Travelling with electric violin under revised airport security rules
In light of suspected terrorist threat airport security has been tightened to include new restrictions on "electronic devices". For example, on Heathrow Airport's site they say:
Make sure your electronic devices are charged before you travel. If your device doesn’t switch on when requested, you won’t be allowed to bring it onto the aircraft.
I travel with an electric violin, not so that I can rock-out during business trips but so that my practise does not disturb people in neighbouring hotel rooms since the electric violin is near-silent without an amplifier.
Will my electric violin fall foul of new airport security restrictions? If so how does one prove that an electric violin (or any other active electronic instrument) is "turned on" without an amplifier to hand?
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I asked my friends on Facebook too and got several recommendations for miniature amplifiers like the Roland Micro Cube
the irig (though I don't use an iPhone)
or the Amplug
but then one friend pointed out that headphones suffice to demonstrate the difference between the electric violin turned off and the electric violin turned on and many of us travel with headphones in our hand luggage anyway.
Next time I'll take the electric violin again and keep some simple headphones to-hand when going through airport security.
This security change in Airport exists because they fear that the batteries might have been replaced by explosives or that the device might be a fake one, so they ask you to switch on your electronic device in order to check that it's a real battery and a "real" working device.
Moreover, the targeted devices are mostly phones, tablets and laptops (I even read that they especially look for Samsung & Apple devices).
I guess an electric violin is quite similar to an (passive) electric guitar, so there is probably no battery on your device and not much electronics.
So you're probably okay with your instrument (regarding this specific safety rule change).
I doubt this will be an issue, but there are plenty of ways to connect your guitar to an mobile phone. I'm guessing the electric violin outputs the same signal, so it can be used in a guitar amplifier. If so, you could use one of those together with your smartphone, and some sort of sound will be produced. Or even simpler, use one of those portable practice devices, which are just a 1/4" plug and a small box you can connect headphones too.
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