[HANASHIR:2872] Re: guitar travel / insurance

[Joel Siegel <siegeljd...>]

I've just been reading the Taylor Guitars website tonight
(http://www.taylorguitars.com)

Among other fine things, it has a nice FAQ page:
http://www.taylorguitars.com/d_faq.html

I found the following re: traveling and loosening strings -- they
actually recommend against loosening strings.  I don't know why their
advice wouldn't apply equally to non-Taylor guitars.  Of course they
take the opportunity to hype Taylor guitars and cases, but hey, it's a
commercial site.  Sorry about the formatting... it's a hazard with
copying/pasting from a web page.

Sorry also about the rather, um, dated language, like "stewardess" (I
thought that word was definitvely replaced with "flight attendant" some
decades back).  Re pre-boarding, gate checking, etc..... they make it
look easy, don't they?

As a professional musician, I travel quite a bit, so my questions relate
to traveling with
                                my Taylor. What would you recommend in
the way of a travel case? Should I loosen the
                                string tension during prolonged periods
of disuse, or should I leave it tuned to concert
                                pitch? When traveling by air, should I
de-tune, or loosen the strings on my Taylor guitar
                                to reduce the tension on the neck and
top? Is it really "bad for the neck" to de-tune all
                                six strings? Do you have any other
travel tips?

                                Your Taylor guitar came with one of two
kinds of cases -- either the deluxe Taylor-made case
                                we've been offering for years, or the
SKB case currently available with many models. For the
                                shells of the Taylor case, we use a
five-ply poplar laminate that makes for incredibly strong
                                shock and elemental protection, and
should be equal to most tasks when it comes to travel. Since
                                late-summer 1997, we've been covering
the Taylor-made case with Nubtex -- a much hardier,
                                more scratch-resistant vinyl than we've
used in the past (it's commonly used on speaker
                                cabinets, etc.). The next step up from
the Taylor case is an ATA flight case like the one Anvil
                                makes. Other manufacturers make similar
cases, many of them relatively expensive. The SKB
                                case is made of vacuum-molded ABS
plastic, which is lighter in weight, scuff-resistant, and less
                                expensive, but, in our opinion, offers
slightly less protection against breakage.

                                There are a few other travel tips that
might prove helpful. On many small planes, you have to
                                take what you get, but on commercial
airliners, there usually is plenty of room onboard to store
                                a guitar, although they don't broadcast
that fact. The airlines also are getting better at providing
                                alternatives, such as "hand-carry," in
which they allow you to watch them put the guitar
                                onboard, and then take it off again when
you reach your destination. If you're still skittish, you
                                can insure the guitar (some feel it's a
good idea to insure for twice the guitar's worth).

                                Some of our colleagues routinely
pre-board with guitar case in hand, and ask the stewardess if
                                they have a closet or a large overhead
compartment in the back of the plane (frequently
                                available). Here, potential
complications include flights that are unusually crowded, and those
                                rare instances when five other
guitarists are trying to get their axes onboard.

                                If you de-tune the guitar for any length
of time, you also have to loosen the truss rod.
                                Otherwise, the neck may develop a back
bow, and it could prove difficult to completely correct
                                that. In other words, you actually could
do long-term damage to the instrument by loosening the
                                strings and not loosening the truss rod
at the same time. Best to leave it as is, even on relatively
                                long flights.



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