Nice one! Some good vocal harmonies in there.

Now that one good story to tell, its all truth.

These things happen in real life.

Some of you will have noticed that I'm a fan of bass player Danny Thompson. Danny plays double bass, and his most famous instrument is "Victoria", over 300 years old by now and the veteran (veterienne ?) of 1000s of gigs and sessions (from Cliff Richard to Nick Drake via Ronnie Scott's club and including many gigs and recordings with John Martyn and Richard "no relation" Thompson). He had a couple of other good instruments but none gave him what Victoria did, nor did he feel as "at home" with another instrument.

And then a couple of years ago whilst on a tour on the US he checked a well protected Victoria in, and found the neck broken when he got to the other end. Victoria has now been repaired, but Danny can't take another chance. Victoria now works only within the EU and only when Danny is travelling by road and can keep tabs on her.

Richard Thompson similarly had a headstock broken on his Lowden on a flight in the USA.

That was brilliant, certainly convinced me never to fly United

this has done more damage to there reputation , then any letter in the newspaper or bitching to the ceo . it's almost genius .

I think I've mentioned it before, but I used to see a fair bit of airline damage - Broken headstocks are common, as are neck cracks. But even guitars run over by forklifts. One was even pierced by a forklift fork (something supposedly impossible as the fork is supposed to hinge up if it hits anything head on). Even if it makes it through the baggage handlers, there are the unpressurised holds - I saw one 70 year old acoustic that looked like it had exploded from rapid decompression.

I've seen my own cases come out on the carousel as if tipped on to it by a tip truck.

In short - there is a reason why we have the heavy duty "flight" cases.

I always take my guitar into cabin. It fits in the overhead compartments

Yeah, Blues, that's the way. The crew usually have a cupboard right up front that's quite tall and I've almost always been able to convince them to put it in there for me. The overhead compartments seldom fit a hard case, and I wouldn't trust other travellers to be sensitive with a soft case. International or domestic, I've NEVER put a guitar in the plane's hold. Suicide.

bLuEs wrote: I always take my guitar into cabin. It fits in the overhead compartments

So you are the reason that the Better 5/8 and I couldn't find baggage space near our seats when we came back from the UK ?

Airlines are getting more restrictive on what you can check in these days. It is becoming a big problem for musicians who want to travel with larger instruments like cellos and double basses. If you're The Who or The Stones and can afford to charter transport then there's no problem, but for the majority of working musicians there are increasing problems with travelling with instruments. Maybe we should all take up the harmonica. Or the sopranino ukulele.

It gets worse as the value of the instrument increases. Those of you know Hugh Cummings will have heard tales about him delivering things like rare Martins or Gibson mastertone banjos to customers overseas who book two adjacent first class seats - one for Hugh and one for the instrument.

There are also ways of packing an instrument that you're going to fly with. A key area to cover is packing around the headstock. As Alan notes this is a common point of damage. However if some arb is going to drive a forklift through or over your instrument then even the most thorough packing will not give you much protection.

bLuEs wrote: I always take my guitar into cabin. It fits in the overhead compartments

I usually do too, but the the last time I flew and took my Les Paul with me and was asked to hand over the guitar so that they could keep it safe somewhere else in the cabin. I said that I would rather keep it with me, but they insisted. I told the guy who took the guitar in no uncertain terms that there would be trouble if he didn't return the guitar to me in the exact same condition as I handed it to him. Sure as hell, when we landed I found my guitar-case (outside by all the other luggage) all scratched and looking like it had fallen. Luckily the guitar itself was fine, apart from the plastic on the toggle switch, which was broken. I was p*ssed because not only was the case damaged, but someone could have run off with my beloved LP. Luckily for him, the dude who took the guitar from me was nowhere to be seen.

Yeah, I can understand their point of view (that there are to be no loose objects lying around in the cabin that might become missiles when the plane hits trouble), but I guess up till this point I've been pretty lucky with coercing the air crew to oblige. (I don't know if it matters, but I've always given it [EDIT: my guitar] to a female crew member.)

