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Sad amp story

#21
Ouch!!! Sorry about your amp being brutalized by incompetent handling. I used to run a shipping department as my day gig for a very large retail concern for a number of years, and it was amazing that sometimes some shipping companies could still find a way to damage items that were more than over packed beyond perfection. I'm talking about stuff that was packed to be darn near bomb proof! Anyways I hope Fed Ex pays up for your obvious claim against them, and I know how that process can be another ordeal in and of itself. Sadly in the end they damaged a fine vintage amp, and can you be made truly whole in this situation? I wish you the best and I hope you can get things put as right as humanly possible.
 
#23
Thanks for the sympathy guys. Believe it or not; John was every bit as upset as I was. He has babbied the amp for 3 decades, and in a 5 day road trip, they trash it. It was insured, but the dents in the chassis are not a parts "switch out" solution. It actually cracked the dolly at the front casters on both sides.

The amp will probably be able to be fixed to where it can be played through; but as any of you vintage guys out there know; the value has taken a big hit. Now I didn't buy it just to resell, but I did wait till I found an amp that was in great shape, and had an owner history with someone like John. As far as someone questioning the packing of the amp; I've bought Marshall 4x12 cabs, and Fender showman cabs that were no where close to packed this well, and they came without a scratch; so I defend John 100% as far as packing goes, and I've got a laid out for a fedex rep to look it over.

I don't care how something is packed; you just don't drop a package this large/heavy to the ground from the back of a truck. The cabinet doesn't have a scratch on it from not being packed well; it was the blow of the drop that caused the damage.
John Sr.
 
#25
If the amp was coming a long way, it was in the back of multiple tractor trailers on the way, and was unloaded at each hub and then re-loaded to continue on.

The fall could be the result of it being top loaded and falling to the floor of the trailer when the load shifted. They pack those trailers floor to ceiling but not always front to back, so the load walls at the back can topple over in transit.

Sorry to hear about this. I'll be making a 5 hour drive to pick up a cab soon, just so I don't have to risk going through this kind of headache and frustration.

Make sure you keep all of the packaging, as the rep will want to see it.
Good Luck
 
#28
Johntheson said:
I don't care how something is packed; you just don't drop a package this large/heavy to the ground from the back of a truck. The cabinet doesn't have a scratch on it from not being packed well; it was the blow of the drop that caused the damage.
John Sr.
Click to expand...
The problem is in the assumption that the dropping was deliberate. Apparently packages fall off tall conveyors routinely etc etc, so it's luck of the draw whether anything makes it through undropped. Physics is unforgiving.

As far as someone questioning the packing of the amp;
Click to expand...
That would be me. I think we need to accept that the "must be packed to survive 6ft drop" condition is real and necessary if we are to avoid the heartache we have here.

A 60lb amp builds up a whole lot of momentum on a 6ft drop. It can either crush the packaging or bounce. I submitted that 5" of bubblewrap is well short of enough to bounce.

Physics dictates that change in momentum = work done = force x time taken. A bounce is relatively slow so the force is smaller. If it won't bounce it crushes the bubblewrap down and the amp stops suddenly. Tearing of precious metal chews up that change of momentum.

A 1.8m drop makes for 20 km/hr hitting the ground. Do we accept that or not? What would the front of your car look like if it hit a brick wall at 12.5 mph? Not pretty.

If there was video of some dolt shoving it off the back of a truck I would be sympathetic to giving him a taste of his own medicine out a 2nd floor window.
 
#29
downunder; I don't think the person just chucked it to amuse himself/herself. My typing vibe might have seemed that way though. I also do not know how far, at a certain weight, that a box can fall, as to do whatever damage.

I understand what you are saying, and I also understand that during the course of a day/week/month of handling numerous parcels, that it becomes a job that you don't always concider the contents. If you had seen the packing job, and the damage; I THINK you would be rather unhappy about the damage though.

I may be wrong about what you would think. In any case; I'm not going to keep on about it here; I know no one wants to hear the continued belly aching,but I thought I'd just post about it to try to vent some I guess. We can agree to disagree if that's alright with you. Peace.
John Sr.
 
#30
I don't blame you for being pissed off and I don't blame JohnK for what most everyone would consider a bombproof packing job. We don't know if it was thrown or it fell off a conveyor or the top of a stack by accident. All we can say for sure is the packaging didn't work.

I don't know that it's even possible to pack to the spec demanded. I would encourage everyone to pack using stuff that can actually absorb some impact of itself, unlike bubble wrap. Sending fragile freight as general cargo is risky.

I hate to think what a cross country palletised box would cost but that may be the only way to avoid drop damage. Still they can poke a forklift blade through it. :atoz:
 
#33
I just shipped an HD 130 head to NY. I sweated it out for a week until the purchaser said it was perfect. Ever since I bought a Fender 400PS on Ebay 10 years ago, that was so poorly packed that my guess is it never made out of the original pick up by UPS. When it arrived the amp was so mangled I took pictures when UPS delivered it. Since then, any time I ship one it IS over packed. Shipping anything large is outrageous. BTW total shipping on the HD 130 Was $112 packed, shipped, and insured.
 
#35
take lots of pics, continue to pester FedEx until they send you a check.
Had this happen a few years ago, gf bought a fancy computer, it showed up mangled and pretty much destroyed.
lots of pics, lots of phone calls, but she was rewarded with a check to cover purchase price + shipping costs.

Best of luck to you.
 
#36
My B15 arrived with the shockmounts ripped out as well, but fortunately no damage was done to the chasis or transformers. I got lucky. I had asked the seller to fill the inside of the cab with as much packing material as possible, and ship the unit upside down to minimize the risk- but of course they didn't do that. I was p*ssed. They just latched the head down business as usual and threw it all in a box. Lesson learned: The best thing to do when shipping a vintage PF is to ship the head separately- that way you don't run the risk of the shockmounts giving out due to rough handling.
 
#37
I've never had it happen to me, but when I bought my first PF the shipper was insistant that it had to be packed in 2 seperate boxes for this very reason. It seem counter-intuitive to me at the time (thinking the head would be safest in the cabinet) but I could see how the shock mounts could fail with a really bad hit. Shipping costed more but it made the head much easier to handle for UPS along the way and arrived in great shape. Really sorry to hear what happened to you OP.
 
#40
When I was buying my old ABM cabs I had to go through three returns to get one that wasn't damaged. Always had a nasty ding in the grill and one had a corner ripped off. I think part of it is these people move them without any assistance from a trolly so they drop them. I swear I'll be seeing them all at the spinal clinic soon with that sort of attitude.
 

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