Amp shipped in flight case?

[Anonymous]

Hi guys,

I might be buying an amp, which comes with a road/flight case.
Buyer suggested shipping it in the flight case, but without any box
Would it be better if the amp were boxed or wrapped into something?

Thanks

 

[LP Freak]

Flight case is the way to go. No box required. The delivery guys love the handles.

 

[JimAnsell]

i've shipped amps in flight cases about a dozen times including 3 road ready boogie cabs that are built into the case so to speak.
never an issue.
Shipping is what they were built for.

now if its one of those really cheap $50 ebay cases, then maybe not.

 

[King Guitar]

handles are your friends

 

[JerryP]

I've had amps show up damaged in road cases. The extra weight and size pretty much guarantees they'll drop it. Drop an amp on it's end and you will at the very least have bent transformer mounts, worst case they rip off and take out all the tubes. Seen it both ways. Seen the road case show up broken too. I prefer a well packed box. Too many think a road case means you can just close the case and not worry about it, couldn't be farther from the truth. There is a right way and a wrong way to pack an amp. I've had many show up here that I had to shake my head at and wonder how the fuck they made it!
UPS will charge about an extra $10 for anything not in a cardboard box.
Jerry

 

[Norton666]

UPS has started charging extra for shipping in road cases without a box. I used to do it all the time and I got a letter last year saying they were charging extra for it from then on

 

[LP Freak]

^ This is why bands have now decided to tour with card board boxes.....they're simply better.

 

[steve_k]

^ This is why bands have now decided to tour with card board boxes.....they're simply better.

Reused boxes with excessive packing tape are especially popular. Throw on some casters and ready for touring.....

 

[alxdgr8]

I shipped a 5150II in a flight case with just cardboard around the case via USPS and it arrived perfect to the buyer.

 

[Giga]

I'm with Jerry on this one; I once shipped an amp in a brandnew flightcase and when it came back it looked like it had been on a worldtour with clear marks where a forklifter collided into it, dented ballcorners etc.

Flightcases are an invitation to the handlers to throw it around.

In my experience it's best to use a flightcase with a cardboard box wrapped around it.

Giga

 

[JerryP]

^ This is why bands have now decided to tour with card board boxes.....they're simply better.

Bands pay the people that move their shit and they actually care about the gear. No gear no job, UPS couldn't give a fuck about your amp.
Jerry

 

[JerryP]

UPS has started charging extra for shipping in road cases without a box. I used to do it all the time and I got a letter last year saying they were charging extra for it from then on

They have been charging for quite a while. It really came down to which depot it went thru and if they were ambitious enough to do their job. Anything not in a box has to be walked thru and isn't placed on the conveyor (so they say) because the sharp edges can catch other packages and cause damage or rip boxes open.
Jerry

 

[fluff191]

I just received an amp head from across the country and it was in a very heavy duty live-in road case and it arrived in mint condition. The FedEx guy even commented how he loved the handles.

 

[Atomic Playboy]

I have shipped my 2005 1959HW Marshall a few ways back and forth from Flint, Mich and George M.
In the original packing, the first time I shipped it on the way back it was dropped on the heavy side and actually put a slight bend in the welded chassis corner as well as pre-amp tube covers rattling around in the headbox.
Then I had George send me his flight case he ships his Metropoulos JTM-45/100 in which has an ally chassis, no issues then with the tubes pulled and wrapped inside.
I would still put the flight case in a box even though I didn't back then.
Safety in shipping seems haphazardly the luck of the draw, we're talking Fed Ex btw, I had given up on the Brown truck a long time ago
When Brad King bought my two Marshall HW cabs a few years back I shipped them in the original packing, he received a broken Marshall logo on the angled cab I believe...
Shipping is always a nightmare, definitely maybe..
Atomic Playboy