struma6 Posted June 16, 2011 Share Posted June 16, 2011 I'll be flying to the east coast in the next month or so, to stay. I'm taking both my gibbys with me. Going to carry one on and check one as luggage. I've been hunting for an inexpensive padded case cover that will protect the one I check. Only need to use it once so i don't want to break the bank. I've found the clams etc for around $285.00 but I'd really like to go cheaper. Doesn't have to be pretty. Failing to find anything to fit the bill I'll fabricate one out of heavy duty corrugated cardboard and foam...I can use the clam pix as a reference. Anybody have any good suggestions for a cheap alternative? ebay has failed me. Appreciate it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enmitygauged Posted June 17, 2011 Share Posted June 17, 2011 IMO dont risk it buy a hiscox flight case I never fly with any other case. Throw your guitar out a two story window jump up and down on it and still be intact, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gilliangirl Posted June 17, 2011 Share Posted June 17, 2011 I'll be flying to the east coast in the next month or so, to stay. I'm taking both my gibbys with me. Going to carry one on and check one as luggage. I've been hunting for an inexpensive padded case cover that will protect the one I check. Only need to use it once so i don't want to break the bank. I've found the clams etc for around $285.00 but I'd really like to go cheaper. Doesn't have to be pretty. Failing to find anything to fit the bill I'll fabricate one out of heavy duty corrugated cardboard and foam...I can use the clam pix as a reference. Anybody have any good suggestions for a cheap alternative? ebay has failed me. Appreciate it! Go to your local guitar store and get one of the boxes that they ship guitars in. They usually get crushed so it should be free or cheap. If you plan ahead enough you could even get a Gibby one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fumblefinger Posted June 17, 2011 Share Posted June 17, 2011 Good idea on the guitar box GG, but one that reads "Joe's Cheap Guitars" might be less tempting to baggage handlers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeremy Morton Posted June 17, 2011 Share Posted June 17, 2011 You are allowed to carry a guitar on board. They may ask you to gate check it. Every time you get it back look to see if there has been any damage. It is unlikely that it will get damaged. give it up when you board and then get it back when you get off, alot less risk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j45nick Posted June 17, 2011 Share Posted June 17, 2011 I haven't seen a guitar case yet that would guarantee the instrument couldn't be damaged by bad handling, particularly falling off the belt coming out of the plane. I get really bad withdrawal (and start to lose my calluses quickly) so I carry a small travel guitar in a gig bag on board with me if I'm away for more than a couple of days, and it never gets questioned. A full-sized instrument in a hard case might be another issue, as there aren't a lot of overhead bins than can handle it, and the FA's may or may not be willing to put it in the hanging locker, depending on how crowded it is. People are carrying on an awful lot of luggage these days to avoid the checking fees, so the bins are packed in the back of the plane. Less so up forward. I still watch my little guitar like a hawk if people start to jam things into the bin where it is, and I do not hesitate to politely "help" them with their luggage to protect my little friend. If you try to check a guitar packed in its case inside a cardboard guitar case box, you may get hit with a big oversize luggage fee. There's no predicting that one, unless you are part of an airline's elite FF program. They tend to give you more leeway when you are able to check in at the priority desk. I would only check an instument in an ATA-style case, and would never check a vintage or irreplaceable guitar. I learned that one the hard way. You might consider shipping the guitars. I'm not sure they get handled any better, but packing them carefully in their cases with extra padding (clean T shirts work well, and don't leave anything in the string pocket that has ANY chance of getting into the main part of the case), and getting a guitar box from a store--and absolutely jamming that with packing around the guitar case inside--may minimize the risk of damage. Shipping is typically $40-50 inside the US. There are different opinions about whether the USPS, FedEx, or UPS is the right answer. This is a bit off-topic, but my work takes me away from home for weeks and even months at a time. I am getting tired of the poor quality of my travel guitar, and am thinking of getting one of those Composite Acoustics carbon fiber travel guitars. I work professionally with carbon fiber structures, so I appreciate how tough they are. Anyone here with any expereince with these? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
