Korg Forums

Hallo to all ya Kronos folks!

I now play a Korg Karma, and wish to buy me a new keyboard.
I wanna buy the Kronos, but I'm afraid flying with it, as I just came back from a tour in europe and my keyboard returned broken from the baggage
rail. I've managed to fix it though, so it plays, but still... Its a thing to fear when flying with such an EXPENSIVE instrument!
I have used an SKB case for my Karma, and it didn't protect it well enough
against a VERY STRONG hit that it must have got...
So if an SKB couldn't protect my Karma, how can I protect my Kronos?

Would have been much easier if the Kronos had the same option as the M3, the take the synth seperate with me on the plane, and send just the keyboard to the baggage cabin.

I just don't know if I should get a lesser synth such as the M3, for its portability, or to get the Kronos, my wildest dream, and put its faith in the hands of the Air companies?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YGc4zOqozo
Sorry, couldn't resist

I think that the best protection is a custom made flightcase, and you even might consider getting some kind of insurance as well...

The video is genius! Thanks for sharing

And yeah probably the best should be a custom made case...
I have one as such for my Roland VP-770, and it really is much better than
the SKB that I have for my Karma.

And I don't know of such insurance that you can trust with such matters..
I've heard that they all sound very nice until you really need their service,
then they somehow find a way to blame you for the instrument's loss.

and even with a custom made hard shell case, if the instrument is being tossed around by the air company crew, or the baggage rail machines...
I don't think that a case can protect the Kronos good enough against falls.

My question actually should be... is anyone here flying with his Kronos and arrives with his instrument whole?

I don't think I would trust an airline with such expensive and delicate equipment.. In case of the Kronos I'd put everything I need on a usb drive and rent a K abroad.

The problem with the SKB is that it can flex a lot. As an example, it flexed so much that it cracked the keys off my CS6X. So that means it flexed downward enough to press and crack the Yamaha keys - which is a LOT.

So imagine what might happen with the knobs on the Kronos or the LCD screen. As much as I love knobs (and I do), that's why I fly with the PC3. Plus whacking the PC3 around seems to make the ribbon cables sit tighter.

ParadoxMachine wrote:I don't think I would trust an airline with such expensive and delicate equipment.. In case of the Kronos I'd put everything I need on a usb drive and rent a K abroad.

Exactly, don't fly with it. I know I wouldn't.

As someone who works in the airline industry, there is only one safe way of using an aircraft to ship your Kronos....

Buy a seat for it!

Seriously, I mean it. My wife (pro cellist) tours a lot for a variety of projects and she will only fly if the cello gets its own seat - which means that when you book your two tickets (one for you and one for your Kronos), you have to book it as 'Mr Kronos'. Because the seat is occupied (even by an instrument), the passenger manifest (ie seats) is checked by cabin crew and if 'Mr Kronos' has checked-in, then he must be there and belted-in!

cello wrote:As someone who works in the airline industry, there is only one safe way of using an aircraft to ship your Kronos....

Buy a seat for it!

Seriously, I mean it. My wife (pro cellist) tours a lot for a variety of projects and she will only fly if the cello gets its own seat - which means that when you book your two tickets (one for you and one for your Kronos), you have to book it as 'Mr Kronos'. Because the seat is occupied (even by an instrument), the passenger manifest (ie seats) is checked by cabin crew and if 'Mr Kronos' has checked-in, then he must be there and belted-in!

It might be cheaper to rent one but it would look ... interesting.

Put the SKB inside a custom case or rent. There's really no other options..

michelkeijzers wrote:

cello wrote:As someone who works in the airline industry, there is only one safe way of using an aircraft to ship your Kronos....

Buy a seat for it!

Seriously, I mean it. My wife (pro cellist) tours a lot for a variety of projects and she will only fly if the cello gets its own seat - which means that when you book your two tickets (one for you and one for your Kronos), you have to book it as 'Mr Kronos'. Because the seat is occupied (even by an instrument), the passenger manifest (ie seats) is checked by cabin crew and if 'Mr Kronos' has checked-in, then he must be there and belted-in!

It might be cheaper to rent one but it would look ... interesting.

So when you buy the ticket of course you have to tell them you are buying a ticket for your keyboard, correct? And, when you try to get on the plane you will have to wrestle with TSA before you get to the gate! And then, the ticket taker at the gate. And then once your on the plane wrestle with the flight attendant who is going to say "sir, you can't have that keyboard case in the seat next to you! But I bought a ticket for the keyboard! Sorry! You Will have to give it to me and put it in baggage! But, I bought a ticket for it, see! Sorry. You'll have to check it . . . Now let your imagination wander as to what happens next.

cello wrote:As someone who works in the airline industry, there is only one safe way of using an aircraft to ship your Kronos....

