Best method to ship a tube head?

[chrisolson]

I haven't shipped one in a LONG, LONG time, but have one for sale, and I don't think a local deal is necesarily going to happen. You guys that ship them regularly -

1. What are the "tricks of the trade" to do it successfully?

2. What is a good price to charge (average) for shipping?

Thanks...

[Shawn Lutz]

remove the tubes and wrap in bubble wrap. Fi you plan on using a box make sure its not a flimsy cheap box, has to be sturdy. Wrap the entire head in mumerous laters of bubble wrap. place in box and put harder foam around the entire head in bubble wrap. Make sure there is no play in the box (meaning it isnt flopping around in the box) and then fill with peanuts.

Or you could alwyas go dumpster diving at you local GC or go ask them if they have any amp head boxes they are getting rid of.

Depending on the head weight and how far you are shipping I would guess 50-100 bucks insured.

[chrisolson]

Thanks, mang! That's kinda what I thought. hopefully I can get a local sale, but I'm not holding my breath.

[dannyr]

Don't use packing penuts! You should never use them with electronics. I'm not sure why, but I know it's bad.

[cbope]

Don't use packing penuts! You should never use them with electronics. I'm not sure why, but I know it's bad.

Umm... really? I don't know about that. I work for a company that manufactures and ships medical electronic equipment all over the world. Peanuts are fine for electronics, but you have to make sure that the electronics are sealed well in plastic bags. Peanuts can break down and create small particles if the package is handled really roughly. You do not want the resulting crap in any electronics, not to mention it can be very messy. As long as the equipment is sealed well in plastic bags (double bagged if possible), you won't have any problem.

If you really want to be sure when shipping a guitar head, you should double box. Place the head inside plastic bags (sealed with tape) and find a box that fits it as close as possible. Use peanuts or balled up newspaper to fill any gaps. Seal it up with tape and put it into a slightly larger box, and fill the empty space COMPLETELY with peanuts. Make sure the peanuts are filling in around all sides, you do not want the inner box to be in contact with any side of the outer box. Do not leave any empty space. Tape it up. 2 or 3 inches is a good amount to have as empty space (filled with peanuts) between the inner and outer boxes.

[roodyrocker]

I personally hate packing peanuts. They're a PITA and not just for tube heads. Most heads arrive new in a carton box with thick foam around them so that would probably be the route to take. My Randall RM100 was purchased used and the seller did a good job of wrapping it with a combination of that foam roll stuff that looks like a brown bag plus newspaper then placed it in a head box he got from GC or the like. I prefer that the tubes are left in place in the head for shipping. My Dual Rec arrived from Mesa with Rectifier tubes shattered because they tape them in their boxes inside the chassis! The tube boxes opened during shipping, tubes rolled out and got crushed

Rudy

https://www.wickedrocks.com

[DonP]

Send a pm to siggy14 (Todd) he buys and sells amps all the time.

My advice - don't. It will get killed with the crappy carriers we have these days.

[Bengal65]

A road case The reason I say this is I'm shipping one out tomorrow in a ATA road case. I know this is impossible in most situations.

VHT wraps their amps (tubes in place) with tons of bubble wrap (large bubbles and puts it in the box. Mesa Boogie uses styrofoam ends with the amp in a plastic bag (tubes in place).

Packing peanuts will stick to the tolex covering if they are in direct contact and permanently stain the tolex. The more heat and the longer the amp in the box in contact with the foam peanuts means disaster. The peanuts actually "weld" themselves to the tolex and the stain is impossible to get off. Watch out

Of course, with any gorilla courier service, things can happen no matter how well you pack an amp. I talked to VHT about putting wood blocks on the ears of rack mount amps to keep them from bending. Did they do it? Not to my knowledge. Grrrr!

[Shotgun]

Don't use packing penuts! You should never use them with electronics. I'm not sure why, but I know it's bad.

I think they're only bad when the shipper stuffs the gear into the peanuts, without bagging and taping it first. Which I mention only because I just got a midi keyboard controller from an asshat yesterday that wasn't bagged. Dickhead. I'll be cleaning styrofoam out of this keyboard for god knows how long.

Anyway, what Shawn said. I've only shipped two tube heads, and each time I did it the same way both times: pull the tubes and wrap them in bubble wrap; wrap the head in big thick layers of bubble wrap; box the wrapped head; put peanuts in a BIGGER box and put the first box in that, making sure the inner box is spaced evenly on all sides (centered) and that it is snug when sealed. I want to say that the actual fedex ground shipping cost both times was under $50, but I've slept since then.

Hope you get a local buyer!
Keith

[chrisolson]

Hope you get a local buyer!
Keith

Me too...

Thanks for all the advice, guys. I think I have plenty to go on..