NBD - but no box!

[ggoat!!!]

That reminds me of the people who send vintage electronics like receivers, VCRs, reel to reel decks and high-end 3 head cassette decks by putting them in a box full of styrofoam peanuts without putting the item in a plastic bag first. I can't tell you the countless hours I've spent over the years attempting to clean out styrofoam peanut bits and dust from the insides of electronics sent by completely incompetent unthinking morons. Some of those areas you just can't get such bits out without total disassembly. And the worse part was that I ALWAYS told them to put the stuff in a plastic bag and/or wrap it to keep such a thing from happening. Of course they didn't. They don't care...they have your money. Idiots. Or are they? Lol...

 

[bholder]

18 x 7 x 52" 275 lb. FOL Side Loading Corrugated Guitar Boxes S-18000 - Uline
$8.25
Not that bad. The local pack/ship place wants $25 for one...

Those are always a ripoff in my experience - even the big name ones.

 

[wmhill]

 

[ggoat!!!]

 

[ggoat!!!]

 

[ggoat!!!]

Link Removed

 

[PMagers]

I opened a box containing this horror show a couple years ago -

 

[ggoat!!!]

I opened a box containing this horror show a couple years ago -

Yeah, but how do you know that Rickenbacker didn't let it pass through quality control like that?

Link Removed

 

[hypercarrots]

 

[Basshappi]

Congrats Marley, beautiful MIJ you got there!

 

[bassbenj]

Confession time- I once sold a bass and shipped it by wrapping plastic wrap around the hardshell case. I was surprised they even took it. Bass sized boxes are HARD to come by.

No need to confess! Hey I BOUGHT a bass shipped in just the hardshell case. (Was a wishbass in a huge case!). It was taped round so it wouldn't come open and wrapped all over with many layers of plastic with the handle sticking out. Apparently UPS loved this packing because it arrived perfectly and the guy in the truck just grabbed the handle and handed it to me. My only whine was that this was the middle of summer and the 100 degree heat made tape goo all over the case from the tape used to make sure the case didn't open. Took most of a bottle of goo-gone. Still better than the case being shipped unlocked or even locked and coming undone halfway between California and here.

While I wouldn't vote for a bass shipped in a gig bag with a tag on the handle, I would vote any day for a hardcase wrapped in plastic and secured with tape around it on the OUTSIDE of the plastic. So long as some bubble pack is inside the case, it holds the bass much better than any cardboard guitar box I've received. I've had MANY basses shipped from Rondo in just the hardcase but with the hardcase in it's fitted cardboard box. Never a problem.

 

[jj4001]

Yeah, but how do you know that Rickenbacker didn't let it pass through quality control like that?

Link Removed

Comedy Gold!

 

[Frozen J]

Please never post that again.

 

[D Bopp]

Oh man I've got y'all beat.

A few years ago I bought a very rare color of the year Rickenbacker off of eBay; looked nearly NEW in the pics. I was overjoyed...I had looked forever for this seemingly unobtainium bass.

The idiot bastard sent the bass in its case across country via FedEx...with NO BOX OF ANY KIND!!! Just the case itself with FedEx stickers on it??!!!!!?!!!!!!!

Needless to say, things did NOT end well. The case wasn't locked shut or anything...

The most flabbergasting part was that the seller had NO CLUE as to why shipping a $2500 bass with NO BOX OR SHIPPING PROTECTION OF ANY KIND was a problem! He actually got pissed at me for bringing up the issue! I'm amazed that FedEx allowed him to ship it like that. He thought the case WAS the "shipping box" and the idea that the buyer didn't want it beat to hell never once entered his feeble brain.

I'm still astounded just recalling it. The idea that you would want your bass protected not only with some sort of packing material but that MAYBE you wanted the CASE protected too did not f'n occur to this guy...not at all!!!

There are some true idiots out there. Some absolutely have no common sense.

That was the last expensive bass I ever tried to buy online that wasn't from a dealer...

This has happened to me twice.

I don't have a pic of the second one, but the bass came from Canada. It was a Rickenbacker, and the hard case just had a label stuck to the side. No tape or anything around the case. And inside the bass had no strings on it, which left the bridge rolling around inside. Surprisingly, the bass was unharmed!

 

[rogerbmiller]

 

[groooooove]

i think its funny that in every posted story about lame shipping jobs, the bass arrives safely.

looks to me like it's not such a bad thing to do!

i never have, and probably would never, but a hard case, with shipping tape around the sides to ensure it stays closed unless someone tries to open it, would really surprise me it if diddn't get somewhere safely. doesn't carvin ship new basses in the hard case slipped into a tight fitting cardboard box? the box offers no protection- the case does, right?

still- i know how to protect / ship a bass well and have always been successful with shipping..

my one story to add- a friend of mine buys rare and vintage whisky all the time. auctions, online, whatever. he received a rare bottle of scotch- a several hundred dollar bottle, that can never be made again- in just a paper bag with a label on it, no protection. a glass bottle in a paper bag- now thats crazy.

 

[Smooth_bass88]

Just received my new 89 MIJ bass...wrapped in brown paper?? I'm scared to take it out of the Gig bag. :***:

Suggestions on what to do? I'm waiting for it to warm up from the arctic cold.

View attachment 564052 View attachment 564053 View attachment 564054

First of all, the notion of letting an instrument needing to "warm up" to room temp after shipping only applies to expensive acoustic guitars and maybe brand new solid bodies.

Secondly, it's a frekkin' Fender! They're built like tanks and can probably withstand a nuclear holocaust!

That being said, yes the seller should have thrown the case in a shipping box, if anything to avoid negative feedback on eBay.

At the end of the day, it worked out and there was no harm done. Now get out there and play the darn thing!

 

[MultiScaleMale]

I've shipped in a gig bag, but after seeing the weak (and expensive) packing done by the UPS Store, I make my own double / triple box/sleeve out of two packing boxes that I get from Walmart for less than $2 each. Pad the bass in the gig bag with bubble wrap, especially the headstock since that is where most damage occurs due to whiplash. Cut the boxes in half diagonally making and then begin wrapping the bag in layers of cardboard taking special care to make sure the middle where the boxes meet won't catch on the conveyor belts. So, under $10 in packing materials and about a half an hour's work gives a packing container that isn't super pretty, but it's tough like a Russian tank. So far I've received compliments on the packing.

 

[bolophonic]

I can't remember the last time I spent money on packing materials. Any furniture store will have massive sheets of heavy cardboard out back. Two minutes with a box cutter and you have a custom box, any size.

 

[Bugeyed Earl]

I've used cut down bicycle boxes from the local bike shop, they're happy to give them to me. Congrats to OP on the NBD, that's a beautiful bass! Even though it attived undamaged, i feel that the seller deserves an Atomic Dopeslap.