First Flight with Tuba

[basscelfg]

I'm going to my first ever brass band festival in 4 weeks! My itinerary is booked, but I cant decide which tuba to bring. My 3/4 schiller is great for travel because of its size, and it has a hard case (with wheels). However, the tradeoff is the schiller is not my main tuba anymore (issues with projection and intonation). I've been playing my Mirafone since august, and I love it! Its the quality I had always wanted in a horn, but the hard case has no wheels, is way heavy, and its falling apart. Is a newer hard case for my Mirafone a worthy investment, or should I just bring my schiller ease of travel? Also, any recommendations for a good hard travel case? Thank you!!

[bloke]

Which one can you afford to not have anymore?

I'm assuming this is over an ocean, which eliminated the possibility of driving a car.

[MiBrassFS]

Cough, *Schiller*, cough, cough, cough…

[donn]

For this one, I'd say, go for what will be fun. If the intonation and projection issues are so bad that it will cast a pall over your trip, maybe it would be worth looking for another potential sacrifice to the baggage manglers.

I don't know how much you can rely on a case to save your tuba. I got a new case for my bari sax for a cross country flight, and they mangled the case and the sax. Tubas have the same problem. I vaguely recall an anecdotal trip to China with the tuba covered with nothing but some bubble wrap, and my hunch is that had I done something like that with my bari, I could have saved some expensive, time consuming repairs. Hand them a big heavy case, they will wreak their vengeance on it.

[Mary Ann]

Heavy stuff goes in first, is dropped all the way to the bottom of the hold, and then everything else is dropped on top of it, especially if it "looks tough." And of course things shift during flights, as evidenced by the dog that was in the hold (no choice) and was literally squashed to death by shifting luggage.
If you can't buy it a seat, I find the idea "interesting" of multiple layers of bubble wrap so that the fragility can be seen, but would not want to experiment with a Miraphone.

[Diego A. Stine]

It's important to prioritize when it comes to these situations. Ask yourself the following:
1. Is this going to be a key stepping stone in my professional development, or is this more about having a good time?
2. How far am I traveling; can I drive?
3. Is it possible to borrow a flight case from someone I know?

The safest (but often priciest) way to travel by air is by putting your horn in a gig bag and buying an extra seat. There are plenty of resources on the forums regarding what to say to TSA and flight crew. If you see yourself flying regularly (a few times a year) with your horn(s) then it's worth buying a flight case (NOT a plastic SKB/MTS as these can easily crack).

[bloke]

Someone I would refer to as a casual friend asked to borrow my Walt Johnson case to take their F tuba to China back when they were working on feathers in their cap for tenure and all that jazz. It apparently protected their instrument, but - embarrassingly to both of us - I had to ask them for some money because the airlines decided to throw it around or throw things up against it which took big chunks out of it here and there, and I wasn't really interested in repairing it myself and preferred to hand it off to a friend who owned a body shop - which I did, and he was glad the pony up the money for the repair which was probably only about $100 or so.

>> Anyway, I think the point beyond all the previous is that airlines are really really hard on luggage, and I'm not sure that there really is such a thing as a so-called "flight case", because they nearly dug their way through my Walt Johnson case, which is considered to be just about the most titanic of all of the things which are classified as such.

[York-aholic]

Any possibility of borrowing or renting near the destination?

[bloke]

LOL...
You could scam some music store like some customers have tried to scam us. Order a brand new tuba shipped to your destination, use it for five days, and then ship it back to them telling them that just isn't quite what you're looking for... oh yeah, and don't be bashful: Order from the top of the menu.

[TxTx]

Any possibility of borrowing or renting near the destination?

In the upright bass world there’s a Rent-a-Bass site where (http://www.rentabass.com/) where individuals can offer or seek instruments for rental. The site isn’t involved in the actual transaction - it’s just a clearinghouse for folks to make contact. Some years back I rented a really nice Steinberger electric upright from a fellow in the Salt Lake City orchestra.

The site was founded by a bassist who gigs on the road a lot, and the background is an interesting read. But I am wondering if there would be interest in setting up something similar in this forum, or perhaps asking if the rentabass thing could be extended to other bass instruments.

Of course, folks would have to be willing to rent an instrument to a stranger….

Eric

[Tom C]

I traveled by air with a horn only once, and got away with no damage--something I still think of as a minor miracle. In my case, it was a used Meinl Weston tenor tuba (similar to a rotary valve euphonium) that I purchased while on a business trip in Arizona. I put a cardboard cone in the bell, topped off with a rubber ball about the size of a volleyball. I then wrapped the horn in all of the new plastic bubble wrap that would fit in the (reasonably well built) hard case the horn came in, placed "fragile" stickers all over it, and lucked out with airline personnel who understood the nature of the thing and packed it last. It came out first, totally unscathed.
I regard all of that as my one and only lifetime free pass--it worked, and I would NEVER do it again!

[basscelfg]

I never thought that my tuba would be mishandled because its in a hard case. Thats a good point!

[basscelfg]

Any possibility of borrowing or renting near the destination?

Not in my budget sadly.

[basscelfg]

It's important to prioritize when it comes to these situations. Ask yourself the following:
1. Is this going to be a key stepping stone in my professional development, or is this more about having a good time?
2. How far am I traveling; can I drive?
3. Is it possible to borrow a flight case from someone I know?

The safest (but often priciest) way to travel by air is by putting your horn in a gig bag and buying an extra seat. There are plenty of resources on the forums regarding what to say to TSA and flight crew. If you see yourself flying regularly (a few times a year) with your horn(s) then it's worth buying a flight case (NOT a plastic SKB/MTS as these can easily crack).

I was JUST browsing MTS cases. Thanks for the warning!

[basscelfg]

Which one can you afford to not have anymore?

I'm assuming this is over an ocean, which eliminated the possibility of driving a car.

Im only going to Philly. But I had the travel points to spend.

[donn]

The bari sax case that died at La Guardia was SKB. I don't know if anything else would have survived better, but I wasn't super impressed with the case.

[russiantuba]

Which one can you afford to not have anymore?

I'm assuming this is over an ocean, which eliminated the possibility of driving a car.

Im only going to Philly. But I had the travel points to spend.

It is roughly a 5 hour drive if you are based in Boston area. Not sure on your credit card, but sometimes you can transfer those miles into hotel points (We discovered this a few years back and have been able to travel more because of this... but we drive). At least once a week to one of my music jobs, I drive 4 hours (2 hours each way), albeit much more rural than you. However, driving is the absolute best way of ensuring your horn arrives. Even if it arrives safe, it might not arrive in time at all, and if it does, the oversize fees will likely be steep.

I have known too many people not receive their luggage. From what I have come to understand, luggage can be mixed between flights and if in a hurry, not even put on at all. If you decide to fly, I would suggest as others have, the horn that is more inexpensive/easier to replace.

[arpthark]

wait... boston to Philly?

TRAIN! Buy a seat for the tuba, but you might be able to bring it on in a gig bag just like luggage. It's a nice ride and it's about as close to high speed rail that we have in this country.

[bloke]

Your free ride's going to cost you a case, some repairs to a tuba, and a cosmetic downgrade.
I'm also wondering if - doorstep to doorstep, someone could actually get from one place to the other faster than flying.

[arpthark]

wait... boston to Philly?

TRAIN! Buy a seat for the tuba, but you might be able to bring it on in a gig bag just like luggage. It's a nice ride and it's about as close to high speed rail that we have in this country.

Yep. Acela is not a bad ride. Never brought a tuba on it, though.

I had considered taking rail to DC this year for the Army conference, but couldn't get away this year.