disassemble a guitar for travel - hand bag

[gcastbr]

Hi guys, sorry for this silly question, but I will travel and the company does not accept the size of the electric guitar as a hand bag - so I thought to disassemble my guitar and put it inside my hand bag which has the measures , my question is, shall I need to lose the truss rod, or I just leave as it is?

Thanks for any tip here.

 

[giblesp]

Hi guys, sorry for this silly question, but I will travel and the company does not accept the size of the electric guitar as a hand bag - so I thought to disassemble my guitar and put it inside my hand bag which has the measures , my question is, shall I need to lose the truss rod, or I just leave as it is?

Thanks for any tip here.

I've done a fair bit of backpacking/travelling.

What I did was unscrew the neck of a strat, and put the neck in my check in baggage. The body, I carry on in a folded gig bag. No need to do anything with the truss rod.
Make sure strings, whammy bar, neck or anything loose go in with your check in baggage.

Have done this on flights within Europe, to India, Nepal and Australia with no problems.

I had a 'beater,' guitar specially for travelling; Classic Series Strat.

 

[Edgar Frog]

If you do a lot of traveling and are determined to take a guitar along for just personal entertainment and not for playing gigs then just get a nice small full scale fully functional guitar like a Steinberger Spirit GT. If it's just a short vacation I'd never consider taking a guitar along if it's travel friendly or not, but that's just me. But I have also never been on a vacation in the nearly 50 years I've been on this planet lol. So what the hell do I know.

 

[RCM 800]

Kinda off topic and I cant remember the brand name but Steve Stevens was pimping a guitar that can fold in half so you can carry it on. Anyways good luck on your trip.

 

[giblesp]

It's worth the weight carrying a real guitar though. The girls in far off places, love the sight of a real guitar.

 

[Filipe Soares]

no worries about the truss rod. I generally do it and use clothes wrapped around the neck and body to make it safer

 

[Mike.Welch]

I have traveled with guitars and never had one damaged. A few times I have checked guitars in a hard case along with the luggage. Most of the time, I carried it on the plane in gig bag. The flight attendants were happy to either put it in the overhead storage or put it in the coat closet near the front of the plane. I don't travel with any expensive guitars.

Mike

 

[AlvisX]

It's not a big deal , been doing it for decades ....Plus it's fun to get where you're goin' and put 'em together ....like an assassin
I have a few guitars that Ive even put threaded inserts into the neck mounting holes ...to use Allen (Hex) head machine screws

British Airways and Ryan Air have gotten pretty ridiculous about bringing guitars onboard
I try to avoid them

 

[giblesp]

I have traveled with guitars and never had one damaged. A few times I have checked guitars in a hard case along with the luggage. Most of the time, I carried it on the plane in gig bag. The flight attendants were happy to either put it in the overhead storage or put it in the coat closet near the front of the plane. I don't travel with any expensive guitars.

Mike

With carry on, that was the case until around 2011. After that, airlines insisted on a one carry on at a specific size. They're very strict about strings and whammy bars, so make sure they're checked in.

If you don't take off the neck and try and carry on, you risk your guitar ending up in the hold, with a gig bag. Adiós guitar.

Even in a standard hard case, checking it in is a risk.

If checking in, I'd flight case at least.

Will never fly with a favourite guitar though.

 

[giblesp]

It's not a big deal , been doing it for decades ....Plus it's fun to get where you're goin' and put 'em together ....like an assassin
I have a few guitars that Ive even put threaded inserts into the neck mounting holes ...to use Allen (Hex) head machine screws

British Airways and Ryan Air have gotten pretty ridiculous about bringing guitars onboard
I try to avoid them

I've taken on just the body in a folded gig bag, with both Ryan Air and Easy Jet.

Important to pre check both the size and weight of the body with the gig bag folded, plus any personal stuff going into the gig bag; camera, laptop etc.

And expect additional questions, guitar body getting examined by airport security.

 

[Vinsanitizer]

It's not a big deal , been doing it for decades ....Plus it's fun to get where you're goin' and put 'em together ....like an assassin
I have a few guitars that Ive even put threaded inserts into the neck mounting holes ...to use Allen (Hex) head machine screws

British Airways and Ryan Air have gotten pretty ridiculous about bringing guitars onboard
I try to avoid them

Ridiculous in what way(s)?

 

[Georgiatec]

Obviously you can't take a Les Paul. A Fender no problem. Take the neck off and put the body and neck in your checked in case, well padded with bubble wrap and your clothes. Get to your destination, put it back together...sorted.

 

[AlvisX]

Ridiculous in what way(s)?

In the ,"You aint gettin on this plane with that guitar "way

 

[Vinsanitizer]

In the ,"You aint gettin on this plane with that guitar "way

Why don't they want guitars on airplanes? (I've only flown twice: back & forth from NY to DC for a Tech convention, so I have no experience.)

 

[AlvisX]

Why don't they want guitars on airplanes? (I've only flown twice: back & forth from NY to DC for a Tech convention, so I have no experience.)

Well, some time ago ,12-15yrs ,there was a big fuel crunch ....so most major airlines started charging fees for checked bags ,and cutting out stuff like free snacks/meals
Because of the bag fees , you had more people scrambling for the overheads ......So the airlines started being more facist about what you carry onto the plane ......and of course,they're gonna be more accommodating to Mr /Mrs civilian ,than they are to some damn musician
That's my guess anyway

 

[Deftone]

I have a Traveler EG-1 myself. Got tired of not having a guitar when i travel, the EG1 solved that problem for me.

I love it. It's got a full scale neck, all Mahogany, has "clean" and "drive" modes, it's got an on board amp and headphone jack. It's actually become my go to practice guitar because it's so comfortable to play. It's super easy to set up and sounds pretty damn good. The only negative is it's a little bit harder to tune that a normal guitar but once in tune it stays there.

 

[TerrellFerrell]

Traveling with a guitar can be tricky, but I think it’s worth it if you’re passionate about playing. I recently took a trip in business class and brought my mini guitar along, and it was such a great way to unwind after a long flight! I agree that a smaller, travel-friendly option like the Steinberger is smart for those who want to keep it simple. Personally, I wouldn’t want to risk damaging my main guitar on a trip, especially with all the moving around. It sounds like you’ve got some great travel stories, even if you haven’t gone on vacation yet!

 

[SkyMonkey]

I had a Steinberger Spirit that I used to take away with me onto the oil rigs, where baggage weight was super stringent.
One of those and something like a BOSS Micro BR-80 digital recorder were a perfect match for (near) silent practice.
The only problem I had with the Spirit shape was that I tend to hug the guitar body with my strumming arm to stabilise it.
No body on a Spirit, so I bought a short strap and tightened it to pull the guitar into to my belly.
That, and the pups are kack, so I upgraded to EMG passives.