bry4321 Posted April 19 Posted April 19 (edited) I am looking at buying a 1x10 combo amp that would need to be shipped to me. The seller prefers not to pack it up themselves. What would you guys suggest? I am leaning to "just take it to UPS." However the last time someone did that for me it would up costing nearly $250 to pack/ship a guitar that probably would have been about $60 on pirateship. And it wasn't even packed particularly well. To reiterate, the seller is not comfortable packing it themselves so I am not looking for "how to pack an amp" advice. Edited April 25 by bry4321 Update Quote
Dave Scepter Posted April 19 Posted April 19 (edited) Call his local preferred shipper with the measurements & weight for an estimate "with insurance" Edited April 19 by Dave Scepter 1 2 Quote
hamerhead Posted April 19 Posted April 19 ^^^What Dave said. Definitely get an estimate because UPS-packed shipping is expensive and could turn a good deal into a bad experience. The local place here (no longer in business. I wonder why....) was pricey and did not pack very well, either. At least the guy is smart enough to know his limitations and didn't half-ass it. Some guys really don't care after it's sold. 1 1 Quote
cynic Posted April 19 Posted April 19 Never shipped a combo with them but I shipped a head at Fedex/Kinkos once. They charged me the cost to ship and the cost of the box, but didn't add anything extra for packing it. This was maybe fifteen years ago so things could be different now, but that's where I'd start. 2 Quote
Dutchman Posted April 21 Posted April 21 Do not let them just fill the box with popcorn. Rather fill bags with it. Garbage bags whatever and seal them. Popcorn shifts and the amps jangle around and lay right next to the cardboard.. no cushion. Best is expandable foam in a bag to fit the amp. But most use the popcorn! 3 Quote
bry4321 Posted April 21 Author Posted April 21 (edited) Thanks guys, the seller and I agreed to split shipping and I think that worked out ok for both of us. We made sure to insure it as suggested. Hopefully I will not be posting in the "shipping tales" thread later this week. EDIT: I forgot to add, UPS took care of packing it in addition to shipping. Edited April 22 by bry4321 1 Quote
Dave Scepter Posted April 21 Posted April 21 21 minutes ago, bry4321 said: Thanks guys, the seller and I agreed to split shipping and I think that worked out ok for both of us. We made sure to insure it as suggested. Hopefully I will not be posting in the "shipping tales" thread later this week. Sooooo who's packing the amp up? Quote
bry4321 Posted April 21 Author Posted April 21 25 minutes ago, Dave Scepter said: Sooooo who's packing the amp up? UPS 1 Quote
seeker Posted April 22 Posted April 22 10 hours ago, Dutchman said: Do not let them just fill the box with popcorn. Rather fill bags with it. Garbage bags whatever and seal them. Popcorn shifts and the amps jangle around and lay right next to the cardboard.. no cushion. Best is expandable foam in a bag to fit the amp. But most use the popcorn! Yep. I build a cardboard inner structure to contain the peanuts. Probably 20 amps and 20 guitars without a single issue. Learned it from a local shipper that shipped ton of stuff for a local auction house. Something interesting was always sitting in the front of the store before they got to it. 2 Quote
beezerboy Posted April 22 Posted April 22 put object in heavy plastic trash bag. have box just a bit bigger. squirt line of spray foam in box. install object. might let that cure... then squirt more foam on each surface. don't use too much. if it is something really precious, consider a cooler instead of a box 2 Quote
bry4321 Posted April 25 Author Posted April 25 Box arrived on the day it was supposed to. UPS packing consisted of running a roll of bubble wrap around the amp twice. Nothing to protect the sides (beyond the amp cover provided by the seller). Nothing to keep amp from moving around front-to-back in the box. There probably was extra space between the bubble wrap and the top of the box but I didn't pay too much attention. (And no "this side up" warning or anything like that.) Now the good news. The amp looks great cosmetically and the power light came on. I was concerned when there was no sound initially but dummy me forgot that tube amps have to warm up. 7:30 am in an apartment so I didn't do a deeper dive and that's all I've got! Those of you who are familiar w/3 Monkeys amps feel free to reply with tips 😀. 8 Quote
