Max Kuehn

Looking for how to ship an electric guitar? When shipping an electric guitar, it is important to ensure that the instrument arrives safely. Packing the guitar properly and using a reliable shipping service will help to ensure that the guitar arrives undamaged. Check out our step-by-step guide on how to do it properly!

Where Can I Get Shipping Materials For My Guitar?

If you routinely sell on eBay, you should know that eBay has a fantastic source that allows sellers to buy shipping materials at wholesale pricing. This is an excellent resource for vendors seeking less expensive alternatives to standard shipping materials.

Large wholesale rolls of bubble wrap, shipping boxes, heavy-duty paper, packing tape, packaging peanuts, and various other things are available on eBay.

Even if you’re not a seller who needs to buy shipping materials in bulk, eBay allows sellers to shop competitively and acquire the exact products they need in the exact amount they need without buying in bulk.

The UPS shop, Walmart, and Staples are other stores that provide shipping products, but they don’t have the same selection or costs as eBay.

Although finding a large box at the UPS store is far more likely than at Staples or WalMart, all three retailers sell shipping goods such as bubble wrap, packaging tape, and heavy-duty paper.

Getting Ready To Ship The Guitar

You’ll need to gather some items before you start packing your instrument to send! You’ll want to be certain that you have:

A guitar
A large enough crate to accommodate your guitar
Tape for packing
Paper
Bubble wrap, packing peanuts, foam cushioning, or other shipping materials

A short note: The shipping box you pick to ship your instrument in should be large enough to hold the guitar you’re shipping and the shipping materials.

All of the supplies indicated above are required to ship your guitar if you want it to reach its destination in good condition.

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How To Ship An Electric Guitar With A Case

Step 1: Get Your Guitar Ready

This will be the most challenging aspect of your guitar’s transportation journey since it has various sensitive parts that must be adequately safeguarded. You’ll need to undertake some preliminary work before placing your instrument in a shipping box!

Before you even think of putting your guitar in its case, there are a few things you should do first. Even if your guitar is shipped without a case or a gig bag, you should still follow these instructions.

Loosen your guitar’s strings. You don’t need to detune or remove your instrument’s strings, but you should release the tension on the guitar’s neck to prevent it from warping or snapping. You should tune your strings down about two octaves.
Secure any moving parts on the guitar. You should not have anything banging about on the guitar or in the case while shipping it out. Wrap moving parts (such as the whammy bar or the tremolo bridge) in a newspaper or other packaging material.
Close the headstock! The guitar’s headstock is one of the most delicate elements of the instrument, so make sure it’s well-wrapped in newspaper or packing material.
Protect your guitar’s polish. Some dealers cover the guitar’s body with plastic cellophane to protect the finish, but you may alternatively use heavy-duty paper. It’s just an issue of what you have access to. Although covering the body of your instrument isn’t required, it does provide additional protection from potential harm.
Using newspaper or bubble wrap, separate the strings from the fretboard. Keeping the strings from touching the fretboard while shipping your guitar will prevent the strings from rubbing against the fretboard, causing excessive fretboard damage.
If your guitar is being shipped in a case, fill any open spots with balled-up newspaper to reduce the amount of movement your guitar will experience while in transit.
This will lessen the amount of damage your instrument sustains.
Detuning your guitar’s strings can also help to avoid any strings from snapping during shipping; a broken string can be sharp and harm the guitar’s finish.

It’s quite acceptable if you don’t want to send your instrument out in a case. Wrap your instrument in extra bubble wrap, heavy-duty paper, or whatever packaging material you’re using to give it more protection. Make sure to pay close attention to the neck and headstock in particular.

Step 2: Fill in the Blanks

Place your guitar back into the case or gig bag you’re shipping it in if you haven’t already. You can now put your guitar in the shipping box after putting it in its case! You’ll want to fill in the gaps around your instrument immediately.

Filling up the gaps surrounding your guitar will assist keep it from shifting about in the case and box during shipping. Filling in the space surrounding your guitar in the case or box will keep it from sliding around and becoming damaged.

Balled-up newspapers can be used to fill the areas surrounding your instrument. Make sure that every vacant place is filled in so that your guitar has as little wiggle room as possible.

Step 3: Fill the box with extra packing materials.

Place extra packing material at the bottom of the box before placing your guitar bag or instrument inside. Because the bottom of the box doesn’t require much protection, you can use high-strength paper.

When adding this extra protection to the bottom of the box, make sure there’s an equal amount of area on both sides for your guitar to fit in.

If there isn’t enough room, your instrument’s case will shift around during transportation, perhaps causing harm to your guitar.

