Guitar Boxes

Gallagherone

Has anyone had experience with posting a guitar? I have a hard case for mine and would imagine that it needs to be boxed or packaged also.

Any ideas on how best to do it and where I could get the right size/shape boxes from?

Thanks!

Sarge

I've sent and received guits in hard cases just wrapped in black bin liners, or bubblwrap alone and they've been fine, though I would go to either your local guitar shop or a bicycle shop and see if they have some, most will be free, SoundsLive used to beg me to take more!
Bike boxes are great size too.

Phil_aka_Pip

Don't.

If you value it, take/fetch it yourself.

TTony

Phil is right, but if the buyer/seller is at the other side/end of the country, the personal delivery service isn't always practical.

There are various packing tips - de-tension the strings, put some bubblewrap around the headstock in the case, *always* use a hardcase, and then put that into a decent guitar shipping carton (local music store will have plenty), with enough packing materials so that the case doesn't rattle around in the box.

Use a reputable carrier - ie one that will actually sell you valid insurance cover and not small print out their liability - and insure anything that you couldn't afford to lose.

Never send on a Friday - because then your guitar will likely spend its weekend in a courier depot somewhere, probably serving as a goalpost - and use a 24hr service because that reduces its time in transit and thereore the risk.

stimpsonslostson

TTony;748393" said:

Phil is right, but if the buyer/seller is at the other side/end of the country, the personal delivery service isn't always practical.

There are various packing tips - de-tension the strings, put some bubblewrap around the headstock in the case, *always* use a hardcase, and then put that into a decent guitar shipping carton (local music store will have plenty), with enough packing materials so that the case doesn't rattle around in the box.

Use a reputable carrier - ie one that will actually sell you valid insurance cover and not small print out their liability - and insure anything that you couldn't afford to lose.

Never send on a Friday - because then your guitar will likely spend its weekend in a courier depot somewhere, probably serving as a goalpost - and use a 24hr service because that reduces its time in transit and thereore the risk.

...And THAT ladies and gentlemen is that.
Wisdom awarded.

matt1973

Go to Halfords and blag a BMX bike box. Much better than guitar boxes and a good size. Use polystyrene chips, bubble wrap or loosely inflated polybags to take up the empty space and secure with plenty of tape. Always use a hardcase.

Philly_Q

I just keep all the boxes from the guitars I've bought....

rlw

A box will be fine if you can fill it with chips, bubble wrap the guitar, secure the headstock with more bubble wrap and stop it moving.  Then put the box in another packed box.  Send it UPS and get £1000 insurance.

Gagaryn

Musicstore.de just chucked my Guild acoustic (in its case) into a massive box the size of a fat man's coffin with some crumpled up brown paper - with strings at full tension! was fine though!

thermionic

I bought an acoustic from Thomann, I thought I'd better buy a case while I'm at it just to be on the safe side.

They sent the guitar in one box and the empty case in another.

meltedbuzzbox

thermionic said:

I bought an acoustic from Thomann, I thought I'd better buy a case while I'm at it just to be on the safe side.

They sent the guitar in one box and the empty case in another.

how do you think all the guitar shops receive guitars?

Sarge

meltedbuzzbox;748588" said:

thermionic said:

I bought an acoustic from Thomann, I thought I'd better buy a case while I'm at it just to be on the safe side.

They sent the guitar in one box and the empty case in another.





how do you think all the guitar shops receive guitars?

If it's Thomann then in a huge crate containing 100+ guitars from china.

MattFGBI

We send stuff all day every day. If you're anywhere near East Grinstead you can have one of our boxes.

The key is making sure it doesn't move in the box. If you have a hard case that's great, one wrap of bubbles will be fine plus some in the bottom. Put the case in and then pack up the top until it doesn't move.

I wouldn't worry about tension on the strings. We send guitars tuned all around the world.

ICBM

MattFGBI said:

I wouldn't worry about tension on the strings. We send guitars tuned all around the world.

Yes, but you're Fender .

If you do that with a Gibson and the box gets dropped, it arrives as a Steinberger…

The fundamental problem is that it's pot luck. You can pack the thing to almost bombproof levels and if the box gets dropped hard enough, the internal inertia of the guitar can damage it. Or you can put the case in a bin liner and 90% of the time it will be fine.

Everyone who has sent or received a guitar without damage is in the majority, but is still lucky. If you cant afford to just be lucky, don't send it by courier.

gavin_axecaster

^ I bought a Tele on ebay years ago and the seller just put it in a gig bag and stuck on a label.
Arrived in perfect condition!

John_P

gavin_axecaster said:

^ I bought a Tele on ebay years ago and the seller just put it in a gig bag and stuck on a label.
Arrived in perfect condition!

As weird as it sounds there is some logic in that - a courier is perhaps more likely to handle it rather than throw like they might do a box.

WezV

I got my danelectro wrapped in a bin bag loose in a box, it was fine.

But I pack to be bombproof. I have been guilty of over packing within a case to the point it affected the setup. Light packing within a close fitting case, well packed within another box works well.

As ICBM says, inertia is often responsible for damage. If you can hear it moving within the package its not packaged well enough

chrispy108

meltedbuzzbox;748588" said:

thermionic said:

I bought an acoustic from Thomann, I thought I'd better buy a case while I'm at it just to be on the safe side.

They sent the guitar in one box and the empty case in another.





how do you think all the guitar shops receive guitars?

If a shop or manufacturer has a guitar break in shipping then they're only out the cost price of the item, they post enough stuff that they can play the probabilities and they're probably more likely to get a payout from a courier due to the amount they put through. All of that is totally different for a private seller.

johnonguitar

I sent a Marshall 100/100 in a rack flight case and it's got mangled. God knows what they done to it. It was insured though. I had to argue for ages that the case it was in was a touring grade bomb proof enclosure


The lighter the guitar the less chance it has of breaking if you ask me

TheMarlin

What size guitar is it?

If it's expensive, get it professionally packed.  Many companies offer this kind of service, either cardboard of wooden crates.

Marlin

streethawk

Regarding Insurance: read the small print, probably don't cover guitars at all but will take your money.

However, what's the deal if they lose the parcel?

Would they still pay out a grand if you'd insured it at that value?