struma6 Posted June 18, 2011 Author Share Posted June 18, 2011 I Am carrying one guitar on with me. If I could carry 2 on I would!! I would pay an oversize fee, no problem. I've shipped a LOT of guitars and have done the guitar box packing routine often...I just don't want to ship...don't want them out of my hands that long! After living in a place where I know NOBODY who plays I'm going back to where all my playing friends are and there is going to be a big jam blow-out. Need both my babies with me! The "clam" case concept is what I'm shooting for...a "case" for the case, as it were. it basically suspends the case with foam mounts thus absorbing/displacing any shock. Google "clam case" and you'll see what I mean. Using my wiley pirating skills I'm going to copy the clam design into a one-time use suspension case. I'll have to pay over-size fee but like I said, I don't mind that. The airline WILL let me board with one. I've proven that. Aggressive self-righteous indignation accomplishes quite a bit.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EuroAussie Posted June 18, 2011 Share Posted June 18, 2011 Yeah, its a tough one for sure. I only had to take my guitar once on a plane, but that was utterly nervewrecking. It was April last year when I was in NYC and bought my vintage coutnry western, with its orginal, vintage case .....ie,, falling apart. The guys at the shop were adamant you can gatecheck it, but i was very nervous. Anyway, to cut a long story short, I managed to gate check it NYC - Warsaw with Polish LOT airlines and even bring it on boad, and it amazingly fitted in the overhead comparment. It was the same warsaw - prague. Amazingly I was not charged extra for this, and the check in ladies thought it was entirely normal. I think i wss very fortunate that this CW made it back all in one piece ....I guess it was meant to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duende Posted June 18, 2011 Share Posted June 18, 2011 IMO dont risk it buy a hiscox flight case I never fly with any other case. Throw your guitar out a two story window jump up and down on it and still be intact, This good man is right! My Hiscox protects my very fragile Tony Johnson Parlour guitar. I flew last Saturday using the Hiscox case again and I am really happy with it. I always loosen the strings too and put bits of tissue in any of the gaps just, so it's snug... Although there are the odd horror story these days; with the culture of everyone suing etc, I wonder if airlines are more careful than previously? Matt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BT Bob Posted June 18, 2011 Share Posted June 18, 2011 With regard the "guitar retail box" method, last year I had to send a guitar to my brother in Sydney (from the UK). My neice was returning home so we checked in the guitar (acoustic 12-string - not of high value). I obtained a box from a local dealer and bubbl-wrapped the guitar in that. I was then lucky enough to be given a hard-case box by a mate who's bought a case recently. That box came with the "air-bag" packaging, and I was able to completely enclose the guitar box in the "air-bags" and that fitted inside the case-box like a glove. Brilliant. The whole loat weighed about 9kgs, so easily within the check-in limits. It arrived safely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enmitygauged Posted June 20, 2011 Share Posted June 20, 2011 A nice Hiscox story Telecaster in Failed Suicide Bid In the early hours of one Sunday morning in October, a Fender Telecaster guitar attempted to commit suicide. "It has been very depressed lately and hasn’t been playing well," said his owner, Pete Perry, "so I guess it just decided it couldn’t take any more" Pete was the guitarist and vocalist for his own country group called The Pete Perry Sound. He was driving home from a gig at approximately 12.30 am and was doing about 70mph on the A55 Expressway near Colwyn Bay. "Suddenly the back door of my Astra van started to open," he told us. "You can imagine the panic, my van was full of gear and my Telecaster was sitting on top. This wasn’t the normal practice cos’ I had the wife with me so my guitar had to lose its seat." Unfortunately for the Telecaster, but fortunately for Pete, it was in a Hiscox case. As the back door opened, the guitar leapt from the van. Pete immediately slowed down and pulled to the side of the road. The guitar, in its case was hit by the front wheel of a following van which sent it sliding across the road into the crash barrier. This was witnessed by Pete and his wife, together with three other people in the van with them. "We all ran to the case," said Pete, "there was a split on top of it because of the impact, but nothing else except scratches. I opened the case and there was my Telecaster without a mark on it and it was actually still in tune." "I bought this case at Kingfisher Music in Fleet," he continued, "and have had it for eight years now. It has to be the best buy I have made." A spokesman for the company said, "Because of the high quality of our products, many people perceive our cases to be expensive, but in fact, they are very competitively priced and offer a level of protection no other case in their class can match, as this incident shows, and with an exceptional Guarantee they represent unbeatable value for money." Pete sent this story to the Guitarist magazine, but they decided not to run it. We’re very glad he told us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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