The BAD Myth - Detuning Basses and Shipping Them!

[Showdown]

If I should not de-tune guitar for shiping, should I then change strings one by another, i.e. take E down and put new E in, then D etc? Frankly, I have never done like that, only all 4 strings down and then all 4 new in.

That is the way I do it, one string at a time. the only time I take all the strings off is when I need to for changing pickups, nuts, bridge work, etc. When you take all the tension off, then bring it back up to full tension the neck may not come back to the exact same place, and could potentially need a truss rod adjustment. It may work fine most of the time, but the potential for problems is there. It is just safer to change them one at a time whenever possible.

 

[Salicete]

Let's send this one in to the Mythbusters as Rockman suggested..

What do people think the shippers are doing to guitars when they are being shipped? I never detune, but I also have never shipped a bass in anything but a hardshell case, with a cardboard container over the case.

Temperature, air pressure, idiots throwing my package onto trucks; it has never been a problem. Pack your item securely and you will be fine, and don't forget to add insurance!

 

[Bassman62]

I've shipped and recieved over 100 guitars and basses and always detune. In fact Ive taken necks off of guitars and basses and let them sit in the closet for months and years while repairing and restoring bodies without loosening the trussrod and never had a neck warp. Anyone who's ever seen a crack in a headstock across the E string tuner would have to think it's a good thing to relieve a little tention on the strings before shipping. Do manufactuters like Sadowsky and Tobias ship basses ant 440 pitch? Just wondering.
Edit:In fact Ive taken necks off of guitars and basses and let them sit in the closet for months and years while repairing and restoring bodies without loosening the trussrod and never had a neck warp.
Providing the neck was straight to start with.

Agree 101%; I can't see the logic behind the neck warping during transit theory either; At the end of April I purchased an MM Stingray 5 in Nashville, took it back to my motel, stripped it down, put the neck in one suitcase and the body in another, on arrival back in the UK I reassembled the Bass, guess what no warps, that was back in 1999 the Bass was brand new, mid March on the body, early April the neck.

 

[Akami]

As some of you know, I've bought, sold and traded a few basses here on TB . Anyway, everytime I do so, I have to tell the TBer shipping the bass not to detune it or when it's requested of me, I have to tell them that I won't and why. Well here is why:

DO NOT detune a bass for shipping. It's a bad myth that you are supposed to detune guitars and basses. There was an article about this in Bass Player last year. Grasshopper (manager at Bass Central) confirmed this and also stated they had received many warped necks due to people detuning them and shipping them that way. The only time you can detune a neck is if you also loosen the truss rod which then would require a full setup. Manufactures typically ship them in tune for this reason.

I wish you could forward this revelation to all the music stores in Japan where they almost invariably loosen the strings on all basses when they're on display so that you have to re-tune any instrument you wish to play.

Supposedly they do it to prevent warping.

 

[Bone]

Got my Dingwall AB 1 today tuned to 440. and still right on the money.

 

[SBassman]

The notion of Needing to detune before shipping is Nonsense.

It may have made sense Many years ago, with instruments that had poor designs and were not as stable. With the thinking that jolting something under lots of tension would lead to more cracks or bends.

But these days, the Best thing you can do to a neck - shipping or not - is to keep it at the tension you'll play it at.

 

[Bone]

Shipped a 67 Gibson last week detuned, new owner recieved it yesterday, tuned it up said it felt great. Shipped a Lakland 55-01 today, detuned, we'll see next week but over 100 guitars and basses in the last 3 years all detuned all different kinds if guitars and basses and no problems with any of them.
You can do it either way won't hurt em.


FWIW i have recieved 3 guitars in the last 3 years that were NOT detuned 2 with cracks in the neck, 1 with a crack in the headstock. 2 were not boxed the dumba$$es just shipped them in the case with the strings tuned to pitch. The P Bass with the cracked headstock was well packed. Hard to tell if the crackes were old or new.

 

[Bassman62]

The notion of Needing to detune before shipping is Nonsense.
It may have made sense Many years ago, with instruments that had poor designs and were not as stable. With the thinking that jolting something under lots of tension would lead to more cracks or bends.
But these days, the Best thing you can do to a neck - shipping or not - is to keep it at the tension you'll play it at.

One of the most respected Guitar Tech/luthiers/builder etc etc in our area had a 1962 Strat neck in his workshop for over 30 years; 5 years ago he put it together with a Strat body that he had acquired, the guy who bought it it lives close to me, I've played that Strat; guess what no warps!
It would more than likely make sense today with Many two bit far eastern countries putting instruments together than Many years ago.
I owned a 1965 Jazz Bass from new; I never bothered with these 'Old wives Tales' I took all the strings off when restringing to clean the rosewood fingerboard I even left it without strings for periods of time and also detuned it when left in my wardrobe, guess what it never warped. The current owner also lives nearby so if anyone doubts either of these contact me and come and see for yuorself
To finish I recently became the owner of a 1962 Burns 6 String bass which has had both Guitar and Bass strings down the years; guess what no warps

 

[EduardoK]

You should ship your bass tuned to pitch. Basically
keeping the tension from the strings and truss rod where
they should be keeps the neck right where it was made to be.

