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Flying with effects

JimmyM

JimmyM

Apr 11, 2005
127,255
125,172
Plymouth NC
Disclosures
Endorsing: Yamaha, Ampeg, Line 6, EMG
#1
This is for those of you who have fly gigs and travel with effects. Haven't figured out how many effects I'll be bringing on the road, but it will be maximum 10. Unfortunately, that's a lot of pedals to be stuffing in a suitcase with clothes around them. And of course the airlines don't like to make it easy for us to bring more than a single check-in bag (my bass), and I'm not looking forward to lugging 30 lbs. of pedals plus a laptop bag in my carry-on.

If worse comes to worst, I can just take my VT and Zoom B2, but if I can take everything, I could easily be tempted to do it if there's a good way. So what do you fliers do?
 
#2
pedaltrain pt-2. get the one with the ATA case. out the door at 189.99 on MF. the case has taken a serious beating and so has the board and both are still living and breathing.

with pedals and power supply it's still under 50 lbs. (i've had more than 10 pedals on there) so you won't have to pay more for baggage.

also the pedalboard itself is super light so you won't have to worry about hurting your back while picking it up and moving it bent over.

the ATA case is nice and protects the pedals well.
 
#4
It depends on what airline I'm on. Southwest doesn't charge for 2 checked bags and is generally cool with bass-as-carry-on, so I check my full-size board and suitcase (if it's a long trip) and carry on my bass in a gig bag plus laptop/mp3/player/drink coupons/etc...

If I'm on a less musician-friendly airline (virtually all of the rest) I'll pack a suitcase & transfer my 'A-List' pedals onto a Gator Pedal Tote. It packs in its own canvas bag and I squeeze it in amongst my clothes/spandex/etc...

I have had slight pedal damage (mostly cosmetic) and had to rearrange my pedals after rough baggage handling. I've never had a pedalboard failure when flying, though. I always make sure to check signal & power connections before hitting the stage, of course!
 
#6
i always fly with my pedals in a flight case and carry on my bass... the pedal train pt2 is great, just served me well on a 2 week europe tour... i know some guys who use the gig bag version of the pt2, but i always feel like that is a little risky, in case they insist on gate checking it. i'm good at sneaking my bass on the plane, but a pedal board would be much harder.

john
 
#7
I carried my bass, a pt mini and a rather large piece of hand luggage back from America.

The PT mini is perfect for touring around the world. I've set mine up just for that, the essential fx that combine well and a power supply that works on any voltage.

It did weight 12lb's when it was in my suitcase causing my suitcase to be to heavy so I can easily see a fully loaded PT2 with some cables and stuff taking up a massive chuck of your weight limit, unless it goes as your second item of check on luggage
 
#8
If you do put pedals into a suitcase, be prepared to have it hand inspected after the xray. Pedals come up on their screens looking like the guts to an explosive device. All it means is the TSA agents will open the suitcase, see a pedal, put a sticker on the suitcase that it was opened by TSA agents and thats all. Unless theres something else in your suitcase. Happened to a guitar buddy of mine twice in one trip. Happened to me once but with a gift that looked like a claymoor mine. They really do x ray all that stuff.
 
#9
jgsbass said:
If you do put pedals into a suitcase, be prepared to have it hand inspected after the xray. Pedals come up on their screens looking like the guts to an explosive device. All it means is the TSA agents will open the suitcase, see a pedal, put a sticker on the suitcase that it was opened by TSA agents and thats all. Unless theres something else in your suitcase. Happened to a guitar buddy of mine twice in one trip. Happened to me once but with a gift that looked like a claymoor mine. They really do x ray all that stuff.
Click to expand...
That's what I need at the airport when I'm running late ;)

Thanks for all the Pedaltrain tips. I need to get one of those. Nice case and it's all tidy. I'm just going to see how things shake out with my board first.
 

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