<p>We live in Los Angeles and my son is starting in the fall at The New School in NYC. So he is moving there without a car. We are both familiar with the city but we don't feel comfortable renting and driving around in New York. He and I are flying and will each take 2 packed suitcases with the basics of bedding and clothes. We can't figure out if he can take his electric bass guitar on the plane. And I need help finding the best way to ship out his books and records and stereo system. Any advice would be truly welcome.</p>
<p>Hopefully, lotfegirl, you won't mind a little diversion - but I've also been wondering where (if) students store items over the summer. Do colleges ever provide storage space so you don't have to cart things home in the spring just to do it all again 3 months later?</p>
<p>If you look on the UPS or FEDEX websites, you can search for locations that will allow you "hold for pick up" near the school. You can ship to that location, then just pick up the boxes (with a photo ID) when you get to your destination.</p>
<p>It will depend on the airline and their new restrictions. Some are charging for the bags now, some allow 1 checked bag (not to exceed 50lbs in weight) and 1 carry on and a "personal item". I am sure that he wants to take his guitar onboard and not check it in the luggage hold. This can become a challenge if it is a full flight because people are trying to take the largest carry on possible and stuff it into the overhead compartment. If you are flying an airline that you can get assigned seats that board first (usually in the back), you might have a chance to store the guitar in the overhead.</p>
<p>When D flys she ships her guitars(acoustic and electric). We used to have a trusted guitar dealer pack and ship for us, since he had the boxes and knew just how to pack a valuable instrument. Its safer than checking into baggage checkin. You live in LA and there are PLENTY of guitar dealers/guitar repair
people who can do this for you. (also we have the original boxes for her amps and use those for shipping)</p>
<p>With the mp3 players/small speakers out on the market, no need to take records or stereo to college, like in the olde days.</p>
<p>Thanks for the idea of checking in with the guitar dealers about shipping it out. We figure we will have to pay some for the extra suitcases etc but I looked into it and it is cheaper than UPS, etc. I figure we might ship some books and records through US mail using the media rate. And just FYI his stereo is SOOO important to him because he collects vintage vinyl.</p>
<p>Whoa--a vintage collection? I'd leave all that stuff at home where it is safe! Weird things happen at college...</p>
<p>Guitars are tricky. My DS originally left his guitars at home. He requested I bring his electric to him when I flew in for parents weekend. I checked with the local guitar store/experts and they gave me tips on how to best attempt to carry it on, plus how to best pack it on the off chance I had to check it. Of course they made me gate check it when I was boarding, so I was glad to have prepared it for baggage. DS didn't even get a second look, though, when he carried this same guitar on board to return home! </p>
<p>To simplify things, he bought a small amp at school rather than cart his big one back and forth. He just stores it with the rest of his gear when not in use.</p>
<p>If the vintage vinyl is that important, I'm not sure I would be hauling it to campus. He would be much better served to transfer the music into an iPod or computer and leave the collection at home. H had a fabulously large collection of albums that was mostly ruined due to a roof leak a few years ago while we were in a rental house. Better to keep them safe!</p>
<p>I don't know if the size differential between acoustic and electric bass is big enough to make a difference. I have an acoustic; my parents shipped it to me at school, in a case in a box, and it arrived all right. I've also carried it onboard a plane twice and not had any problems either time. What britbrat said about trying to get seats that will allow you to board earlier is a good idea. However, there is a good chance they'll make you gate-check it. I'm sure your son can find this info somewhere else too, but as far as I know, the important things are to: loosen the strings to the point where they don't make any noise; pack the case very full of soft but firm stuff (I usually use socks and underwear); and, especially, support the neck, if there's any gaps between the padding of the case and the neck of the guitar.</p>
<p>One thing you shouldn't have trouble with, if he flies with it, is security. I believe TSA has a new official policy, in writing, where they will definitely scan a musical instrument for you in addition to your normal baggage allotment. The first time I flew home with my guitar, the security screener who saw it after it went through the x-ray machine was perplexed and really didn't know what to do with it, but she ended up opening the case and hand-searching it.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>I'd leave the bedding at home. They sell it in NYC. :)</p>
<p>Vintage vinyl!!!</p>
<p>Reminds me of my college days, when that's all anyone had (but it wasn't vintage yet).</p>
<p>Anyway, over one of the school breaks, the heating system in one of the dorms went haywire. I don't know how hot it got, but one guy's "record collection" was totally destroyed, warped and everything. Big story in the school newspaper about it.</p>
<p>Leave the vintage at home!</p>
<p>Absolutely! A college dorm is not the place for collectibles. He can bring a selection if he wants. There's lots of vintage vinyl in NYC, too, so he doesn't have to leave his hobby behind. But wait until he has a more permanent, more secure place to live before he moves the collection. (And, when he finds out how much space he has in his more permanent, more secure place to live in NYC . . . the vinyl may stay in California.)</p>
<p>Aside from the music, I would not carry bedding to NYC. There are many stores where you can get bedding, and you can pick out your things at Bed Bath and Beyond, or Target, or something, and pick it up in NYC. These stores exist here! That stuff is so bulky, why waste luggage space and money (since it costs to have baggage these days).</p>