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Does anyone with one of the luthier-made small body archtops (Andersen Little Archie and others) take them on a plane and place them in the overhead bin?
Seems risky for guitars this expensive. I have a $400 Traveler guitar I fly with and worry when someone tries to put a suitcase on top of it. I can't imagine placing an $8,000 guitar in the bin and watch someone try to squish it with an overstuffed suitcase.
Is the new breed of small archtop guitars really not travel-ready or do you buy a seat for it?
--Charley
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06-06-2022 03:56 PM
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In my experience no archtop fits in the allowed dimensions for carry on luggage, so you are at the mercy of good will from the staff. Hence it is best to prepare for the event that the guitar must be checked in, so a sturdy and padded hard case. If you are lucky and get it into cabin, said case will also tough enough to survive a bag or two on top.
Last edited by JohanAbrandt; 06-06-2022 at 04:34 PM.
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My ergonomic Forshage case looks like a fancy tennis racquet case, so it fits!
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Especially in a small airplane, an archtop won't fit. My solution lately, cheap and worry free... an epi 339. Half of the reason i bought it was to set it up left handed and see if that works, which it does. Going to put a old Ken Armstrong paf i have left on the neck and it's set. It fits in a standard reunion electric gigbag and is small enough to get on the plane without problems..!
If i end up liking it enough i might get the Gibson one..
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An Ibanez GB10 in its hardshell case will fit in some of the larger overhead bins, or in the plane's closet if you ask nicely.
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Not an archtop, but I used to take a Parker Fly (pun intended). Thin and as sturdy as can be.
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I would think the Carvin or Keissel Alan Holdsworth headless guitar would be the ticket!
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/methinks that Ken Parker should be able to tweak his fancy neck attachment system so you can take it off easily...
Originally Posted by Woody Sound
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None? Originally Posted by JohanAbrandt
Paddock Metropolitan:
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There you go, evidence that my experience is limited. Thanks Originally Posted by Sam Sherry
None?
Paddock Metropolitan:
Technically it might not be enough though because in eu the limit seems to be around 55cm and in the us it seems to be 22 inches. A 24 3/4 inch neck with 22 frets will not fit in that.
But close enough for a cigarr
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24 3/4 isn't the length of the neck alone, but scale length, whatever the number of frets. Originally Posted by JohanAbrandt
So, it can fit
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Go and measure it, from last fret to top of the peghead. Its faster than us arguing about it Originally Posted by 339 in june
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As always, YMMV, but I personally would not take a full size guitar on a flight if I cared about it, unless it were in a heavy duty travel case.
I like the Voyage Air travel guitars. Right now I am playing my flattop much more than my archies, just because it sounds nice, it's comfortable and it doesn't have to be plugged in. I even have a Markley soundhole pickup if I want to amplify it. It is easily put in most overhead bins, or in a pinch even under the seat. Sometimes I just use the guitar case for most of my clothes and don't take a piece of luggage at all.
VA does make electrics also. I haven't tried one of these in person, but given my experience with the VA I would imagine they are well made, and not too expensive for a "real" guitar which will fit on a plane.
TransAxe Series are compact electrics, stored in the included backpack case, the size of a laptop, gives up nothing in tone.Last edited by Doctor Jeff; 06-07-2022 at 04:58 PM.
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Thanks for all the helpful replies!
With the availability of expensive small body archtops, was anyone really taking them onboard? Supposedly, Bill Frisell had Andersen build the Little Archie so he could travel with an archtop.
But, I see this guitar on Reverb for $7,000+
Does he or would anyone really take a $7,000 guitar onboard in a gig bag and hope it fits in the overhead. Seems pretty risky with an expensive guitar even if it is somewhat small...
--Charley
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Maybe if you can spend that kind of money in commissioning a special travel archtop, you also have the money to fly 1st class or even private?
(ok, I'm --->)
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https://flipscipio.com/gallery/convertible
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Wow!
What does it cost? Or should I be afraid to ask?
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And more importantly, is that an archtop? Maybe a small-arch top?
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The guitar that Flip Scipio made for Mary Halvorson certainly looks to have a flat top, but he says he made it so that it would feel like her main instrument, a 17" Guild Artist Award.
I seem to remember that Flip Scipio ran the repair shop at Mandolin Brothers (Staten Island, NY) for a while, but I may be misremembering that.
I take a boutique luthier-made mini-jumbo (flat top) with me when I travel to Paris from NY, and it fits in the overhead compartment. It's in a Crossrock carbon fiber case with a cover.
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Yeah, Flip ran the repair shop at Mandolin Bros.from 1991 to 1997. He saved a friend of mine's D'A after Carlo Greco butchered it when he gave it a disastrous fret job. Originally Posted by Ukena
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Heres a sample:
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I referred to a travel guitar of a brand I couldn't remember, apparently in a different thread but here it is: Originally Posted by RJVB
And more importantly, is that an archtop? Maybe a small-arch top?
Furch Little Jane
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Slight digression down a similar path:
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Not exactly a small archtop, indeed
(BTW, I just learned that double basses are apparently banned from French trains...
)
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