Guitars on a flight - taking on an airplane

[julio]

ok,ok...I didnt know where to put this thread, and since one of the guitars is a Jem...:biggrin:

The thing is I´m gonna travel to Madrid in a week, to meet this guy thats selling a couple of guitars ( a Jem10th and a Brian Moore C-55 * )
If we close the deal, I would be bringing them back on the plane with me.

Here is my dilema.... I´ve seen how the handlers treat the luggage
Any recomendations?
Should I pack the cases in boxes, with bubble wrap,etc?
should I loosen strings, or lock the bridge?
Anyone had any experiences, good or bad to share?
Thanks for your help guys

If anyone wants to check out a Brian Moore C-55....

http://www.bmguitars.com/customshop/c55.html

Its the purple one.
I wasn´t after one but it seems very nice and the price is reasonable. anyone tried one? ( yes i know...wrong area)

Julio

p.s "those who are to be obeyed" please feel free to move this thread to a more suitable area...:biggrin:

[Rich]

Boxed, bubble wrapped, the whole nine yards including insulation!! You can't let a Jem10 freeze, the abolone purfling will burst through the clearcoat!

[pri0531]

Have not played the C-55, but the Jem10 is full on. *When I travel (in the US or Europe) I put the guitar in a gig bag in the closet. *Sometimes in the overhead. *Just keep an eye on it when you take it out of the overhead. *The contents may have shifted and the guitar could fall out of the overhead when opened.
Out,
Gregory * *

[eddie 42]

:frog:


Please ask Bob, I'm sure he'll recommend UPS !!!

:rotf:

PS : Bob, I'm really sorry it happened to you, I'm just kidding

[julio]

:shocked: :shocked:

Scared now.....

i´ve spoken with the flight company and to take them with me on the plane they are saying to book another seat !
Do you not have any trouble with this Gregory?

I could take a gig bag with me for the jem and check the hard case in, and hope they would let me get on the plane with the gigbag....but what if they dont? I would have to make a right performance in the middle of the airport packing it up again...

How do you recommend the insulation, Rich?


julio

[Rich]

Every airline has different regs as far as carry-on size limitations. Most have gone to the basket the size of a briefcase, if it fits in, you can take it onboard, if not, tough ****.

White styro bags they ship almost all new guitars in now. 1 around the guitar body inside the case, as many as you can around the case.

[kirk]

Rich may be right about regs, but I have carried on in as large as a MC100 Ibanez case. *(nomenclaure may be wrong, but it's the smaller molded plastic case that Ibanez sells.) *Of course that is on a domestic US flight on Northwest.

Buy it a seat on the plane...

[kirk]

[bammbamm]

I have gotten away with carrying on a basic gigbag and stowing it overhead along with my carry on bags (2) yeah, I'm THAT guy...lol But I try to carry it as unobtrusively as possible ( being 6' 5" + helps * )
and just walk on with it. If it fits through the X ray, you can carry it on. *With 2 guitars however, its going to be harder. I would wrap the lesser of the 2 guitars in as much as you can possibly find to pad it from the apes that launch your bags as far as humanly possible. Airlines kind of suck...
Bamm

[Project Guitar]

At a last resort you could take the neck off the JEM 10 and pack it and the body seperatly in a nicely padded carry on bag and ship the case the usual way when traveling on the airlines.

I know there wouldn't be any objections to this I've done it on Luftansa international flights many times.

[Noodles]

Why not buy a set of those cases you put the guitar case in? They are made to take the airline abuse.

[SalemB]

If you check it in, make sure you have insurance. A friend of mine lost his guitar at JFK. The reembursment he received without an insurance was nowhere near the value of his guitar.

[walter]

I second Brian, I took someone else's brand new UVMC apart to fit in a suit case , it got home safely and get away from the US custom too :rotf:

Just make sure you you tighten the string block screw on the Lo-pro when you take it out, or you'll end up missing some of 'em..... *:silly:

Walter

[julio]

Mmmmmmmmmm.............

Thanks for all the ideas

I think the plan must be like this:

Get Brian Moore insulated (just in case) into HSC, bubble wrap and box. Check it in with insurance.

Take Jem HSC bubble wrap and box. Check in.

Take Jem in Gig Bag on plane,<just as if I´ve done it all my life> *I´ve *checked that it will fit on the upper compartment (Boeing 757).
Unfortunately I´m not as tall as Bamm
If they get REALLY funny about it, I´ll make this hugh fuss...Its worth so much...bla,bla,bla....
That should be enough.
If all else fails....then I´ll have to take it apart.,which worries me big style.
Is it just a case of unscrewing the 4 bolts? Is there a shim underneath it? *

Thanks again guys

Julio

[julio]

Done and dusted! :biggrin:

All went as planned. They didnt even comment on the gig bag. I actually had it sit next to me the whole journey.

The Brian Moore was checked in. As recomended *it was insulated, cased, bubble wrapped, and boxed ( a fridge box did the job for both the HSC's). It arrived perfectly.
I am very pleased with how it all worked out. The guitars are both very special.

The 10th #242 is definately a player(more to come at the jem pages) and the Brian Moore is a beautiful quilted (or is it flamed?) top, american made , seymour duncan,wilkinson,sperzel, mint thing :biggrin:

After these 3 purchases in the last month, its time to give my GAS a rest

Thanks for all the support.

Julio