Well, in case you missed it in the Battle of the Blues thread, I'm going to the Grand Finals in LA next month! The only thing is that I've never been on an airplane before, much less flown with guitars. I'll be taking my Forum Caster (and possibly my Highway One as backup) as well as the Gibson acoustic guitar that Guitar Center is going to send me. I would have a stroke if anything happened to any of those guitars, so I need to know what to expect and what I need to do to minimize the risk of damaging my guitars.

From what I know so far, I think I'd prefer leaving them in the closet in the plane. The idea of my babies riding in the belly of the plane makes me a little sick to my stomach. If any of you could share any tips, or your own experiences flying with guitars I'd be very interested to hear them.

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I always de-tuned my guitars slightly to relieve the tension on the neck when flying with them, especially so with a set-neck instrument like a Gibson. An Anvil-type case would be preferred over a standard, stock hard-shell case for the safety of the guitar.

HTH

Arjay

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"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY

Texas, taking some tension off the strings like Arjay wrote is the best advice. The Fender hardshell case is good protection. When stationed in North Carolina I flew back and forth between Raleigh Durham and Chicago. When stationed in the UK I did the same between London and Chicago, The Fender case protected my Telecaster bass from damage and I always thought loosening the strings a little protected the neck of that bass guitar.

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you can save the world with your guitar one love song at a time it's just better, more fun, easier with a fender solid body electric guitar or electric bass guitar.

You'll be amazed at what people carry with them on airplanes.

Ski equipment and golf clubs are things I've see often. Expensive equipment will be carried in special hard shell / hard plastic cases travel cases.

Maybe you can rent or borrow hard shell cases.
Maybe get some packing tape and tape the two cases together, use card board to protect the cases from the tape or wrap card board around the cases.
Maybe buy some rigid foam inslulation from a home supply store, cut it into strips / blocks and tape it on the edges etc.

Don't worry what it ends up looking like, but don't make too heavy, bulky or hard for a single baggage handler to handle.

Pretty soon you'll be leasing your own private jet and won't have to worry about such details.

Take some of your clothes and pack them in your case as padding. You'll save on luggage that way too. Like all of your tshirts, because those tend to be soft and can roll up or ball up easily.

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1984 Squier Contemporary Stratocaster
1986 Peavey Envoy 110
1967 Kingston Acoustic

I would buy some extra insurance if it's possible and see about a carry on of my number 1. I've never flown with a guitar so I may not know what I'm talking about but I'd sure find out. Good luck!

if you put it under the plane one thing I recommend with a hard case is put on 2 of those black rubber bungee tie down straps. the airline workers usually don't lock it back
i had a guitar case pop open under the plane due to this. but they always put the bungee back on. just wrap them end to end around it for a backup if the latch pops.

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Shoot just fly out, buy a new guitar, play , sign it and give it away when your done, no worries

I was planning a trip a couple of months ago and thinking of taking a guitar. What I found by asking at different forums:
1. The airlines almost never let you take a guitar onto the plane anymore. There's just not enough room. Since you're taking three, I'd say the chances are pretty much zero that they won't be going into the cargo bay.
2. While a lot of guys have flown using the stock hard shell case, most recommend a flight case. For Strats I found used one's for about $250. I personally was standing in JFK International Terminal and a guy walked by with a Fender HSC just like I got with my Strat, and it had about an 8" piece of the corner plastic mold broken off and white foam exposed.
If you can't get a flight case, I would probably do what Buxom recommended and try adding some soft clothing to pad the inner case a bit better.

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'10 American Deluxe HSS Sunset Metallic
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'66 Guild Starfire IV w/Bigsby
'14 Warmouth Partscaster Daphne Blue

+1
I've done some flights with guitars . Never been a problem-except some scratches outside the hardshell cases. One time I had both a solid body and an acoustic-just in hardshell cases, and it worked fine !
Then a horror story- just to recommend proper flight cases-if you want to be safe!
Years ago a friend and I went to California to the Carvin factory , to retrieve the guitars we had ordered there. When we got home (Norway) and checked our guitars, my friends' guitars' headstock was broken straight off between the tuning pegs-of string 3 & 4!!! (6 in line) Pretty expensive guitar, too. It was in the original hard shell case- pretty similar to those for Fenders From the Airline , they said it might have fallen down as they unloaded the plane, and since the temperature high up in the air could get as low as -60 C (-76 F) it could have made the accident possible. And the case did not show any sign of breakage!

+1
And one more thing, Becky- check with the airline that you are allowed to take that amount of parcels! Some airlines charges extra for this , and I guess it's smart to check it out as early as possible . Have a nice trip

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A-man

Maybe a song will out of it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YGc4zOqozo

OOPS.....This may not be helpful....hehe


I think I would drive

L.A.

Ha ha -I've seen that one. Good story , but perhaps not perfect to calm down Texas Guitarslinger

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A-man

That's a great idea. Especially since we're going to try to pack extremely light.

I guess I should contact the airline about bringing the guitars aboard the aircraft (as soon as I know who the airline is).

I'll check around to see if anyone I know could lend me a flight case. Someone already offered, but the case is for a bass. A rental would also be a good idea if I can find one. Considering my whole family wants to come, I've got to save as much money as I can to be able to afford the trip.

Oh, and another question. What happens to your setup after the flight? Will I have to readjust everything when I land?

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Texas, my set-ups were virtually unchanged after flights, the virtually, for minor adjustments resulting from tuning down an octave . A Stratocaster might have other considerations though, someone here will know.

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you can save the world with your guitar one love song at a time it's just better, more fun, easier with a fender solid body electric guitar or electric bass guitar.

I used to do work out in California, and always took my Strat with me. I had it in a gig bag at that. Fortunately, nothing horrible ever happened. I didn't even loosen the strings either. I had with me all the way until I went to get on the plane, then they took it and placed it on top of all the other luggage. I might have just had some luggage people that were players and knew where to put guitars so they wouldn't be damaged. I always flew out of IAH, with Southwest (I believe).

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2000 American Deluxe Stratocaster
2011 Gibson Les Paul Trad Pro 50's
2007 Epi Les Paul Custom
90's ESP Eclipse
JH-1B Jimi Hendrix Crybaby
Analogman KOT
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