Travel with mandocello...?
I have a 1912 Gibson K4 which I would love to bring with me to Kalamazoo CMSA, but I am afraid to take my chances with TSA or a flight attendant on a crowded flight. "Sorry sir, that goes in cargo." That DID happen when I had a cheap guitar conversion in a hard case: they would only allow a soft case on overhead, so that Calton would not have made it.
I have been given different advice (including in the cafe a few years ago) ranging from "just act cool like it's a guitar" to loosen the strings to get a Calton case. But all of these run the risk of a precious instrument in a sub-freezing unpressurized cargo hold.
"Regular" mandolins probably don't get the attention of an attendant, but the K4 is a big instrument that doesn't fit so neatly between other people's carry-ons.
I have played borrowed-from-locals instruments at conventions, but it's not the same. I also have an inexpensive travel mandocello (my wife says "everyone should have one") that I am willing to take my chances with.
I am sure there are people who have experience with a fine instrument being stowed or shipped in a hard case. Is my beautiful 110 year old mandocello safe in a Calton if it is thrown into the cargo bay?
Jim
Dr James S Imhoff
Boston University
Oregon Mandolin Orchestra
1912 Gibson K4 Mandocello; Thomann Mandocello; Stiver F5; American? Bowlback; Martin 00016; Dusepo Cittern/liuto cantabile
Bookmarks