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Shipping Strats


Virtual Jim

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Hey all. A buddy of mine floated this idea to me to see if I knew the answer. I don't, but I thought I'd ask here since I know there are a lot of strat players.

 

Does anyone see any reason why to ship a strat cross country, you can't remove the strings, disassemble it, and ship it in pieces only to do the reverse once at the destination?

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NO! no reason at all to do that.why would anyone want to do that?? Of coarse you could but what would be the advantage? Its the safest it can be right in it's own hard shell case. Then you are looking at another complete setup and reassembly can be very touchy, sometimes the neck to body pocket is shimmed and it is critical. NOT a good idea at all!
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Originally posted by Virtual Jim:

Does anyone see any reason why to ship a strat cross country, you can't remove the strings, disassemble it, and ship it in pieces only to do the reverse once at the destination?

None. I've never done it MYSELF, but I've read interviews in GP with guitarists who do just that.
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It's a pretty good policy to never take all of the strings off of your guitar unless you're truly interested in performing a complete setup from scratch... or find somebody who can do this properly for you.

The consequence outweighs the convenience and the cost associated with it. More so for Strats than anything else.

 

Mind you... if your sending it to somebody else who's going to have to deal with this... who cares right? So long as you're not going to keep it.

 

Strat cases are some of the best because of the close fitting design and shipping it in there is ideal.

 

IMHO of course

I still think guitars are like shoes, but louder.

 

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I just shipped out two guitars yesterday...

 

If you have a case...you put it in the case and than wrap & box the case.

 

If no case...you bubble wrap the crap out of it...put it in a box...then put that in a second box.

miroslav - miroslavmusic.com

 

"Just because it happened to you, it doesn't mean it's important."

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I've bought 3 guitars over teh internets and none of them came with a case but still arrived in perfect condition.

 

Use plenty of bubble wrap and double box it and it'll be fine.

 

Make sure the carrier affixes plenty of "Fragile" and "Do Not Stack" stickers to put on the box. Oh, and don't forget to insure it for what it's worth to you.

quote:Originally posted by mdrs:

 

It's pure B.S., and obvioulsy inaccurate. I suspect it is posted for effect, not for accuracy.

 

John Petrucci > Johnny Winter

The Edge > Ted Nugent

Guitar One Mag > Guitarplayer

Slash > Carlton

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Originally posted by Guitars are like shoes. But louder.:

It's a pretty good policy to never take all of the strings off of your guitar unless you're truly interested in performing a complete setup from scratch...

I'm not so sure about that one.

 

I take all the strings off whenever I change strings (to clean the neck and so on) and I've never noticed anything wrong with the setup afterward.

 

Are you sure about that?

:confused:

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ok, so for clarification im the buddy and here's the deal...

 

i want to get back into playing guitar but will be a grad student (and therefore broke) for another year or so. i'll eventually buy a whole new rig. in the meantime i thought id bring my old high school 90 buck strat back with me from the east coast this christmas (presuming i can just unbolt the neck and stick it in my luggage). im not going to ship it because it would cost more than the guitar's worth. its never been a precision instrument (it's been sitting under my bed with acoustic strings for 8 years). as long as i can get the neck back on and the strings dont buzz against the frets it'll be good enough for me. is there anything else i should be concerned about?

 

i hope my low standards in this case dont aggravate all you knowledgeable people!

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No :D

If it's been under the bed that long... it would need some attention anyway.

 

 

As for not being a good idea to take all the strings off a guitar... fairly common understanding. The reason is simply to maintain the tension on all parts and thereby not having huge fluxuations to recover from on the neck, joints and bridge.

 

If it don't bother your guitar that's a good thing but with time and ware it eventually becomes an issue.

I still think guitars are like shoes, but louder.

 

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Originally posted by MATkinase:

ok, so for clarification im the buddy and here's the deal...

 

i want to get back into playing guitar but will be a grad student (and therefore broke) for another year or so. i'll eventually buy a whole new rig. in the meantime i thought id bring my old high school 90 buck strat back with me from the east coast this christmas (presuming i can just unbolt the neck and stick it in my luggage). im not going to ship it because it would cost more than the guitar's worth. its never been a precision instrument (it's been sitting under my bed with acoustic strings for 8 years). as long as i can get the neck back on and the strings dont buzz against the frets it'll be good enough for me. is there anything else i should be concerned about?

 

i hope my low standards in this case dont aggravate all you knowledgeable people!

