Travelling/Flying with a bolt-on guitar.

[tc]

So, would you rather disassemble it and put it in your suitcase, using your clothes as cushioning material, or would you try to see if you could take it as a carry on? People always mention coat closets and stuff but I've noticed some flights don't have them.

Opinions?

[MetalManiac]

Re: Travelling/Flying with a bolt-on guitar.

put in a case and load it as baggage. This guy I know recently flew ( at different intervals)with probably 200 grand worth of guitars checked in nothing but the case, and nothing at all happened. of course, dude has the luck of the Irish, so...

[tc]

Re: Travelling/Flying with a bolt-on guitar.

Yeah, that's kind of what I'm worried about. I mean, Fender style guitars tend to be tanks but the way the baggage handlers toss stuff around, it does kinda make me a bit uneasy to just check it in and forget about it.

[LedSabbath]

Re: Travelling/Flying with a bolt-on guitar.

Mail it to your destination.

[sosomething]

Re: Travelling/Flying with a bolt-on guitar.

I haven't actually read on of tc's posts in weeks.

[tc]

Re: Travelling/Flying with a bolt-on guitar.

Mail it to your destination.

Thing is, it's an international flight and last time I mailed a guitar from the States to Central America it wasn't cheap...

I haven't actually read on of tc's posts in weeks.

Yeah that's been happening a bit with other people too. I wonder why though.

[sosomething]

Re: Travelling/Flying with a bolt-on guitar.

Just take the neck off and pack it all up in your suitcase. Non issue.

[FuseG4]

Re: Travelling/Flying with a bolt-on guitar.

I would feel fine with my strat in a good case and putting it in checked baggage.

I'd do it with my LP too, but I'd attach some bubble wrap to the headstock area, and would make sure i was using a good, hard plastic case.

[Edgecrusher]

Re: Travelling/Flying with a bolt-on guitar.

This last time i flew from Beijing to Venice Lufthansa didnt offer gate check or any of the normal options that I use for flying. I wound up taking the neck off and putting the body in with my clothes and then putting the neck in my carry on luggage.

Everyone who says just check it thats a fine idea (Well not really unless you absolutely have faith in your case) if you have the spare baggage allotment but depending on the flight like Lufthansa economy you are only allowed 1 checked bag. Each additional bag is a 85 euro up charge.

I figured i would save myself the money and just take the neck off worked just fine.

[Laughing Kookaburra]

Re: Travelling/Flying with a bolt-on guitar.

Just take the neck off and pack it all up in your suitcase. Non issue.

+1. Done it myself on international flights more than a few times, no problem.

Case Extreme out of San Diego makes some nice lightweight flight cases if you need to check the guitar. I used one of their flight cases for an acoustic on those same flights. Basically, your guitar in its case or gig bag goes into the Case Extreme flight case.

People do get away with checking regular hard cases, but my research turned up quite a few horror stories, so for me, it was worth the investment.

http://www.casextreme.com/