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Joined:
August 2007
Posts: 61
Location: Illinois, U.S.A. | I did a search and didn't see this topic covered. I bought a used classical guitar off eBay on Saturday. It arrived OK today. But upon unwraping it, I was reminded of one of the laws of guitar care.
Some guitar finishes react badly to vinyl, plastic, and leather fumes. Prolonged contact with the wrapping may etch into the finish. If you ship or store instruments, it may be better to pack them in a clean old cotton towel inside the carrying case instead of bubble wrap, and just packing paper between the case and outer cardboard. (NO plastic peanuts) The thirty-year-old instrument I bought wasn't damaged, but you could see a shadow of the bubble wrap pattern on the otherwise well-cared-for finish when rocked under a good light. It polished right off. |
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Joined:
December 2001
Posts: 10583
Location: NJ | was it in a case?
why put bubble in the case? outside of the case sure.
this topic has been covered. I use a variety of items....I think others will like to tell you better than I. |
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Joined:
August 2007
Posts: 61
Location: Illinois, U.S.A. | Originally posted by alpep:
was it in a case?
why put bubble in the case? outside of the case sure.
(snip,snip) I got the guitar at a pretty good price, so the case wasn't much to speak of. If the case was a taco, instead, I'd have to classify it as a soft taco. (Gawd, I just made myself hungry!)
All I know is when I opened it, there was lots of bubble wrap smoothly surrounding the bottom and sides, wrapping over the top. If I ever have occasion to speak to the seller again, I'll pass along your question. With almost 900 eBay transactions ( hello, Al Yankovic ), I'm callus to wrapping techniques. |
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Joined:
September 2006
Posts: 10777
Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | The last two guitars I received were just shipped in their cases... No cardboard.
The Luthier-Project that I sent-out recently, I just shipped in the case, with some clean T-shirt-type painters' rags in it.
(No complaints)
I will be sending my 1115 to New Hartford.
I was just gonna send it in the case with some rags or face-cloths.
[I do have a box that sez C.F.Martin on it... But I thought that would be rude]
Someone tell me if I am deluded, misguided, or just plain dumb :confused: |
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Joined:
September 2006
Posts: 143
Location: Shotley Bridge, Northern England | I would be wary of shipping just in the case: my understanding is that headstocks can still be broken inside the case if the case is dropped abruptly. Basically the headstock keeps moving inside the case after the case stops sharply, and... :mad:
Dan Erlewine describes the process in detail in his guitar repair book, and there's also a section on packing for shipping on the Gruhn website here:
http://www.gruhn.com/features/packing/
Hope this helps
HW |
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Joined:
September 2006
Posts: 143
Location: Shotley Bridge, Northern England | Got caught out by flood protection there: sorry for the double post
HW |
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Joined:
December 2001
Posts: 10583
Location: NJ | if the instrument has too much bracing it can also cause damage to the headstock. |
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Joined:
November 2003
Posts: 11039
Location: Earth·SolarSystem·LocalInterstellarCloud·Local Bub | Search the vault... there IS a very comprehensive thread on shipping/packing.
There's virtually nothing, subject related, that hasn't been covered at some point... |
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Joined:
February 2005
Posts: 11840
Location: closely held secret | Badger husbandry.
No, wait. I think Cliff covered that one. |
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Joined:
May 2003
Posts: 4389
Location: Capital District, NY, USA Minor Outlying Islands | This is the way I ship my guitars and have guitar shipped to me:
1)Obtain cardboard guitar shipping box.
2)At edges put that hard styrofoam for rigidity.
3)Put guitar in case.
4)Put packing peanuts in areas not filled by guitar case or styrofoam.
5)No need to wrap headstock
6)Detune
We're not talking brain surgery here. |
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Joined:
March 2002
Posts: 15680
Location: SoCal | Nobody packs a guitar better than Al. Of course it takes about an hour to get it out of the packing, but the chances of it being damaged in any way are extremely slight. Search the archives. This has been discussed before.
I, on the other hand, simply slap a label on the top of the guitar and shove it it the mailbox.... |
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Joined:
February 2002
Posts: 1817
Location: Minden, Nebraska | I'll not reprise what I've addressed extensively in archived threads, but I do want to comment on shipping in a case without a carton. If the case arrives damaged, it will not be covered by any insurance because it is packaging, and packages are not covered.
And that's only the beginning of the risks. |
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Joined:
March 2005
Posts: 12761
Location: Boise, Idaho | Moody just has to sniff the pizza and beer cartons when he unpacks them. I'm still bummed that I didn't get any of the infamous wrappers when Al shipped me the OFC guitar. He must have been on a diet. Maybe I'll get my quota when the OFC case finally comes. |
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Joined:
April 2006
Posts: 1138
Location: CT | Originally posted by an4340:
This is the way I ship my guitars and have guitar shipped to me:
1)Obtain cardboard guitar shipping box.
2)At edges put that hard styrofoam for rigidity.
3)Put guitar in case.
4)Put packing peanuts in areas not filled by guitar case or styrofoam.
5)No need to wrap headstock
6)Detune
We're not talking brain surgery here. Not brain surgery, MAGIC!! How do you detune the guitar after it's boxed up? :D |
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Joined:
March 2002
Posts: 14842
Location: NJ | kick the p!ss outta' box.
you'll be able t'hear once it's outta tune. |
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Joined:
December 2004
Posts: 1673
Location: SoCal | My only issue with packing peanuts is "crumbs" from Styrofoam peanuts getting into everything not completely sealed.
When using peanuts, if there is Styrofoam present, I put the case in a couple big overlapped and taped trash bags to keep everything inside nice and clean. If the recipient opens the box @ the bottom, the bag can be slit open and the clean case pulled out leaving all the mess inside the box.
I remember sending Glenn a guitar packed this way. I suggested the "bottom removal method"... which was ignored in excitement... quite a mess he said he made :D |
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Joined:
June 2007
Posts: 3084
Location: Brisbane Australia | One important point is to make sure the guitar is snug and not loose inside the case.
If its an original case probably not so much of a problem.
I had an instance recently where I had an Ultra GS3 sent from the US. It was in a new generic plastic type case with aluminium around the edges, good solid case. It was then very well packed in a cardboard carton. Only problem was the guitar was quite loose inside the case and with the force of being obviously thrown around in transit(yes I know they don't do that) the headstock actually ripped the lining and bent the end of the case out quite badly, not to mention the strap buttons shredding the lining as well. Luckily there was no damage to the guitar. |
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Shipping packing for guitars