Are you flying? Cause that will be one cool luggage X-ray!
A.K.A. TRGuitar
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It's been a while since I've flown but last time they (Southwest) let me bring my Strat w/hardshell case as carry on luggage. There was plenty of room for them to stow it in the overhead compartment.

 

Call the airline and see if you can carry it on. Get a cheap gig bag to put it in and then you won't have to fool with taking it apart.

 

You will have people asking you what band you are in though. http://www.websmileys.com/sm/happy/028.gif

quote:Originally posted by mdrs:

 

It's pure B.S., and obvioulsy inaccurate. I suspect it is posted for effect, not for accuracy.

 

John Petrucci > Johnny Winter

The Edge > Ted Nugent

Guitar One Mag > Guitarplayer

Slash > Carlton

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sorry double post...

 

http://s24.photobucket.com/albums/c20/ak511/th_repost.jpg

quote:Originally posted by mdrs:

 

It's pure B.S., and obvioulsy inaccurate. I suspect it is posted for effect, not for accuracy.

 

John Petrucci > Johnny Winter

The Edge > Ted Nugent

Guitar One Mag > Guitarplayer

Slash > Carlton

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Originally posted by Guitars are like shoes. But louder.:

As for not being a good idea to take all the strings off a guitar... fairly common understanding. The reason is simply to maintain the tension on all parts and thereby not having huge fluxuations to recover from on the neck, joints and bridge.

Yeah, I know that too, but I've never encountered it myself.

 

By your theory, one should redo the setup whenever one breaks a string and it doesn't really work that way. :)

 

Having said that, I tend to loosen the strings in pairs, but I don't know if it makes much diff. Maybe it's more noticeable over a long time.

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Originally posted by Kramer Ferrington III.:

By your theory, one should redo the setup whenever one breaks a string and it doesn't really work that way. :)

Did I say that was My Theory :freak:

 

My friend... it is a very common "understanding" and one I've heard professed by hoards for decades.

 

It would also be a gross exaggeration to suggest the impact of a single string being broken equates to the total removal of all pressure exerted by a fully tuned instrument. I'd also add that the impact of a string break is significantly more "traumatic" than unwinding a single string. Look at the physics involved.

 

His $90 Strat will be fine I'm perfectly sure. :thu: It's only because of it being a Strat that I'd bother to mention this because softtail unblocked Strats display this more than any other guitar.

 

It does apply to all other instruments in varying degrees of severity and that cannot be argued. :P

 

(provided they're not completely built of composite materials, metal or ceramics)

I still think guitars are like shoes, but louder.

 

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Originally posted by Guitars are like shoes. But louder.:

Did I say that was My Theory :freak:

 

My friend... it is a very common "understanding" and one I've heard professed by hoards for decades.

Oh, I know how common that "understanding" is. I've heard it a heap of times myself. I realize it's not jut you saying it, Shoes! :)

 

It's just that I was changing strings long before I heard that particular undertanding (mid 1990s) but I'd never noticed the guitar's intonation going out after changing strings.

 

So I just don't know what to think. COuld it be one of those things like "loosen the strings if you're not going to play for the next few months"?

:confused:

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Originally posted by Kramer Ferrington III.:

COuld it be one of those things like "loosen the strings if you're not going to play for the next few months"?

:confused:

Could be.. some kind of folklore relating to a time when guitars were wittled out of a willow tree :freak: Na... I wouldn't recomend that either. Nothing worse than wood alowed to run free. No telling where it will go when the humidity changes.

 

I've actually looked at installing a Trem-Setter thing by the Hipshot company that stablizes this action and makes tuning and staying in tune easier on Strats. Haven't got to it yet. It would work on any spring loaded trem system like a Fender has I would think.

 

A guitar should be treated with the same respect that you would give a piano.

 

I'll just leave that there in the sun for a while and see if it starts to smell :D

I still think guitars are like shoes, but louder.

 

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Originally posted by Guitars are like shoes. But louder.:

Na... I wouldn't recomend that either. Nothing worse than wood alowed to run free. No telling where it will go when the humidity changes.

The weirdest one I've heard was that when you're not playing the guitar (we're talking acoustics here), you should always keep it face-down on something to lessen the pressure on the heel and neck.

 

 

Originally posted by Guitars are like shoes. But louder.:

A guitar should be treated with the same respect that you would give a piano.

NO WAY, DUDE! You're not putting crochet doillies and baby pictures on MY guitar! :mad::mad::mad:;)
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