out the hard way that spare strings plus a couple of small cannisters of spare tubes and fuses can make your amp look (duh!) suspiciously like a bomb when the bag rolls through x-ray.
 

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