# Shipping a guitar in case...



## Skeezix (Oct 3, 2006)

Hey guys, been around for a while but more of a browser. Anyway, not sure if I'm the right section or not but if I am not, mods can move this thread. 

I have an electric guitar and case for sale, and I'm wondering, with the guys that have shipped a guitar, how do you package it? Do you ship it as it sits and throw the appropriate tags on it or do you put the guitar and case inside a cardboard box and package it that way? Or is there any other way? Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks.


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## G Man (Jun 13, 2007)

Hi Skeezix. I would never just ship a guitar in its case, no box etc... Too obvious what it is, it would never make it to it's destination! 

I am sure your potential purchaser would hope to get the unit in tact with no 
additional damage to the exterior of the case as well.

I add some bubble wrap within the case to support the guitar a little more. Then, I wrap the exterior of the case with some protective wrap. Then, I drop all of that into a double box with packing peanuts. 

Might be a wee bit of overkill, but if anyone on the forum ever buys a guitar from me, I am sure they will appreciate the effort I will put in. There is very little extra weight added to make it a little better packed. I have received guitars from out of country where the seller has put the guitar in a gig bag and dropped that into an empty box with no further packing. Take a wild guess how much of the original guitar makes it to me in tact... 

Use your best judgement and remember the poor treatment the package is sure to endure before finally arriving at its destination.

Take care,
G Man


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## cdub66 (Dec 13, 2007)

I took a few pics as I was packing one up to ship, as a novelty for the buyer


























I also try to add additional padding inside prior to closing up the case where I can.

All have arrived safely so far!


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## vds5000 (Apr 14, 2008)

*Packing a guitar*

It doesn't matter how obvious the package is. If you are using Canada Post and have paid for tracking and insurance, the package will get to the destination. I am fairly confident that the employees that are involved in the shipping process are bonded and with tracking, they can find the last person who saw the package - employees know this. If it gets lost, you're covered. Trust me, guitars are obvious whether in a cardboard box or not. And a lot more expensive items than guitars are sent via Canada Post. All that being said, I'm not saying it will arrive in one piece. :smile:

I've shipped guitars as far away as California (Strat Plus Ultra) and Florida (Hamer USA Eclipse), Edmonton (Hamer USA Chapparal and Hamer USA Daytona) and London, Ont (Hamer USA Archtop Custom) with not one issue. I've used CP for Canadian destinations and UPS/Fed Ex for US destinations. Always get insurance, pay for tracking, and pay to have the receiver have to sign for it.

Packing:
1.) Loosen strings on guitar.
2.) Put guitar in case.
3.) Put case in cardboard box (to protect the case).
4.) Shove bubble wrap and/or those air pillows (for shipping) around the case.
5.) Styrofoam peanuts aren't the greatest for shipping because they shift around. Even an obscene amount of scrunched up newspaper is better.
6.) Tape the hell out of the box so it doesn't open during shipping.

I wouldn't suggest putting anything other than the guitar in the case, unless there is a compartment that won't open during shipping.


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## Skeezix (Oct 3, 2006)

Ok, that all sounds pretty good. That's kinda was I was thinking as well but it's always nice to get some feedback. Good call on loosening the strings. I'm gonna throw the guitar up on ebay for now, I don't have enough posts to put it on the forums yet, but I need to unload it, see what happens. Thanks guys!


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## Skeezix (Oct 3, 2006)

Oh and thanks for the pics cdub66. Hopefully others will benefit from this thread as well.


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## smorgdonkey (Jun 23, 2008)

*Another SHIPPING/PACKAGING example:*

This was a bass that I shipped to a forum member here:
First some bubble wrap to stop whiplash and any shake inside the case BUT not enough to actually apply any pressure to the guitar when the case is closed. Very important to be careful around the headstock!








Cover case in bubble wrap:








Put case inside box with more packing material (in this instance styrofoam sheets). Many boxes will be snug around a bubble-wrapped case so just a little something on the ends normally does the trick. Here you can see the foam surrounding the case with a peek inside the end:


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## Samsquantch (Mar 5, 2009)

OK, this is just for the outside of the case. I've always had form fitted cases, so I can't speak about the inside....Buy a big roll of bubble wrap and a big roll of postal packing paper (brown), a roll of wide tape, and make sure you have a few cardboard boxes. Wrap the guitar case tightly in bubble wrap several times, using half the roll. Cut or rip up pieces of the cardboard boxes and tape them to all the sides of the guitar case, over the bubble wrap. It doesn't have to be pretty. It's just extra protection. Wrap the rest of the bubble wrap around tightly, tape it up, and then wrap the postal packing paper around until you have a nice thick layer of it around the guitar case. Tape up the ends of the guitar case if there are any edges sticking out. Wrap tape around the outside a few times just to make sure and send it off. :rockon2:

EDIT: Make sure to loosen the strings to take the tension off of the neck. It will have much less chance of being damaged this way.


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## 4345567 (Jun 26, 2008)

__________


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## rollingdam (May 11, 2006)

Larrivee guitars recommend Not loosening the strings.


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## BoldAsLove (Jul 31, 2009)

I'm a total newbie when shipping guitars, but looking to do so in the near future... It seems the most obvious thing to do to the actual guitar in the case is to disassemble it (if it's a strat, take the neck off), then bubble wrap the crap out of everything. 

Would you guys be able to explain why it's not recommended loosen the strings even? Putting things behind the headstock makes sense I suppose, especially if the neck is connected to the guitar. The "floating" headstock would not have horizontal pressure applied to it as it would if it were packed...



rollingdam said:


> Larrivee guitars recommend Not loosening the strings.