Fill in any open spaces around your guitar case with more packing peanuts, paper, newspapers, or whatever you’re shipping with once it’s firmly inside the box. You should make sure that these sections are well packed so that the guitar does not slide about in the shipping box.

Fill in the remaining space on the top of the guitar case with additional packing materials, such as packing peanuts, air cushions, or bubble wrap, once all of the empty spaces around the guitar case have been filled with shipping materials.

Take a few moments to double-check that there are no open places that you overlooked, as even one open space without a packing cover can jeopardize your guitar’s safety.

After you’ve double-checked everything, all you have to do now is tape the box shut and send your instrument on its way! Make sure you tape up your box with good packaging tape because the tape you use is the only thing that will ensure that everything you crammed inside the shipment box stays within the box.

If you choose to cover the bulk of the box in shipping tape, it can also assist guard against rain damage.

How To Pack An Electric Guitar For Shipping Without A Case?

If you’re not shipping the guitar in its case, use the same packing guidelines. This is not encouraged, but it does happen on occasion. If this is the case, consider splitting the instrument into two boxes. For both your interior and exterior boxes, follow the same steps:

Choose a box that is the right size. If you don’t use a case, the dimensions are even more important because the instrument is more prone to impact damage.
Using packing paper, create a protective bottom layer.
Using bubble wrap and packaging material, secure the peghead.
Loosen the strings and tuck them behind packing paper.
Use packing material, such as brown Kraft paper, to fill the gaps between the box and the instrument.
When shipping a guitar without a case, you should also consider:

Consider using foam padding to protect the headstock and fretboard, which is costly but effective.

Wrap the headstock of your electric guitar in bubble wrap twice. You should still fill the gaps with packing paper, but wrapping the guitar protects it.

As an extra layer of protection, consider double boxing the instrument. If you decide to double-package, the packing rules remain the same: the instrument should not move within the box, and the first box should be immobile within the second.

How to Choose the Best Carrier

The shipping prices you pay will be determined by the carrier you choose; the distance traveled, the parcel dimensions, the actual and dimensional weight, and whether you are receiving a discount. When considering how to send a guitar and amp, Red Stag Fulfillment has shipping discounts with major carriers for large and bulky commodities.

Electric guitars typically weigh roughly 8 pounds, while lesser ones can be had for 6 pounds and bigger ones for 12 pounds. Furthermore, if you’re shipping the guitar in a hard case, the case can add another 4 pounds to the total weight.

Consider a hypothetical electric guitar in a hard case weighing 12 pounds to understand carrier expenses. Let’s put the hypothetical instrument in a big box that measures 20 x 8 x 50 inches.

Then, using the Red Stag dimensional weight calculator, enter the measurements and actual weight. FedEx and UPS charge extra for the first several shipping zones, as you can see. After Zone 4, however, USPS charges substantially more. Why the huge disparity?

The rates change because USPS has a different dimensional weight (DIM) policy than FedEx and UPS. FedEx and UPS charge you for your guitar’s DIM or actual weight, whichever is greater. For Zones 2-4, USPS examines the actual weight, then adds dimensional weight for Zones 5-8.

For Zones 2-4, USPS charges based on 12 pounds, while for Zones 5-8, the service bills you for a 49-pound shipment. As a result, the “best” carrier is determined by a variety of parameters, including weight and service requirements. For fast-growing eCommerce enterprises, carrier diversification is critical.

FAQs

How Much Does An Electric Guitar Weigh?

An electric guitar weighs about 8 pounds on average (3.6 kg). Depending on the type of wood used and the design of the body, an electric guitar can weigh anywhere from 6 to 10 pounds (2.7 – 4.5 kg).

Will A Guitar Be Packaged By Usps?

USPS does send guitars; most people tend to agree that USPS is the best option for mailing guitars.

What Is The Cost Of Packing And Shipping A Guitar With Ups?

For that exact guitar, UPS Ground shipping starts at $107.78. You’d pay $261.90 with UPS 3 Day Select. The services on the second day aren’t any better.

What Is The Cost Of Sending An Electric Guitar?

So, how much does shipping a guitar cost? According to most sources, shipping a guitar is estimated to cost between $100 and $150. If you choose one of the courier’s less expensive options, we’ve found this to be accurate (i.e., the shipping options that take longer to deliver).

Conclusion

When you are shipping your guitar, the most important thing to keep in mind is determining which components of your instrument require the greatest protection throughout the shipping process (usually, this is the neck). This will ensure that your guitar is not damaged during the shipping process.

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How To Ship An Electric Guitar Safely? Best Full Guide 2023