VINTAGE & UPKEEP > THE LOW END
OY! PACKING AND SHIPPING WOES BY KEVIN BORDEN
Ibet you all read the title and said, “Kebo is throwing us a
fluff piece.” Well, I guarantee you
will learn a heck of a lot from this
month’s column. If you don’t, feel
free to send me hate mail.
Sooner or later, we all ship
an instrument. Not everyone
who “knows how to pack” does
it correctly, and if you pack an
instrument poorly, the consequences can be dire. You would
not believe some of the horrendous packing jobs I’ve received.
For example, a “
professional” packing service recently
shipped me a ’70s Jazz bass for
a customer. Lacking a proper
carton, the shippers improvised
a container from two small
coat boxes. They jammed the
bass in its gig bag upside down
in the boxes, threw in half a
sheet of bubble wrap, pinched
and taped the boxes together,
and called it a day.
When the bass arrived, I
was sure it was totaled, so I
took photos and videotaped us
unpacking the container. But
fate smiled on my client David.
Amazingly, his bass arrived
without a mark. It was still in
tune! But you don’t want to
trust fate, right? It might not
be so kind to you.
Do your homework. Before
you even pack the bass, make
sure you can get it to your
destination. Some carriers do
not ship to PO boxes, and
not all carriers service every
foreign city. The biggest myth
is that USPS ships a $1000
bass for $120 to Europe. I’ve
even been called a liar when
I told a customer this wasn’t
possible. Sometimes you have
an overvalue issue, sometimes
it’s a length issue. You have a
50/50 shot of success shipping
your bass with USPS overseas.
All the carriers have a website
where you can get an accurate
rate quote, so get this sorted
out right up front.
A word of advice: Never
ship a bass only in its case.
Trust me, your claim will be
denied. A few years ago, I
bought a Bi-Centennial T-Bird
at an online auction. The bass
was shipped only in its case,
and when I received it, the case
was wrapped in cellophane
with a sticker that informed
me the case had come open
during transit. The bass arrived
safe and sound, only by the
hand of the bass gods.
Get the right supplies.
Look, you don’t want to be
dumpster diving at 2 a.m. in
the rain because you don’t have
a carton. Check the web for
carton-supply vendors who
have the proper 50x9x20, 275
pound test cardboard boxes,
sold in five-packs. They also
have peanuts, tape, and everything else you’ll need to do the
job right. These vendors can be
up to 70 percent cheaper than
going to a retailer and purchasing single-volume supplies. If
you sell a few basses over the
course of the year, you’ll come
out way ahead getting your
supplies online.
Another good option is to
beg for a bicycle box. These are
usually heavier duty than instrument cartons you might find at
a music store, and bike shops
seem to be happy that you’re
taking some of their garbage.
Be aware. Certain basses
require special care when
you pack them. Gibson
Thunderbirds from 1963 to
1979 come in two variations:
Those with repaired head-
stocks, and those with soon-
to-be-broken headstocks. Let’s
eliminate the latter category!
You have this giant headstock
on top of a lollypop-stick nut
fighting insane amounts of
tension. Any weird tap can
break the neck, but that’s only
half the battle. The G-tuner
and the tip of the headstock
rest on the inside back of the
case, and Thunderbird cases
are simply too narrow. When
shipping one, remove the
G-tuner and saddle, store them
in a zip bag and tape it inside
the case pocket.
KEVIN BORDEN has
been playing bass since
1975. He is the principal and
co-owner, with “Dr.” Ben
Sopranzetti, of Kebo’s Bass
Works (visit them online at
kebosbassworks.com). You
can reach Kevin at kebobass@yahoo.com.
Feel free to call him KeBo.
60 PREMIER GUITAR MAY 2011
premierguitar.com
