How My Clavinet Was Shipped ( Final Update 3 May 13)

[Rhythmicons]

I know this topic has been beat to death.
I'm thinking UPS Freight or Keyboard Carriage. It's going from New York to Arkansas.

I don't want to have a box full of a pile of dust and strings!

What do you guys think?

Eric

[Peter Hayes]

This is a tough one. Pack it as well as possible bearing in mind that someone who does not really care if your shipment makes it from point a to point b safely will be handling it between here and there. Insure it for enough to buy and restore another Clavinet bearing in mind that you, as the shipper, would have to initiate a damage claim should any damage occur during shipping. Also, bear in mind that should you have to initiate a damage claim, you will have to fight tooth and nail to get the shipping company to concede that the guy mentioned above (who really does not give a rat's ass about any shipment) caused the damage, and to honor, and pay, the insured value (which you paid extra for). Been there, done that, hated it. With an instrument that is rare, as well as fragile, I would even consider folks like Sound Moves or Rock-It Cargo. These are the pros that move the pros. Costs more, but.........

Also, a SERIOUS road case is worth every penny.

[mvanmanen]

Remove pickups and wrap them separately.
Loosen strings.
Pray.

Michael

[Peter Hayes]

The strings are already loose enough. It's not like the gazillion pounds of pressure you would have with piano strings on a real piano. And, I don't have a lot of clients who would want to remove the harp on a Clavinet to replace the lower pickup. Some have a hard enough time changing a string.

[OZDOC]

These things were built to ship from Germany with no special care. I've shipped two from the US to Australia with no problems and no special preparation. Both have been packed in wooden crates (approx $225) by an airfreight crate maker. Google "export crate" for your local area. The benefit of the crate - with small forklift standoffs - is that it becomes a two man lift (or forklift) so it's much less likely to be tossed around and dropped on its end by a single guy.

[Rhythmicons]

Lots of good suggestions everyone, thanks. And I'm happy to say that I am the receiver rather than the shipper.

Thanks again and I will probably find out more tomorrow.

E

[Tim Hodges]

The benefit of the crate - with small forklift standoffs - is that it becomes a two man lift (or forklift) so it's much less likely to be tossed around and dropped on its end by a single guy.

Excellent piece of info.

[Rhythmicons]

I haven't called UPS Freight yet but Keyboard Carriage told me that it's 250 bucks and it might take a month.

Has anyone ever used them before?

[Rhythmicons]

Okay so I couldn't really get any kind of straight info from KC about any kind of protection from damage during shipment (worst case scenario) so what my friend and I have decided to do is to build a crate. So he took possession of the clav, and will wrap it in high density foam, followed by bubble wrap. He is building a box and will fill the box with peanuts and then wrap the box with cardboard.

I'm just curious as to what you guys think of this method. He bought the wood today and I'm sure he will take pics of the process and I will post them here and then when I receive the unit I will film the unboxing (or decrating) and see how everything looks.

What do you think?

[OZDOC]

This is the best shipping crate I've ever received - strong and very light.
It's 10mm thick corrugated cardboard with light wood bracing and forklift standoffs that make it clear which way is up.
It was from London - I've never found anyone in the US who does this.

[Rhythmicons]

I got the clav in perfect shape. I will post pictures of it as soon as my flickr account resets and allows me to upload more (probably after the first.

Today is the first day I've seen the pics of your crate, OZDOC.


Eric

[Rhythmicons]

Friends,
This is how my Hohner D6 was shipped. I hope that the moderators will consider making this post a sticky because I really have to say that my friend may have provided the clavinet playing community with a better solution than keyboard carriage. If one goes to clavinet.com and reads the FAQ, even they will recommend keyboard carriage. My friend and I discussed this and he convinced me that the best way to go forward was to build a crate.

Here are the plans for the crate. I don't know exactly how the box may have differed by the time it reached it's final form though.


Here are a few shots:



The crate had a hinged lid, opened by 5 simple to remove screws. The clavinet was wrapped in high density foam and bubble wrap. The crate was also packed with other pieces of packing material, and the clavinet was tightly in place, surrounded by much protection. The crate had handles cut on the sides for easy (as possible) portability.The crate was then wrapped in a cardboard box, marked which side should be upwards (shipped as the third picture shows) and where to cut.  The total packaging weighed 148 lbs. just shy of the Fedex Max of 150 (150 and it would have shipped freight and cost over 200 bucks.)  Now he didn't tell me the full cost of shipping or for the material, but I think he was being very generous asking for only $150 dollars considering everything that he did for me with this transaction. He did not detune the strings, and it shipped from New Jersey to Arkansas and arrived safely and in tune.