Shipping Guitar neck off or on?

[JairoLozano]

Hello guys!

I will be shipping my guitar overseas and I need some helpful suggestions about shipping it. Is it better to ship it with the neck off or with it on? I will be shipping overseas and since it will most likely be bumping into other things, maybe it would be a bit more safe if i sent it with the neck off?


I've done some research on this and i'm not fully convinced on how to ship it.
Please link me to the a thread that has covered this topic before so that I wouldn't be wasting your guys time.

Okay back to my situation if you care to bother.
I do have a large enough box to fit in my whole guitar in with a pretty stocky guitar bag. I don't have a guitar case. But I do have air bubble and other stuff to properly stuff the box and ready to be shipped. But.
My gut tells me to send it with the neck off for safe measures, and if so, would I have to reduce tension on the truss rod? If yes, how much? Or could I just leave neck alone? This is the part I'm ehh about because I've never shipped a guitar. I'm not affraid to remove the neck because that's an easy task.. although It should be handled with care.

I'm just not sure about this whole thing. Anyways I think I will send it with the neck off because......... eye dee kay. But i'm ready to do this! This shipping stuff.

Awhhh man I wish I had tweeker fingers... Typing this on an iPad blows! Anyways let me know what's up.
Thanks.

 

[Rook]

Well there are pros and cons to either.

If you ship with the neck on it won't take long to adjust to temperature after the guy receives it if it hasn't already but it'll cost more.

If you ship it with the neck off you'll save quite a lot on shipping and whether you take tension off the truss rod or not putting tension back on when it arrives plus the changing temperature will mean the neck's moving around quite a bit for a fair few days after it arrives and gets set up.

As for taking tension off the truss or not, if you take the neck off and take the tension off the truss, it'll go pretty straight but still adjust and move for a few days. If you leave it on it'll leave some pressure on the neck but it won't move a huge amount with the strings on. It'll be fine under tension for a few days but just means the guy can whack string on and leave it to settle a few days, it'll probably be usable in that time too. If you take it off it may be a little safer but means it needs a whole new setup at the other end and will still need to settle.

Not worth it IMO, I wouldn't bother.

 

[JairoLozano]

Hey thanks for the reply Rook.
Yeah I understand the pros and cons.

The thing is that I'm moving back to California and I'd like to bring my guitar with me. I did call the airline service(Air Belrin) and asked about my guitar coming in with me in cabin but according to them I'd have to pay for an extra seat. And that's just for the guitar. So lates to that.

Plus I'm sure the guitar will be fine if I ship it. Better to have a positive mind about it then just worry. And worst comes to worst then Oh wells. I have a friend who's good with guitars and can set it up when it arrives so it ain't a problem.

I guess I will take some tension off the Truss Rod. Or maybe you would know if I should or shouldn't by telling you the neck type of the guitar? It's a Wizard II Maple Neck by Ibanez of course....



And once again thanks for the reply. I'm just getting excited about going back to California.

 

[cwhitey2]

I wouldnt ship anything without a guitar case

 

[skeels]

I wouldnt ship anything without a guitar case

Especially overseas...

 

[cwhitey2]

Especially overseas...

I would feel horrible if anything happend (neck breaking) during shipping....but thats just me.

 

[JairoLozano]

Yeah true. This is my first time shipping one so we'll see how it goes but this will only be a One Time(5-0) occasion!
Also, I have so much air bubble that I'm sure it will be stuffed correctly to ensure its safety.



In the end I will report weather this experience went good or bad.
I still have a few days before I send it and prepare my package.

 

[Rook]

Well packed it won't matter if it's in a case or not, just be smart.

If anything the thing being lighter and able to move around a little on impact with things means less will get damaged, a lot of stuff I get sent internationally comes in cases, cases get wrecked all the time, stuff in bags never does.

 

[JairoLozano]

Well packed it won't matter if it's in a case or not, just be smart.

If anything the thing being lighter and able to move around a little on impact with things means less will get damaged, a lot of stuff I get sent internationally comes in cases, cases get wrecked all the time, stuff in bags never does.

Yeah... who knows why SOME people may treat packages like a basketball and just toss them around when shipping.

But hey, thanks for the heads up!

 

[cGoEcYk]

I'd ship in a case. There can be complications when re attaching a neck.