Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

Mar 14, 2008 4:54 PM, By Pat Kirtley

           
 

PROTECT YOUR INSTRUMENTS FROM THE HAZARDS OF TRAVEL

When you travel with a musical instrument, it’s usually because you have to, not because you want to. Instruments, especially the stringed variety, prefer to stay home tucked safely in their cases when they’re not being lovingly caressed by the musicians who own them. But working musicians must often subject their axes to a wide range of hostile conditions on the road: glaring summer sun, subzero winter days, careless handling by strangers, and airline baggage systems. In this article, I’ll tell you what awaits your instrument out in the cruel world and how you can avoid the inherent dangers of transit.

An old maxim states that your instrument will always be comfortable in the same environment that feels good to you, and it makes sense because humans are pretty finicky about ambient conditions. But a guitar can’t roll down the car window if it’s too hot, and a bass, despite its deep, commanding voice, cannot ask you to bring it in from the cold on a January night. It takes knowledge, vigilance, and sometimes quick thinking to keep instruments safe and intact throughout the rigors of travel.

The Case for Cases

A good case is the first line of protection against instrument-harming evils. There are plenty of options, and they fall into three general categories: soft cases; lightweight hard cases; and flight cases, those built-like-a-tank, impervious-to-everything portable vaults. Each has a distinct purpose–it’s up to you to decide which to use and when.

Soft cases . Soft cases are usually made out of abrasion-resistant woven-nylon cloth with internal stiffening and padding elements. The good ones aren’t cheap, but they do a reasonably good job of protecting an instrument when you carry it. The main benefit of soft cases is their lightness, as anyone who has carried a guitar or bass around for more than a few minutes in a heavy hard case can appreciate. If you travel by car from home to a local gig or to a teaching session, a soft case usually makes life easier. When evaluating those cases, check for tough, densely woven-nylon fabric covering; generous inside padding; high-quality zippers and fasteners; and strong internal stiffening panels (solid nylon or polyethylene, not cardboard). The best designs also feature extra storage compartments and versatile strap and handle configurations.

Hard cases. The most popular instrument case is the general-purpose hard-shell case. Some shells are harder than others, though, so use common sense in evaluating a design. Stiffness and rigidity are important, and the case’s size has a lot to do with how it will perform: the stiffness of materials is inversely proportional to size. It’s easy to design a lightweight and superrigid violin case, for instance, but bigger cases need to be much thicker and heavier to provide the equivalent stiffness.

The selection of suitable materials for larger cases is therefore more limited than it is for small ones. The two most common hard cases for guitars and basses are molded cases, made of high-impact polyethylene or ABS plastic (or sometimes fiberglass composites), and "built" cases, with sides and backs made of wood laminate and an outer covering of fabric or vinyl.

The claim to fame for molded cases is a combination of lightness, physical strength, rigidity, and reasonable cost. For years, molded cases have been the most popular type in the midrange price bracket. A molded guitar case weighs as little as five or six pounds and can provide good protection. These cases are susceptible to problems, though–some are made of thin polyethylene that bends, and others have cheap latches and hinges that may make you curse and grumble at each opening and closing.

Also, polyethylene melts–yes, melts–at temperatures lower than you’d imagine. If it reaches about 200 degrees Fahrenheit (not much higher than the temperature inside a closed automobile bathed in summer sunshine), the plastic begins to deform and warp. At temperatures just a little higher than that, it turns into an ugly, contorted mess. By the time the case gets that hot, the instrument will already have felt the heat, so to speak. If, however, you always take precautions against high temperature for the sake of the instrument, those cases will work just fine.

For built cases with an inner core of extremely rigid wood laminate, the main worry is that the outer covering will suffer abrasions. Those cases are heavy, but the really nice thing is that even after years of abuse, they still provide good basic protection to the instrument inside.

Flight cases. The vaunted heroes of instrument cases are the ultrarugged offerings from Caltron, Mark Leaf, and others, which include the fabled Air Transportation Association (ATA)—rated flight cases. These impenetrable barriers provide the highest level of protection for instruments in transit, but they have glaring disadvantages–they are expensive, bulky, and almost unbelievably heavy. They feature tough shells of solid fiberglass or molded materials and aluminum and stainless-steel hardware and trim. As good as they are at protecting the instrument within, they scream, "Steal me!" when left momentarily unattended. Thieves tend to understand that inside a $600 case lies a $3,000 instrument.