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The Guitar Pron Thread


Celery Man

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Another question I’m dealing with is how to take my p bass back to Austin on a flight. I have my tweed case, I have that old cheaper tkl case pictured with the jazz bass above, I have various gig bags, none of those are ideal for checking a guitar on a plane. I want to avoid collecting additional cases, I’d like to avoid spending $200+ dollars on a case for a single flight to protect a bass with a street value of not much. But that may be what I have to do - maybe I could put some straps on that black case to secure it better and gate check it. I’ll have to call the airline once I book a flight. Has anyone here actually flown with a guitar?

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Another question I’m dealing with is how to take my p bass back to Austin on a flight. I have my tweed case, I have that old cheaper tkl case pictured with the jazz bass above, I have various gig bags, none of those are ideal for checking a guitar on a plane. I want to avoid collecting additional cases, I’d like to avoid spending $200+ dollars on a case for a single flight to protect a bass with a street value of not much. But that may be what I have to do - maybe I could put some straps on that black case to secure it better and gate check it. I’ll have to call the airline once I book a flight. Has anyone here actually flown with a guitar?
Get to the gate early and carry it on. By law they have to allow a musical instrument on as carry on if there is room at the time you board. I've never had an issue, and I've abused it by calling amplifiers musical instruments.

I have had a gate agent try to make me gate check an instrument, but I asked to speak to a flight attendant and the flight attendant found space for it.
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1 hour ago, Celery Man said:

Another question I’m dealing with is how to take my p bass back to Austin on a flight. I have my tweed case, I have that old cheaper tkl case pictured with the jazz bass above, I have various gig bags, none of those are ideal for checking a guitar on a plane. I want to avoid collecting additional cases, I’d like to avoid spending $200+ dollars on a case for a single flight to protect a bass with a street value of not much. But that may be what I have to do - maybe I could put some straps on that black case to secure it better and gate check it. I’ll have to call the airline once I book a flight. Has anyone here actually flown with a guitar?

Buy it a seat.

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19 minutes ago, AnotherUTFan said:

Get to the gate early and carry it on. By law they have to allow a musical instrument on as carry on if there is room at the time you board. I've never had an issue, and I've abused it by calling amplifiers musical instruments.

Yup.  I've seen pros I recognize carry on a guitar early.  Mid-level touring acts who have to watch their budgets, and I get it.  In particular I saw Rodney Crowell and Radney Foster both do that, and both flew coach.  I don't blame them, I wouldn't check my guitar if I didn't have to.

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1 hour ago, AnotherUTFan said:

Get to the gate early and carry it on. By law they have to allow a musical instrument on as carry on if there is room at the time you board. I've never had an issue, and I've abused it by calling amplifiers musical instruments.

I have had a gate agent try to make me gate check an instrument, but I asked to speak to a flight attendant and the flight attendant found space for it.

 

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Is there anything stamped on the neck block, should be visible looking up the sound hole?

 

agree that it’s not a ooo. I think it is an O rather than an OO. I am not good at eyeballing sizes but the rectangle bridge I think is a feature of the O and not the OO. The tuners are also interesting - when (apart from starting this year) did the 15M guitars have black plastic tuning knobs? 
 

if those discolored bridge pins are the original ones and are discolored because they are ivory, that puts this guitar at least in the 1960s. My wild assed guess would be 1950 plus or minus 5.

Edited by Celery Man
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If you can get a shot of the back of the headstock, that might offer some clues as to the age. Those look like Waverly tuners. If they were made before 1948 the tuner plates should be plain. If they were made after 1948, they should have diagonal hash marks stamped on the tuner plates. 

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5 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

So how does he assess value, and whether it's worth getting it refurbished?

There's  a 1948 model on reverb that's asking $4550: https://reverb.com/item/56564854-martin-o-15-1948

Looks like it's in much better shape than your friend's.

Further looks like nylon strings on it, which is odd.  

What is meant by "refurbished"?  Because you could totally kill any value doing that. 

To me, it looks like it could be a decent player. 

 

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8 minutes ago, Chad Fuck said:

There's  a 1948 model on reverb that's asking $4550: https://reverb.com/item/56564854-martin-o-15-1948

Looks like it's in much better shape than your friend's.

Further looks like nylon strings on it, which is odd.  

What is meant by "refurbished"?  Because you could totally kill any value doing that. 

