Tuba Shipping Redux

[TubaTodd]

I know I know I know. This has been discussed numerous times BUT what method would use to ship a tuba cross country. I only have experience with FedEx. While it arrived safe it was pretty expensive....I think.

What say ye TNFJ????

[The Big Ben]

I have sent a tuba via UPS and have received a tuba via USPS.

In both instances, it was a King 2340 in the factory cases. The cases were taped shut in addition to being secured with the latches. The tuba I received via USPS arrived when promised and in good condition. The one I sent via UPS arrived on time and in good shape. As I remember, UPS was a little more for the same distance as the USPS transport. I get my mail at the post box so picking up the tuba there was convenient.

I was at the Greyhound terminal in Seattle yesterday and it was even seedier than I remember it but many others here have had good luck shippin' with The Dog and recommend it.

[bort]

UPS x6

Costs about $200-250 coast to coast, but all arrived safely, well under a week, and with tracking. #7 will also go by UPS.

[bearphonium]

Never shipped, only received. Two by UPS, one by FedEx. All arrived in good time in great shape.

[Michael Bush]

The first time I ever shipped a tuba, I used UPS. The bell was damaged when it arrived. That was partly on me, because I didn't know the beach ball in the bell trick then. Shipped a guitar by UPS, and it appeared to the buyer that someone at UPS had put one tine of a forklift through it. An ebay seller shipped me a little Eb by UPS. The bell was damaged when it arrived.

Greyhound is a little stressful because of the lack of tracking. If you can handle that (and you can handle yourself in an urban Greyhound station if need be or can take someone with you who can) it is quite a bit cheaper and a great deal safer for the instrument.

And, by the way, I have never been treated anything but perfectly politely and even above the call helpfully at a Greyhound station.

EDIT: Just remembered that when I sold that Eb that came to me damaged, I shipped it out by FedEx and it arrived in the same condition it was in when I shipped it. (The bell had been repaired.) However, by that time I knew the drill for shipping a tuba very well. It was packed to within an inch of its life and the buyer wanted to use this method and was willing to pay for it. So even though it worked out, it was costly and still wasn't the method I would have chosen if it was just up to me.

[TubaTodd]

UPS is NOT going as planned. For a bubbled wrapped piggy in a bubble wrapped gig bag in a box of peanuts, they are saying it needs to go freight. It's getting expensive fast. Thoughts???

[eupher61]

Never use peanuts! Especially if you're shipping to a shop. (or, to me, please!) Paper wads, big bubble wrap/air pillows, styrofoam blocks, whatever...but please, no peanuts.

[bort]

UPS is NOT going as planned. For a bubbled wrapped piggy in a bubble wrapped gig bag in a box of peanuts, they are saying it needs to go freight. It's getting expensive fast. Thoughts???

How big is the box? Also, be sure to actually weigh the box instead of estimating. I shipped a Miraphone 1291 and it did not need to go by freight, no reason yours should have to. How much is their quote? Usually around $200-250 for me.

And is this in-store, or quoted online? Shipping online and scheduling a pick up has always been my preferred method.

[Rick Denney]

Peanuts are good. Just don't use them individually. I received a tuba with the peanuts securely tied up in plastic grocery bags, which prevented individual peanuts from escaping into the wild. It worked very well and that's now standard practice for me. If I don't have peanuts, I'll use rolls of paper towels, still in the plastic wrappers, plus bubble wrap loosely packed into the empty spaces as necessary.

The factories ship tubas in double-weight cardboard boxes with 3-4" minimum of space around all parts of the instrument, with the tuba in a plastic bag and surrounded by peanuts. My addition to that is to bag the peanuts as above. They ship the case separately. Cases are designed for carrying, not shipping. Expect to spend a hundred bucks to have such a box made. Dealers re-use these boxes because they are expensive.

To really protect that box, strap it to a pallet for truck shipment.

The next step up, and the way I had a tuba shipped to me about 30 years ago, is a properly constructed wooden crate filled with peanuts. Expect to spend several hundred dollars on the crate.

