Packing guitars for air freight.....

[neilli]

Guys,
I have 3 guitars making their way to me by air-freight over the next month or so, and have been giving some thought to the way they're going to be packed etc (2 of them are bolt-ons and one is a neck-thru). All three are fully insured and are coming in their original cases (inside a cardboard box of course!)

I have two main questions:
With the bolt-ons, should I get the necks taken off and packed seperately inside the case ?
If not, should I get the strings removed or slackened off? (this applies to the neck-thru as well)

Any other packing tips would be appreciated!

Cheers
Ian

[Tornet]

Re: Packing guitars for air freight.....

I've seen in person how some airlines treat your luggage/guitars and it's not a pretty sight!

When I bring my guitars I just make sure that there's nothing loose in the case and I put a strap or tape around the case so it wont open up.
I have only Floyd guitars so the tension on the neck isn't as high as it would be on a stop tail.

On trem guitars I don't slacken the strings off but on stop tails for example I always slacken the strings off a bit. The tension in a guitarneck is quite high, especially on for example LP's with the strings on.
The Floyd construction, and all trem constructions i guess, allows the strings to move even if the neck is exposed to stress.

I've never taken a neck off a guitar but it might be a good idea. Most of my guitars are neckthru.

I've had a poorly packaged Student RR from -84 seriousoly beaten up and major chips came out of both the upper wing and the heads tip.
They didn't pay for the reparation or anything 'cause it was impossible to find out who was responsible for the damage, USPS or the European contractor.

I hope some of it were useful.

Good Luck!

666
JT

[mattsmusiccenter]

Re: Packing guitars for air freight.....

For what it's worth, I receive hundreds of guitars each year from the manufacturers I deal with. Some come via air service, some come via ground service. All of them come with their necks installed and all of them are tuned to pitch. This also holds true for all the guitars I ship each year, many of which go overseas.

My advice is to make sure the guitars are packed well. If possible, throw some bubble wrap inside the case to support the headstock and neck in the event the case is dropped flat on it's back. UPS states that if your package can't sustain a 10 foot drop, it ain't packed well enough.

That said, extra cushioning and some sturdy cardboard is the ticket to your guitars arriving safely. Still, there's no guarantee they won't get damaged, no matter how well you pack them.

[RacerX]

Re: Packing guitars for air freight.....

IMO, you should always double box. That is, guitar - inside - HSC - inside - cardboard box - surrounded by packing - inside a larger cardboard box. Better safe than sorry. Bicycle boxes, keyboard boxes, even Kelly sized boxes can be used as the outside box.

[FLuX]

Re: Packing guitars for air freight.....

[ QUOTE ]
even Kelly sized boxes can be used as the outside box.

[/ QUOTE ]

hahaha... what kelly are we talkin about here [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

nah NOTP sent me my kelly without any strings on it but with the neck attached and it arrived in perfect condition. No extra packign or anything with the exception of the cardboard on the outside with packed ends filled with newspaper.

but as Ron said, better safe than sorry.

[Anders]

Re: Packing guitars for air freight.....

I just had a guitar shipped to me, and the guitar arrived without damage, but the case was busted. Not with a hole in it, but 3 of it's 4 "feet" were busted, it's pretty irritating, because it won't stand steady now.. The only thing outside the case was a cardboard box.

[Zerberus]

Re: Packing guitars for air freight.....

I pack like Ron Does, guitar with mucho bubble Wrap inside the case (enough so that you literally have trouble closing thew case), that inside a thick cardboard box, that inside a Keyboard or Bicycle box. I ALWAYS have to bay oversize charges on anything larger than a strat, but I´ve never had an axe arrive in a worse condition than I shipped it in. [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

On the other hand, I´ve had guys ship me guitars in a cheapo gigbag, only wrapped the bag in paper (NO BOX!!), and they´ve arrived safe (although that one I was SURE was gonna be DOA, even had a tear in the paper at headstock height [img]/images/graemlins/eek.gif[/img] ).....

[xenophobe]

Re: Packing guitars for air freight.....

I've shipped a number of guitars sucessfully overseas to Australia, Germany, Finland, Scotland, etc... *knock on wood*

I put a piece of folded paper towel under the trem plate between the string clamp flat spring and the body. This will keep the trem from scratching the body in case it decides to fall off or get dislodged during rough handling (which I've personally had happen before).

I put a piece of folded paper towel between the fretboard and the strings. This avoids the possibility of a hard side impact from leaving string impressions on the frets.

I pad the neck by the nut, and make sure the headstock has ample clearance in the case. I also make sure the body can't move around.

I loosen the tension on the strings.

On bolt-ons, I loosen the neck slightly (in case the package gets stepped on in the center, you might avoid some compression or cracking around the neck pocket).

I make sure there is at least 4" of air-packets, or rolled up bubble wrap at the top and bottom of the box.

I always label the box with the headstock up, and put arrows "this side up" and sometimes "handle as irregular". Those are followed by most drivers and loaders *when it is convienient for them*. Marking a package "Fragile" does nothing to insure safe handling.

Of course, in almost ANY circumstance, it's hard to believe a guitar will survive a direct drop from 10 feet. Something will probably give. Mind you, 4" of packing material isn't enough for that far of a drop for a 30lb package. Also, many conveyors are 20-30' in the air, and packages routinely fall off of them too. With these guidelines, I think you should be able to pack a guitar with a higher-than-average chance of survival.

[Kyle G]

Re: Packing guitars for air freight.....

Just loosen the strings, there isnt really any reason to remove the neck.