remove neck before flying?

thomasw88

I have a guitar I want to take on a short flight.

Wondering if I should risk it in a hardcase/box  or just take the neck off and put the neck body into my hand luggage?

Wolfetone

Depends what sort of guitar it is?

I would say that any Fender or electric with a removable neck would survive all but the roughest handling without removal. An acoustic with a removable neck like a Taylor or EKO, I would say remove.

merlin

It depends who your airline is. I definitely wouldn't put it in the hold unless you have a good flight case. I think some airlines are restricting guitars now, BA for instance. If it's got a bolt on, then no harm will come of taking it off for the flight. 

bloodandtears

I took the neck off my ESP LTD KH202 and put it, with a pod hd500x in a suitcase for a gig in Malta...

ICBM

Might be worth checking if the neck could be considered as a weapon, if carried in hand luggage... and any tools you might be carrying to put it back together. I’m sure I’ve come across that as a question before, but I can’t remember the answer.

It would definitely be OK in a suitcase in the hold.

thomasw88

its an telecaster, so the neck would be easy enough to remove.

Would it really be considered a weapon?? 

Branshen

I would say put it in a gig bag and carry it on. I've not been told to put it in the hold yet. it will fit above all the other bags, so won't get crushed that way.

bloodandtears

Branshen said:

I would say put it in a gig bag and carry it on. I've not been told to put it in the hold yet. it will fit above all the other bags, so won't get crushed that way.

If you do that, and no-one questions it.. fair play.. but if you get told to put in the hold by a jobsworth you are gonna be in a pickle.. you wouldn't want to put a guitar in a gig bag in the hold would you... you could also be told to buy an extra seat..

Guitar in Flightcase or in padded bits in a suitcase into the hold... less stress.

I couldn't fit my guitar neck and body into a regulation sized hand luggage btw

thomasw88

Branshen said:

I would say put it in a gig bag and carry it on. I've not been told to put it in the hold yet. it will fit above all the other bags, so won't get crushed that way.

i don't have a gig bag down here. it came with a hardcase so i'd rather use that.  

I take it the minus degrees temperature in the hold isn't a massively bad deal?  It is going to be in the air only for an hour or less.

would it be worth me taking off the neck and just leaving it in the hardcase(all wrapped up)?  Is that going to be lless likely to get damaged?

ICBM

thomasw88 said:

its an telecaster, so the neck would be easy enough to remove.

Would it really be considered a weapon?? 

I can't remember. I've definitely seen this either asked or raised as a potential problem.

For what it's worth I consider a Fender neck quite a good weapon in a confined space! You could do quite a lot of damage with one...

A screwdriver definitely would be seen as a weapon, if you were planning to take one.

thomasw88 said:

I take it the minus degrees temperature in the hold isn't a massively bad deal?  It is going to be in the air only for an hour or less.

The hold is not cold, it's within the pressurised part of the aircraft. It might not be fully heated like the cabin, but animals travel in the hold so it should be safe enough for a guitar.

thomasw88

I'm going to put it into the hold.   Wrap the living hell out of it.  hopefully the baggage handlers won't be any worse than the couriers!!  

clarkefan

What about the truss rod? Surely you'd need to loosen it and set up again with the neck back on afterwards when you put strings on?

Logically if the truss rod is bending the neck one way to counteract the pull of the strings, then you take away the strings, if you don't also loosen the truss rod the internal pressure inside the neck must be quite serious.

I've never understood the advice about slackening strings for taking guitars on flights for that matter.  How can you do one without doing the other?

ICBM

clarkefan said:

What about the truss rod? Surely you'd need to loosen it and set up again with the neck back on afterwards when you put strings on?

Logically if the truss rod is bending the neck one way to counteract the pull of the strings, then you take away the strings, if you don't also loosen the truss rod the internal pressure inside the neck must be quite serious.

I've never understood the advice about slackening strings for taking guitars on flights for that matter.  How can you do one without doing the other?

Because it doesn't cause any trouble in the time a guitar will be on a flight, or with the neck off entirely. I wouldn't leave a neck with the strings off and the truss rod under tension in long-term storage, but it's fine for a while - several days at least.

Slackening the strings is a good safety precaution because it can prevent some types of damage (particularly to Gibson headstocks which can snap under a combination of the tension and the inertia of the head, if the case is dropped) and also can prevent minor damage (eg a cracked top on an acoustic) from becoming much more serious once the strength is compromised. On an archtop it's a good idea to loosen them enough that you can remove the bridge - if the case is crushed the bridge can crack the top, or if there's a soundpost it can get punched out through the back of the guitar.

adampeter

Whenever i travel with a guitar i always take the neck off and pack it in my suitcase, never had an issue

thermionic

adampeter said:

Whenever i travel with a guitar i always take the neck off and pack it in my suitcase, never had an issue

Apart from that one time you took your Les Paul...

adampeter

thermionic said:

adampeter said:

Whenever i travel with a guitar i always take the neck off and pack it in my suitcase, never had an issue

Apart from that one time you took your Les Paul...

LOL...yeah the airline took the neck off for me

HAL9000

ICBM said:

Might be worth checking if the neck could be considered as a weapon, if carried in hand luggage... and any tools you might be carrying to put it back together. I’m sure I’ve come across that as a question before, but I can’t remember the answer.

It would definitely be OK in a suitcase in the hold.

Telecaster as a weapon? Nah...

https://youtu.be/dv1bM0pp_o4

Freebird

thomasw88 said:

its an telecaster, so the neck would be easy enough to remove.

Would it really be considered a weapon?? 

Is yours an axe or a baseball bat? You would have to be careful how you talk about it.

clarkefan

ICBM said:

clarkefan said:

What about the truss rod? Surely you'd need to loosen it and set up again with the neck back on afterwards when you put strings on?

Logically if the truss rod is bending the neck one way to counteract the pull of the strings, then you take away the strings, if you don't also loosen the truss rod the internal pressure inside the neck must be quite serious.

I've never understood the advice about slackening strings for taking guitars on flights for that matter.  How can you do one without doing the other?

Because it doesn't cause any trouble in the time a guitar will be on a flight, or with the neck off entirely. I wouldn't leave a neck with the strings off and the truss rod under tension in long-term storage, but it's fine for a while - several days at least.

Slackening the strings is a good safety precaution because it can prevent some types of damage (particularly to Gibson headstocks which can snap under a combination of the tension and the inertia of the head, if the case is dropped) and also can prevent minor damage (eg a cracked top on an acoustic) from becoming much more serious once the strength is compromised. On an archtop it's a good idea to loosen them enough that you can remove the bridge - if the case is crushed the bridge can crack the top, or if there's a soundpost it can get punched out through the back of the guitar.

Very cool!  Another mystery put to bed, thank you!

thomasw88

we made it...

https://i.imgur.com/2d3dCe4.jpg

Jez6345789

I have shifted a lot of guitars around between uk and Spain mostly with EasyJet I used to pay the extra and put them in the hold. Never had an issue.

now I tend to pay for speedy boarding and shove it in the over head have had no trouble doing that or questions asked. 

Only issue is from the EX pat trolls that try to fill a roll on case with baked beans and English tbags and moan there is a guitar in the overhead but with speedy boarding you can stake you claim before they arrive. Not sure you would get a full flight case but had no trouble with a gig bag or fitted Gibson case.

as I point of interest back in the day I travelled the world with my Yamaha acoustic in a soft case for 5 years in the 70’s and covered most of the globe in those days.

i put more dings in it than the airline ever did