How to send a guitar to Europe

[5F6-A]

I´ve sold my Les Paul guitar to a friend in Spain how can I send it from England safely? Royal Mail? UPS? ...

The guitar is in its original Gibson case...

[Alex]

Not much experience here, just I cannot recommend Parcelforce, as they do work with other carriers together in other European countries. I had a problem once and it was basically unsresolvable, because the parcel was handed over to the other company.

DHL would be my choice, eventhough they probably cost more.

[Philly Q]

I use parcel2go.com - they'll give you a number of quotes from various couriers and a range of prices, take your pick!

[Toe-Knee]

The problem ive always had with shipping guitars has not been the shipping itself but insurance.

I found most couriers wont insure guitars to their full value even if in a hardcase.

[FELINEGUITARS]

1 detune the guitar
2 put bubblewrap all around the headstock in the case
3 put the case in a strong carton and fill all the remaining space with bubblewrap or scrunched up newspaper
4 if you can feel it move at all you haven't done enough - go back and pack it out some more
5 tape up the ends of the box well so it can't burst open
6 if you think that the box could be thrown around a lot (and dropped) without any damage coming to the contents then it's ready to send

Parcel2go  and many others use UPS or suchlike and will give you a good price
See if you can get insurance....

[Nez]

http://jacksinstrumentservices.com/how-to-pack-a-guitar.html

[mikeluke]

+1 on do not use Parcelforce - I had an issue once (they broke a guitar) and even with insurance they claimed that it was not their fault...

[FELINEGUITARS]

http://jacksinstrumentservices.com/how-to-pack-a-guitar.html

+1- excellant advice!

[tariqashiq]

FedEx is what Rich used for my RG 20th.  It took only 39 hours from being picked up to arriving at my door. I was astounded at the speed! I tracked it all the way and the cost was around $170. Because the Ibanez book was included, it added a fair amount to the overall weight, so expect the price of the same service minus the book to be around $155. Well worth it.
So this is a best way . :(

[Philly Q]

The problem ive always had with shipping guitars has not been the shipping itself but insurance.

I found most couriers wont insure guitars to their full value even if in a hardcase.

Just another point about insurance - if the courier is prepared to fully insure the value of a guitar, it can add a substantial amount to the shipping cost, and I've found that buyers are often very reluctant to pay the extra. 

So you may need to make a decision on risking lower insurance, or bearing the additional cost yourself.

[Copperhead]

Sent this one to Norway from USA with no issues....  :lol:

[dave_mc]

1 detune the guitar

does detuning actually help? I always wonder about this- on the one hand detuning means less tension, but on the other the truss rod is adjusted to offset that tension, is it not? Surely if you detune while not adjusting the trussrod, the neck is under more strain?

Or am I completely wrong? :lol: :oops:

[FELINEGUITARS]

I feel it makes a huge difference if a guitar is dropped or bounced.

The headstock is under a lot of tension and only the neck is held in balance by the truss rod - if the guitar has a fall the headstock moves around a lot as the shockwave goes through the guitar IMO and like a pendulum it goes back and forth and as a result it increases the chance of tearing across the grain, more so than if the string tension were removed.

Sure the truss rod still pulls the neck back but has no effect on the headstock.

I also feel that packing around the headstock is a good idea too.

[5F6-A]

Sent it by ups / parcel2go.com. Price was not expensive but insurance was more than sending it.oh well I am praying everything goes well. I'll keep you posted.

[wisteria]

I suggest you use the DHL.