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Getting a Thomann Grand Fifty to the U.S.
Posted: Sun Jul 29, 2018 12:39 am
by Kdtuba
I've recently taken a great interest in the Thomann Grand Fifty 5/4 CC tuba (Thor copy). I emailed them and asked about shipping to the United States but they said they don't ship tubas to the United States for a few reasons. To quote the text of the email:
We regret that it’s not possible for us to deliver Tubas to your country.
As its weight and dimensions are over the normal shipping limits, or the risk of a transport damage with DHL/UPS is too high, this could only be transported by a heavy haulage company.
We can only offer such a freight delivery within the European mainland, due to customs reasons.
The only option to buy them from us would be if you organize your own collection from Musikhaus Thomann in Germany. You or the company you choose would then be responsible for the export and import of the goods.
Thank you for your understanding.
I was wondering if anybody has had any luck ordering through another company (having somebody else pick it up and ship it) or if it's just going to cost so much I might as well just buy a domestic tuba for $2,000 more.
Thanks in advance.
Here is a link to the instrument:
https://www.thomannmusic.com/thomann_gr ... c_tuba.htm
Re: Getting a Thomann Grand Fifty to the U.S.
Posted: Sun Jul 29, 2018 1:44 am
by ckalaher1
Is there much difference between the Thomann Thor knock off and the one sold at Dillon Music? Are they essentially the same thing? I've played the Dillon 5450 and thought it was "OK".
I don't ask rhetorically. I'm just thinking if they are coming out of the same factory and are essentially the same tuba with different stencils, maybe you could have Matt at Dillon get one for you.
Re: Getting a Thomann Grand Fifty to the U.S.
Posted: Sun Jul 29, 2018 2:14 am
by hubert
Perhaps you could contact Mr. Bob Tucci (Tuba und Hornboerse) and ask for advice.
Perhaps he is even willing to act as an intermediate "dealer", if you are willing to take the risk of shipment onto your account.
As far as shipping through DHL/USPS is concerned: If packed properly (I mean kind of "shellfree"), you do not have to worry very much. Propose that you pay some extra money for extra heavy packaging. Shipment through DHL/USPS is not expensive (some 200 USD, including some extra insurance) and will take 10 to 12 working days.
Best,
Hubert
Re: Getting a Thomann Grand Fifty to the U.S.
Posted: Sun Jul 29, 2018 3:34 am
by bort
Possibly helpful information:
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=84028&p=634030&hili ... nn#p634030" target="_blank
Also, Thor is a pretty big tuba, and I wouldn't be too surprised if it exceeds shipping dimensions (I think international is different size restrictions from wthin the US). I am actually dealing with something similar getting my PT7 to me from out of the country. By the time it was properly boxed up, it was too large to ship via DHL or FedEx.The solution is to fly commercially with the tuba as checked oversize baggage.
Good luck... it'll take a little extra effort, but you can do it!
Re: Getting a Thomann Grand Fifty to the U.S.
Posted: Sun Jul 29, 2018 5:22 am
by hubert
From my experience in the past (somewhat 2 years ago): for shipment from Germany size should not be a problem. For odd and big objects DHL Germany offers a category called "Sperrgut". A bit (not much) more expensive.
Hubert
Re: Getting a Thomann Grand Fifty to the U.S.
Posted: Sun Jul 29, 2018 8:15 am
by bort
Good to know!
Re: Getting a Thomann Grand Fifty to the U.S.
Posted: Sun Jul 29, 2018 8:45 am
by hubert
I am sorry, but just out of curiosity I have looked at Thomann's UK website
https://www.thomann.de/gb/helpdesk_ship ... ountry=USA. It says there, that packages up to 31 kg will be shipped to the USA (at a flat rate of Euro 30, and taking 6-9 working days). If the parcel weighs more than 31 Kg and/or exceeds the max dimensions, costs must be calculated individually. (I once have sent a 6/4 York, with hard case and gigbag. Weight was 23 Kg.
So, perhaps you should contact thomann again through
uk@thomann.de" target="_blank or +44-2038850020. Wish you luck.
Hubert
Re: Getting a Thomann Grand Fifty to the U.S.
Posted: Sun Jul 29, 2018 8:48 pm
by Kdtuba
bloke wrote:Its a ZO tuba.
Find someone willing to import a ZO tuba for you.
Importers that I've found are trying to "retail" them to dealers and represent "retail" pricing as "wholesale" pricing.
Hey Bloke, can you import a ZO tuba for me
Or do you have an suggestion of where I could get somebody to i.port one for me? I really don't know where to start.
Re: Getting a Thomann Grand Fifty to the U.S.
Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2018 9:01 pm
by Kdtuba
bloke wrote:I'm not interested.
I think there's some company on the West Coast that will bring them in, but I can't remember their name. Again, they seem to want to act like wholesalers but they charge like retailers.
---------------
Candidly, I'm teaming up with someone else to bring in a totally different 5/4 size C instrument that will not require unboxing and inspection/servicing/adjusting before sending off to a customer.
You probably don't have several months to wait though, and I really don't want to say much more until the thing is in production, rather than simply my prototype.
Actually I'd be quite interested in checking it out. I want to sell my instrument and buy a larger one, but if I don't by September I'll be holding onto mine and waiting to upgrade. If you think you'll have it at Midwest conference I'd love to check it out. I'll be stopping by anyways if you have mouthpieces so I can check them out. I'll be waiting to hear more from your 5/4.
Re: Getting a Thomann Grand Fifty to the U.S.
Posted: Tue Jul 31, 2018 6:13 pm
by iiipopes
Re: Getting a Thomann Grand Fifty to the U.S.
Posted: Tue Jul 31, 2018 6:31 pm
by UDELBR
Anyone play one of these?