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Later this year, I will be moving halfway across the country. Not sure yet if we are hiring a mover, or loading up a truck and driving ourselves. The ideal situation would be to take my tuba in the car with me, but that might not be possible -- I will keep our most important things with us in the car, and there are more important (and irreplaceable) things than my tuba. Complete worst-case, the tuba *is* replaceable.

So, the tuba will go into the truck. For those of you who have done this before, any suggestions?

I have some questions:

• If my tuba goes in the truck, a hard case is a "must." Do I just need a hard case (like MTS), or do I need to use a flight case?
• What type of insurance should I get for maximum coverage of the instrument (against loss or damage)? It is currently covered under a rider to my renter's insurance policy. Should I invest in a better policy through Clarion? I'm just picturing the two worst-case scenarios here: the tuba goes missing, or the tuba gets destroyed. What would be my best option?

Any other thoughts or advice? Thanks!

Get the Clarion. Your renters insurance has an exclusion for business property. If they can prove you ever made a dime with your tuba they don't have to pay.

Thanks everyone.

It's a matter of space, Joe. All of the *irreplaceable* things go in the car. After that, the people, and the pets, there isn't any room left for tubas, even if the trunk is the best option for it. If I *can* make it work in the trunk, I will. I don't want to deal with any damage or loss for anything, but I'd rather do it with something like a tuba (even a very nice one) than with something that can't be bought.

With Clarion, are there different levels to the insurance, apart from choosing your deductible? I've never earned 1 cent playing my tuba, but know a claim would be FAR easier with a company who specializes in musical instruments than a normal insurance company.

If you have never earned any money the addedum to the renter's policy will work fine, however it only covers the perils listed in the policy. If you (or the movers) drop it and crunch the bell there is no coverage under the renter's policy. It doesn't cover anything that isn't specified, and droppage is not a specified coverage. About anything else that can happen is covered, including running over it with a car or truck. If I wanted to file a claim on my trombone I just ran over, I could, but I don't. The Clarion coverage is much broader, "all risk" if you will.

cktuba wrote:most professional movers

Where it might be worth some research into your options. I would expect there's a lot wider range than you get with parcel delivery or airlines (where everyone desires to pay the very least price possible, so service they get is accordingly the least possible.)

If you think it might be worth paying for mover "full value protection", check whether you can collect if they didn't pack the tuba and/or there's no visible damage to case or box. And list the tuba specifically on the shipment, because they can get out of paying if it's a high value (per pound) item they didn't know about.

Have a sturdy wooden crate made for it.

I'll have to admit I have not kept up to date on the latest Bort news, but isn't the Rudy @ Lee Stofer's in Iowa and aren't you moving to the state of 10,000 ponds and Black FLys big enough to eat small rodents? Why don't you just leave it at Lee's and drive down once you get situated or have him ship it to your new place instead of New Bort City?



What winter is really like in Minnesota!

tofu wrote:I'll have to admit I have not kept up to date on the latest Bort news, but isn't the Rudy @ Lee Stofer's in Iowa and aren't you moving to the state of 10,000 ponds and Black FLys big enough to eat small rodents? Why don't you just leave it at Lee's and drive down once you get situated or have him ship it to your new place instead of New Bort City?

Long story short... the tuba went to Dillon's in NJ for repairs. If it was already in Iowa, you're right, that could help shorten the amount of shipping/moving the tuba.

And yes, I'm headed to the land "where all the women are strong, all the men are good looking, and all the children are above average."

Have you considered towing a small, rented trailer?

I have not, mostly because I don't have a trailer hitch on my car. Not a bad idea to check out though... thanks!

Depending on the car, it might not ought to have a trailer hitch. But if your transmission starts leaking along the way, don't believe the guy at the gas station when he says it will need to be replaced. Chances are, you can get by with new seals for under $1K.

To me, this seems like a minor risk. I mean, for sure, a case is helpful, or the wooden crate. Hire a company with a good reputation and not the lowest bidder. Be there when it's loaded, and unloaded, so the guys know that you care about how they handle it and make sure nothing heavy can fall on it en route. From there, it's possible that something could go wrong, but ... not long ago, someone here need to repair his tuba after the cat knocked it down, am I right? Do you have a cat? Could the neighbor's cat get in? Anecdotally, there are a million things that can go wrong.

When we moved from NY to Texas, we used a moving co. Anything they took of a certain value (can't remember what that value was), we itemized on a list. If damaged, they would replace it. Nothing was ever mentioned or stipulated about earning money with the tuba. I had them put my Yamaha 621CC, in it's factory case, on the moving van and told them to be sure not to stack things on it. We drove our Santa Fe with my 3450 in a gig bag and our dog to our new home in the Austin area. No problems, except for the argument that ensued just after we left the house with no key to re-enter. "You thought I got the dog's bowls? I thought you got the dog's bowls." 10-12 hours later, I was shopping for dog bowls in Knoxville.

Thanks for sharing! One advantage is that since we live in a tiny-*** NY apartment, we don't exactly have a lot of furniture. But, at this point in life, it seems like it'd be more enjoyable to hire someone to move our stuff.

Good advice for the dog stuff, I can totally picture that happening!

You really want to watch them load your horn and make sure they don't pile stuff on it. I always do this when I got a horn going under a bus or on the instrument truck. I can't tell you how many times I'll watch them load the band truck up - walk away for 15 minutes and come back to find trumpet cases etc. wedged on top or small cases like flutes waiting to become airborne missiles out on the highway with a sudden lane change. You want to make sure you see them close, lock and drive away.

And why in the world do flute players think theIr flutes need to go under the bus anyways? (perhaps this should be in the stupid gripes thread).

Bill Troiano wrote:Anything they took of a certain value (can't remember what that value was), we itemized on a list. If damaged, they would replace it.

That sounds like the full value protection option, for which I think you normally pay a little extra. Value is related to weight - so a tuba would go on the list, because its value is disproportionate to its weight, compared to furniture and general household items. I think the key question here is, in the unfortunate case where this pays off, what does the mover need to see? Can I open the box at my leisure, days later, and finding a crumpled bell inside an undamaged box, call the mover and get it replaced? As far as they know, it may have gone into the box looking like that, know what I mean? You might not be able to cash in unless the box itself is damaged when they unload it.

And yes, I'm headed to the land "where all the women are strong, all the men are good looking, and all the children are above average."

Nice job, my home state. Buy warm socks and shoes, extra hats, and the really big gloves.