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Custom cases in Europe?
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Richard Jernigan
Posts: 3430
Joined: Jan. 20 2004
From: Austin, Texas USA
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 RE: Custom cases in Europe? (in reply to edguerin)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: edguerin
quote:
ny guitar I travel with I use this case
Would you trust this case in the hold of an airplane?
I'm not Ricardo, but I have some experience with guitars and airlines. I have nearly 2-million miles on one of my frequent flyer cards, and a few hundred thousand on a couple of others.
My '67 Ramirez blanca has hundreds of thousands of airline miles on it, mostly in a Mark Leaf case. I vaguely recollect a photo of Ricardo's Hauser in one. This case is no longer made. It is very thick fiberglass and foam, very heavily padded. It is extremely heavy. It doesn't travel any more. My "collector's item" classical lives in it at home, since it has the best humidity seal of the cases I own. The Ramirez traveled extensively in a Reuer case as well, also no longer made. It's a little lighter, but still quite heavy. The foam padding in it has degenerated into a nasty black goop, so it's no longer in use.
Two expensive guitars made the trip from Hawaii to Austin via UPS. They flew as checked baggage in Karura carbon fiber cases, with covers, from an island in the Central Pacific to Hawaii. I felt confident, since I knew the head of baggage handling at the departure airport, and watched as the guitars were loaded. At Honlulu the guitars in the Karuras and covers were packed into thick tri-wall cardboard guitar cartons.
I have never had a guitar damaged by an airline, or when shipped, but it does happen. The occurrences I have learned about didn't happen in the airline hold. Most of the guitars were damaged by being dropped a fair distance onto a hard surface, in an inadequate case. But even the best cases might not defend against being driven over by a vehicle like the tractors that pull the baggage wagons, or especially a refueling truck.
I would trust the Visesnut cases at least as well as the Karuras, which have a very good reputation.
But the best solution for peace of mind, if you can afford it, is to buy a first class ticket. You will then be assured of carrying the guitar on board yourself, and stowing it in the overhead compartment--that is, if your flight is not on some of the smaller commuter planes.
Otherwise, you are forced to take some risk. Even with the airline policies allowing musicians to carry their instruments on board, you may be denied the privilege if the flight is full and the overhead compartments are expected to fill up.
In my opinion the greatest risks to the guitar happen during its trips from check-in to the airplane hold, and its return to baggage claim. A good case like the Visesnut will protect the guitar from normal handling--it's when something goes wrong that the damage occurs.
In all my travels the worst damage I have had to checked baggage was when the handle was ripped off an otherwise stout hard sided suitcase. Of course, on its first flight, any hard sided luggage will get scratched up, so if you are at risk of checking your guitar, use a case cover.
The Ramirez went walkabout only once, ending up in Saipan instead of Guam. It was soon found, and arrived at Guam before sundown the same day. My father gave his custom made Purdy shotgun to my son, shipping it air freight from Corpus Christi on the Texas coast to Austin. It took nearly a week to find it after it went astray.
In addition to nicks, gouges and scratches, the Mark Leaf case has a large dark red stain on it. I have no idea what it is, but when asked I say, "That's from the guy who tried to steal it."
RNJ
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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |
Date Feb. 6 2018 21:45:54
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Ricardo
Posts: 14799
Joined: Dec. 14 2004
From: Washington DC
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RE: Custom cases in Europe? (in reply to Richard Jernigan)
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quote:
I vaguely recollect a photo of Ricardo's Hauser in one.
My dad spray painted it silver in our driveway (for years we had the outline in the driveway lol) so it would reflect sunlight. It looked like a top secret weapon he carried around and people always asked about it. Again, there are simple latches on it that could open easily like the VISESNUT cases....that is only thing that makes me uncomfortable about travel without a zipper type thing. TSA pryed open an unlocked microphone case I had in my luggage and the latches were permanently damaged, so it has given me a phobia about guitar cases and such. Zippers are easy to open and close for dumb rednecks at TSA, and also tend to hold humidity in better (Incase of low temp in the cargo hold).
VISESNUT survived several flights already (again I use the rain cover at all times) including overhead bin, gate check item (pink tag) and baggage claim (both normal conveyer belt and oversized items it has been sent through). The only other case I travel with is an Italian VGV that is closed by a single latch and two zippers. That is the case that ended up having the Sanchis headstock snap off twice due to impact...although that guitar had a design flaw in that the headstock is angle backward much more sharply than normal guitars like Ramirez conde etc, and second, it was never properly glued, being held on by the veneered face plate and the two E strings pulling. So not the best example of the failure being the CASE and baggage handling only.
My only horror story was I had to check in my main A26 conde for a long flight to Las Vegas....the case was the normal conde case at the time. The temp was so cold in cargo that when I opened the guitar in Vegas, the humidity was so high the guitar glazed over and took on a mute sound (like an ice cold beverage glass outside on a hot summer day). It took at least a full day for the guitar to dry out and return to normal. That was very depressing and scary experience.
I will say for connecting flights that might go international....make sure to book plenty of layover time between flights if you have a guitar....one time my family traveling to nicaragua, they gate check my guitar for connection to Miami...however the guitar was sent through baggage claim, so I had to EXIT the connections area, collect the guitar at baggage, then go through security and long lines etc almost missing my connection that the rest of my family was already boarded on....very stressful ****.
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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |
Date Feb. 7 2018 15:28:40
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Especially if you're practicing something where you need to check your hands, that's really the best way to go. 
