Transport an upright from Nashville to LA for $$

[Bobby King]

Hey there folks,

I'm looking to get an upright transported from Nashville to LA. My son has a very promising high-school student (a girl) that he's teaching as part of a community outreach program in Los Angeles. We're selling her a bass that we own at very discounted price, but need to find a way to get it out there. We'd be willing to pay some reasonable amount. If you're headed that way, have room in your vehicle, and want to subsidize your travel expenses, please contact me. Either PM or email me at: RSK1957@aol.com Thanks!

[Bobby King]

Some of you might be interested:

At luthier Dustin William's suggestion, I shipped the bass to LA via Greyhound Package Express. Using this method, a package is shipped from, and delivered to a Greyhound bus station. First I got a box that a bass had been shipped in from Dustin's shop ( a big mother!). I tuned the strings down a bit, put it in a soft bag and then packed it in the box with a lot of cardboard supports and assorted packing material. The "standard" shipment cost $87 from Nashville to LA and took three days to get there. It arrived undamaged today.

There are down sides to this method -- maximum insured value is $300. There is no tracking per se, and delivery time is not guaranteed. Package Express shipments go on passenger buses and are subject to space availability. Your package can get bumped off at various transfer points and held up there. So, I wouldn't recommend shipping a real valuable bass this way. But on the upside, since they go on the bus bays, they're only a few feet from the ground when loaded and unloaded and are unlikely to be thrown around or dropped from heights as they might be with UPS or on a plane.

I'll add that this is a good time of year for shipping this way. In hotter or colder weather, it might not be such a good idea.