The Steel Guitar Forum

Occasionally I have to fly to gigs, checking my pedal steel as baggage. I currently play a Zum D-10 Hybrid that weighs 70lbs in its road case. It costs an arm and a leg to get it wherever it needs to go. I'm thinking about purchasing either an S-10 or possibly S-12 to use on gigs where I have to fly. Can anyone recommend any S-10s or S-12s that weigh less than 50lbs in a road case and are even half as sweet as my Zum? Thanks! Bruce

the lightest steel I found with the best tone is Williams!
steel (S10/4pedals/5 knees)weights 25 lbs out of the case, stays stable and in in tune and is a tonemonster! with my ATA flycase it will be 59 lbs! So that is okay to fly.... I did that a few times!

The Mullen Discovery, Justice ProLite, and Encore will all be under 50
I bet a keyless Williams with Aluminum legs would be under, as well. Split cases are also an option.

Andy Zahnd wrote:the lightest steel I found with the best tone is Williams steel (S10/4pedals/5 knees)weights 25 lbs out of the case, stays stable and in in tune and is a tonemonster! with my ATA flycase it will be 59 lbs! So that is okay to fly...

Maybe in Switzerland that is low enough to fly but in the USA, certainly for domestic flights, the limit is 50 lbs. (It might be 70 lbs for international flights...)

I use a molded SKB case with custom padding inside and my D10 Franklin or MSA Millennium come in at about 48 lbs, as long as I put the legs into my suitcase instead of in the steel case. While it's not a 'flight case' per se, I know several guys who use them, and I've not heard of (nor personally experienced) any significant damage to any of our guitars. The worst thing I've experienced was that the end of the pedal rack that clips onto the leg got a bit bent and I just bent it back with pliers; no big deal.

Now, if someone has a gig for which they routinely fly for their shows, all year long, this case might be a bit risky but I fly with mine probably 3-5 times per year and have (knock wood) so far had very minimal issues. YMMV.

My Desert Rose guitars weigh 49.Lbs.with case,Zum,Mullen,Justice all make a decent light weight guitar to fly with!!

I've been using my brand.x case for fly dates with my s10 emmons.

Brand x cSes are very very light and have done the job for me.

ETS. Should do it. The weight of the case factors in, of course, My ETS was 41 lbs. in a strong wooden case. Check it out:

http://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopi ... hlight=ets

Stevet

Justice Pro-Lite SD-10 4x5. 37 lbs. Flew as checked baggage from Atlanta to Phoenix, put fragile stickers all over the case and wrapped the case in red-reflective tape. PERFECT! No issues and the guitar was IN TUNE when I set it up n Phoenix! Better than taking that 76 P/P Emmons that weights a TON!!!

I would never, EVER check a steel, ESPECIALLY something as nice as a Zum Hybrid, on an airline. I would have whoever pays for the flight rent me a car instead & drive. Not only a risk of damage, but checking anything on an airline can result in BEDBUGS (I am an exterminator by trade)and you DON'T wanna try & get rid of them.

Since you said you OCCASIONALLY fly, I would just turn those gigs down. Not worth the hassle, unless you tour with a major artist & have people doing everything for you, and are getting compensated well for your efforts.

I use an encore- I add a little padding to the stock tiny case, and two solid straps. Within a few dozen flights since I've had it, the case was broken once, easily repaired, and the guitar has been fine, internally and cosmetically.
Tommy Hannum is selling a beautiful nearly new Fessenden S10 on the forum right now with a custom flight case that puts everything @50lbs.
Flying with a checked instrument is always a crapshoot. I'm sure we've all seen/heard the worst stories.

Hi Bruce,
Here's a story about shipping a Williams via aeropane. I've done it since without any of the broken latch issues mentioned in this post. SD-10 in case, 45 pounds. Hope this helps. Cheers.

http://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopi ... 9e1d110e59

Bruce I fly with my Zum Hybrids quite a lot - And ditto with Jim, I use a SKB drum stand case, lined with foam of course, lightweight legs and usually put the pedal bar in my suitcase. always just scrapes in under the 50lb/23kg weight limit Air New Zealand insists on .. never been charged excess weight with this setup. Unfortunately my split Red Dirt body case pops out to 26kgs so I use the SKB.

Just built a case for Jonathan Keeney of the Black Lillies...

His MSA S-12 came in at 49.2 lbs...it is an older one and weighs 38 lbs
out of the case...

I have a few early BrandX. Best case around. You won't be disappointed!

if I was flying frequently to the gigs, I would buy keyless S-8 Lamar, as small as it is, you could probably bring that thing on board with you ... and if you get a nice BrandX case for it, you are in for a real treat, and your back will love you very long time

Lone Star makes that S-10 push-pull that's designed to fit in the overhead bins. I forgot about that.

My Fessenden SD10 with 4&7 flies in an SKB...with the lightweight legs and pedal bar, it weighs in at 48 pounds. I fly on Southwest domestically when I can, and it goes on free of charge. I'm fixing to check out Steve Hinson's cases next!

Lane Gray wrote:Lone Star makes that S-10 push-pull that's designed to fit in the overhead bins. I forgot about that.

That's the worst website I've ever seen. There's zero info on anything.