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Hello-

I'm headed to New Zealand and Australia to play some shows. Does anyone have any suggestions for traveling with a couple of guitars? Do you check them as baggage or bring them into the cabin?

Best,
Justin

Check your guitars? Haha...I wouldn't suggest it.

Carry-on only.

Depends what sort of guitar and what sort of case. I've checked mine a bunch of times.

My friend has an interesting solution to this problem: play only Steinbergers, and carry them everywhere with you.

Take 'em with you as far as you can get. Through security etc. If the check-in desk gives you shit, just tell them you are going to gate-check them. You know, check them at the gate.

Often you can just carry them on, once you get to the gate.

If you get to the gate and they tell you have to check them, you get a gate-check tag put on them and take them to the end of the gateway.

Then you ask the flight attendants very nicely if they have a place to put them in the cabin. A lot of the time, they will bail you out.

If they do not find a place for them, at least your instruments will end up on top of the pile.

I'm feeling lazy, so I'm not gonna find it for you, but there's already at least one and I think maybe two threads specifically about this. I know because my roommate just asked me if I knew anything about this (or where to buy an ATA case) a couple weeks ago before he left to tour Europe with his old left-handed Tele that he loves. Maybe do a search for "guitar plane" or "guitar ATA", with the "find all terms" button checked. You'll find it.

scott wrote:before he left to tour Europe with his old left-handed Tele that he loves.

Is it a semihollow with humbuckers, by any chance? Or do you really mean old?

Just curious.

uh, buy flight cases.

garble wrote:

scott wrote:before he left to tour Europe with his old left-handed Tele that he loves.

Is it a semihollow with humbuckers, by any chance? Or do you really mean old?

Just curious.

Pretty sure it's kinda old. No humbuckers. Here.

whatever you do try to avoid checking your guitar unless you have a really good flight case. i learned my lesson the hard way.. i checked my 335 in chicago, opened it up in amsterdam and the neck was cracked. just had normal gibson hardcase. the airlines don't claim they are responsible for any damage that occurs inside the case (or baggage) either. one suggestion i have in case you happen to break the neck on your 335... get the neck fixed and repainted real nice, take to guitar center, trade even up for brand new $1800 gretsch, try to get out of guitar center before you start dying of laughter at how stupid guitar center employees are when they say "yeah, they really laid on the black paint thick behind the headstock back in the late eighties," as they are trying to read the serial number.