Oh, BTW, United has apparently now said that they need to speak to the guy who did this video to sort his claim out. Isn't that nice of them. :?

JoEllis wrote: Oh, BTW, United has apparently now said that they need to speak to the guy who did this video to sort his claim out. Isn't that nice of them. :?

Hey Joe, that was really awesome, very funny, but serves them right! I would inflate the value of my guitar if I were him, seeing they are now prepared to settle!! ?

BTW. That T5C he's playing has got me all Gassed-up again........is this a subliminal message.........??? :-\

I once took a guitar on a bus years back, acoustic in a soft bag. I was so stupid back then. But the staff made extra sure that my guitar was put in a safe place when I explained how much it means to me. The guy actualy came to give me reasurance half way that my guitar is still there and that I could check myself.

+1 Intercape.

i also travelled intercape once , with a ibanez in a soft case , they let me keep it between my legs , not the most comfortable , but better then been in the cargo hold

Bob Dubery wrote:

bLuEs wrote: I always take my guitar into cabin. It fits in the overhead compartments

So you are the reason that the Better 5/8 and I couldn't find baggage space near our seats when we came back from the UK ?

haha, guilty, I'd rather have pi$$ed off passengers than a broken guitar ?

JoEllis wrote: Luckily for him, the dude who took the guitar from me was nowhere to be seen.

That sucks man, he probably knew you wouldn't able to find him once you've landed. Next time, take a picture of the guy, take down his name, surname, Id nr, address and preferred hospital. So you can hunt his ass down >

Stratisfear wrote: The crew usually have a cupboard right up front that's quite tall and I've almost always been able to convince them to put it in there for me. The overhead compartments seldom fit a hard case, and I wouldn't trust other travellers to be sensitive with a soft case.

I read an in depth article on this recently, which took into account the newer security and regs.

Firstly you have to get to the door of the plane with your guitar - security may demand that you check it in before you even leave the gate - then if you packed it in a soft case, hoping to get it in the overheads, you're stuffed. As always, it pays to check an airlines policy on guitars beforehand, but even if the folk at the airline say it will be OK beforehand, be aware that the security staff can override policy and force you to check it.

Once you reach the cabin, you can ask the cabin staff to store it in the cabin hold, they can refuse to do this, depending on what they have to fit in there already (baby strollers, wheelchairs, etc. get priority - that's what the cabin storage is there for). Even if they do refuse, you are already better off, as it will then go into the forward hold, which is pressurised and it will be taken there by an individual, rather than by the ordinary baggage handling.

One other thing that helps is to book late and book a flight which has lots of empty seats - the chances are better you will be allowed to sit where you like and be allowed to have your guitar in a spare seat next to you. If the flight is too underpopulated though, there is always the chance that it ends up cancelled and you end up on another busier flight - quite possibly on another airline (with different policies).

Above all, things are changeable. A lot of getting a guitar in the cabin with you is subject to the whims of the staff on duty at the time. So prepare for the worst - that you will be forced to check it.

this is valuable info. I might soon have to travel with a guitar regularly.

It might be a good idea to set up "stations" in each city with gear to be used when you get there. For eg we have a network and if someone plays in Durbs they use my rig and so avoid risking theirs. provided the setup is good enough of course.

DonovanB wrote: It might be a good idea to set up "stations" in each city with gear to be used when you get there. For eg we have a network and if someone plays in Durbs they use my rig and so avoid risking theirs. provided the setup is good enough of course.

...that might be an idea, though it's open to abuse. I know in the US no-one travels with any kind of amplification any more - if the organiser can't supply the backline, no show.

What would probably be a better idea is investing in a serious case that can take any kind of abuse. Then either pay for the extra weight or ship your guitar by road the day (or two) before you fly, so it's there when you arrive.