Double-Boxing Guitars for Shipment

[Michael_B]

I'm about to ship a guitar to Europe.  Good practice seems to be to double-box it.  With my available boxes, the inner box is a slip-fit over the HSC, with no additional padding on the inside of the inner box.  I'm left wondering, in this case, whether the inner box performs any meaningful protective function.  Any thoughts?

[gorch]

Save the inner box. I have never received anything like that in the past. In case, the HSC will do what it is supposed to do.

[django49]

Not really needed. I have used a larger outer box now and then when I want to be extra sure.......In one case, an archtop WITHOUT a case, though it was in a thick and protective  leather gig bag.

[hamerhead]

ANY extra protection is worth it.

[DaveL]

I like to double box when needed, but if the case is right up to the box,  and then that box is right up to the

edge of the other box,  I'm not sure that would be great.   There needs to be a little padding in case of

a drop.  

 

   I just received an expensive guitar (single boxed) and the guitar case was right up to the edge of

the box,  and was marked "glass, fragile" all over it.    It arrived safely but it surprised me that someone

who appeared to have all his marbles (talked on the phone for a while) would ship an expensive guitar

out with basically no padding.   Be careful and don't skimp on bubble wrap etc..

[G Man]

Double boxing is great for amp chassis, not really needed for a guitar, especially w/HSC.  As others have mentioned, its more important to have extra padding at the top and bottom than double box.

[atquinn]

It's more important to have good padding inside the HSC (where relevant). You can have as many boxes as you want, but if the guitar is shifting around inside the case, then you're going to have issues.

-

Austin

[veatch]

Dave is correct.  And in the situation in the original post where the case is simply inside the inner box with no padding, the inner box isn't doing anything.

What i do (not that anyone asked or probably cares... ) is i double bubble wrap the case with 1/2" bubblewrap.  That goes into the inner box which is then double bubble wrapped and placed into the outer box.  This gives a full 2" of bubblewrap.  If you read the shipper's packaging recommendations, they generally state that 2" of inner protection is required.  It does not state that claims will be denied if 2" is not provided, but i think you can make a much better case if you are following that.

Of course, the case counts as protection to the guitar as well, but that means the case itself is not covered. 

So - your mileage may vary, etc, but i opt for more protection, which translates to higher cost of packaging for me and a slightly higher cost of shipping to the buyer.  I haven't had any issues yet, but i have heard the same from many that do not double-box.

[hamerhead]

13 minutes ago, atquinn said:

....but if the guitar is shifting around inside the case, then you're going to have issues.

Absofuckinglutely. I jam stuff around the body until it's wedged tight but leave the neck. If the body can't move, the headstock will never hit the end of the case. Well, usually never.

[Michael_B]

I should be good.  I stomped on a big bag of packing peanuts until it was a static-y mix of medium and fine bits and then over-stuffed both the inside of the HSC and the outer box. I figured some of the finer bits should work their way into the cavities, to protect those parts, too.

[tbonesullivan]

I'm not really sure if the double box adds anything meaningful compared to just the case inside a box with padding. I mean maybe it allows you to more easily fill the voids in the box? Not sure.

[HSB0531]

No inner box......................PEANUTS !!!!!

[tbonesullivan]

I like peanuts. They may be messy, but they are also the easiest way to fill voids and make sure that things are secure.

[DaveH]

I hate peanuts. They are uber messy/PIA, and they settle during transport. So you still end up with at least one side having no additional protection.