Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I have need to ship my newly-acquired 4003 to a certain someone in San Francisco, but I wanted to get some advice on how to do that properly.

The plan as it stands now is to go to a local RIC dealer to ask if they have any 4003 shipping boxes hanging around in the back, and to use one of those. I was planning to ship it inside the case, of course. There's a chance that the shop won't have a shipping box, and if that happens I'm not sure what to do; maybe just go to a Guitar Center or something to see if they have a bass case box...

Does anyone have any experience with shipping a 4003, and does anyone have any advice based upon that experience?
Thank you!

I've shipped several, as well as other basses and guitars. I use these boxes: http://www.uline.com/Product/Detail/S-4 ... itar-Boxes

Filled with styrofoam worms on both ends and all sides, I've never had one go bad. Even to Australia a couple times and Europe once. The only drawback is they come in a minimum pack of five, but it's worth it to me.

Thanks a lot for relaying your experience, Bruce.

My local RIC dealer just gave me a factory 4000 box for shipping, so all I need now are some peanuts or bubble wrap and we'll be good to go.

Make sure you support the guitar inside the case with bubble wrap or something so it doesn't move around inside.

I always slack the strings of any instrument I ship, which cuts down on warping during the inevitable temperature shifts during transit.

I just got a 4004 that was sent in a box with the shipping carton from Ric in Cali. no peanuts , no bubble wrap and came through just fine from what I can tell.

OHSC, cardboard box with cardboard braces, inside another cardboard box.

personally I would have added paper, Styrofoam, bubble wrap etc.....

BobHyde wrote:I always slack the strings of any instrument I ship, which cuts down on warping during the inevitable temperature shifts during transit.

Rics should be shipped with strings under tension. Page 7 in the manual under "General Guitar Care."

badeggs wrote:

BobHyde wrote:I always slack the strings of any instrument I ship, which cuts down on warping during the inevitable temperature shifts during transit.

Rics should be shipped with strings under tension. Page 7 in the manual under "General Guitar Care."

Hmm, good to know. Last time I shipped with FedEx, they refused to insure unless the strings on my bass were slacked.

BobHyde wrote:

badeggs wrote:

BobHyde wrote:I always slack the strings of any instrument I ship, which cuts down on warping during the inevitable temperature shifts during transit.

Rics should be shipped with strings under tension. Page 7 in the manual under "General Guitar Care."

Hmm, good to know. Last time I shipped with FedEx, they refused to insure unless the strings on my bass were slacked.

Airlines will also tell you to loosen the strings if you travel with a guitar. Don't listen to them.

BobHyde wrote:Last time I shipped with FedEx, they refused to insure unless the strings on my bass were slacked.

Pardon my ignorance, but how would they even know specifically to inquire about that detail? It just seems weird...

Personally I can't stand FedEx because they'll change your delivery date like five times before you get something from them, so I use UPS. But they never asked about string tension or anything else beyond what it is and where it's going. And insurance is no problem.

badeggs wrote:

BobHyde wrote:Last time I shipped with FedEx, they refused to insure unless the strings on my bass were slacked.

Pardon my ignorance, but how would they even know specifically to inquire about that detail? It just seems weird...

Personally I can't stand FedEx because they'll change your delivery date like five times before you get something from them, so I use UPS. But they never asked about string tension or anything else beyond what it is and where it's going. And insurance is no problem.

There is a binder/book thing that the FedEx person referenced when I brought in the bass for shipment. It was a vintage T-bird, so I'm guessing the questioning was prompted by the number of zeros attached to the declared value.

Personally, I don't like either FedEx or UPS. I prefer personal delivery/pickup!! The only way to guarantee there's no issue!

Too late for all this stuff, but thanks anyway; I sent it this afternoon, and only the bubble-wrap-inside-the-case-post happened before that. I unfortunately did not check this board before then, because I figured after 2 days Bruce was the only person who would respond.

It didn't have any strings on it because I removed the 5-screw tailpiece to be replaced with a 7-screw, and I figured since Paul was going to disassemble the thing anyway I would just leave the strings and tail off to make his job slightly easier.

The fellow at my local RIC dealer told me they ship -- just as Christopher said -- in the case, with extra cardboard (or anther box) between the case and the box. I used bubble wrap instead of extra cardboard to pad the gap, but otherwise it was just a 4003 in a case inside a factory RIC box.

UPS did not enquire about the string tension.

I guess the positive side of this is that it's going to Paul, and if I've done my research correctly it seems like it will come back to me in factory/like-new condition (or better) regardless of how it arrives in his shop.

Thanks again to everyone for contributing.

DriftSpace wrote:It didn't have any strings on it because I removed the 5-screw tailpiece to be replaced with a 7-screw, and I figured since Paul was going to disassemble the thing anyway I would just leave the strings and tail off to make his job slightly easier.

Did you loosen the truss rods, too?

Not intentionally, but after I bought the thing and had a peek beneath the TRC I noticed the nuts were so loose I could have practically turned them by hand.

DriftSpace wrote:I guess the positive side of this is that it's going to Paul, ...

And if all goes horribly wrong in shipping, it'll be in the right hands for the repair. Sorry...kidding there. If you got it shipped out the same way the factory sent it initially, you can't beat that.