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## smorgdonkey (Jun 23, 2008)

nkjanssen said:


> One tip that seems initially counter-intuitive...
> 
> Don't pack anything behind the headstock. It'll increase the chances of a break. There was a big discussion of this on TGP and the guys who manufacture and ship guitars for a living were unanimous on that point.


This is a tricky point.

If you don't know what you are doing then yes, it can contribute to damage but if you do know what you are doing then it is an extra measure of protection. 

You must be sure that packing material behind the headstock (as I said in my first post) exerts *no pressure* on the headstock when it is closed. Many guitars that have been shipped with nothing around the headstock have emerged from their cases with major damage due to 'whiplash'. If carriers were more careful then the whiplash would not happen but because guitar boxes get dropped in shipping then the whiplash damage is a reality. The fact that those people at TGP were unanimous just goes to show how 'culture' can be incorrect. If it is applying no pressure then there will be no damage. The damage caused by packing around the headstock comes from people packing too much stuff in there which is definitely not good. How many times is it good when someone is doing something that they know nothing about?

I guess that's why some people insist on the places who are doing the shipping also do the packing because then if it is broken there is no way out of them taking the blame.


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## flashPUNK (Feb 16, 2006)

I just wanted to chime in here briefly.. I haven't had much experience shipping guitars, but I think my experience is a bit unique (at least as far as Canada Post is concerned).

I recently purchased a guitar off a forum member here, don't need to mention the name, as its not necessary.

The package was sent this past Saturday via Priority Courier - Canada Post. This morning (expecting to see that the guitar was in Toronto), I took a look at the tracking site, and I noticed that the guitar was listed as 'out for delivery' however, it was still in the city of origin.

Yep, apparently Canada Post botched this up, and delivered the package to the sender.

This story is still unfolding, so i'll update you as soon as there is (hopefully) a happy ending, and I get my guitar.


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## flashPUNK (Feb 16, 2006)

rollingdam said:


> Larrivee guitars recommend Not loosening the strings.


I've traveled quite a bit with acoustics, and electrics, and normally don't loosen the strings. I believe the Larrivee article I read on the subject made me decide to follow their procedure.


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## Skeezix (Oct 3, 2006)

It's almost a tough call on loosening the strings or not. Maybe shipping locally it would be fine without loosening the strings, but shipping overseas it might be a good idea to do so. A friend of mine went to school in Australia for a brief period and took along his Breedlove on the flight (checked luggage) and he complained about it being a little messed up in Australia. Left it as is until he was back home in Canada and had to have it set up again. Plays fine now thankfully.


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## fraser (Feb 24, 2007)

a forum member sent me a guitar- from bc to ontario via canada post-
the guitar was wrapped in bubble wrap- then placed in one of those fender strat form fit cases- the guitar didnt really fit the case- but the bubble wrap did the rest-
the hinges on the case were shot, so he wrapped it in packing tape.
guitar arrived a-ok, and the case suffered no damage either.


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## vasthorizon (Aug 10, 2008)

Just a friendly advice: Don't bubble wrap nitro-finished guitars.
The plastic will melt straight into the finish causing permanent damage. It will require a refin or just live with it.
And by the way, this is a 50's vintage Gibson.


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## cdub66 (Dec 13, 2007)

Oh man.


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## fraser (Feb 24, 2007)

vasthorizon said:


> Just a friendly advice: Don't bubble wrap nitro-finished guitars.
> The plastic will melt straight into the finish causing permanent damage. It will require a refin or just live with it.
> And by the way, this is a 50's vintage Gibson.


lol- well id hope anyone shipping a 50s gibson would not wrap it in bubble wrap and ship it in a case.
i once bought a stella for $40 that arrived entombed in a box that wouldnt fit thru my doorway- it was packed in 6 different boxes, each smaller than the other, like those ukranian dolls.


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## Skeezix (Oct 3, 2006)

vasthorizon said:


> Just a friendly advice: Don't bubble wrap nitro-finished guitars.
> The plastic will melt straight into the finish causing permanent damage. It will require a refin or just live with it.
> And by the way, this is a 50's vintage Gibson.
> 
> ...


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## smorgdonkey (Jun 23, 2008)

flashPUNK said:


> I just wanted to chime in here briefly.. I haven't had much experience shipping guitars, but I think my experience is a bit unique (at least as far as Canada Post is concerned).
> 
> I recently purchased a guitar off a forum member here, don't need to mention the name, as its not necessary.
> 
> ...


Call customer service and get them to open a *trace on the parcel*. Since you've opened the trace they will see that the *delivery commitment has not been made* and *issue a refund of the shipping costs to the seller*. Since the seller has built-in the shipping costs to you in the purchase price then *the seller should refund you the shipping money*. 

I've been involved in this sort of thing before and had the seller just dismiss the idea of sending the shipping money to me but I've been on the other end and sent the buyer a cheque for the shipping money when on the other end of it.

Bottom line: open a trace.


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## flashPUNK (Feb 16, 2006)

Hey,
thanks for the tips..
I spent the better part of yesterday freaking out - this was a huge purchase for me (as far as money goes), and I was worried.

I contacted Canada Post and also the forum member, I had him contact Canada post so he can get a refund (he will be refunding me the money as soon as he receives it). I also, was able to confirm with Canada Post that the actual sending address was mine - so that made me feel a little better, knowing that it was properly addressed, and was probably just some human error.

The guitar is back on the Canada post tracking site now, listed as "Item processed at postal facility" - which is the most recent updates. I can only assume its traveling to Toronto today, and I will receive it tomorrow.


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## hollowbody (Jan 15, 2008)

Hey guys, thanks everyone for the advice here! Especially about putting stuff behind the headstock and the bubble-wrap/nitro no-no!


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