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Paul, did you end up gate checking your guitar in a mono case on that trip to Paris? I just took two flights with my guitar and was lucky to get in the coat closet on both of them.
No, I don't fly a ton but I've only had to gate check my guitar once on a connecting flight. It was an altamira in a mono case and I thought it was a goner but it was fine. I wouldn't recommend it but these guitars just do not fit on these small regional planes afaik.
I talked to one guitar player who you have all heard of, and he just boards when they say "handicapped, elderly or people who need more time". Basically he just boards on the first group. Doesn't ask.
I've gone up to the desk and said "I have a handmade guitar that fits in the overhead, is there any chance I can board early" and so far every time they have let me (like 3x).
I think it's always a crapshoot.
My good friend is a classical guitar player who is on tour like 6 months a year minimum. He flies with a carbon fiber custom case he had made. I don't think he's ever checked it. But his guitar survives after 20 years...
I know that it depends on a cascade of factors, starting with the gate and flight crews and including the particular aircraft and how full it is, but I strongly suspect that getting a full-size guitar in any kind of case or substantial bag (and a Mono is almost as big as a hard case) is a losing crapshoot. And trusting anything short of a real flight case to the checked-baggage system is asking for trouble.
In my experience, regional jets as currently configured do not have the overhead space for a guitar case, and even the long-hauls I've flown in the last couple years (first class!) have been iffy--the closets are tight fits and often already half full. So I use a flightworthy case and gate-check. Mono bags (my playing partner uses them) look to me to be good for about 80% of the walking-around and put-it-in-the-car hazards we encounter. But that last 20% is concentrated and superpowered as soon as we hand the guitar off to a shipper or an airport baggage system. Crush, pierce, and impact are the killers, and even a Mono isn't proof against them.
I’ll say that on the regional jets I just traveled on where I got my case in the coat closet - one Boeing and one Airbus - my form fitting hard case was a pretty tight fit. I don’t think my Mono gig bag or Calton dreadnaught flight case would have fit.
Last year for Django in June, I carried a contoured full size flight case into the airplane and placed it above my head in the overhead compartment with ease. This particular Boeing plane was a full size one, and the overhead was long and wide enough to easily accommodate my guitar and several other instruments from a couple of traveling musicians who happened to be on the same plane. It may have helped that I traveled first class (a gift to myself that year and this), but the overhead bins in the entire plane were the same size, and I saw others bringing instruments onto the plane. Delta seems to be pretty good about allowing this, but I was ready to gate check it if necessary.
I agree it’s risky to fly without a flight case, and this year I am trying out a Hiscox case I just got with a guitar trade deal. I’m going to remember the advice about placing some extra support under the headstock, but the flight case seems sturdy enough. It’s not their top of the line light case, but it’s similar, and Hiscox has good reviews.
Finally, as mentioned earlier, I have purchased replacement value insurance for both of my guitars. It’s only about 60 bucks a year, and I got it from the same people who do my home owners insurance. It’s not professional musician insurance, which is much more inclusive of all circumstances particular to the professional performing musician, but is also much more expensive.
I bought one of those Gator ATA dreadnought cases and it was very nice. Light and well-padded and my Dupont MD-50 fit in it perfectly. My only concern is the the flat lid has some give and I wondered if it could press down on the top of the guitar is something heavy was placed on top of the case.
If you can flex the top with your hands, chances are it's not going to resist, say, having a suitcase dropped on it. One of the things I check a case for is top/back rigidity. I think that the arched-top design of many standard plywood cases is meant to address this issue. It might be less important for everyday situations, but it seems to me to be crucial for a flight case that might wind up in the baggage system.
It doesn’t work in every situation (i.e. you won’t be heard acoustically in a jam), and it’s not exactly cheap, but for hotel room practice this is my flying solution:
I agree. That was my concern with the Gator case. I think the lid should be arched for maximum protection.
Before I had my Calton, I had a Mono M80. A lot of guys who fly use it (Vic Wong, Brad Brose, etc.) and I used it while touring with the Hot Club of San Francisco.
What made me buy a Calton was watching someone drop my guitar in the case. But then again, it was fine on the other side. I've been told since the "hardened soft-shell" cases like Mono have a lot of give and some extra space, it allows the guitar to flex a move a little bit.
Ultimately, you have to make a choice for Selmer style guitars:
-- Prep for worst possible situation, and buy dedicated flight case (e.g. Calton, Hoffee)
-- Buy for the 99% of all situations, and get less weight but less durable flight case(e.g. Hiscox, BAM)
-- Use a 'hard-sided' gig bag, or traditional hard shell case... And hope you don't run into the 20% of situations when a bag is dropped, slammed, or chewed up by a machine (e.g. Mono, Gator, etc.)