Packing and shipping an acoustic guitar

Hey all. Just a question for the community. I've probably sold, packed and shipped 150 to 200 guitars over the last 15 years or so. I consider myself a pretty good packer and have had only one tragedy in all that time. I ship typically USPS Priority Mail insured and have had good luck with them.

My question is this. When I typically receive a purchased guitar from a quality store like Gruhn, Elderly Wilcutt etc. they al most always have that real sturdy cardboard piece that fits over the headstock and keeps the guitar stable in transit. I absolutely love those things but don't know where to buy them/pick them up. Any thoughts out there??

Also, I've noticed I tend to probably put in more packing material than needed just to try and play it safe and I guess it's worked for the most part. I do notice, however, that often times when I receive a guitar from like one of the above stores or other quality stores, there is little packing material and often times just that reinforced sturdy cardboard piece around the headstock mentioned above. Do you all have the same experience?

That is precisely how my new Guilds were boxed from New Hartford. The box was just large enough for the case, with the "halo" cardbord holding the top of the case centered in the box, and a similar cardboard cushion on the bottom.

Neal

Neal said:

That is precisely how my new Guilds were boxed from New Hartford. The box was just large enough for the case, with the "halo" cardbord holding the top of the case centered in the box, and a similar cardboard cusion on the bottom.

Neal

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I alway used to think that Taylor boxes were the best, but the Guild boxes are even better. Still have a couple more here

richardp69 said:

I absolutely love those things but don't know where to buy them/pick them up. Any thoughts out there??

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Insights from a paper (which includes specialty corrugated packaging)salesman :
Makers of cardboard boxes and packaging components typically need to run a minimum of 3-500 pcs to justify starting up the machines, at that level I suspect it's only viable for actual volume dealers and instrument manufacturers who probably can afford to buy even larger volumes directly from a maker.
Being such a specialty item I doubt any retailers or wholesalers would even stock 'em since primary customer(s) don't even need a middleman for 'em.
So I'd look at trying to beg some from a GC or other music store and maybe even ask somebody like Gruhn or Sweetwater or Musician's Friend if they would consider selling a few for a price that covers their costs and reasonable earnings of course.
I'd also expect to possibly be surprised at the price but keeping in the back of my mind that in a computerized age it's not neccesarily easy to process a sale for something that's not normally listed for sale by your company.

I did ask Gruhn after I bought a D 70 from them but they said they just don't do that. I'm going to take a hard look at the construction and see if I could rig something up out of stiff cardboard that may not be as good but might still serve the purpose.

I've gotten used boxes from my local music store when I've needed them, Richard... But, I haven't even come close to your numbers.

Taylor boxes used to come with plastic inserts for both the bottom and top to hold the case in place in the box, and those were terrific. Recent Guild boxes have corrugated inserts that do the same thing. Yeah, it's a good idea to have those so the case stays centered in the case, and especially you want padding on the bottom to avoid shock when the box is dropped on the bottom end.

richardp69 said:

I did ask Gruhn after I bought a D 70 from them but they said they just don't do that. I'm going to take a hard look at the construction and see if I could rig something up out of stiff cardboard that may not be as good but might still serve the purpose.

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It just occurred to me this might be one of those niches a 3d printer could fill perfectly.
It's a growing cottage industry, there might be one near you.
Couldn't hurt to look in the yellow pages.
They do still publish a yellow pages, right?
:shocked:

chazmo said:

I've gotten used boxes from my local music store when I've needed them, Richard... But, I haven't even come close to your numbers.

Taylor boxes used to come with plastic inserts for both the bottom and top to hold the case in place in the box, and those were terrific. Recent Guild boxes have corrugated inserts that do the same thing. Yeah, it's a good idea to have those so the case stays centered in the case, and especially you want padding on the bottom to avoid shock when the box is dropped on the bottom end.

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Taylor boxes usually have plastic inserts for the top and bottom, but the Guild cases are still slightly better, IMHO.

But it's far more important to completely (and I mean completely) immobilize the guitar inside the case itself prior to shipping. The box is more to protect the case than the guitar, really.

When I bought my D55 BRZ 50th Anniversary New from Chuck Levin's they actually put it in the Guild shipping box with all of the cardboard reinforcement, then put Styrofoam popcorn in that box, Then put all of that with the Guild box in another box just to make sure. It was much appreciated by me for sure.:single_eye:

When I ship guitars I always loosen strings, remove batteries from pickups, remove the end pin if it has one, put a piece of packing paper under the strings to protect the top and fretboard, put bubblewrap under the headstock for support, and make sure that the guitar is not going to be moving around in the case. Once all that is taken care of I use foam on all four sides of the case in the box to dampen any blow the box might take in shipping and make sure the case is completely secure in the box whether it is with the Cardboard supports that came from the factory or other methods.

The only place I have ever seen the cardboard supports come from is the factory. I am sure it wouldn't be hard to make some out of larger cardboard boxes like you would get at a Uhaul Storage facility. The boxes are pretty cheap and you can get a lot of Square inches out of one of the large ones. Just save one of the originals you have and use it for a template.:single_eye: