Carbon Fibre Bass case for my Europa

[jazzyvee]

If you recall a while back there was an interesting thread by Goran where he was having a carbon fibre case for his series bass. About 3 or 4 years back I was at the UK Bass Show in London and had a conversation about the same thing with a company called Wiseman. https://wisemanlondon.com


Anyway since it looks like Musical Youth are planning to do some touring over the next year, I have decided to look into having a strong lightweight flight case made in carbon fibre.


I've just got off the phone with the owner, (Howard), and we have discussed a number of ideas one of which I suggested that it might be a good idea to make a "generic" case in which the innards and padding could be changed to fit either Europa shaped or classic large body alembic basses, and at least the small DS-5, lead and strap. I don't really see the benefit of making it fit FSO's purely on the economics.


I am hoping to pop down to London in October with my Series II Europa since it has the largest body of my basses so that Howard can measure up and then plan a design.


Now, I don't own a classic large body alembic and wonder if i one of you guys could draw an outline of your bass 4 and 5 string i guess, with measurements,  so that I can take it down when I visit.


I sent Howard a link to Goran's case thread and he has read all that and has an idea of what is required. Interestingly he is good friends with the founder of the company that made Goran's case.

[JimmyJ]

Hey Jazzyvee,

Great that you may be doing some touring with that band.  I hope that comes together for you.

It would also be great to have another source for a "modern" hardshell case large enough for our basses.  I'm glad to hear you're pursuing this and hope it develops into something good.

The Accord Cases that Goran found are super nice (!!) and a great alternative to a gig bag, IMO.  But my main issue with them is that they're very narrow.  I know, kind of a weird complaint.  But the case will not stand on its edge like you'd expect from a "standard" flight case.  In my post-purchase note to the company I suggested they could have made the shells literally twice as deep to make it a more stable case.  That would also allow for a bit more padding on top and back and frankly, more of a "box" style stiffness and stability.. 

I believe the "tooling up" for making carbon fiber shells is the most time-consuming and costly part.  So any of these companies willing to make that initial mold need to think that they might sell more than one case.  Because a single custom one-off case would be prohibitively expensive!

Let us know what you find out!!  Exciting!

Jimmy J

PS: I just played a show in Seattle and had to bring my recording bass which rarely travels.  The idea of checking it at this moment of chaotic air travel and lost luggage had me concerned.  So for the first time ever I just bought my bass a seat on the plane.  "Cabin Baggage" is what they call it.  Carried it in a gig bag and strapped it into the window seat next to me.  Worked out great.  This is something that cello players do all the time but I'd never tried it.  Now I know it's a viable alternative...

[jazzyvee]

Thanks Jimmy, I have used traditional flight cases,( ply and Aluminium), in the past when touring as a guitarist and two have arrived at the destination damaged. One was punctured and let water in and the other was forced open by customs and all the contents and partially closed but insecure halves of the cases were put into a large plastic bag and hence the guitar was badly damaged. So I guess if i'm gonna be travelling by air with an alembic i want it to get there in one piece.


On my last tour in the USA the sax, bass and myself on guitar were told we could not carry our instruments on the plane for safety reasons even though we travelled to the states with them in the overheads. The check in guy/manager said we could if we paid for a seat. I said to him, all these instruments are in cases and the straps in the seats are not designed to hold these and who would be responsible if they went flying round the cabin during some heavy air turbulence and injured someone? Surely it would be safer in the overheads. That shut him up for a few minutes while he went away for advice, then he resumed his line. Fortunately no damage to any of the instruments.

[gtrguy]

I used to ship camera gear in Anvil cases around the country some and I swear it just presented a challenge to the handlers to see if they could drop it far enough to bust them open. They are also heavy and that probably also annoyed them.

[JimmyJ]

That is some bad luck with flight cases jazzyvee!  Yikes!  As demonstrated, there are no guarantees no matter how much effort you put into it.  Same with trying to ship an instrument somewhere, there's always risk of damage or loss.  The bottom line is; have up to date, all-risk, replacement cost, instrument insurance!

