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Flying with an SKB Bass Safe?

#41
Thanks Adrian, I read somewhere Steve Lawson talking about a Slim Case that he would carry to the gate and if he couldn't carry it on he felt safe gate checking it. He said he did his whole European tour with that case and didn't experience any problems. I believe it could have been on another forum, not sure if I read it on TB. Anyone using this case?

Adrian, booked my flight to Las Vegas today. I'll be there from June 13 and will be leaving on the 21st. If you're in town I have to get out and see you play. And if I'm really lucky I can get to touch that white Nordy of yours. I had to look at that again tonight in an earlier thread!

Wally
 
#42
T-MOST said:
Why don't you just carry it on in a gig bag? Most airlines will let you do that.
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It's a real crapshoot whether the airlines will let you do that. Some will, some won't. And if they don't, your bass is going to get put in the baggage compartment in a gig bag. I'm much happier putting my bass in a Bass Safe. I've never gotten so much as a scratch on any basses I've put in there, and I've never had some idiot put a 50 lb. carry-on bag on top of it.
 
#45
scotch said:
biff malibu, were you aware of this?Invalid Link Removed

Delta is supposed to be allowing guitar & instrument carry-ons; as well as larger checked bag allowances for musicians.

Not that policies & procedures are ever consistently followed in the aviation industry. :rollno:
(not even remotely your fault, I know)
Click to expand...

yep. i know about it.

and like you said, be ready to send your stuff through checked baggage. ;)

i cant stress it enough, it depends on the ticket agent, gate agent, flight crew...and if you get it past them (which in theory and rule you should, but it depends on the crew ultimately, and unfortunately) if you are on a crowded 50 seater regional jet, and the flight crew aint putting up with no lip, you can either exit the plane or throw it under wing.

ive even heard of people printing out the rules taking them to the airport and being told no dice by the gate agents and crew. so many variables.

also, the larger allowances for musicians dosnt mean you wont be paying, it says that, we, Delta, will ALLOW larger items, but you will be paying for the size overages.

i beleive right now it is we are ALLOWING (it will be accepted onto the aircraft) up to 100 pounds and 120 total linear inches, but i believe that will cost you around 100 bucks each way. the numbers i quoted earlier were for FREE baggage allowances.
 
#46
joelb79 said:
TSA always opens guitar cases and boxes. Its standard operating proceedure.

Luggage gets by a lot, but odd things like guitars or road cases or boxes always get inspected.
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Showdown said:
Not in my experience. I flew to Phoenix and back and they didn't check mine either direction.
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From CA and KY, I have flown a lot to Honolulu (and once even the Big Island) with a bass in an ATA roadcase with all-recessed hardware--very rugged and heavy.

TSA has opened and/or X-rayed it every time, not to mention State agricultural inspections (I dig their stickers) :p

IMHO, TSA will inspect, even if you do not see them do it. If they don't X-ray, they will cut your locks or tie wraps, looking for dangerous items. They may or may not leave a little "calling card" behind, indicating an inspection.

TSA even partially disassembled one of my Laklands, once. I still can't figure that out. :confused:
 
#47
Jim Carr said:
From CA and KY, I have flown a lot to Honolulu (and once even the Big Island) with a bass in an ATA roadcase with all-recessed hardware--very rugged and heavy.

TSA has opened and/or X-rayed it every time, not to mention State agricultural inspections (I dig their stickers) :p

IMHO, TSA will inspect, even if you do not see them do it. If they don't X-ray, they will cut your locks or tie wraps, looking for dangerous items. They may or may not leave a little "calling card" behind, indicating an inspection.

TSA even partially disassembled one of my Laklands, once. I still can't figure that out. :confused:
Click to expand...

TSA is required to put a paper inside stating that they have opened and inspected it. My baggage had it, my Bass Safe didn't.
 
#49
Hi guys, I used to use a Levy's double bag for flying if I had two basses, or a Kaces single gig bag for one bass, and most of the time managed to get them on board, with the occasional struggle.

However, in January I picked up an InCase single case - a gig bag that's strong enough to be checked, but comfy enough to carry like a gig bag. Now I use that, check it and don't need to worry about whether I'll get it onto the plane, and I'm not stuck with a hardshell case when I get where I'm going...

www.goincase.com is the site for the cases...

Steve
www.stevelawson.net
 
#52
I think I answered my own question, with a little searching the companies websites...imagine that :D


Bass Safe:
Interior Max Length
48.5000 in

Instrument Body Length
TBA

Instrument Body Depth
4.7500 in

Instrument Lower Bout
16.7500 in

Instrument Upper Bout
TBA

No Interior Max Width given....


Incase SlimBag:
Exterior: 48.5" x 16" x 3.25"

Portabag interior: (no exterior given)
46"x15"

So....Both *may* fit in the bass safe. The only way to really tell would be to try it out.
 
#54
Actually, you need a pretty thick gig bag to put in the Bass Safe. I wouldn't put a thin canvas bag in there. So if it's close to the dimensions of the Bass Safe, you're probably in good shape.
 
#59
I do agree that the latches are, at best, a little flimsy. You certainly can't argue with the experiences of people that have had them break. For some reason, I've had really good luck with mine. I fly every month with the thing & have yet to experience a problem. I actually saved the original shipping box in case I need to return it for a replacement. So far, so good for me!
It's interesting how the TSA agents can't figure out how to put the thing back together. I guess it's harder to put together an SKB case than detect explosives in luggage. Now thats scary!!!
 
#60
I read about all the complaints regarding the latches at the MF site.

I am wondering if SKB improved the design. Here is a pictue of mine:

Link Removed

The black metal thing on the left is supposed to guide the lower half to the upper one.
Is this a new design, or has it always been like that?
I seems to me that this is a great help to put both pieces together.

One more question:
At the MF site there are peolpe claiming they put 2 basses in a double Gator gig bag inside the Bass Safe.
What gig bag is this?
Is it a reasonable thing to do?
Has anyone of you tried this?
 

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