Double Bass Travel Questions

[Upright Guy]

Hi this is my first post, I signed on because of these questions, but I except to glean a lot of great info from this site in the future.

So I'm overseas with my big band in a few weeks. I'm taking both my upright and electric basses. The band owns a good upright flight case. I've got one of those crappy hard cases that comes with the Fender American Standard series. All the bands gear is getting placed on a skid, shrink wrapped and sent a week before with a bonded shipping company.

I'm pretty confident in the shipping company, but it there anything else I should do? Cushion the headstock and tuning pegs? Loosen the strings? Learn to play the piccalo?

Thanks for helping the new guy.

 

[Jeff Bonny]

Leaving the strings at tension will keep the necks on all instruments much, much more stable and yer sound post is a whole lot less likely to move on the big bass. Some people say to tune down a half step to allow for atmospheric flux....all manufacturers ship tuned more or less to pitch. I've used coroplast for extra protection on the outside of fender type cases and extra foam (or clothes) isn't a bad idea inside the case if the fit isn't super tight already. Doorskin or banana board might work even better. If you're gonna travel with it in the future a Calton case for the slab is a worthwhile investment. Link Removed
They're much lighter than an anvil type flight case (not much heavier than a fender case) and give the same protection. They're the industry standard fiberglass flight case for acoustic guitars and one will cost almost what your bass did but they are worth it if you travel a lot.

 

[neal davis]

I've seen people who left there strings at tension have the neck pull of the bass because of added presure so I'm not sure if I'd leave the strings at tension, I've always been told by luthiers musicians etc to tune down a semi tone to a tone and I've had no problems, good luck