Bass Trunk Rental
- Standard fiberglass bass trunk rents for $75/week
- Customer pays shipping charges: COD when picking up at your destination - pre-paid when returning to us.
- You must have your own Air Cargo account number to ship the trunk anywhere but back to us.
- We can ship through Southwest Air Cargo, Alaska Air Cargo, or Greyhound Package Express. Average costs are about $250 each way. Must be picked up at the cargo terminal in the destination city. We regret that we can not ship by rail (we've tried) due to the lack of Amtrak's required type of cargo loading facility at its Houston depot.
- Airport pick-up or delivery of your bass or the rental trunk starts at $40 each way.
- Airlines are notoriously capricious about allowing basses as checked baggage although they are now legally required to take them (AFM members can read the document here), but anecdotally, our trunks have never been denied on board. We strongly recommend calling the airline in advance, adding the bass as oversize baggage to your reservation, specifying it is a musical instrument, and paying the oversize fee in advance. Look up, print out and carry with you a copy of your airline's baggage policy demonstrating the bass is allowed. In this instance, you are less likely to be denied or charged an enormous fee at the ticket counter. When you approach the counter, tow the trunk in a low, horizontal position and lay it on the floor. Prepare to be extremely polite in all circumstances. We deliberately leave baggage stickers on our trunk showing its weight, destinations and frequent travel dates, likely showing your chosen airline has carried it before. Our friends have also had success by engaging a baggage porter at the curb to take the bass directly to baggage check instead of the ticket counter.
- Trunk fits in virtually any mid-size SUV and up.
- At your travel destination, request a minivan taxi. They are often the most common size taxi seen, and we have never heard of anyone having trouble obtaining one.
- Not recommended: using airport shuttle van. The bass trunk often will not fit in the cargo door on top of the passenger seats.
- Most basses will fit in our trunk inside their soft gig bags. In the event you are concerned about weight, we recommend packing your gig bag inside a large duffel as an extra bag.
- Most damage to basses in transit is caused by TSA, not baggage handlers. As you know, TSA answers to no one: not the passengers or the airlines, and are famously ignorant of how to repack something they just unpacked for inspection. We recommend including packing instructions, with your phone number to call if there are any questions, in the trunk conspicuously on top of your bass, along with a request to be allowed to do the repacking yourself after inspection is completed.
- We have not yet had the opportunity to try, but welcome your feedback on: motion-activated camera in the trunk to document TSA inspection, and use of the new product "Tile" to verify your bass is on board your aircraft. Theoretically, this should eliminate basses being left behind or mis-routed.
- It is more likely for a bass to be damaged by impact when under string tension, as the neck and top are loaded with over 200 lbs. of pressure. It's a consideration for all string players to know how to reset their sound posts, and be able to take the safety measure of de-tuning their instruments for travel.
- Customer pays shipping charges: COD when picking up at your destination - pre-paid when returning to us.
- You must have your own Air Cargo account number to ship the trunk anywhere but back to us.
- We can ship through Southwest Air Cargo, Alaska Air Cargo, or Greyhound Package Express. Average costs are about $250 each way. Must be picked up at the cargo terminal in the destination city. We regret that we can not ship by rail (we've tried) due to the lack of Amtrak's required type of cargo loading facility at its Houston depot.
- Airport pick-up or delivery of your bass or the rental trunk starts at $40 each way.
- Airlines are notoriously capricious about allowing basses as checked baggage although they are now legally required to take them (AFM members can read the document here), but anecdotally, our trunks have never been denied on board. We strongly recommend calling the airline in advance, adding the bass as oversize baggage to your reservation, specifying it is a musical instrument, and paying the oversize fee in advance. Look up, print out and carry with you a copy of your airline's baggage policy demonstrating the bass is allowed. In this instance, you are less likely to be denied or charged an enormous fee at the ticket counter. When you approach the counter, tow the trunk in a low, horizontal position and lay it on the floor. Prepare to be extremely polite in all circumstances. We deliberately leave baggage stickers on our trunk showing its weight, destinations and frequent travel dates, likely showing your chosen airline has carried it before. Our friends have also had success by engaging a baggage porter at the curb to take the bass directly to baggage check instead of the ticket counter.
- Trunk fits in virtually any mid-size SUV and up.
- At your travel destination, request a minivan taxi. They are often the most common size taxi seen, and we have never heard of anyone having trouble obtaining one.
- Not recommended: using airport shuttle van. The bass trunk often will not fit in the cargo door on top of the passenger seats.
- Most basses will fit in our trunk inside their soft gig bags. In the event you are concerned about weight, we recommend packing your gig bag inside a large duffel as an extra bag.
- Most damage to basses in transit is caused by TSA, not baggage handlers. As you know, TSA answers to no one: not the passengers or the airlines, and are famously ignorant of how to repack something they just unpacked for inspection. We recommend including packing instructions, with your phone number to call if there are any questions, in the trunk conspicuously on top of your bass, along with a request to be allowed to do the repacking yourself after inspection is completed.
- We have not yet had the opportunity to try, but welcome your feedback on: motion-activated camera in the trunk to document TSA inspection, and use of the new product "Tile" to verify your bass is on board your aircraft. Theoretically, this should eliminate basses being left behind or mis-routed.
- It is more likely for a bass to be damaged by impact when under string tension, as the neck and top are loaded with over 200 lbs. of pressure. It's a consideration for all string players to know how to reset their sound posts, and be able to take the safety measure of de-tuning their instruments for travel.
Bass Shipping Services
Choose from these options! Delivery to Air Cargo or local ground address is at our regular delivery rates (starting at $40). All basses handled by QBC will ship with the bridge off (packed separately). You may incur an expense, at your destination, of needing to have the sound post reset, if it falls in transit. QBC's involvement will be limited to securely packing and delivering the instrument, and forwarding the agreed paperwork to the instrument's owner. There's a contract for services that we sign with you. Please note that all transportation arrangements/routing/logistics and costs are the responsibility of the customer - we'll deliver the trunk/bass to the airport or bus station and attach the shipping label for wherever you want it to go; locating the correct airport or deciding which mode of transport works for your needs is your part.
Bass Trunk Rental: $75/week
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Bass Concierge Service: $850 flat fee one-way. $200 discount for QBC customers (shipping or retrieving a bass bought at QBC)QBC will send a trunk air cargo to deliver or retrieve your bass to the closest Southwest Air Cargo dock. If shipping outbound, QBC will pack your bass. INCLUDES use of QBC's trunk, Houston airport delivery/pickup, AIR FREIGHT (which now averages $330 each way) and Declared Value insurance. Note we cannot answer for the security of the bass if it's packed by the sending party (QBC is receiving it inbound for you). Pick up/deliver your bass in its bag to QBC and we take care of the rest. Take advantage of the $200 discount for QBC customers - it's like getting $200 off the price of your bass!
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One-way outbound bass shipping in a box $550 (get a free box!) $150 discount for QBC customers (shipping a bass bought at QBC)QBC will prepare your bass for shipment, pack your bass in one of the standard bass shipping boxes we are constantly trying to give away, stuff it with packing material, secure the box in stretch wrap, and deliver it to Southwest Air Cargo or Greyhound Package Express (where additional savings apply - bus shipping is cheaper). Includes freight and Declared Value Insurance. Note: QBC doesn't have any accounts with truck shippers. Greyhound is a good way to get your bass if you live on a direct route from Houston (the bass doesn't get transferred to multiple buses): Dallas, San Antonio, New Orleans, for example.
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