As you've found, trying to bring your axe onboard as a carry-on is a big roll of the dice.  In-cabin rules for instruments vary widely, change often, and depend on how the gate staff and flight attendants are feeling that day.  I am not interested in taking that gamble with the added stress of possibly being refused and forced to turn it over to the baggage handlers.  I understand Jimmy Haslip always finds a way to get his bass onboard but he has three advantages: #1 his bass is much smaller than ours.  #2 he is quite tall so the bass looks even smaller.  And #3 he is a sweet guy and a very smooth talker.  Ha!

I've had good luck with my ancient, slightly modified, aluminum, Zero-Halliburton flight cases when I need to check the bass.  I lock all 4 latches and tape a key to the top of the case with "TSA >>> KEY" written on it and the key clearly outlined on the tape.  If they need to open it, they peel back the tape, unlock it, throw in their "we were here" note, and lock it back up again. 

But now I have to say - on these rare occasions when given an opportunity to buy an extra seat for the bass I will take that option.  The instrument must be securely seat-belted in place.  My cello playing pal asks for a seatbelt extension on his way into the plane so he can do just that.  In my case, the regular belt fit through my old Reunion Blues backpack straps and that was enough to satisfy the flight attendants.  Another plus, it didn't get drunk and try to talk my ear off for the whole flight.   

Jimmy J

[StephenR]

I was pretty disappointed in the available custom case options when I looked recently. I already have a flight case that is too large and heavy for me to pick up and carry comfortably. Even it I could move it easily it would take up too much space in my car, my Series II bass lives in it until it is time to leave the house. So far I have been unable to find an affordable, or even available, option that won't cost a fortune and won't be another gig bag or G&G case. I don't plan on flying with the bass and would be covered by the flight case if I did but would like better protection when taking it out on local gigs. Carbon fiber seems like the best material for a lighter case but it is also very expensive to make anything out of it. As Jimmy pointed out getting a one-off case made would be prohibitively expensive.

When I flew in the late 60s and early 70s I would either carry on an instrument and put it in the onboard closet or I was given an escort pass. This was way before all the heightened security we deal with now. The escort pass allowed me to carry my instrument onto the tarmac and hand it to someone who would stash it in the baggage compartment while I watched. When we landed I would go back out on the tarmac and pick it up as it came off the plane. When I flew to Switzerland in 1970 they let me carry on my Martin D21 and I sat with the case under my feet all night, not comfortable in the least but I retained control over what happened with the guitar while flying. Buying a seat for your instrument is an expensive but in some cases necessary way to get it somewhere safely. If my Series bass was destroyed in transit no amount of insurance coverage could make up for having to wait several years for a replacement to be built.

Musical Youth tour sounds exciting Jazzy, hope it comes together for you!

[jazzyvee]

Thanks Stephen, if it does it will mean i will have toured with them  as guitarist  and bass player.

[goran]

Right now I'm traveling with carbon case on a gig, have 2 gigs with this week in 2 different artists in 2 different towns, so roadies gonna take care of my bass and gear.

If I would travel with plane, as I did last month,I never take my Alembic with me. I'm to scared of something go wrong.

The thing is that Alembic mothership is too far away and I wouldn't trust some lithiers to just start to dig in my bass.

Pictures coming today. But I alway say to roadies to put bass always on top.
They alway know that bass is most expensive thing when they drive my gear. 😀

[jazzyvee]

I have taken my alembic bass abroad only once and that was on a cruise so no issue there. I only use alembic basses for gigging. My beater bass is a nice bass but does not give me the sound I want for a live gig. If I end up having to take my bass abroad, i want it to be well protected. I doubt if I would take a series bass unless I knew in advance I could take it on the plane with me, without having to pay for an extra seat.:-)

I have toured a lot with my Alembic Orion guitar and had a custom flight case made for it and it never got damaged or lost.

