The other day, a student of mine asked me about traveling with a bass. It’s a huge conversation, really, but here’s a stab at a decent answer:

Traveling as a musician is one of the curses of choosing this profession. Simply put, there is nothing good about it. Ok, well seeing different places and experiencing different cultures is amazing and absolutely worth the struggles that we have to deal with. But insofar as the logistics and managing the traveling itself so that our instruments, and ourselves, arrive in one piece is extremely challenging. If you don’t believe me, ask any bassist who has toured about his/her experiences, and I promise that you will get an earful of horror stories. And here’s a favorite of mine – it’s the story of a trumpet player who got his arm broken by airport security.

Bassists typically do one of the following:

Travel with their main instrument in a flight case

• PRO: If it arrives in one piece (or at least in playable condition), you are playing your main instrument – the one you are totally comfortable with – in a groovy new place.
• CON: If it arrives in one piece. It’s a very serious if. TSA regulations and more aggressive baggage handlers open, close, drop, throw and/or spit on (it happened to my bass) the case. Once opened, it may not be closed properly. Or, the contents may have shifted somehow and the instrument gets damaged when closing the case. Or, contents of the case (perhaps not your bass, though – something like a bow) disappear. It happens.

Travel with a second bass in a flight case

• PRO: If it arrives in one piece (or at least in playable condition), well, it’s the next best thing to playing your main instrument.
• CON: Same challenges as traveling with your main instrument.

Borrow an instrument at their destination

• PRO: This is very, very common, and can be wonderful. I have played some amazing basses over the years…
• CON: You never know what you are in for until you get to the gig. I have played things that were completely unplayable (conveniently enough, at my grandmother’s funeral), and basses that were so horrible, they nearly caused injury (most recently at a totally packed house in Stockholm, Sweden). Be prepared, especially if you start borrowing instruments, to start lending your instruments out to people traveling through town.

Travel with an electric bass in a flight case

• PRO: Fantastic choice if you can convince the promoter or band leader that electric bass is the next best thing. Baggage handlers generally don’t act as aggressively towards these much smaller cases, and even if they do – well, just don’t put your 1965 Fender Jazz bass in the case.
• CON: I don’t know about you, but people don’t hire me to play electric bass as much as they do for double bass. Electric bass is fantastic on one or two tunes, but at some point, it’s time to switch back to the big instrument.

Travel with an electric upright bass in a flight case (or something like the Czech-Ease)

• PRO: If you get the right instrument, it will feel like and approximate the sound of a double bass using a pickup going through an amp, which is what we’re dealing with these days anyway, right?
• CON: It’s not the same thing as a double bass. The sound is different, and the feel can be too. Pizz can sometimes be no better than playing electric bass and arco can sometimes be the worst sound ever.

I have done quite a lot of research over the years on the things you can buy: flight cases, other instruments, etc. Here’s what I can say about them:

Double bass flight cases

From my point of view, there are only two makers of these things: David Gage and Kolstein. The other cases, though often cheaper to purchase are also a) usually a less trustworthy design, b) made of cheaper materials, and/or c) untested, compared to the 25+ years that Gage & Kolstein have been in the business.

• Gage Case – Runs just shy of $3000 to purchase, slim design. I can fit it in my 1993 Ford Escort Wagon, no problem. It looks like an instrument in a coffin, so even though it is huge, people understand what it is and so – baggage handlers for example – may psychologically be better prepared to treat the thing with respect. Although I could be kidding myself.
• Kolstein Case – Runs $2500-ish, much bulkier design. I can’t fit this in any car I have ever owned, so be prepared to hire a van or something to transport you. Well, do that with the Gage case too, just to be safe. I think that the instrument is probably safer in this case because it is huge, bulky and very heavy. Of course, who wants to lug around something so gigantic?