To me, it looks like it could be a decent player. 

Yes, the nylon strings are quite odd.  By "refurbished" I meant stripping and refinishing, getting any mismatched parts period correct, etc.  I honestly don't know what his plans are for it.  He certainly doesn't need the money, so "killing any value" may be irrelevant.

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I’ve taken my acoustic on a plane many times. Always carried on. Never had an issue. I use a Mono soft case - they’re very good.

My acoustic fits in Southwest overhead. Not sure about a bass.

Once in Delta it wouldn’t fit in an overhead and the flight attendant found a place for it.

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13 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

Who's the best luthier for vintage acoustics in Austin?  All I know is Mark Erlewine and he's historically slammed.

He's never taken more than a few weeks when I've taken him stuff.

He's the best. He's fun to talk to, too. Loves what he does and there's nobody more knowledgeable. 

Edited by Deej
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2 minutes ago, Deej said:

He's never taken more than a few weeks when I've taken him stuff.

Recently I heard 6 months, but that could be inaccurate.  I'll call him.  (I can't believe he's still in business, I first took him a guitar in the early 90s.)

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On 1/27/2025 at 4:13 PM, Celery Man said:

When yall have carried on or seen people carry on - still hardshell case? I assume gig bag would fit better in the little coat closet but that’s a dice roll.

BTW, aside from carrying them on as I stated above, there have been a few cases where I just loosened the strings on a Telecaster, capo'd about the 12 fret, unbolted the neck and just folded it to fit in my checked bag. I dont know if a P Bass's neck would be too long for a checked bag, but its a handy feature for traveling with bolt neck guitars. 

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3 minutes ago, AnotherUTFan said:

BTW, aside from carrying them on as I stated above, there have been a few cases where I just loosened the strings on a Telecaster, capo'd about the 12 fret, unbolted the neck and just folded it to fit in my checked bag. I dont know if a P Bass's neck would be too long for a checked bag, but its a handy feature for traveling with bolt neck guitars. 

I have been thinking about possibly buying a guitar this summer in Europe. 

If I do, and it’s a bolt on, I was planning on separating the neck and packing it in a checked bag. Maybe check the neck and put the body in my carry-on. 

Don’t understand why this isn’t common. 

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I have been thinking about possibly buying a guitar this summer in Europe. 
If I do, and it’s a bolt on, I was planning on separating the neck and packing it in a checked bag. Maybe check the neck and put the body in my carry-on. 
Don’t understand why this isn’t common. 

Is there some European bolt on you have your eye on?
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Just now, Chad Fuck said:


Is there some European bolt on you have your eye on?

Either a JET JT-300, supposedly the necks are nice for the price or maybe  I visit the big Thomann store in Germany if I make it to Stuttgart before/after my visit to the UK. There I could try oodles of cheapo guitars. 

I am at the opposite end of most buyers in this thread.

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On 1/21/2025 at 1:03 AM, Napoleon said:

You can get that guitar for $200 (+ $27 for shipping) right now from GuitarsGarden.com .

image.thumb.jpeg.3ca8c20d027ffb626d2ceddd8ca769be.jpeg
 

https://guitarsgarden.com/products/new-fflps-electric-guitars-blackbke-2

I’ve purchased three Fireflies. Still have the semi hollow tele with P90s.

They suck. I don’t understand how they have so many raving fans. 

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14 hours ago, Celery Man said:

IMO you get that looked at by the best luthier you can get it too and fix anything that needs to be fixed to keep the guitar healthy. But you leave the patina.

Perfectly functioning with honest patina ftmfw

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42 minutes ago, Buzzrock said:

I’ve purchased three Fireflies. Still have the semi hollow tele with P90s.

They suck. I don’t understand how they have so many raving fans. 

All these budget brands have their place, but I have owned 3 Harley Bentons, and they a project to get playing/sounding great.  Better than not having a guitar if that's what your budget is.  But if you want it to play and sound great, you'll have some work to do and/or money to spend.

You can get a great guitar that isn't a project beyond a setup in the $500-$800 range.  If you start with a $200 budget guitar and need to put $300 worth of electronics/luthier labor into it to play and sound like a $1000 guitar, why not buy a used Reverend or PRS SE for roughly the same amount and just set it up and play?

I get some people love the tinkerers aspect and the sweat equity they put into making a cheap guitar great, but I decided I'd rather just play. 

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