Loosen Up and Fly Right: Tips for Guitar Air Travel

For all travelling guitarists, here’s some valuable tips from Gibson.com… 

Flying with your six-string baby is always nerve-wracking. Unless you’re in a superstar band. Then it’s the guitar tech’s problem. But most of us, whether we’re working musicians or just can’t bear to leave our axes alone at home when we travel, feel a twitch of trepidation when we turn a flight case’s handle loose at check-on or sling a bag on our shoulder and walk down the gangway.
  
Here are some suggestions for transporting guitars in gig bags and flight cases.
  
Air Security: Luckily, most musicians don’t find it a hassle to bring a guitar in a gig bag onto a plane. But there are always horror stories. The good news is that the American Federation of Musicians negotiated the right for everybody to bring carry-on-sized instruments—which include guitars that fit into overhead compartments—into airplane cabins in December 2002. Just in case somebody decides to hassle you, travel with a copy of the January 17, 2003 letter from U.S. Department of Transportation assistant security administrator Thomas R. Blank to AFM president Thomas Lee spelling out that right. You can download a pdf of the letter here. Just be sure there’s nothing in your bag that violates current air travel security policy, like more than three ounces of guitar polish. Wire cutters, screwdrivers, and the like are, of course, an absolute no.
  
Gig Bag Selection: “Many bags offer a false sense of security,” says legendary luthier Jim Mouradian. “When you zip them up you feel as though your guitar is safe, yet cheap bags aren’t much better than trash bags.”
  
As the founder of Mouradian Guitar Repair in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Mouradian has seen the stresses flying can put on guitars too many times to count. In addition to a long career as a luthier who’s done work for Kurt Cobain, Extreme, and Aerosmith, and custom built basses for Yes’ Chris Squire and others, Mouradian plays bass in blues guitar virtuoso Ronnie Earl’s band and can be heard on Earl’s new concert recording Hope Radio.
  
“Briefcases and other rigid items in the bins can easily crack or crush your guitar when they’re shoved around by other passengers,” Mouradian says. “There are some great [high-density foam] reinforced gig bags with rigid panels that offer very good protection, but they cost a lot more—and they’re worth it. By design they must be bigger. So select a travel guitar wisely and consider the gig bag an integral part of the package, not an afterthought.”
  
Consider some additional cushioning for the headstock. It’s a vulnerable spot for acoustics and electrics. Use bubble wrap or even old socks or T-shirts to protect the tuning pegs.

Flight cases: If you check your guitar, obviously don’t use a gig bag. You’ve watched baggage carriers sling luggage without mercy, so don’t expect them to treat your instrument any better. And don’t rely on a conventional hard-shell case, either. They’re built to transport and protect your guitar in an orderly fashion, which doesn’t include conveyor belt free-falls or bearing the shifting weight of what’s in an airplane’s belly.
  

“My experience shows that even well-fitted and firmly constructed ordinary cases flex a lot more than the guitars inside,” Mouradian says. “Many customers come to me with guitars that were found broken inside cases that seem fine.”
  
Steel-framed and reinforced Air Transportation Association-approved cases “offer an unbelievable degree of protection,” he continues. “These cases also put all responsibility on the airline for preserving the condition of your guitar upon arrival. The drawbacks are that they are huge, and they weigh a ton and are very expensive.”
  
Also, pad your peghead, or any other areas of a metal-framed, foam-cushioned flight case where you can detect unwanted wiggle room. “I recommend slipping a face-cloth under the strings over the fretboard and hoping for the best,” Mouradian adds. “Things in luggage really do get handled badly.”
  
And make sure latches are securely closed. Don’t lock them, however, if that’s an option. Air security may inspect the contents of your flight case after it’s been checked in, and they will get inside, even if it means damaging hinges and catches, which could leave your guitar vulnerable.

Loosen Up: Shifts in air pressure can put additional stress on guitars, occasionally causing the headstocks of instruments left at concert tuning to crack or snap off. Most times that’s repairable, but it’s never good, especially en route to a gig.
 
It’s commonly advised to drop your guitar’s tuning down, but Mouradian has a specific suggestion: “Only drop the tuning a whole step flat on guitars built of mahogany and not at all on guitars of maple. This minimizes the truss rod’s reaction to a drop in string tension.”

Shipping Options: “If this is a one-time move,” Mouradian says, “like relocation as opposed to business travel or vacation, put it in a box, pack it well, and pay to ship it to your new location.”
   
Another strategy is to have the airline, via its baggage services office, pack your instrument for you. If they pack it, they’re unquestionably liable for its condition. The same goes for UPS and FedEx.

Theft or Loss: If you’re traveling with a gig bag, always keep your hands on it. If you’re seated and reading, prop it between your legs. Skilled thieves can make off with an unattended bag in seconds.

And if you fly with guitars that are valuable or important to you, insure them. Baggage does get lost—albeit, usually temporarily—and stolen. Protect yourself. 

[originally by Ted Drozdowski | 12.31.2007, Gibson.com]

---

Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)

• Sonic Youth Snags Long Lost Guitar
• Gibson Tone Tips: Use Your Volume Control!
• Artists Profile: Portishead, Orange Amps
• Teasers

~ by dolphinblog on January 7, 2008.