No matter what, be prepared for the airlines to charge you hundreds of dollars each flight, each round trip flight, or just tell you to leave your bass behind because it’s not going anywhere. Or, as in the case of my trip to Ethiopia, have them not charge you anything, be super nice about it, then forget to put the bass on the flight. It arrived 2 days later. Net cost: around or under $3000 for the case plus let’s say $200 per flight, and you have a very expensive problem on your hands. It’s a great solution if you have the money.

Czech-Ease, travel basses

I have a very unfavorable opinion of these things. I respect Gage immensely, and Ira Coleman (who came up with the idea for the Czech-Ease) but I dislike the instrument. I played one at a local shop and it felt terrible to me. The neck was too big, the action was horrendous, the body didn’t feel like it was resonating at all which made me play harder, which gave me a worse (starting with an already bad) sound. It just did not work out at all for me. Then, the main selling point here is that it looks like, feels like and sounds like a double bass (reread my preceding comments if you need a reminder on how I feel about it), but is easy to travel with. It fits into the trunk of a cab. That’s great. But in the case – which is gigantic – it looks like a bass drum. For me, this is not an option. If I’m going to lug around something unmanageably huge, well I’ll choose to put my main instrument in a flight case, thank you very much. From my point of view, this is not the right answer.

Electric Upright Basses (EUB)

Some of these instruments are designed to look like, feel like and sound like a double bass using a pickup through an amplifier. Those are the instruments I will talk about here. This rules out Clevinger, Warwick Triumphs, and dozens of other instruments. From my point of view, the main players are NS Design (because so many people use them), Azola basses (the Bug Bass in particular), Yamaha, Eminence and AlterEGO. Full disclosure: I endorse AlterEGO instruments.

• Alright, so NS basses are pretty incredible actually. If you are an electric bassist. Converting from electric bass chops to double bass chops on one of these things is unbelievably easy. But getting the double bass sound is not. Don’t confuse this instrument with a double bass replacement, it isn’t. Prices for start at $2950 (they have a cheaper model too), but I’m thinking most professionals are looking at $3375, at least.
• Azola basses – The truth is that I have not played one yet, so hey, I’ll be careful here. Lot’s of people buy them and are happy. They appear to travel easily. They seem like a major contender. Play one and see what you think, then tell me because I’m curious. Bug Basses start at $2400, and better yet, the acoustic instruments are $3300.
• Yamaha – This EUB is pitched as a real replacement for double bass. I disliked it immensely the time(s) that I played it. The balance was totally off, so I had to rearrange everything about my physical approach to the instrument. The sound was metallic. Not a good option as far as I’m concerned. The Yamaha Silent Bass is in the $2700 range.
• Eminence – this is a really interesting instrument, I think. Many of my friends are getting this bass because it’s not bad and pretty affordable. The travel case is sort of brilliant because it looks like a golf club flight case. Again, if psychology is anything, this thing will get totally overlooked by baggage handlers (which is a great thing). For me, it plays ok, and sounds…ok. The removable neck model is the only one to think about, with the case and such, it’s in the $4000 range [UPDATE: See Gary Bartig’s comment below].
• AlterEGO – Ok, I endorse this thing. I totally love it. Here’s my blog post review of it. If you can’t tell, I’m a big fan of this bass. It has everything that the competition doesn’t: It looks good, it feels good, and it SOUNDS good. So far, traveling is very easy, although the flight stuff has yet to be tested (by me). The neck comes off, fits in a flight case that is quite small (comparatively). Should be ok. I love showing this bass off to other bassists: they have the same exact look on their face each time, one of absolute shock. The Acoustic line starts in the $5000 range, if you get the touring version. The babyEGO (solid body line) starts at around $2600.

Ultimately, it’s a personal choice. I can’t imagine Charlie Haden playing anything but his Vuillaume (or whatever amazing bass he’s playing these days). But on the other hand, I can’t imagine traveling with a double bass ever again, and I expect to see more and more EUB’s in the hands of the masters because frankly, it’s just about the only decent solution left.

Ciao,

Rick