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Shipping basses
- Thread starter manolo578
- Start date
If you have a case.
Loosen the strings. Wrap the headstock in bubble wrap. Put it in the case, put the case in a box. Fill any extra space in the box with newspaper/bubblewrap/packing peanuts/whatever.
If you have a gigbag.
Loosen the strings. Wrap the headstock in bubble wrap. Put it in the gigbag. Put it in a box. Fill the extra space with newspaper/bubblewrap/packing peanuts/whatever.r.
If you don't have a case or gigbag.
Loosen the strings. Completely wrap the whole bass it in several layers of bubble wrap. Put in the box and fill the extra space with newspaper/bubblewrap/packing peanuts/whatever.
For all three scenarios, wrap it/pad it enough to where you get the point that you can confidently throw it down a flight of stairs without fear of damaging the bass. Not that you should throw it down a flight of stairs, just so that you think it would survive it.
Loosen the strings. Wrap the headstock in bubble wrap. Put it in the case, put the case in a box. Fill any extra space in the box with newspaper/bubblewrap/packing peanuts/whatever.
If you have a gigbag.
Loosen the strings. Wrap the headstock in bubble wrap. Put it in the gigbag. Put it in a box. Fill the extra space with newspaper/bubblewrap/packing peanuts/whatever.r.
If you don't have a case or gigbag.
Loosen the strings. Completely wrap the whole bass it in several layers of bubble wrap. Put in the box and fill the extra space with newspaper/bubblewrap/packing peanuts/whatever.
For all three scenarios, wrap it/pad it enough to where you get the point that you can confidently throw it down a flight of stairs without fear of damaging the bass. Not that you should throw it down a flight of stairs, just so that you think it would survive it.
Safest way is in a hard shell case in a heavy duty cardboard shipping box.
If there is no HSC, go to your friendly neighborhood Fender dealer and beg some of the boxes Fender ships their basses in that don't come with an HSC. Make sure you get the two inserts that are used to position the bass inside the box. You will need a gig bag and maybe a bit of additional foam but otherwise should be GTG.
For shipping without a case the Fender box is the safest thing I've found short of taking the neck off and packing neck, body, and misc. loose stuff in a big azzed box full of padding, or take the neck off and ship the neck and body in separate boxes.
If there is no HSC, go to your friendly neighborhood Fender dealer and beg some of the boxes Fender ships their basses in that don't come with an HSC. Make sure you get the two inserts that are used to position the bass inside the box. You will need a gig bag and maybe a bit of additional foam but otherwise should be GTG.
For shipping without a case the Fender box is the safest thing I've found short of taking the neck off and packing neck, body, and misc. loose stuff in a big azzed box full of padding, or take the neck off and ship the neck and body in separate boxes.
It's difficult to find boxes that basses fit into. Sometimes, music stores will have empty cardboard boxes for us but usually they don't.
I've found that flat screen TV boxes are excellent for shipping basses but they do have to be cut down to a smaller box. They are easily found on trash day in neighborhoods and in dumpsters behind Rent-a-Centers.
I've found that flat screen TV boxes are excellent for shipping basses but they do have to be cut down to a smaller box. They are easily found on trash day in neighborhoods and in dumpsters behind Rent-a-Centers.
Do NOT loosen the strings! The truss rod balances the strings' tension. When you loosen the strings without altering the rod, you can cause neck problems. No major manufacturer ships instruments not tuned to pitch.
Pack the instrument well, put paper between the strings and fingerboard, stuff paper around the headstock so it can't whip around, and use s good solid heavy cardboard box. If you can't get one from a local music store, try a bicycle shop. Bikes come in big triple-wall boxes you can cut to size.
John
Pa
Pack the instrument well, put paper between the strings and fingerboard, stuff paper around the headstock so it can't whip around, and use s good solid heavy cardboard box. If you can't get one from a local music store, try a bicycle shop. Bikes come in big triple-wall boxes you can cut to size.
John
Pa
i work at ups. i recommend you put it in a case, and then put that into a very very sturdy box with lots of bubble wrap. (you should see how these packages can be treated sometimes)
If you don't have a case and its a Fender or other bolt on take the neck off. You can save a lot on shipping by being able to fit the instrument into a normalish sized box
if it was proper set up in the first place, no. The most you should have to do is realign the neck and tune it.
Put it in a hard case. Do NOT loosen the strings. Get some boxes, packing tape and packing peanuts. Cut the boxes up to make a box that the case fits in ( unless you can go to a music shop and get an old guitar box), pack the peanuts all around it. Ship it insured.
Are you sure about that?
I've got 2 highway one J basses, one shipped from a west cost GC warehouse and had been removed from it's gig bag at the warehouse and put in an SBK hard shell case to be shipped to Alabama, but otherwise it was untouched. The second bass was picked up from a Florida music store and the factory shipping box was opened for the first time when I arrived to pick it up.
Both basses had loose truss rod nuts and very relaxed strings. After a good set up both played great and after a little time and final tweaking, both are working great and holding tune just fine.
I was told at the FL music store that Fenders arrived like that and the store would put a quick set up on them before hanging them out for sale. They told me when I got it home to set it out in my house on a stand for a day or so before I set it up for the first time and it should be GTG.
It's been right at 2 years ago since I got the second one and both are working just fine.
