Shipping A Tuba In Hard Case

[Polkahero]

Hi guys,

I want to purchase a tuba from a seller in another state. Tuba comes with a hard case. He says he can't find a box big enough to fit and that UPS and FedEx also don't have boxes big enough.

I think UPS told him they can do an "out of box shipping thing" for $8, not sure yet what that means but I'm thinking probably wrapping the case in sheet wrap and sending it that way. Do you think that would be sufficient enough being that it's in the case? If not, what would you guys recommend he does?

Thanks!

[Tubajug]

I've had a tuba shipped to me via greyhound in the hard case. The seller put as much bubble wrap around the tuba inside the case as he could to still have it close comfortably (he also taped the valves down, these were pistons. You could also just remove the springs and put them in a ziplock bag along with the horn). He then "saran-wrapped" the case to ensure that it wouldn't open along the way. It arrived just fine.

Sorry, I've only dealt with greyhound, never FedEx or UPS, so I'm afraid I can't say if they'll ship it that way.

[Ferguson]

Tell him to take a few bottles of beer to a carpet store and make nice with the fellow there. Have him get one of those big cardboard tubes that carpet rolls are wrapped around. Put some bubble wrap down inside the bell, maybe a 1'x2' piece, or a 2'x2' piece for a big tuba. Then stuff the tube down there, all the way down to the bubble wrap deep in the throat of the bell, and cut the other end of the tube so it's wedged between the inside of the big end of the case and its nest down inside the tuba. It needs to be tight, with the case foam and the down-inside-bubble-wrap both compressed. This will hold the bell away from the inside of the case. Now you're essentially holding the tuba in place by the bottom bow, which is a bit stronger than the thin bell flare. Then put a bunch of bubble wrap around the tube so it stays centered and doesn't dent things from the inside, in case things move. Everything has to be tight. I like no movement. Yes, a bit of cushion/movement can be OK, but nothing that could be described as "loose".

Assuming no forklift incidents (yes it's happened), we've never had a tuba injured that's been packed this way.

Greyhound is fine with no box. UPS won't insure anything that has no box. Amtrak is hit and miss. UPS Freight is very good, but you have to have an account to get a good deal. Fedex Ground is my least favorite.

You can get a roll of plastic stretch wrap at Office Depot. Find the item on their website on your smart phone before you get to the cashier, or print it out from home. Their web price is less, but they will match it for walk in clients. <Bastids.>

Best,

Ferguson
/most people pack tubas too loosely
//gotta take pics of this sometime
///this is the third slashie

[Daniel C. Oberloh]

Two words: Amtrak Express.

[Donn]

What kind of value are we talking about here? Is this like a $500 tuba, $5000, $15000? If it's really worth a lot of money, and extensive repairs at the local repair shop aren't likely to add to its value, then the seller needs to get serious (and you may need to accept some extra shipping cost.) If it's cheap and you can afford to laugh it off if it gets trashed, then a good packing job in the case is probably more than enough, there's a good chance it will work.

[Polkahero]

Thanks for the responses, guys. I looked into Greyhound and Amtrak but I didn't like the fact that Greyhound only allows $300 insurance, not good as this is a really nice Miraphone. The nearest Amtrak station for the seller was over 150 miles away so that wasn't really feasible either.

He ended up taking it to the UPS Store. They are going to double-box the horn in its case with a lot of filler material. He also told them to stuff the bell with bubble wrap and also surround the bell with said bubble wrap as well as the top edge between it and the case. Hopefully that is sufficient so the bell doesn't get creased. He asked about freight but they told him it wouldn't be strapped to a pallet so I didn't see how that would be any safer plus it was a lot more expensive. It still cost $400 for them to package and ship this horn 1700 miles!