The Chetboard

I have an acoustic guitar that I need to ship across the country, what is the best way to do this safely and how much will it cost? Any advice is apprecaited.

For traveling with or shipping:

http://www.frets.com/FRETSPages/Musician/GenMaint/Packing/packing1.html

Hi Tom,

There are many articles on how to pack and ship a guitar available. Just Google "shipping a guitar!"

Gruhn's used to have an excellent one on their site but it seems to have been removed.

Here's a good one: http://www.cbguitars.com/Packing.htm

David

Tom, if you're shipping without a case it will need to be double-boxed the same way it was shipped from the
manufacturer. There needs to be extra care provided around the headstock like the two previous links suggested.
If shipping in a hard case then the outside rectangular box will suffice. Put in enough packing material so there
will be no movement of the case. If you are in the proximity of a retail music store you may be able to obtain a
box/boxes from there. I work in a music store and frequently will give someone a shipping box as we can't keep
all of them. I don't know where you're shipping to but "cross-country" should be within the $30-$40 range. The
key to remember in shipping a guitar is there is to be no movement in the case or the box. Hope this helps.
(Pardon the formatting if it's screwed up)

Robert El

You might check with a local music store and see if they have any advice over which carrier they would reccomend. There are all kinds of horror stories about shipping guitars so a little research there might be a good idea.

I have not much to add. I´ve bought three guitars from the US and had them shipped all the way to Europe with the US Postal Service as priority mail. All arrived in perfectly good order. They were packed in their original cardboard boxes in their cases, in one occasion in its gig bag. There was some additional packing material, bubble plastic sheet, paper and thin carton, to keep the instrument and case from moving inside the carton box. If you don´t have kept the original box a music shop may have one to spare. I guess the most important thing is to keep the guitar from moving inside its case and box, and of course to tune it down a bit to relieve the strings.

If possible, use a guitar box from a music store. The size of the box is intentional to keep the size classification within the range that is affordable.

I have shipped several guitars and will NOT use Fedex. At least in these parts, they beat the dog out of boxes in transit.
Honestly, I think the USPS has a reasonable rate and I have had good results with no mishaps, but Norm is right...horror stories abound. A little due diligence may go a long way.

One more vote for USPS... Certainly not UPS. I once had a guitar that road around in the back of a UPS truck so long (for days in the middle of a cold winter) that the company out of sheer embarrassment reduced their inflated fees.. That guitar had a nitro finish that was really finished after that!!! Anyway Tom, whatever you decide, make sure it can be traced.. i.e. tracking number.. I guess that goes without saying.

Having retired from the U. S. Postal Service in 2004 after 44 years, and with about 35 of those years accepting (and rejecting ) parcels for mailing from the public in five different Postal facilities in four different parts of the country...I can assure you, there IS no difference in the way mail is handled by ANY of the 'big three' (USPS-UPS-FEDEX!)

I could tell you horror stories about 'poor' packing (by customers) of things to be mailed, that you wouldn't believe! AUTOMATION is the destroyer of packages and parcels, and not the people handling the mail! In all those years with the post office, I never witnessed any postal employee 'deliberately' mishandle mail that was marked fragile, but I have observed machinery flinging, dropping, rolling, etc. items in the mail stream with utterly no regard for the contents...how could it, it's just machines?

With the volume of mail handled by USPS-UPS-FEDEX, etc there would be no way to handle it without automation machinery, so the only safeguard against breakage or damage of the contents, is ADEQUATE PACKING! I've often wondered if people mailing a package, actually believe that someone walks around carefully carrying their package between Seattle and Miami! Right!

A good 'rule of thumb' for mailing something delicate or fragile (like a classical guitar) is: Pack it so you would not feel 'uncomfortable' about holding the box shoulder high, and then DROPPING IT onto a concrete floor! And no, I am not joking! If it's packed correctly, it will be just fine, and will get through it's journey okay. I think also, rather than marking something FRAGILE, is to mark it "HANDLE LIKE EGGS!"

I'm not trying to vilify delivery companies altogether, but am merely indicating that the general public 'has no clue', as to the sheer volume of items being handled and delivered, and the fact that the people doing this are under such pressure (and often unrealistic 'standards' of performance) that they have no time to show 'special care' for items poorly packed! Observe the average UPS driver-deliverer, and you will notice that they are actually running to your door or porch! Show me a fat UPS employee, and I'll show you a manager/supervisor!

David

Right on David.Get the box size made for git,leave(detuned)git in case,drop in box,FILL box(top and sides)with foam pellets(tight),seal w/nylon strapping tape and you're good to go.I've shipped 3 gits in 6 mos.,UPS(it's right here and I deliver the package to UPS for ship)with no issues at all.The main thing is the packing!Cause like David said,its gonna' get thrown around(tossed) by ANY carrier. The Best, Ty M.