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March 2003
Posts: 555
Location: Wooster, Ohio | When you ship a guitar should you loosen strings or keep the tension?
Steve |
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Joined:
March 2002
Posts: 15664
Location: SoCal | One of the things that the factory takes pride in is shipping their guitars with the strings tuned to standard tuning. It's pretty neat to pull a guitar out of the shipping box and be able to play it right away.
Having said that, anytime I ship a guitar, I loosen the strings. No point in taking chances..... |
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December 2003
Posts: 13987
Location: Upper Left USA | I like to ship mine back to have them tuned!
Ok, seriously, slightly detuned with a little support behind the headstock. If shipped in an OHSC all but a cataclysmic offense will be protected from.
Cardboard around the case to buffer corners of other stuff from hurting your instrument. |
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February 2004
Posts: 2487
| I detune them just slightly. I know the truss rods are supposed to apply equal pressure on the neck but I have never ever had a neck break backwards if they ever hit the floor. My experience has only been one (personally) but I have seen the after results of four. Each of these breaks, 3 electric and 1 acoustic, have broken forward toward the strings. It is the NUT that takes the brunt of the force when a guitar is dropped and seems as though it is the most logical point of greatest weakness there is on a guitar. A headstock is the extension that would of course be the likely spot that will hit the gound when one is dropped but they never seem to break backwards (away from the strings) it is always toward the strings. Only other damage I have sens is over tensioning of the strings or very heavy strings and bad storage conditions and the bridge and it's attachment point take the brunt. So if a box with a case and a guitar is dropped the guitar inside is going to feel the effects of this force more strongly at the Nut or the Bridge. ??? one would think??? I figure loosening the tension "just a little" will keep some good tension on the truss rod but, and keep the neck strong but at the same time, relieve some of the extra tension that is a significant contributing cause of failure at the bridge or the nut.
How'd I do? I know it is hard to believe but I have been wrong at least once before!
Randy |
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Joined:
March 2003
Posts: 555
Location: Wooster, Ohio | Probably go with your theory since its your guitar thats coming.
Steve |
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March 2005
Posts: 12754
Location: Boise, Idaho | I hope he's right, cuz I've got one coming from Randy, too. It's been sitting in a UPS location in Illinois all weekend. |
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Joined:
February 2002
Posts: 1817
Location: Minden, Nebraska | Ovations are prone to impact cracks in the top. They are generally not checking/crazing lines, but cracks in the finish most likely caused by impact.
My theory is that detuning lessens the pull on the bridge, and hence pull on the top making a reaction to impact potentially less dramatic.
I have had at least one guitar shipped to me by the factory have to be retopped for this very reason.
Detune, put a sheet of bubble wrap over the face of the guitar in the case, and give extra protection to the face side of the case in the carton if possible. Better safe than sorry, as the proverb goes. |
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Joined:
February 2004
Posts: 2487
| That guitar has most likly been moving all weekend. They just do not have people working in the offices that log this stuff in and out until Mon- Fri 9:00am - 5:00pm You'll see that it has moved a lot today I would guess you will get this tomorrow mark. I know UPS I hate it when they do not deliver on the weekends!
Randy |
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shipping guitars
