You will be questioned going into more tyranical countries though. Dutch never got overly questioned about having a bass in pieces in his bag. I think he got pulled in once for it. As soon as they saw it was not a clever snap together rifle, they weren't too worried. I on the other hand had hell for having pedals in my hand luggage. Stripped naked and swabbed for semtex at Stanstead. Held at gunpoint at PDX whist my hand luggage was thrown all over the place and pedals disassembled. Then I had to answer the most stupidest of questions, 'why are your clothes in your hand luggage'. My reply 'Because theres a guitar going in the cargo hold and I didn't want to pay for extra baggage'.

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No no and no

This is what fender has to say about flying with your guitar.

[/url]http://www.fender.com/news/index.php?display_article=609

Yeah, I actually read that earlier, saw it on Facebook. Some good tips there.



Ouch, that reminds me of that time I had a replica of a Beretta 94F(s) in my baggage...Oh well. It's pretty fascinating when stuff like that happends, isn't it? And at the same time incredibly annoying...

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2010 American Special HSS 3TSB
Marshall MG15FX

I took my Deluxe from Australia back to NZ in the standard case it came in, with no worries at all.

I also had a guitar shipped from Japan in it's original case, again with no issues.

The SKB case by Fender in my opinion is over-priced. I have the same case SKB-66

http://www.skbcases.com/music/products/ ... &c=82&s=75

I bought for way less $$ (albeit with no "Fender" on the side) and its the exact same product. I would recommend any case as long as it's sturdee, locking it and wrapping it a few times in bubble-wrap with gaffa tape to stop it getting marked.

No amount of money on a case will protect your gat by mis-handling and accidentally falling out of the cargo bay of the plane as they un-load. Or a 30Kg suitcase luggage being purposely dropped on top, however insurance sure will.

But if you declare as "Fragile" like I did, they will treat it with care. You need to stipulate this when checking in your baggage. They will tag your guitar with a 'Fragile- Handle With Care' hang-tag label and separate fragile from the normal luggage, and will 'place' your luggage in the seperate hold instead of man-handling it. I remember there was a guy with a surf-board, on the same flight who did the same. I asked if I could take my guitar on board in the cabin if they took care of it- I got laughed at. I then collected my guitar at the other end 4 hours later as happy as Larry. No marks except one, that I just wiped off anyway. Bob's your uncle.

If you wanty something like this water-tight case:

http://www.skbcases.com/music/products/ ... &c=82&s=75

You will be someone who gigs on tour and need something that is going to take a beating everyday on a regular basis. perhaps if you were travelling quite frequently with your guitar at leats a few times a year. Otherwise, its a very expensive case for what its worth.

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Get the G and G case (the tweed).

That is an awesome case and really well-built. It's way more sturdy than that molded plastic thing.

Also, carry your guitar and put it in overhead or have them stash it in a closet.

If absolutely can't carry, then gate check it.

No guitar case will protect the instrument if the plane crashes, but the G and G (tweed start case) will certainly protect it from everything else.

Thanks guys. I'm gonna call the airline and tell them I'm bringing "special baggage". According to their site they prefer if you call them when you book the flight or a few days ahead of the departure.

I'm going to the store (probz tomorrow) and I'll check them out irl and see which one (basically only got the two I mentioned before to choose from) I'll choose, and ask the staff what they think/recomend.

Sadly tho; I doubt I'll be able to put it in overhead compartment or in a closet, because those planes are often so tinyyyy, I usually struggle to fit my jacket or coat and my laptop. So yeah.

The tweed case is neat and charming tho.

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2010 American Special HSS 3TSB
Marshall MG15FX

Make sure to INSURE your prized possesion for one and a half (11/2)times the value of your guitar , that way, if God forbid, you'll be able to recover the price of the instrument and something for your bother...

i think the plastic is the way to go

Moulded case with good hindges and buckles are the best for flying. The vintage tweed is nice but may get soiled or ripped.

Whatever you do, once you get through TSA search, put duct tape over the buckles so they don't get snagged or damaged with the other cargo.

Fender strats are built Ford tuff. I've had no problems traveling with acoustics in cargo and they are way more fragile than a Strat.

i think the plastic is the way to go

About 10 years ago I flew from Ottawa,ON to St. John's,NL by Air Canada-who aren't really famous for handling baggage safely-with 2 guitars in regular cases and pleaded with the guy at check in to make sure they were handled with kid gloves and surprisingly they were taken to the plane apart from the other baggage and were hand delivered to the security office.

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'65 Strat,65 Mustang,65 Jaguar,4 more Strats,3 vintage Vox guitars,5 Vox amps,'69 Bassman with a '68 2-15 Bassman cab,36 guitars total-15asst'd amps total,2 vintage '60s Hammond organs & a myriad of effects-with a few rare vintage ones.

GS

Is that the airline that destroyed that guys guitar, he then went and did a youtube song about em that got a gazzilion hits is a week?

There was all sorts of myth and conjecture flying around about that. One being that the airline companies shares dropped 10%.

Apparently he got a good compensation deal about a year after the incident happened.

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No no and no

I have a tweed case for my MIJ '62 reissue and it looks great - even my wife doesn't mind it lying around the house . However the first time I took it to a gig it got a bit dirty and I couldn't bear it! So I use plastic cases for moving guitars around and the tweed case for storing at home only.

As an aside, I used to have a cheap fibreboard case which was thrown some considerable distance from my car during an exciting accident in which the car rolled three times at speed. While the car was rolling the boot (trunk) burst open, projecting the contents including the guitar far and wide. After searching for a while I found the guitar in a ditch about 30 yards away. I opened the case and not only was the guitar completely undamaged, it hadn't even gone out of tune! I think this had a lot more to do with the inherent robustness of Strats than the quality of the case!

Haha yeah, that's what I've been thinking about doing; get a plastic one to "throw around" and a nice tweed for storage and show-off. Although I'll buy the tweed one later in that case, I'm still not sure about what to do though, I'll go to the store today or tomorrow probz...hopefully.

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2010 American Special HSS 3TSB
Marshall MG15FX

taking it apart and putting it in our carry on is a smooth move.
i wouldnt trust a standard case for fight or bagage handlers.
i wouldnt want a case to where folks know for sure theres a guitar in there. i like the case linked above at $249.
why did you wait to the last minute to prep to take your guitar?

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63supro
"The good thing is in a club situation, most of the patrons are trashed and really can't tell the difference."