Cboss Posted April 25 Posted April 25 53 minutes ago, bry4321 said: Box arrived on the day it was supposed to. UPS packing consisted of running a roll of bubble wrap around the amp twice. Nothing to protect the sides (beyond the amp cover provided by the seller). Nothing to keep amp from moving around front-to-back in the box. There probably was extra space between the bubble wrap and the top of the box but I didn't pay too much attention. (And no "this side up" warning or anything like that.) Now the good news. The amp looks great cosmetically and the power light came on. I was concerned when there was no sound initially but dummy me forgot that tube amps have to warm up. 7:30 am in an apartment so I didn't do a deeper dive and that's all I've got! Those of you who are familiar w/3 Monkeys amps feel free to reply with tips 😀. Love the gold sparkle! Great looking amp what is the circuit? 1 Quote
Dave Scepter Posted April 25 Posted April 25 (edited) 1 hour ago, bry4321 said: Nice to see there was a amp cover, especially with the lack of packaging protection... glad it arrived safely 🙏 Edited April 25 by Dave Scepter 1 Quote
bry4321 Posted April 25 Author Posted April 25 26 minutes ago, Cboss said: Love the gold sparkle! Great looking amp what is the circuit? “10″ speaker, 2x EL84 output tubes for about 10-12W, 3x 12AX7 preamp tubes, VOLUME, TREBLE, BASS, and MASTER controls, as well as a pull BOOST on the volume control” 3 Quote
cynic Posted April 25 Posted April 25 When you say "UPS packing" do you mean a UPS store franchise? In my experience UPS Stores are shit and they're apparently not even capable of packing something to meet UPS requirements for claims. Glad everything worked out. 5 1 Quote
LucSulla Posted April 25 Posted April 25 Cool amp. I had a Sock Money 12" that I should not have sold. Came at a time in my life where I really didn't understand how to get what I wanted out of an amp if it wasn't pretty high gain to begin with. Great amp that I just wasn't experienced enough to understand. 2 Quote
bry4321 Posted April 25 Author Posted April 25 39 minutes ago, cynic said: When you say "UPS packing" do you mean a UPS store franchise? In my experience UPS Stores are shit and they're apparently not even capable of packing something to meet UPS requirements for claims. Glad everything worked out. It was packed/shipped from a UPS store and I can't disagree with your assessment! 1 Quote
bry4321 Posted April 25 Author Posted April 25 31 minutes ago, LucSulla said: Cool amp. I had a Sock Money 12" that I should not have sold. Came at a time in my life where I really didn't understand how to get what I wanted out of an amp if it wasn't pretty high gain to begin with. Great amp that I just wasn't experienced enough to understand. Good to know, thanks! Quote
django49 Posted April 25 Posted April 25 Sounds like you got lucky with the condition given the packing..... Once upon a time, a Twin Reverb was shipped to me (FROM A MUSIC DEALER, NO LESS) in a way oversized cardboard box. Absolutely NO padding or protection. Musta been thrown off their loading dock. The box rattled when delivered. Baffle board broken out, tubes shattered, speaker cones torn. Their idea of a joke (??) Yes, they did pick it up and gave a total refund. 1 Quote
Stike Posted April 25 Posted April 25 (edited) 5 hours ago, cynic said: When you say "UPS packing" do you mean a UPS store franchise? In my experience UPS Stores are shit and they're apparently not even capable of packing something to meet UPS requirements for claims. Glad everything worked out. Yep. I've had plenty of people send me stuff they had packed at their nearest UPS store, usually terrible. Edited April 25 by Stike 1 Quote
cmatthes Posted April 27 Posted April 27 I'm a huge fan of the 3 Monkeys stuff! My Sock Monkey is the daily player, and a great "Grab and Go" amp. I've got a Grease Monkey 1/2 stack that is maybe the best sounding amp I've ever played/owned, but just a bit big and loud for everyday stuff. You should love your new amp! 4 Quote
DaveH Posted April 27 Posted April 27 (edited) 13 hours ago, cmatthes said: That guitar is GORGEOUS, Chris! @bry4321 Congrats on your new amp, should be a little tone machine! Packing an amp... I'm thinking that if I ever need to ship an amp, I'll grab a couple cans of spray foam, wrap/seal the amp in plastic, and get creative. Edited April 27 by DaveH 1 1 Quote
duncans Posted Sunday at 02:34 PM Posted Sunday at 02:34 PM (edited) Last thing I shipped was a guitar, a couple of years ago, thru the local UPS store. I packed it pretty good. I was asked if it was packed good enough to survive a 6' fall. My reply was "if you or a UPS employee drop it from 6' it's not my problem". I know that they will make it my problem, but the look on her face was priceless! Edited Sunday at 02:34 PM by duncans 1 Quote
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