Hey Jake,
Good to hear you're working, we're both lucky guys in that regard! Maybe in Bournemouth then...
Yes, traveling with your instrument, especially now days, can be rather nerve-racking. Everybody's experiences are different. I know for instance that Jimmy Haslip still carries his instrument in a gig bag onto the plane with him. Through some combination of a smallish bass on the shoulder of a tall and charming guy, he has been able to continue this practice even in this time of uncooperative airlines... I, however, would not recommend trying this because if they absolutely refuse and want to throw it underneath as baggage in it's soft bag, you're screwed.
I basically have two levels of travel with my current situations. Both arrangements start with the bass in one of these cases:
These were made by Zero-Halliburton and sold by Gibson as guitar cases for a short time in the mid-70s. You can still buy them with some searching but they're not exactly popular. I like them because they are basically aluminum and foam and so the lightest weight case possible. But there are a couple drawbacks...
1. My 34 scale series basses just barely fit.
2. Gotta replace the latches with the locking variety.
3. The case comes with 4 useless feet which immediately dent the shell and break off - my mod is to mount two 1/4 round oak runners along the bottom.
4. Aluminum has no memory so every flight leaves new dents and eventually the case will no longer close properly and has to be replaced.
So in situations where I am handling the instrument I simply check this case as baggage, usually with only the bass inside - cables, power supply, DI box, etc, in the other suitcase. I have been lucky with this method (knock on Burl Walnut) - only once did the bass miss a connection and spend the night at the Chicago airport. Didn't sleep well that night but was relieved when the airline delivered it intact the next day.
My other situation involves a proper bass trunk. It's a horizontal trunk about the size of 3 of the above cases. I carry two basses (in their aluminum cases) and the center slot of the trunk is where my small stage rack, cables, strings and spare everything live. When loaded, this trunk is too heavy to lift so it usually goes by truck to the first date of the tour and travels with all the backline stuff.
So in my opinion, start with a hard shell Anvil type case and either ship the bass out in advance or check it as baggage and hope for the best. All risk insurance is also very important!
Sorry for the long post...
Jimmy J
