Shipping a tube amp

[ken_j]

I recently sold one if my Mesa Boogie amps and need to ship it. It is set up similar to a Fender black face with the amp on top and the tubes hanging down. The six preamp tubes have a aluminum bracket/heatsink holding them in place. I have no concern wth these. Each of the power tubes have two spring steel pieces that clamp (pinch) the plastic base. Would it be wise to remove the power tubes (marking the locations) and send them wrapped seperately, or should they be able to travel as is? I also considered putting the top of the amp in the bottom of the box so the tubes would be upright and the weight of the amp to the bottom but the top of the amp is much small from front to back compared to the bottom. What do you think Greg?

[jps]

Pack it well with the amp upside down.

I am not Greg and I did NOT stay at a Holiday Inn last night!

[rictified]

Pack it like it will drop 4 ft onto concrete (because it will) I would double box it with plenty of bubble wrap or spray foam that is available at Home depot . Put the head in the smaller box, pack it very well, then pack the bottom of the larger box, put the smaller box in, then pack that very well and make sure it is all tight and nothing can move. Make sure the boxes are tight when you are done, you don't want the thing moving at all, you want both boxes as tight as you can get it. I would also use Fedex as they are gentler with electronics, make sure you give them a generous declared value, if they ask to see it, say that they can see it if they repack it as well as you packed it in the first place. I would also leave the tubes in unless they are loose.

[jnbass]

What they said, only I would take the tubes out and wrap w/bubble wrap, pack in smaller box, then either place in main container or ship separately.

I ask this to be done and will pay extra if necessary. Give the buyer that option. This way if they're cheap you have an out.

My .02

[ken_j]

Thanks everyone. It is a 1 x 12 combo weighing in at about 65 lbs. I guess I should have mentioned that. The buyer is having it shipped FedEx. He will put a call in for pick up and is paying all the shipping from his end. I have an extremely heavy double corrigated box to ship in. There will be a minimum of 2" of Styrofoam between the inner and outer box.

[soundmasterg]

I had a busy weekend and just got to this. Bob's advice is right on, though I would wrap the power tubes in bubble wrap, put in a seperate box, and ship in the same box as the amp. Double boxing is almost a must these days for anything you want protected. I used to work in shipping and UPS especially, but pretty much all of the carriers will literally throw the packages around. If they can lift it, then it will get thown. So your packing has to withstand that. If something is damaged by the shipper, even with insurance, it is dependant on the packing as far as if you will collect or not, and the carriers almost always will try to say that the packing job is inadequate and blame you so they don't have to pay. Pack it really well, double box and use hard foam to where nothing will move inside the box, box the tubes seperately with bubble wrap, get insurance, and take pics so in case there is a problem you have proof it was packaged correctly.

Greg

[doctorwho]

I would recommend using a closed-cell foam (like upholstery foam) instead of Styrofoam for padding. Styrofoam tends to irreversibly compress when stressed (e.g. when the package is handled roughly), which then makes things loose inside which is not desirable.

I also would firmly pack bubble wrap inside the head between the chassis and the bottom of the head to make sure that the chassis won't shake loose.

I shipped a Marshall Slash Signature head and Model 1936 cab in two boxes that way to New York from SoCal and they arrived safe and sound.

[doctorwho]

Slackers! No one called me on the use of a split infinitive!

[kenposurf]

Make sure the outer box is thick walled. Mark Baier from Victoria amps ships his amps with the tubes installed but the amp is packed upside down. The box is marked top and bottom. The thing is the carriers need to be able to read

[ken_j]

I followed most of the advice here and the amp arrived last Friday without incident. The buyer was very happy and used it that night on a gig. I hated to see that amp go but I can no longer lift it and didn't have the need for a 50 watt amp to play at bedroom levels.