We’ll be going away for a week’s vacation later on in the year and I started thinking about whether we should let my son take his guitar with him. The big question is about handling and all that. Can we be sure the airline will handle it safely? It’s a new solid body guitar, cost about $450, and the case is a very solid Gibson, cost about $100.
Secondary question: How awful is it to tell a musician adolescent that he just can’t have his guitar for a week. He’s been very good about practicing lately and definitely enjoys it and is getting a lot out of it.
My brother is a guitarist and flies from the West Coast to the East Coast and back a couple of times a year. He’s never had a problem checking his guitar and getting it back at the other end undamaged. The quality of the case will definitely make a difference, and it sounds like you have a good one.
Secondly, in my first- and second-hand experience, it’s awful to be without your axe, especially when you are an adolescent who is really getting into it.
Is that a carrying case, or a shipping case? Without knowing the particular kind you have, you might want to check with Gibson or the store you bought it at to see if it’s suitable for going as checked baggage. You might also want to check with your airline to see what they recommend.
Go to mudcat.org and search the forum for threads on this. Use the advanced search feature with words like guitar, airplane, flying, carry, etc. There should be a lot of helpful info there.
I have heard horror stories of guitars damaged by baggage handling. The systems are designed for normal luggage, not instruments.
I took a guitar as baggage once and the case was damaged cosmetically – the exterior fabric was torn off of the wooden body. The airline fixed it for me, but I found it a scary experience. With liability limitations, I wouldn’t count on their covering the full value of a damaged instrument.
Sometimes a guitar can be carried on board, but my understanding is you cannot get a guarantee that this will be allowed. If the crew on that particular plane feel it would be a problem, it would have to be checked.
If taking it seems problematic, he may be able to rent a guitar locally. I did that once. Had to pay a minimum 3-month rental fee, $45 as I recall but it was less hassle than bringing a guitar and less expensive than replacing one.
Your son might be able to take it as carry on luggage. Check with the airline first because some will give you a hassle about this, but I have done this several times with my guitar. You take it as cary on and hopefully store it in their coat closet at the front of the plane, but most guitars will fit into the overhead too (but they take up a bunch of room and other passengers cranky).
I did it once, in a lockable hard case. My only problem was that the TSA opened the lock and left me a love note that they’d searched the case. I’mm fortunate they didn’t bust the lock, or the case wouldn’t have stayed closed.
My guitar teacher says he takes his as a carryon all the time for gigs (of course, his is much nicer and more vital than mine). He carries it in a gig bag and just sticks it in the coat closet near the front.
My brother took his electric guitar on a cross-continental flight a number of years back. When he got to his destination and walked out into the luggage pickup area, he saw his guitar on the floor with the case broken, lying on top of it. Luckily it was a Sears Les Paul, not a real Les Paul, or there would have been some heads rolling. He never did find out how it got that way.
Exactly what I was going to suggest- and label the outside clearly and in large print with his name and address, in case he gets separated from it.
Be aware, however, that not all planes have the capacity to do this and will put it in the cargo area anyway (small planes). Just call ahead and they’ll let you know.
Well its been several years since 1975, but I recall a trip on Air Canada late summer from Amsterdam to Toronto loaded with fellow returning students some of whom had carried on guitars. Shortly after take off it was announced that drinks would be complimentary.
Well in no time the guitars came out and we were all singing along having one of the best parties I have ever participated in.
I once brought my guitar on board a flight. There was a desperately sick girl on the plane, and I offered to sing an uplifting folk song to her. Sadly, as I swung my guitar back and forth, I repeatedly knocked the IV out of her arm. Her eyes rolled back in her head and her mouth started to pucker in the most ghastly way. I really need to be more careful.
I believe current DHS rules allow them to open any checked baggage for inspection, and if it’s locked they can break the lock. Many airlines are enforcing carry on size restrictions very tightly these days, so call the airline if there are any doubts.
Years ago I did take my guitar as checked luggage several times, but it wasn’t an expensive instrument. I just used my regular hard shell case, but it did receive some cosmetic damage.
I have been advised that you should slacken the strings to lessen the chance of damage during the flight and handling. Whether this really helps I don’t know, but it seems like it couldn’t hurt.
My hard guitar case fits in most overhead bins, except on the tiny commuter planes, where you check large carry-on items plane-side.
I’ve also put it into the closet at the front a couple of times. Worst comes to worst, he’ll have to check it at the gate. But try to carry it on first.
Make sure that you put some extra packing around the peghead to prevent “whiplash”. The peghead will snap off if the case is thrown around hard enough. It won’t do it if the peghead can’t move.
I’ve never let an airline send my guitar to the bowels of the plane. Too many horror stories from people I know who have had problems. One guy I know has even gone so far as to buy an extra seat when he flies.
Usually, I do the “Oops. Can you check this for me in the coat closet?” trick.
When I moved back from Hawaii, I brought my guitar with me as carry-on luggage. It was, I think, put in a coat closet along with the large garment bags some people carry. This was a cheap guitar I bought at a flea market, but it was all the music I had, and it survived the trip nicely.
Oh yes, speaking as a former teenager who was crazy about music, it is possible to separate a teenage musician from his or her music, but only if there’s the right incentive. I’ve gone less three months in my life without access to a musical instrument, and during those three months I set up a deal where I’d play guitar for a church Sunday School if I could borrow the head of the Sunday School’s guitar. Music made my adolescence bearable. Thanks for being willing to let your son take his guitar along.
FTR, if you have an expensive/valueable instrument that absolutely cannot be handled by the gorillas in baggage, you can buy the seat next to you at a discount.
We use to do this for a guy who was a professional cellist for the Detroit symphony.
CAll the airlines and ask about it.
However, be warned, the articles in the cabin ARE NOT covered by the airline liability. (This may have changed, but I really doubt it.)
We had a client who put his briefcase on the floor for an early morning flight DTW to DFW. He ( and eveyrone else in first class) woke up to find their bags were soaked. There was a leak in the front lavatory and every guy on that side of the plane in First had put his feet on his breifcase and didn’t notice the water until it was time for landing.
It ruined everything inside and took him months of persistant haranguing of the airlines to get reimbursed.