Buy a seat for it!

Seriously, I mean it. My wife (pro cellist) tours a lot for a variety of projects and she will only fly if the cello gets its own seat - which means that when you book your two tickets (one for you and one for your Kronos), you have to book it as 'Mr Kronos'. Because the seat is occupied (even by an instrument), the passenger manifest (ie seats) is checked by cabin crew and if 'Mr Kronos' has checked-in, then he must be there and belted-in!

Yeah that could work, maybe, for a 61 version with a soft case.
But I'm talking about the 73 key, and I'm gonna use a hard shell case.
No airline company would let such thing go aboard.
Its too big to Sit on a chair.
And Flight ticket from Israel to USA is gonna cost me more than
new a Korg Karma that I could just buy there
Or Shipping the Kronos with a post office service, which also should
cost 5th of the flight ticket
Same as for renting the keyboard.

Maybe renting should be a good idea, but our tour is gonna cover the country from coast to coast, and I wouldn't want to have to go back across the states just to return the rented keyboard.

The idea of putting the SKB case, inside another, sounds not bad at all
But its gonna weight, a lot, which is something that eventually might rise the price of flying it, and carrying it around would be terrible (gonna be huge too!).

The idea of renting a Kronos, sounds the fairest so far.
If its gonna be possible. I haven't tried yet, so I don't know.
If anyone knows where you can rent a Kronos in USA, and how much it should cost, the information could help me a lot!

And since my Kronos shall arrive not before April 2012, this time I can only take my Karma anyways.
If I could rent one, it could be awesome!
The factory sounds are amazing enough to put in better use than my Karma (with orchestral EXB 6-7).

I work for a company here in Canada and I build custom Flight Cases. If you are really worried about protecting your case, I recommend having a proper flight case built for it using 1/2 inch thick plywood with a fibreglass or ABS plastic skin for the side panels. It will however weigh a lot and will be expensive. However, not as expensive as having a smashed Kronos. You will also want to have wheels on it. I guarantee you won't want to try carrying it. SKB cases are fine but they are too thin in MHO. They can easily be puntured. Just to give you an idea. Frank Zappa had a guitar that was once owned and burnt by Jimi Hendrix. He watched it come down the baggage carousel still in the case but in 2 pieces held together by the strings. Thank you Air Canada. Get a real case for your keyboard. That's what I recommend.

Good Luck on your tour!

I thank u Jeremy for ur advice! Well, for my Karma I've ordered a custom case last week, supposed to get it in about 2 days now. And yes it was expensive.. About 300$.
We start our tour in Toronto actually, on February 14th, and I hope that my Karma with its new case shall arrive in one piece.. It doesn't even have strings to hold it if it breaks!

Have u tested such armored cases with ur stuff before?
I mean, even a strong case can't be fully protecting its content when tossed around.. So would u feel secure sending ur Kronos in such case?

Bendor666 wrote:Hallo to all ya Kronos folks!

I now play a Korg Karma, and wish to buy me a new keyboard.
I wanna buy the Kronos, but I'm afraid flying with it, as I just came back from a tour in europe and my keyboard returned broken from the baggage
rail. I've managed to fix it though, so it plays, but still... Its a thing to fear when flying with such an EXPENSIVE instrument!
I have used an SKB case for my Karma, and it didn't protect it well enough
against a VERY STRONG hit that it must have got...
So if an SKB couldn't protect my Karma, how can I protect my Kronos?

Would have been much easier if the Kronos had the same option as the M3, the take the synth seperate with me on the plane, and send just the keyboard to the baggage cabin.

I just don't know if I should get a lesser synth such as the M3, for its portability, or to get the Kronos, my wildest dream, and put its faith in the hands of the Air companies?

buy 2 Kronos, 1 for home , 1 for gigging.

You can fund the purchases from your older gear.

Bendor666 wrote:I mean, even a strong case can't be fully protecting its content when tossed around.. So would u feel secure sending ur Kronos in such case?

I'm sorry to say I wouldn't. Even a hard case cannot protect the keyboard against the shock from being dropped on the ground from a certain height by baggage handlers. Such dealings should not happen; unfortunatley they do.