How do you ship an amp?

[Counterstriker]

I might be shipping my old fender twin reverb (silver face) to connecticut (Im from PA) and I don't know the safest/cheapest way I can ship it safely and securely. I was told by a friend that getting it crated professionally would be the safest way, but it would be around 200-300.. I've sold a bunch of stuff on ebay, but nothing of this size before. I was wondering how much $$ we are talking here too.

Sadly, I have no flight case :/

Any help is much appreciated!

[jeffm725]

Pull all the tubes, label them and wrap the separately.. get nice, sturdy box with plenty of packing materials and pack amp securely in box

[gr8fullfred]

Do not use UPS if at all possible. Considering the cost of packing and shipping, consider meeting 1/2 way.
Where in PA are you? Fred

[playingdead]

Have your buyer contact the nearest FedEx Kinkos or UPS Store to you to arrange shipment. After he pays you for the amp, you deliver the amp there, he pays them with a credit card, they pack, they worry about the damage, he's pissed at them because it cost a fortune to pack and ship instead of being pissed at you when it arrives in pieces.

Come to think of it, insist he uses FedEx. Better chance. UPS manhandles stuff.

[vwjodyme]

I just shipped a smaller amp for an ebay auction and got crushed with shipping charges. i thought i would have ups professionally pack and it ended up taking all my profits

[rugger]

If you are going to do it yourself, pack it upside down and double box. Make sure excess space is filled with something that won't compress too much.

I do like Vic's idea though--takes the hassle and liability out of your hands.

John in San Diego

[JonnyBoy]

A plywood crate is pretty easy and cheap to make. You can use the cheapest wood you can find, go to 84 lumber and ask for scratch and dent lumber ($5 sheets of ply) and ask for one of the 20 skids or pallets they throw away every day (free) to nail the box to. Once crated in wood, bring it to a local logistics company (DHL, Mayflower, AAA Cooper transport) and you can prolly have it freight shipped with insurance included for $125 or even less if shipped from depot to depot (you drop off at your depot and he picks up at his local depot). Make sure to label the box/crate as FRAGILE and BREAKABLE or Antique Guitar Amp. If they know the contents it makes all the difference in how they move and handle it. The drivers get chewed for destroying merch or making claims, they will abide. The biggest problem with going to UPS store or the like is how many times they put it on a truck and off a truck and moved around during processing.That's what breaks stuff and they move it around a lot more than you think. Lots of part time kids and non trained people doing the leg work there this time of year. Working a fork lift properly is a skill. I use to ship leaded and stained glass all the time, once I started shipping this way I never had a break again. Good luck and happy holidays!

[gr8fullfred]

How about this idea. Take the head out of the amp and box that up separately, take the tubes out, label them for re installation , the tubes can be wraped in the smaller bubble wrap. Place the bubble wraped tubes strategically on the head, tape down with masking tape if necessary. Wrap the head in a couple of layers of heavy duty bubble wrap. Get a heavy duty box a little bigger than you think and put the head in the box with a bunch of those packing peanuts around it. All the while keeping the USPS size a and weight regulations in mind.
Now you can ship the head via USPS, priority mail, insured, delivery confirmation. This is way better than shipping UPS.

Carefully measure and weigh the cabinet with the speakers and if it can go USPS, you are pretty good to go.
Box it up and ship that via USPS if possible. This will be the cheapest way to go. If the cabinet does not make the USPS, then UPS can ship the cabinet. Trust me on this one, from personal experience, UPS is a nightmare to try and get them to actually pay a claim, and they destroy tons of stuff. Fed X handles high value items carefully.

[Counterstriker]

Do you guys think this amp can be shipped for $100?- 125? I'm gonna take the tubes out and tape them to the side of the amp, I'll put some sort of baffle over the speakers to protect them, and bubble wrap the shit out of it.

Woah just saw your post Jonnyboy, I'm gonna check into that!

[JonnyBoy]

Yes, it is possible to ship cheap. Like I said the better the crate and the less it's handled the safer it is. I have found a gorilla method there, but it works and saves money. You can also need to call around to get the best price. You can get an idea of cost from that. Make sure you work the people or negotiate the price by explaining how you are going through a lot of trouble to make it easy for them. If you know someone with a small business that's even better they give better rates to customers they expect to be repeat Customers. Good luck dude and happy holidays!

[Counterstriker]

Just an update, I know everyone was telling me to stay away from UPS, but in the effort to keep the price down I have to go with them, I packed the amp like crazy, double boxed, fit more bubble wrap then could fit in both, took the tubes, taped them securely to the side with the reverb pedal. I took pictures of the amp before, and the box, (even video taped doing it for proof) I've had USPS fuck me over on a $1000 camera lens that arrived broken to the buyer before, saying they had no proof of it being in working order before shipping, but that was over ebay and paypal.

The buyer is a rukind member too. I packed it VERY well, and wrote fragile all over, and Vintage Guitar Amplifier on it as well.


Shipping UPS was 150 cheaper then every other option. I know that is for a reason but I feel good about the packing. I'm going to insure everything. But wish me luck!

[playingdead]

That sounds good, except the part about taping the tubes to the side of the amp, seems like they would be more subject to breaking if the box is impacted on that side. Better to bundle them in bubble wrap and stuff them inside the amp where they are more isolated. Unless you mean you taped them to the inside of the amp itself.

Hopefully it won't be delivered like this:

[waldo041]

or like this:


peace,
waldo

[Counterstriker]

Went out and bought some foam insulation unpacked it, layer that stuff all around it squeezed it it so there's no wiggle room at all, and repacked the tubes better with more bubble wrap.

JEEZ those workers better have gotten fired!