Shipping Heavy Keyboard?

[MFenkner]

Have any of you guys ever shipped a large, heavy keyboard, like a 88 key workstation? I'm considering selling some gear, but when it comes to anything large, I'm not sure how to ship it. I don't know if any of the major carriers would take it (and I don't know if I'd trust them) so I had a truck courier service in mind. Any suggestions?

 

Thanks!

 

Mark

[flat earth]

Ive never shipped an 88 note keyboard, but have had bad experiences with 61 key synths. My JX8P was packed like a tank, but still got the keyboard smashed when it got to the buyer. My Karmas end cheek was also smashed in transit, although i got a replacement.

 

It sounds a bit OTT, but its almost worth building a wooden frame around the board, then packaging it with foam and bubblewrap again.

 

Unfortunatly, you have to treate the item as if you know the couriers are going to use it as a basket ball

 

Best to deliver in person, or meet half way if at all possible.

 

Good luck anyways

 

[SaltyDogg]

I bought an 88 key fatar board. It came out OK. But, the thing was packed in the original box with a good layering of bubble wrap.

 

If you have to ship it, I would ship insured and get a good-sized box. Then flesh out the inner space with tons of padding!

[Awake77]

You really need to double box them, with a boatload of packing peanuts and bubble wrap.

[Allerian]

 

Originally posted by Awake77 You really need to double box them, with a boatload of packing peanuts and bubble wrap.

 

 

What he said. Go overboard on packing. Sometimes I wonder how the Elektron gear gets here from sweden in those flimsy boxes.

[FatBaron]

 

Originally posted by Allerian What he said. Go overboard on packing. Sometimes I wonder how the Elektron gear gets here from sweden in those flimsy boxes.

 

 

There's a difference between air freight and being thrown around by a half-dozen unionized UPS employees.

[P321]

Yep. Double box the item. You put the synth in a box and wrap it in as much bubble wrap as you can. If you can construct some styrofoam end caps to suspend it inside the box (so neither the top nor bottom is touching against the box) then even better.

 

You then construct an even bigger box around that box, and leave several inches of space in all dimensions. You fill this gap with either the packaging peanuts or scrunched up newspapers. Now you have the synth nicely padded inside a box, and that box is "floating" inside this second padded box, padded by several inches of scrunched newspapers or peanuts or whatever.

 

It still doesn't guarantee it will get there ok, but the chances of a problem when you box like that are probably lower than when the item ships in its original box anyway. The problem is finding boxes big enough to do it. Usually you'll have to construct the boxes from several other large boxes.. If you can find boxes that large for an 88 key synth they are liable to be rather expensive.

 

if you don't insist someone double box a synth before they send it to you then you're asking for trouble..

[Allerian]

And if nobody said it: Insurance

[XorAxAx]

What P321 said, except...

 

 

Originally posted by P321 scrunched up newspapers.

 

NEVER use newspaper. If your package gets wet, the newspaper breaks down completely. Instead use styrofoam, poly foam, bubble-wrap, or spray-in stuff.

[stikygum]

Public storage might have boxes for that. Package well. And UPS or Fedex I'm sure would take it. But if you have courier service and feel comfortable using them, go for it. UPS and Fedex have been good to me when I ship heavy things.

[MartinHines]

Depending on how big the box is (and total weight), you very well may have to use a freight company.

 

Actually, UPS purchased the "Overnite" freight company about two years ago. They have now renamed the company "UPS Freight":

http://www.upsfreight.com/

 

Regarding packing, the original product packaging would be best, since an 88-key keyboard would most likely have styrofoam end caps and mid pieces to support the keyboard without it actually touching the sides of the box.

 

If you don't have the original box, you might go to one of those "pak and ship" places to get them to box it for you. They are not cheap, but they do generally know how to pack stuff.

[P321]

Originally posted by XorAxAx NEVER use newspaper. If your package gets wet, the newspaper breaks down completely. Instead use styrofoam, poly foam, bubble-wrap, or spray-in stuff.

Yep.. but usually the box provides enough protection from water. It'd need to be dropped in water or left in a helluva rain storm for that to happen (unless you're using really thin cardboard or something) You can also cover the newspaper in tape if you were really concerned about that It's a better susbtitute than nothing since most people usually don't have things like packaging peanuts around when they pack things up.

[XorAxAx]

 

Originally posted by MartinHines If you don't have the original box, you might go to one of those "pak and ship" places to get them to box it for you. They are not cheap, but they do generally know how to pack stuff.

 

There are two types of pack-and-ship shops. Some shops are staffed entirely by pimply-faced high-schoolers who have little experience in packaging and don't stay with the job long enough to learn. You should be able to identify and avoid these shops fairly easily. The other type of shop has a professional, long-term staff with a low turnover rate. You can form positive business relationships with these people for your benefit. It should be obvious which type of shop will pack your items better.

[wetwareinterface]

any 88 key board is gonna be a problem no matter what you pack itin if you ship fed-ex or ups. they throw these packages around literally. they will have it stood on end and then drop one side to assist in moving it however the warehouse/truck monkey you get decides is best to carry it.

 

shipped an 88 key roland controller a-80 once. it was dropped several times it seemed. had a corner punch from another box through the top of the box it was in (original packaging by the way from roland with all the foam and extra thick box etc...) and a dirty footprint (i {censored} you not) on the top of the box.

 

needless to say about 20 screws were popped out of the casing, the screen was shattered, and 3 keys were sprung. this was just the external damage. internally the thing had been dropped with enough force to de-socket 50% of the chips inside and crack one motherboard.

 

they must have dropped it from the plane to the guys house sans-parachute.

 

all this because the package was just inside the shipping limits size and weight wise. the people at these places mistreat heavy shipments on purpose to discourage you from using them as a service hoping they'll never have you ship a heavy item with them and in future their job will be easier.

 

ship insured.

never use fed-ex for any semi-fragile shipment as they are the worst. they throw everything they can to save time as they are non-union and are on time deadlines to keep their job in the warehouses. once you item has been tossed into the pile of stuff they seran wrap it inside these large rolling cargo containers. where they bang it around some more pushing them as fast as they can to meet a plane deadline. then it goes back into another warehouse where they toss it some more and onto a truck where the delivery guy may wing it a bit as well. fianlly to it's destination.

 

use a freight service if at all possible on large heavy objects. these are usually companies that treat the item gently. put it on a pallet and never overstack or stack incorrectly. are used to heavy assed objects so have the proper tools to handle heavy items, and are not in any rush to break your item. it's typically a front end company who loads it onto a truck after you drop it off and the truck just drives cross country dropping things off at other front end comapnies who handle items with care as they are only receiving a few at a time and can take their time offloading.