But here's the truth: Any of the shipment options can result in disaster, and any of them might work fine on any given day.

Here's another truth: The shipping damage insurance provided by the shipper is worthless. Don't waste your money. They will find a way to avoid paying the claim by doing everything possible to make it your fault. And their team is playing with bigger hitters. Instead, buy insurance to cover the instrument separately, such as through Clarion. Given these are usually one-year inland-marine-type policies, the buyer will probably want to do this. If the instrument is damaged, that sort of insurance will pay the claim.

I've used Greyhound and had a bit of a panic attach when the shipment took an extra 10 days beyond what was expected. I have shipped Amtrak (in a Walt Johnson case) that worked fine, but I had to arrange my life around what Amtrack provides in terms of locations and times. I have received a tuba shipped by truck, and had to chase the truck all over Loudoun County because the trucking company didn't have anything smaller than a semi and it couldn't come down my street. I have received a tuba shipped by UPS, and it worked, but I was lucky--the box looked like hell. I have shipped a tuba by truck--a Conn 20J in two separate boxes--using my paper-towel-roll padding system and custom boxes. That worked fine, but the shipping materials cost nearly $150. But it could just as easily have resulted in disaster.

Rick "insure it yourself" Denney

[TubaTodd]

Well it shipped.....via UPS. They reboxed it. It is still properly wrapped and even double boxed, with peanuts in between. I think the dimensions of each of the boxes the first time around were grossly exaggerated. The reboxing came in under the dimensional limit for a standard ground box.

[bort]

Well it shipped.....via UPS.

Good! Now, the more important question -- you found a Piggy???

[TubaTodd]

Good! Now, the more important question -- you found a Piggy???

Found a piggy in San Fran. It was incorrectly labeled as BBb. They confirmed that it was indeed a CC. I got a pretty good deal on it considering that it will need some dent removal and a crease removed from the bell. This horn has some attributes that I have not seen before. For one, the bell label does not look engraved. Instead of reading "VF Cerveny" it just says "Cerveny." Additionally, the first valve slide appears to be different tube lengths (ie short side + long side). I had not seen that before. Everything else looks typical for those 70s or 80s model horns. I have no idea the actual vintage. This is a total crap shoot. I hope it all works out.

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/msg/3201928160.html

[bort]

Expired listing, but sounds cool and I hope it works out!

[TubaTodd]

I will post pictures when the horn has been repaired/tweaked.

[TubaTodd]

Here's a picture...

5L55Ie5K43G83J33N9c8c07ad269cb7dd1583.jpg

[Rick Denney]

That is the standard early-to-mid 80's engraving, often with the label itself on a separate piece of brass glued to the engraved area. That's how they stenciled them for house brands. I had a Bb Cerveny of similar vintage that came with a glued-on label that said "Sanders" (house brand for Custom Music). It said "Amati" underneath it but that meant nothing--all the rotary tubas made by the Amari-Denak conglomerate were made by Cerveny. The "V. F. Cerveny" label came after the Czech Republic emerged from Soviet control in 1989 or so.

Rick "good horns but not ruggedly made" Denney

[TubaTodd]

The tuba has arrived. Having owned large to very large tubas the last 10 years it made me chuckle to pull such a small case and tuba out of the box. The horn's condition is about what I expected. It will get reconditioned when I get the chance. The valve linkage works but it is REEEEALLY loud. So that is a bit of a bummer. Overall, it plays well. It has a wonderful sound. The pitch seems to be good. I am pleased with the tuba. Once it gets some TLC it will be awesome.

EDIT: The bell is indeed engraved with Cerveny.

[TubaTodd]

Oh yeah...since this was a shipping related post I will POST my $0.02.

I payed $281.77 for shipping from San Fran to Birmingham, AL. I paid an additional $100 for professional INSURED packaging. I must say, they packed the tuba superbly. The entire horn was bubble wrapped then put in the gigbag. The bag was then boxed surrounded by several inches of foam peanuts. That box was then put inside another box with a thin layer of foam peanuts all around. The outer box was a bit funky on arrival, but the inner box was pristine. +1 for UPS packaging.