How do I ship a tuba without a case???

[Dan Schultz]

I need to ship my tuba from Arizona to Texas. The problem is that I only have a gigbag and not a hardcase. How would I go about having it shipped? Has anyone had a related experience? Does anyone have any ideas? All input is appreciated!!

-steve

GO GREYHOUND! From Arizona to Texas is just a short ride. You can pack it lightly (inside the gig bag and inside a sturdy cardboard box). Fill the voids inside the carton with crumpled newpaper inside of plastic grocery bags. Wad the newpaper... stuff it into the bags... and tie the tops. The horn will be placed in the cargo area of a bus and will be lying on it's side. The space under a bus isn't high enough for stuff to be stacked on top of your horn. I've shipped dozens of tubas this way without a problem. Cost??? probalby around $40. Make sure to buy the extra insurance or have it covered by your professional or homeowners insurance.

[MaryAnn]

I remember someone on the old BBS shipped a $10k tuba via Greyhound and it disappeared.....make sure it is insured. He said Greyhound does not track all the changes of bus that the package makes, and they had no idea when/where it disappeared.
Obviously a couple people have had very good luck. I think any shipping method can go bad, you just hope it's not your tuba that is the missing one.
MA

[Lew]

I remember someone on the old BBS shipped a $10k tuba via Greyhound and it disappeared.....make sure it is insured. ...

The problem with this is that Greyhound will only offer up to $300 worth of insurance. If you ship with Greyhound you should have some other insurance to cover it. I have had good luck with Amtrak, and they will insure to a higher amount.

I have also been told that it is safer to ship a tuba out of the case. If you put a tuba in a case, with no other packing material in the case, no matter how well you pad the outside of the case and put it in a sturdy box, you can incur damage from the horn banging against the case.

Bubble wrap well and use lots of padding, packing peanuts or something similar, around the horn. Then use a double wall thickness box or a crate.

When my King 2341 was shipped from the factory in 1993 it came in a huge box (shippped truck freight) with the tuba shrink wrapped against a piece of cardboard and held in the center of the box with cardboard spacing. There was no other packing material around the horn. There was at least 2 feet of open space around the horn in each direction. Not something that you could do at home, but very cool.

[Dan Schultz]

I remember someone on the old BBS shipped a $10k tuba via Greyhound and it disappeared.....make sure it is insured. He said Greyhound does not track all the changes of bus that the package makes, and they had no idea when/where it disappeared.
Obviously a couple people have had very good luck. I think any shipping method can go bad, you just hope it's not your tuba that is the missing one.
MA

Regardless of how you ship a tuba.... INSURANCE is the key here. I wouldn't send a pricey tuba with a personal courier without insurance.

[Dan Schultz]

I remember someone on the old BBS shipped a $10k tuba via Greyhound and it disappeared.....make sure it is insured. ...

The problem with this is that Greyhound will only offer up to $300 worth of insurance.

This is not totally true. It depends on what zone you ship to. I like Greyhound but have had a couple of instances where the $300 cap was applied.... especially on shipments from the Mid-west to the West coast. Like I said before... insurance is the key regardless how you ship.