Traveling With A Guitar And Luggage What To Pack Can Be Problematic
By Bruce Lamb
Most airlines are now charging for the first checked bag a minimum of $25.00 and the second $35 and third bag is charged much more so customers are bringing bigger bags more than ever on board with them so these days the overhead compartments are at a premium. It’s a gamble traveling with a guitar and each guitar traveler will have to play there own hand by asking them selves these questions.
1. Q. How many bags including my guitar will I travel with?
A. Do the math two checked bags can cost you now $60 depending on the airline
carry on space is getting harder to get.
2. Q. Will the airline allow my guitar on board in a gig bag and will there be enough
Room?
A. The airline my have a policy to allow your guitar on board when you call them up
but it only depends if there is enough room, or how many regular bags are in the
overhead at the time you board. It is entirely up to the crew members on the plane.
They may take your guitar and gate check it which means your guitar goes onto the
pile of luggage below. Most damage to guitars on planes is from being damaged
due to excess weight on top of the guitar pushing the top or bottom of the case in
cracking the back or sound board of the guitar.
3. Q. Will they let me on with my hard shell case a bigger gamble?
A. Probably not!
4. Q. Should I buy a flight case for my guitar if I only travel one or two times a year?
A. To protect your guitar you should have a case made for air travel. Regular hard
shell cases are for transporting around town in your car etc. and not designed
for other people who don’t own the guitar. They really don’t know how fragile the
guitar is inside the case and may not know they are abusing it. They think that its
bullet proof because its inside a hard case.
5. Q. How do I know what to look for in a Good Flight case that will protect the best?
A. There are 4 things that break guitars in cases finding a case that avoids the
following problems would be the best case to travel with when flying on airlines.
Shock waves, such as what happens when a guitar case is mishandled or is
dropped or thrown and hits a hard surface. And crushing in the sides of the case
as mentioned above. And excess weight, the heaver the case the more shock it
transmits when it hits a hard surface.
Shock snaps the head stock off the neck of the guitar. The tuning keys add extra
weight to the neck and if the case is dropped and hits a hard surface the momentum
of the sudden stop and added weight to the headstock snaps the neck. This is very
common problem when traveling by air.
Most so called flight case builder use the same materials like plywood, or fiber
glass to build extremely stiff and heavy cases and haven’t re-thought or invented
or improved on the original idea. They continue to build these cases and
they don’t add enough padding inside the case to absorb shock. The excess
weight that is built in also causes the case to break it seems and snaps the hinges.
And because of the stiffness and excess weight they don’t flex enough and can’t
absorb any shock.
When picking a flight case at the very least start with this test if possible. With the
heal of your palm of your hand push against the top of the case with a guitar inside.
Most case will flex if you put pressure on the case just over the bridge of the guitar
inside. If you can feel any flex at this point it is not really a good case for air travel.
If anything hit the case at that point will destroy the top of your guitar near the
Bridge and probably case a crack in the sound board.
With the guitar inside the case make sure there is a tight fit with no movement.
Make sure the head stock has padding over and also underneath so it won’t move
or rattle around.
In closing a guitar flight case needs to be able to be light in weight, flexible to help absorb shock if possible and have more than just enough padding inside. The only solution for this is the material and design would have to be slightly larger than a traditional guitar case to provide all of these features. This type of case could also have extra room inside to hold other things like clothing etc. we have seen this type of case and to our knowledge is the only one of it kind. It is called the Clam Case and can be seen online.