I'm taking my mando on an airplane with me for the first time tomorrow. I've heard that I should lower the tension on the strings. True? or Urban legend?
I'm taking my mando on an airplane with me for the first time tomorrow. I've heard that I should lower the tension on the strings. True? or Urban legend?
If flying with a good hardshell case - carry on & put it overhead - no need to loosen strings. Done it a million times... well at least several dozen times.
David Hopkins
2001 Gibson F-5L mandolin
Breedlove Legacy FF mandolin; Breedlove Quartz FF mandolin
Gibson F-4 mandolin (1916); Blevins f-style Octave mandolin, 2018
McCormick Oval Sound Hole "Reinhardt" Mandolin
McCormick Solid Body F-Style Electric Mandolin; Slingerland Songster Guitar (c. 1939)
The older I get, the less tolerant I am of political correctness, incompetence and stupidity.
Never retuned/detuned any mandolin for air travel. Always fly with my mandolin; however.
f-d
¡papá gordo ain’t no madre flaca!
'20 A3, '30 L-1, '97 914, 2012 Cohen A5, 2012 Muth A5, '14 OM28A
Don't check the mandolin as baggage so gorillas play football with it ... carry on, and store in overhead. Never heard of de-tuning one except when it's being shipped (as freight). Don't treat it as freight with an airline.
WWW.THEAMATEURMANDOLINIST.COM
----------------------------------
"Life is short. Play hard." - AlanN
----------------------------------
HEY! The Cafe has Social Groups, check 'em out. I'm in these groups:
Newbies Social Group | The Song-A-Week Social
The Woodshed Study Group | Blues Mando
- Advice For Mandolin Beginners
- YouTube Stuff
No need to de-tune for air travel, only for shipping. One thing I always do is make sure to book a window seat. Space in the overhead compartments isn't always guaranteed. If you don't have space overhead, and you're in a window seat, you can put it under the seat in front of you and run it along the side of the airplane. This isn't exactly allowed, because it does not fit fully under the seat in front of you, but if you place your leg just right the fight attendants won't notice. I've only had to do this once.
You wouldn't get away with that if you were in a middle or isle seat - and you shouldn't because it would then be a safety hazard.
Many moons ago, my wife was flying across the Atlantic with her fiddle in the luggage compartment. The fiddle was more or less in tune. The strings tightened further during the flight and snapped the neck on her violin, so that it had to be thrown away. I'm no scientist, but if I remember my high school science properly, things generally shrink when cold, water being a notable exception. What this says about mandolins inside the cabin I don't know, but I loosen my strings a bit -- perhaps down about a note -- just to err on the side of caution.
Robert Johnson's mother, describing blues musicians:
"I never did have no trouble with him until he got big enough to be round with bigger boys and off from home. Then he used to follow all these harp blowers, mandoleen (sic) and guitar players."
Lomax, Alan, The Land where The Blues Began, NY: Pantheon, 1993, p.14.
A lot of new airplanes have smaller overhead compartments. Also the boarding 'guards' will make a second decision to put the 'carry on mandolin case' into baggage, after it was O.K.'d at the gate. Often they 'understand' that a musical instrument should not be handled roughly and either 1. put the case in the closet or 2. say that they will be gentle in baggage 'handling'. (nope...)
If the flight is not "full", you might have a chance.
Decipit exemplar vitiis imitabile
Some informative threads can be found here.
My advice is and will always be hope for the best but plan for the worst.
"It's comparable to playing a cheese slicer."
--M. Stillion
"Bargain instruments are no bargains if you can't play them"
--J. Garber
I've flown with many mandolins many different times. I am usually that person that waits in line before they've called my boarding number to ensure that I get on before the overhead compartments are taken. I've never had a problem, but my cases have usually been large rectangular cases rather than mandolin-shaped. This has left opportunity for other people flying to put their luggage on top of my mandolin, at which point I am more concerned about the end of the flight that the beginning. My fear was always that someone would grab their bag and slide my mandolin out of the overhead compartment with it. I did not detuned my strings and I was perfectly fine, even on flights as long as six hours overseas.
Bookmarks