[StephenR]

One of my most disconcerting flying experiences was checking my Alembicized Modulus Quantum Five-string while flying from San Francisco to Denver. At the Denver airport you need to take a shuttle train to the baggage area which is not near where the planes land. When we got there I was appalled to see there were no attendants in sight and our instruments just sitting on the floor where anyone could have picked them up and walked away with them. My F2-B came on the plane with me in a small pack, I borrowed a power amp and speaker cabinets for the shows we played.

[lbpesq]

Back in the summer of ‘77, I flew to San Antonio with a connecting flight through Houston.   I had to check my ‘61 Strat.   When it didn’t arrive in San Antonio, I checked with the airline and discovered they had sent the guitar to Dallas.  I drove to the Dallas airport to find my Strat sitting in a pile of luggage, unattended, on the floor next to the baggage conveyor.  Anyone could have easily walked away with it.    I never flew with the Strat again.   These days I fly with my Voage-Air acoustic which literally folds in half and easily fits in the overhead.   If I’m flying with an electric, I carry it to the gate.  Then, if they won’t let me bring it in-board (and they almost always do), I can at least gate check it at the door to the plane, and pick it up right at the plane door when we land (along with all the baby strollers).

Bill, tgo

[gtrguy]

I think a good rule of thumb is that whatever you ship on a plane should be able to comfortably survive a 10 foot drop minimum.

[rv_bass]

I had TSA pry the latch off a case, and the latch was not a locking latch!

[rraymond]

Back in the 80’s I worked for a company that made custom computer-controlled video switching systems for the finance industry. One morning I got to work and got a call from a customer several hundred miles away, that their building had been hit by lightning and two of their head trader’s monitors quit working. I booked a flight, grabbed a couple of monitors and some tools and headed to the airport. I checked the monitors and boarded the airplane.

While waiting for boarding to complete, I glanced out the window and noticed the baggage cart pull up. The driver starts loading items on the baggage ramp and is talking to somebody in the underbelly of the plane. He gets to my monitors, makes a comment to the guy in the underbelly, and then attempts to free throw a monitor into the plane. It almost made it but landed on somebody’s suitcase and bounced its way down, hitting other suitcases as it went. The guy is hysterical, bent over laughing, grabs the monitor and tries it again. Same result. Third try, he nailed it. The monitor sailed up and out of sight into the underbelly. The next monitor he got in on the first try. Lucky monitor and other customers suitcases and bags. Now, the monitors were in boxes that had our logo on them and labeling clearly stating that the contents was a monitor and “Fragile handle with care.”

Fortunately, the monitors were built like tanks and the styrofoam packaging held them in place. They both worked when I installed them. I did wonder how many other flyers got to their destination and found broken items in suitcases and garment bags.

[cozmik_cowboy]

Back in the 80’s I worked for a company that made custom computer-controlled video switching systems for the finance industry. One morning I got to work and got a call from a customer several hundred miles away, that their building had been hit by lightning and two of their head trader’s monitors quit working. I booked a flight, grabbed a couple of monitors and some tools and headed to the airport. I checked the monitors and boarded the airplane.

While waiting for boarding to complete, I glanced out the window and noticed the baggage cart pull up. The driver starts loading items on the baggage ramp and is talking to somebody in the underbelly of the plane. He gets to my monitors, makes a comment to the guy in the underbelly, and then attempts to free throw a monitor into the plane. It almost made it but landed on somebody’s suitcase and bounced its way down, hitting other suitcases as it went. The guy is hysterical, bent over laughing, grabs the monitor and tries it again. Same result. Third try, he nailed it. The monitor sailed up and out of sight into the underbelly. The next monitor he got in on the first try. Lucky monitor and other customers suitcases and bags. Now, the monitors were in boxes that had our logo on them and labeling clearly stating that the contents was a monitor and “Fragile handle with care.”

Fortunately, the monitors were built like tanks and the styrofoam packaging held them in place. They both worked when I installed them. I did wonder how many other flyers got to their destination and found broken items in suitcases and garment bags.

Time to revisit this classic: