Traveling with guitars and a combo amp

Nola

Nola

Well-known member
hey guys.
i live in an apartment and can't make noise. my fiancee's family needs someone to house sit their cabin 2000 miles away. so we're going to drive out to help them out. i figured this would be a great time to record loud, so i'm going to do that and see what happens.

i'm bringing out two guitars (hard cases) and an old vintage amp (brownface princeton, which i absolutely love...literally i can fart into this amp it would sound like magic). anyway, sorry, that was gross. but my question is how to preserve the intonation of the guitars and make sure the amp arrives safe.

my steps so far:

1. lower the pitch of the strings a step or so.
2. pack the amp in a box and put blankets around it
3. put the amp and guitars in the back seat instead of trunk

any other ideas? i don't want to get there and have equipment problems.
i'm curious how we should handle the air conditioning in the guitar as we go through dry/humid/hot climates. i don't think i have time to get a case humidifier/hygrometer since we leave soon and honestly i don't want to waste money on that, so i'm thinking more just what can i do with logic and around the house type stuff.

I've heard of people putting damp sponges in cases. stuff like that. is that worth doing? we're traveling CA to Wisconsin, so it's through utah (dry/hot) to more humid areas.

thanks!
 
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I would not detune the guitars. If you're going to do that, you should also loosen the truss rod. But why bother? As for the amp, you should be fine unless you drop it. That amp has traveled many miles in its life. Personally, I'd just grab my gear and go. The most that is likely to happen is that the neck relief might change. Simple truss rod adjustment. If you haven't done that, you should learn how.
 
Thanks robus. I was going to wrap the amp in a blankets as a shock absorber and put it in a box. Just in case we hit pot holes.

Do you think it's okay in the trunk or is backseat for the 3 key pieces of gear better?
Any opinion on air conditioning?
 
^^^^^this. What Greg said.
I ship guitars all the time. Some go across the US. Some go across the ocean. Winter time, summer time. By air, by land, by sea. Sometimes all the above. I don't detune.

Guess what. When people get them, they are amazed. The guitar is still in tune.
:D

Granted, I pack well and insure the shit out of everything just as a backup should anything go wrong. But I've never had any trouble.

So a drive in a car for a few thousand miles is no big deal.
Like Greg says, just pack em and go.

One advice though, keep them in the car rather than the trunk. The trunk can get pretty hot.
 
RFR said:
^^^^^this. What Greg said.
I ship guitars all the time. Some go across the US. Some go across the ocean. Winter time, summer time. By air, by land, by sea. Sometimes all the above. I don't detune.

Guess what. When people get them, they are amazed. The guitar is still in tune.
:D

Granted, I pack well and insure the shit out of everything just as a backup should anything go wrong. But I've never had any trouble.

So a drive in a car for a few thousand miles is no big deal.
Like Greg says, just pack em and go.

One advice though, keep them in the car rather than the trunk. The trunk can get pretty hot.
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Cool, thanks!
 
Greg_L said:
Just throw that shit in the car and go dude. You worry way too much about everything.
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I'm gonna have to disagree Greg, I think he needs to buy hard shell cases for all guitars, & a flight case big enough to put all the guitars/amps/pedals in...
 
minerman said:
I'm gonna have to disagree Greg, I think he needs to buy hard shell cases for all guitars, & a flight case big enough to put all the guitars/amps/pedals in...
Click to expand...

Maybe put it all in an insulated, air condtioned trailer to tow behind the car too.
:D
 
minerman said:
I'm gonna have to disagree Greg, I think he needs to buy hard shell cases for all guitars, & a flight case big enough to put all the guitars/amps/pedals in...
Click to expand...

He's gonna need a climate controlled 18-wheeler hovercraft and a full road crew.
 
haha. I hired Richard Branson to privately ship them in a climate and pressure controlled hot air balloon.
 
On second thought, I think some of the later ideas are good ones. Probably the best ones. :D
With how Murphys law works, I'd hate like hell for something to happen and have me be blamed for it.
I might even get negative rep for it.
:D

Might be best to cancel the trip all together.
:D
 
RFR said:
On second thought, I think some of the later ideas are good ones. Probably the best ones. :D
With how Murphys law works, I'd hate like hell for something to happen and have me be blamed for it.
I might even get negative rep for it.
:D

Might be best to cancel the trip all together.
:D
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Lol. For real though, I lug my gear damn near every week to and from gigs and practices. It's not 2000 miles, but I live in Houston, Tx...one of the hottest, muggiest, dirtiest cities in the USA. My gear goes from my house, to a boiling hot SUV, then I crank the A/C cold enough to hang meat in there, then I bounce along potholed streets and swerve through freeway traffic at warp speeds, then I get to the club and it's all out of the A/C and back out into a scorching hot parking lot, then it's into a club where it sits for hours waiting to be played.

I pull a guitar out of it's case and it's in tune, or at least as in tune as it was when I threw it into the case before I left. The neck is not warped. The intonation is perfect. I don't have to do a setup every time I travel. The amps turn on. The tubes all glow. The speakers don't rattle. The cabs are not broken. Everything is fine. Every time.

The moral of the story - guitars and amps are not made out of egg shells. Under normal hauling and playing circumstances, our guitar gear is very sturdy. You don't have to coddle this stuff. Put the guitars in a case, load the amps so they don't bounce around, and you're good to go.
 
Nola said:
Cool. Sounds like I'm good to go.
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I just thought of something...you're using a combo, right? They're usually a little top heavy. On a long haul, you might eventually have to slam on the brakes or swerve or something. It could tip over if you have it upright on the back seat. Tipping over isn't a big deal for the amp itself, but the tubes might not like it. Heads are bottom heavy and have a low center of gravity. The tubes stick up out of the heavy bottom part. No problem there. But a combo usually has it's tubes hanging downward from the top heavier side of the amp. If it tips, those tubes are gonna go crashing down with the higher, heavier center of gravity. So if you wanna be super-duper-safe....lay the amp down on it's back and remove the tubes for transport. Label each tube and it's corresponding socket so the tubes go back where they belong when you arrive at your unibomber cabin in the woods. You won't have to bias it or anything.
 
Usually with a combo I'll put it in the trunk. Always lay it down, face up. I'll cushion it and stuff whatever around it so it doesn't move .
 
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