Shipping a Guitar

[Mark UK 3]

Hi, there,

Bit of a strange question: but have any of you tried to ship over a guitar from, in my case, the UK to the US?

I have a nice guitar (not too expensive, but decent enough) that's gathering dust at my parents' house. I was wondering whether or not it's more economical to:

a) buy a new guitar

b) have it shipped

c) pay overage baggage charges for the guitar when my parents visit in the fall.

Mark

[Casprd 167]

Flying international, unless you are on a really low cost airline, it shouldn't incur any overlimit baggage fees. It will be oversized and be hand carried through most of the baggage checks, but that is about all. I just bought a new guitar in China and brought it back without any issues. Even the domestic flight in china didn't hit me with a charge. Just make sure you have a good hardcase for it.

Edited June 22, 2011 by Casprd

[xxxwabbiexxx 70]

Most airlines let you take them on the plane as carry on - check on their website under the baggage section. With British Airways and American Airlines you are allowed 1 bag free of charge and then you have to pay for the 2nd and 3rd and its really good value because you pay a one off charge for the bag not per KG and with carry on you're allowed a small suit-case and a personal item - I think your guitar would count as the small suit-case then for your personal item you can keep your paper work on you in a laptop bag or something.

[TracyTN 237]

Agreed. Buy yourself a hard case and carry it on. My husband was too paranoid to store his as cargo.

[JoannaV 174]

Guitars generally are fine for bringing on the plane, it's with cellos you start having issues :-)

[Mark UK 3]

Thanks, guys. Appreciate it. I think I read somewhere that if there's no room on the plane to carry it on, you have to buy a ticket for it and sit it next to you. Given that flights seem to be far more busy recently, I would presume this is more likely to happen. Anyone had that happen to them?

[DiZZyLoX 114]

I've traveled with my guitar as carry on baggage. they just put it in the coat closet.

[TracyTN 237]

That's what they did with hubby's, too (coat closet).

[Moomin 292]

If you really don't play the guitar everyday until your fingers are numb, and it's not too rare I would probably save the money on flightcase, sell the guitar and buy a new/used in the US. I have a few and taking none with me. I sold a used les paul in my home country and can basically buy an identical brand new one for the same amount in US if not less. It's worth looking into.

[elmcitymaven 9,712]

My ex brought his over as well -- it was a 12-string left-hander that he was loath to leave in the UK. He packed it EXTREMELY well and actually checked it -- came out just fine on the other side, though personally I would have had it as a carryon!

[Mark UK 3]

If you really don't play the guitar everyday until your fingers are numb, and it's not too rare I would probably save the money on flightcase, sell the guitar and buy a new/used in the US. I have a few and taking none with me. I sold a used les paul in my home country and can basically buy an identical brand new one for the same amount in US if not less. It's worth looking into.

That was my logic to begin when I first moved over here, to be honest. I sold my guitars to family for a very nominal fee - figured it would cost as much to ship as it would to buy a new one. My ESPs and acoustics all gone *cry*.

Problem is that an equivalent five-string acoustic bass to the standard of the one I'm looking at moving across is particularly expensive here (I got a stonking deal on it back in Blighty).

My family isn't using the bass and it is a nice model, so it is likely to be cheaper to have it shipped (unless I have to pay for another plane ticket) than it is to buy a new one here. The same probably could have been said about the ESPs that I had, but my family are making use of those

Mark