Blog, Guitar Repair
United Breaks Guitars
by Jim · Leave a Comment
With more than two million views of his YouTube video, it would seem that musician Dave Carroll has finally persuaded United Airlines to listen to his complaint. They have arranged a meeting with him. I guess it’s because he has the sequel to this song in production, and a third in the planning stage.
The serious point of this is that since September 2001, most airlines won’t allow you to take a guitar case into the cabin of an aircraft. They insist that you check it. This is a frightening prospect. The important thing is to make sure that your guitar can’t move in its case. It is the headstock hitting the end of the case as it goes down the chutes that causes it to snap off. If you pad that at the shoulders, then the guitar can’t move.
However, if it is thrown or dropped so that the case is crushed and the guitar damaged, there is little preventative action that can be taken. Remember though: I can glue headstocks for a modest fee, and can undertake any number of structural and cosmetic guitar repairs.
Do your worst, United: I’ll get the guitars back up and running.
Hello. My name is Jim Fleeting. At my workshop in Ripon, North Yorkshire, I create custom guitars and basses for customers around the UK and Europe. The Guardian describes me as one of the UK’s leading luthiers, which is nice of them. I built the UK’s first nine string bass and popped up in Guitarist and Guitar & Bass magazine, after winning an award from the Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust. I also head Jim Fleeting Guitars’ thriving repair shop.