Counting down to London!! 1 week left

In this post I wanna talk a little about how I plan to pack and travel with my guitar. I have decided after some research to take a small scale guitar in a gig bag and carry it on the plane with me. I have checked and although my guitar is too long (it is built to be the dimensions of a "traditional parlor guitar") to fit the requirements of most airlines' carry on policy, it should still fit into an over head compartment. In case any readers are wondering what the measurements of my A&L AMI parlor guitar are here is a link to the website with all the manufacturers specifications: A&L AMI. I have also done extensive research on the specific policies of the airlines we will flying with and plan to have print outs of their policies in my case and ready to be shown to anyone that doesn't comply. One thing to keep in mind is that policies differ from airline to airline even if they are owned by the same company so be careful with connecting fights. I also plan on calling the airlines to confirm their policies on musical instruments and just as a backup I plan to pack my gig bag with extra cushioning (socks ect.) and take a picture with a current newspaper to document how well it's packed, the condition it's in, and the date in case the worst happens. I've also been playing around with modifications to the guitar and gig bag to make it safer for travel.  After doing research on some of the ways guitars can get ruined during travel I realized that the end pin is a weak point and I have a way to reinforce it. It is basically just a large washer with a piece of cloth between it and the body of my guitar. I installed it on my end pin jack so if it does take a rough drop the force of the drop will be distributed over a larger area instead of one small point that's on the seam where the two halve of the body come together. I would also recommend to anyone in a similar situation, just removing then end pin while traveling. This is easy to do and a similar, maybe even more effective way to avoid the same tragedy, although if your guitar has an end pin jack it's not so simple. I have also use and old travel bag for toiletries to hold my recorder, tuner and other more fragile accessories. This bag fits perfectly under the neck of my guitar in the gig back and with some cushioning should help hold the neck in place. I am using a road runner little brat gig bag made specifically for 3/4 scale guitars. It was very reasonably priced, you can buy them here: Road Runner Little Brat. Its not as protective as a hard case but it has a thick layer of padding and plenty of pockets. I plan on locking the main compartment on the bag with some TSA approved master locks in case I get told it has to go to the coat closet or, heaven forbid, I'm forced to gate check it.The bag fits the depth of my guitar perfectly, it fits the width good except for around the upper bout where its a little loose, and lengthwise it is a little snug. I want it to be snug when I pack it to travel so I will just fill in the gaps with things like shirts and socks and I will pack the head stock area very tightly and carefully to help avoid a head stock break. Another travel tip I have picked up may seem obvious but I will say it anyway, make sure you loose the strings with flying with a guitar, they don't have to be completely off but they do need some slack in them to take some the tension off the neck. Keep in mind even when carrying on your guitar it will go through a lot of pressure, temperature and humidity changes when changing flights, boarding and even in transit. This is why I'm packing my guitar with a planet waves humidipack to help with humidity changes. If I have time I will try to post pictures of my packing methods ect. next week before my flight and I will post a follow up after I arrive to talk about how well everything went.

Until next time,

-Peghead
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