Would you trust your bass in the hold on a plane?

[Panamonte]

I need to travel with my bass to Germany in a couple of months time and I wondered if anyone had any experience of/views on the option of removing the neck and stowing the (well wrapped) neck and body in a suitcase with the rest of my stuff. I won't be playing until 36 hours after I arrive which I would hope would give the neck time to settle down once reattached.

[dbass]

I've flown to Germany and back a few times with my bass and I've had no issues at all. I packed the case out with my pants to give the bass a snug fit :-D Wrapped the case a few times in gaffer in 3 spots.

Flight case is a Gator or SKB, I can't remember. Cost about £80.

[Panamonte]

[quote name='dbass' post='1192653' date='Apr 8 2011, 10:13 AM']I've flown to Germany and back a few times with my bass and I've had no issues at all. I packed the case out with my pants to give the bass a snug fit :-D Wrapped the case a few times in gaffer in 3 spots.

Flight case is a Gator or SKB, I can't remember. Cost about £80.[/quote]

Well that's reassuring. I've got an SKB hard case, so I'll pad it out with bubble wrap, underwear (at least it'll be clean on the way out!) and whatever. Do you just check the case as hold luggage at the check-in desk? It certainly sounds like a lot less hassle than taking the bass to pieces and putting it back together again. Thanks.

[dbass]

I just checked it in as hold luggage yeah. When you book the tickets with some companies they ask if you're taking a musical instrument as I think they add another charge on (never!?). As long as the bass can't move inside you will generally be fine.

[Panamonte]

Great. Thanks very much.

[woodster]

Would you trust your bass in the hold on a plane?

Yep, and I do.... About 10 times a year...

Only taken my basses in the cabin once or twice, usually they go in the fragile items section of the hold. Only ever fly BA unless its REALLY not possible and BA have yet to damage any of the axes.

If anyone from BA is reading this, that's NOT a challenge!!!

[Soliloquy]

Those SKB bass safes are a good idea. Just make sure to wrap gaffa around the case, I have heard somewhere that they can pop open.

[Steve Lawson]

...just to clarify my experience - I traveled for over a decade with my bass in a gig bag and got it onboard the plane every single time. Never had to check it. Then in I think 2004 or 5, I had my two 6 string Moduluses in a double gig bag and was forced to gate-check it on the way to the US (that's when it's taken off you at the door of the plane and given back to you in the same place the other side). I got away with it and the basses emerged unscathed.

After that, I started to plan to check it - was way too risky to pull that one again. So I used my Modulus hardshell case for one trip, then I got a molded compressed foam case from Dean that I used for a coupla years before getting an InCase bag. To call the InCase bag a 'gigbag' is a tad misleading. It's a semi-solid, incredibly well padded case, with various kinds of bracing. Given that one of the main things you need a case to do for checking it on a plane is for it to absorb the shock of being bounced onto the deck from about 8 or 9 feet up, this case actually feels a lot safer than many hardshell cases that would take none of the sting out of a shock like that... I also pack it with clothes etc to make it as cushioned as possible...

The one time it was smashed up, the case didn't have a mark on it, so I'm assuming it was taken out of the case and smashed. The body (which is pretty damned thick) had a crack right the way through it, and the top was split.) that's the only trouble I've had in a large number of flights, and BA paid up the maximum amount they were legally permitted to pay so that I could replace it.

..My next bass will almost certainly be a headless 6 string fretless, so I can fit it in a normal guitar case and go back to carrying it on board...

Steve
www.stevelawson.net

[TomKent]

I've had good and bad experiences, my last was bad - it obviously got a damn good drop to do the damage it did. I was just unlucky! (I think)

[Ian Savage]

I'm amazed this has got to five pages and no-one's mentioned simply removing the neck from the body and taking it on in hand baggage; a little bit more faff, yes (and obviously if it's set neck or neck-through a non-starter) but for bolt-on basses I'd suggest it's the single safest way of doing it.

That said, I've taken a few acoustics on flights in Hiscox cases and never had a problem, and having been to their outfit (in Cannock, Staffs if anyone's close, they're top guys and they've refitted a couple of cases for me in the past for next to no money) they really are professionals, I can't say enough good things about them.

Oh, and the lock thing - certainly for US flights (and possibly for others, I'm not sure) they have the legal right to break into any hold luggage without notifying the owner, so for F*CK'S sake don't lock the case! They won't be subtle about getting into it if for whatever paranoid reason they feel that they have to...

[bassbluestew]

As I have said on other related threads, I have used an SKB bass safe with a gig bag inside on about 300 flights with RyanAir / EasyJet ( so not the best airlines, agents choice - not mine ) and never ever had a problem. IMHO its a steal, much lighter that a flightcase and easier to move.

Added bonus is that you can use the gig bag on its own when you get to the other end !!

S

[Monckyman]

Been flying to festivals with several guitars/kit bags for about 15 years, Gator/skb cases mainly and not one damaged guitar.
Did watch the lifting staff at manch airport watch a small flightcase roll up to the end of their conveyor and just fall to the ground. When we pulled him about the treatment he covered his name badge and legged it.
MM

[Rich]

[quote name='Ian Savage' post='1204251' date='Apr 18 2011, 10:48 PM']Oh, and the lock thing - certainly for US flights (and possibly for others, I'm not sure) they have the legal right to break into any hold luggage without notifying the owner, so for F*CK'S sake don't lock the case! They won't be subtle about getting into it if for whatever paranoid reason they feel that they have to...[/quote]
Would TSA locks help with this? And are these useable everywhere in the world or is it only US customs & security who have TSA keys?

[quote name='Steve Lawson' post='1204224' date='Apr 18 2011, 10:12 PM']my two 6 string Moduluses[/quote]
Moduli, surely..?

[Tinman]

[quote name='SteveK' post='1191717' date='Apr 7 2011, 01:47 PM']A full flightcase, without question!
You have to see baggage handlers at work only the once to know that a flightcase is worth every penny...about £150[/quote]

Having been a baggage handler I would totally agree. Things are not treated gently at all.

[skywalker]

[quote name='Tinman' post='1204570' date='Apr 19 2011, 11:21 AM']Having been a baggage handler I would totally agree. Things are not treated gently at all.[/quote]

So have I Pete, but in my experience things are not half as bad now as they used to be. I shudder to think at some of the things I have seen out on the ramp (musical instrument + concrete = mess). I still get to see what goes on from time to time, and most things (especially instrument cases - or do I just notice those more??) get treated with a degree of respect. Of course if you are pushing flights out in the 7am rush things are bound to go wrong sometimes, but it is a long time since I have seen the baggage trolley going out leaving a trail of bags behind .

Edited April 19, 2011 by skywalker