Official Luthiers Forum!

Hi folks,

I will be shipping a guitar build for the first time (hooray) across the country (boo) to Seattle.

Here is what I plan:

- Shipping UPS
- StewMac inflatable shipping system
- Case is a well fitting “flight worthy” case
- Daddario Humidipak in both body and headstock chambers of the case.
- Case wrapped in a plastic bag (which came with the case)
- Detuned

Questions / things to consider:

- Ship 2-day vs ground?
- Level of insurance?
- Does the recipient need to let it sit 24 hours even with Humidipak?
- Anything else?

Brad


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

_________________
Insta - https://www.instagram.com/cbcguitars/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/cbcguitars

When I ship, I ship UPS ground timed so that the instrument won’t sit over the weekend in a hot or cold truck. I insure for the full value of the guitar. UPS is picky about where you may drop it off when it’s insured for that much. I support the headstock so that inertia won’t snap it off if the box is dropped. I would not hang a Humidipak in the body of the guitar. Again, if the box were dropped and the Humidipak ruptured, cleaning the salts out of the guitar might be difficult. Anywhere in the case where the Humidipak can’t fly and rupture ought to be okay. 24 hours is a hard imposition on the receiver. The guitar will need some time to adjust to the conditions of its new home, but it ought to be able to play right out of the box (after string tensions is reapplied—yes, it should be shipped with the strings slack). The rule should be “no complaints or adjustments until it has time to acclimate to its new home.” I am really fond of the StewMac shipping system. It makes packing securely quite easy. So far, I have had many shipments and no problems. Good luck and congratulations. I hope your new owner is very happy.

What Bob said. The most important thing is to immobilize the headstock in the case with tightly packed craft paper.

Check UPS insurance to see if it covers damage as well as loss. Often a carrier will refuse to pay out for damage if they didn't pack it themselves. Always they’ll come back with ‘improperly packed, not our problem bud’, even if they ran it through with a forklift.

Personally I’d use USPS over UPS any day.

At this time of year I wouldn’t worry about leaving it unopened for 24 hrs, I only worry about that in winter.

Definitely nothing in the sound hole, or headstock cavity that could rattle about and cause damage.

Do slack strings as you can’t control what temps you’re going to encounter.

It’ll be fine…:)

Another thought: Recently, I’ve been using pirateship.com to ship UPS. They’re cheaper than my UPS business account. They sell a 3rd party insurance. I’ve never made an insurance claim on a shipment with any shipper, so I can’t compare how responsive any of them are.

I don't detune completely, rather I loosen 4 or 5 semitones. If the shipping box falls toward the back of the guitar, the neck can whiplash, causing a crack beginning at the nut and traveling under the fingerboard.
Cushion both the front and back of the headstock. The neck support in the case should be close to the nut, not nearer the body.
Heavy enclosed tuners also increase the chance of these whiplash headstock breaks.
Remove the end pin, or pad around it so that the pin cannot suffer an impact. The padding should be solidly on the tail block. Case padding that has too wide a gap for the end pin can cause a side crack at the edge of the tail block.

_________________
John

Make sure the instrument can’t move in the case, even a little. Forward and backward, up and down, no movement whatsoever ever. I stuff clean rags anywhere I can between the guitar and the case. Between that and the air bag system you’ll be rock solid.

_________________
Jim Watts
http://jameswattsguitars.com

I'd talk to someone running a shipping shop that uses the common carriers. They usually give pretty good info.

The last guitar I shipped (about 5 years ago) I used FedEx. The shipping store said UPS uses rail for long trip shipping. So as they explained to me it can add a couple days getting on/off a train. Or some time sitting in a box car.

Overnight or 2 day would probably eliminate that concern.

My deliveries from FedEx just seem to get here in much better shape than UPS or USPS.

Just my experience.

_________________
Brian R, Wood Mechanic
N8ZED

Had a Gibson Custom Shop 1957 Les Paul Gold Top face plant in its shipping box on my front porch and it was all caught on my security system video. The FedEx Driver left the box upright leaning on a porch support on a windy day. Obviously not a sailor....

So I was very happy to find no damage especially when Gibsons tend to break at the headstock pretty commonly when they fall in my experience.

Elderly had expertly packed it detuning but not all the way as Jon suggests above and then mobilizing the headstock surrounding it tightly with packing materials as others have suggested.

It was not a box in a box but a case in a cradle in a box and it all did well surviving the fall.

As for acclimation I buy stuff in the winter too and I bring it in and pull the case out but don't open the case for a couple of hours. Then I crack the case and wait a few hours. In the winter I may take 12 hours to bring something out of a case. Dave says what I do is not necessary and I don't have to wait that long.

I don't think this time of year you have to worry too much about acclimation it's the bigger swings in temp that are the real danger and can craze finish from the thermal shock.

I've been of the belief that the faster the shipping the less possibility of mishandling. From the looks of some of the boxes I've received this may not be the case... So I don't know how to avoid the shipping company that hires Alice the Goon from Popeye as a loader.

Congrats too Brad!!!

I waited 4 hours before opening a new banjo in February. I could hear it and see long cracks forming before my eyes. I'd wait 24 hours if I had it to do over again.

_________________
Hutch

Get the heck off the couch and go build a guitar!!!!

We have hundreds of folks monthly bring us instruments in the dead of winter and often the instrument has been in a cold car all day. I ask them where's it's been and if it went from house to car that warmed up to our shop it's usually OK. It's the ones that got very cold over time that are the problems. So what we want to avoid is thermal shock making a gradual approach to acclimating a better idea. I can remember an extreme case of someone dropping off and we told them that we didn't want to do triage now and instead I would gradually bring it up to temp, triage it and call them with my thoughts.

Dave tells a story of someone opening up a case in the dead of winder before anyone could stop them at another business not ours and they watched in horror as the finish crazed right in front of them. He said you could hear it cracking and snapping too. Oh the horror

Lots of people these days like relics and I hate them. Who wants an instrument with fake playing wear and abuse all over it.... I woulds guess that thermal shock is part of the relic process but I don't know having never been interested in relics.

Thanks, Bob. I did end up using Pirateship to ship it UPS w/ insurance from their provider.

If it can’t make it there in this getup it wasn’t meant to be.



Still though …. Nerve wracking. Even though there is absolutely nothing I can do from here but wait.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

_________________
Insta - https://www.instagram.com/cbcguitars/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/cbcguitars

It is nerve wracking. I shipped a Strat to Moscow, Russia once. I still can't believe it made without any damage.

_________________
Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"