Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

The time has come for me to package up my old guitar for its journey from Perth to Sydney via roadfreight.

Not something I've needed to do before, any tips on the best way to protect the outside of the case and also secure the guitar inside?

Vic

Vic, here's the standard instructions I send to sellers when they havn't had much experience with packaging a guitar for shipment. I'm sure others will chime in with suggestions. I use the "balled newspaper" approach because newspaper is something (almost) everyone has access to. If you have bubble wrap or packing peanuts, those can be used as well.

Tips for Packing Guitar for Shipping

1) Packing inside the case. First, it would be good to loosen the strings just a bit, just de-tune at each tuner a turn or so. Not too loose.

Next, place a small piece of balled-up newspaper under the headstock, just enough so it provides just a bit of "spring" when you push down on the headstock. This is one of the most fragile areas of the guitar. The plush lining on the old Rick cases tends to flatten out over time, so the guitar will rattle around in the case without extra padding in the case. Place the guitar in the case and then use small twisted pieces of newspaper to fill in the "gaps" all around the sides of the guitar body. Then place some loosely-twisted pieces of newspaper on top of the guitar body (or bubble wrap, if you have some) and gently close the case. The case should close with just a slight bit of pressure against the padding material.

[If there is an easily removable vibrato arm, such as an Accent, I would suggest removing it, replacing the screw, wrap the arm in paper and place in interior case pocket.]

The test of good internal packing is that, when you are finished, you should be able to stand the case on end and shake it back and forth, to and fro, and not feel or hear the guitar move around inside. Now it is ready to go into the shipping box.

2) Packing in box. I assume you are packing the guitar lengthwise in the box. First ball up or twist about 20 pieces of newspaper. I use 2 sheets at a time. Put some (of this or other) padding in the bottom of the box first and place the guitar-in-case lengthwise in the box. (Make sure to leave at least 2" of empty box space at the top.) Start putting in the balled up paper in the box evenly around the guitar so that the case is supported in the middle of the box. The 20 pieces will give you a start, but you will likely need a few (or a lot) more pieces. Keep going until you've got the box filled up. Then put some padding and perhaps an extra piece of cardboard or 2 on top of the inside of the box and then close up the box. The flaps should be even - not bulging up or caving down. Then tape up with packing tape. The test of a good pack is, again, shake the box side to side etc. and you should not be able to feel or hear the case moving inside.

Good luck!

libratune wrote:Vic, here's the standard instructions I send to sellers when they havn't had much experience with packaging a guitar for shipment. .......Good luck!

Wow! Thank you Ron. Excellent set of instructions, - just the sort of thing I was hoping for.

Vic

Here is my chime.

RE:

libratune wrote: 1) First, it would be good to loosen the strings just a bit, just de-tune at each tuner a turn or so. Not too loose.

I believe John Hall states, and I agree, that guitars should be left in tune.
If they are played to pitch, are hanging on my wall in pitch, are designed and built to be in pitch then the strings should stay that way when shipped.
It has never made logical sense to me why anyone would think strings should be treated any differently when in a box.

Chime over.

Yeah, do not detune your Rickenbacker. I agree with all of Ron's other shipping instructions.

In addition to shipping and receiving Ricks tuned to pitch, every guitar I've ever bought, new, or used, and whether it was a Rickenbacker, Fender, or Gretsch, arrived in its shippingbox tuned to pitch and ready to play.

Here are the instructions Dale Fortune sent me before I sent him a guitar for the first time. I've successfully shipped two of my own guitars, and a few guitars for Graham as well using this method.

Pack guitar tightly in case with shrink wrap or newspaper so it cannot move.
Secure everything snugly inside case and pocket so it cannot move around.
Cut down shipping box so it fits snugly around case; packing the case inside
another, larger outside box, with the case inside surrounded by popcorn/peanuts
doesn't do anything to secure the guitar(speaking from 20 years of experience).
Insure your guitar!

My own caveat to this: *****Make sure to wrap up individually and package up anything in the accessory pocket in a sealed/taped up bag as well, and ball up newspaper in the accessory pocket with the items as well so the package doesn't flop around or out of the accessory pocket and damage the guitar, which it shouldn't be able to do in any case if you've packed the guitar inside the case as Ron advised.

Cheers,

Paul

Two things to add: for shipping guitars, I do not recommend the use of plastic peanuts because under force (like the bouncing of a truck on a rough road) they will break apart and compact, leaving gaps instead of a tight fit. The looser the case in the box, the more likely that it can sustain damage (or transmit the damage to the guitar).

I also usually wrap up the guitar case in polyethylene sheeting (which can be bought at Home Depot, e.g.) just in case the box were to be exposed to a lot of moisture (like a puddle during a rain storm).

My thanks to each of you for your advice. Whether or not to de-tune? - I'll probably leave the strings at full pitch, - Over the years I've dragged various instruments all over Oz and even once overseas, always in full tune without ill effect.

Vic

paologregorio wrote:
Pack guitar tightly in case with shrink wrap or newspaper so it cannot move.
Secure everything snugly inside case and pocket so it cannot move around.
Cut down shipping box so it fits snugly around case; packing the case inside
another, larger outside box, with the case inside surrounded by popcorn/peanuts
doesn't do anything to secure the guitar(speaking from 20 years of experience).
Insure your guitar!

+100


I agree with Dale here------I used to work at a pack/ship place (for a few years), and this is sound advice. Protecting anything in shipping is keeping it from moving. So long as the guitar is well packed inside the guitar case, then the box need only be big enough to fit the case inside, and any gaps filled with paper or peanuts (which shouldn't be large gaps if it's a tight fitting box).

Make sure it's a solid box to start with----using a box that is on it's 4th trip around the world is a bad start, especially for an expensive guitar.