Cliff: What if we introduce a second risk factor as when shipping Internationally (pressurized factor on Airplanes)???

 

[PhatBasstard]

IF i detune a bass prior to shipping, it's only about a step. I'm just confused as to if we're talking about "totally" detuning a bass, or just a little.

I totally repect Dan Erlewine's opinion as he probably sees more of the end result rather than the begining of an instrument's life like most of our respected (in-tune shipping) manufacturers mentioned here.

As my Grandfather (who both played and repaired instruments for some of the jazz greats) used to say: "If engineers/manufacturers were repairmen..things would be made/done a lot differently".

I am somewhere in the middle on this. If a bass is in a good, form fit, hard case and is not going by "Air" or entering areas of severe tempurature extremes (especially cold), I am probably OK with leaving it tuned up. Wood, like most any matter, gets more brittle the colder it gets. Adding unneeded string tension to this equation doesn't strike me as a good idea. So if it's going by "Air" (non-climate controlled holds) or going to be going through widely varying climates, I like to detune each string a perfect forth. I've yet to have a problem with this (coming or going) and no "new setup" needed.

.....well, every bass I receive gets a "new setup"...because I'm just that picky.

PS. I like the "Myth Busters" idea.

PPS. The title of this thread is highly incorrect. Until definative proof is shown either way, detuned shipping is no more a "myth" than shipping tuned. Have a nice day.

 

[arbarnhart]

PPS. The title of this thread is highly incorrect. Until definitive proof is shown either way, detuned shipping is no more a "myth" than shipping tuned. Have a nice day.

+1000

Keep in mind that the vast majority of basses shipped either way have no problems. So if one is better than the other, we are talking about reducing the chance of a problem from 3% to 2% or something like that (I made those numbers up, but my point is that neither way guarantees a safe arrival and either way works fine nearly all the time). Environmental factors might change which way is better for a particular shipment also.

 

[SBassman]

To me, common sense should yield the answer.

Obviously, you don't want pressure on wood solely from one direction. That will warp the wood. The two pressure sources of a neck are: strings and truss rod. Thus, it wouldn't make sense to remove one without the other.

If the neck is on the body, and the truss rod is adjusted, the strings should stay on and up to tune. If the neck and strings are off the body, the truss rod should also be adjusted accordingly.

 

[PhatBasstard]

To me, common sense should yield the answer.

Obviously, you don't want pressure on wood solely from one direction. That will warp the wood. The two pressure sources of a neck are: strings and truss rod. Thus, it wouldn't make sense to remove one without the other.

If the neck is on the body, and the truss rod is adjusted, the strings should stay on and up to tune. If the neck and strings are off the body, the truss rod should also be adjusted accordingly.

Well, how "common sense" this is depends on your desired end result. If you don't mind doing a setup at the other end, this is perfectly fine.

But if you don't want to have to do a new setup and you don't want undue stress to the headstock (which is under tremendous stress at tension and, remember, does not have the benefit of the truss rod), where most neck damage occures,...partial, even, detuning does not seem to go against "common sense".

 

[caesarbass]

As some of you know, I've bought, sold and traded a few basses here on TB . Anyway, everytime I do so, I have to tell the TBer shipping the bass not to detune it or when it's requested of me, I have to tell them that I won't and why. Well here is why:

DO NOT detune a bass for shipping. It's a bad myth that you are supposed to detune guitars and basses. There was an article about this in Bass Player last year. Grasshopper (manager at Bass Central) confirmed this and also stated they had received many warped necks due to people detuning them and shipping them that way. The only time you can detune a neck is if you also loosen the truss rod which then would require a full setup. Manufactures typically ship them in tune for this reason.

Great point Quad!!! It's crazy because even UPS will tell you you "have to" detune the strings, if you don't they will not pay for any damages that happen to the instrument. CRAZY!!! I have tried to tell the the people at UPS that it's a myth ans they look at me like I'm crazy...oh well...

 

[superkicky]

Yeah, but the people at UPS wouldn't know if the bass was detuned or not...

 

[caesarbass]

Yeah, but the people at UPS wouldn't know if the bass was detuned or not...

This is very very true, you can just tell them that the bass or guitar is detuned...

 

[MaddAnthony_59]

I have no idea where that concept came from - but I think it really only related to basses that were flying. Maybe the lower air pressure on an aircraft would effect movement of the neck (???) I ship my basses by UPS Ground, so I have no idea why they would need to be detuned. SOP I guess...

Well, considering "Pressure" at sea level is 14.7 PSI, how much difference would it make, even if it was shipped in a vacuum?

I've received 3 basses detuned in all my years, and one disassembled. All 4 had neck issues that had to be dealt with. Minor, easily straightened, but still some "Fiddling" was in order.

Send those Strings tuned! Besides, just think of How Cool it is when YOU pull a bass out of the box, and it's STILL in tune! It will make the Buyer's day, and start Bass/Bass Player relationship off right.