Shipping Drums...And Keyboards

chris_drb

Member
Hi,

Does anyone have experience with shipping drums and/or keyboards cross country? I am moving states and I am wondering what is the best/cheapest way to ship instruments.

I have 5 piece drumset with hardware, and Yamaha P-85 keyboard.

Any ideas?
 
I've shipped a couple sets across the states and a couple to other countries in fact. Never a single issue with anything.

Proper packing is the key! Supplies - foam peanuts, bubble wrap, tape & GOOD boxes - can be costly but well worth the protection.

Sending by either UPS or USPS has worked well with nothing ever lost.

It's not cheap and in some cases depending on weight and/or size can be very costly (though that term is relative).
 
Not sure about the keyboard but the safest way to ship drums across the USA is greyhound, Heard lots of horror stories about UPS, Fedex and USPS and I had USPS completely destroy a snare drum that was shipped in a padded SKB snare case inside a box.When it arrived the box and case looked fine but it sounded like a maraca and when I opened it up it was a box of parts and pieces.
 
Not sure about the keyboard but the safest way to ship drums across the USA is greyhound, Heard lots of horror stories about UPS, Fedex and USPS and I had USPS completely destroy a snare drum that was shipped in a padded SKB snare case inside a box.When it arrived the box and case looked fine but it sounded like a maraca and when I opened it up it was a box of parts and pieces.

Hmmm.. No kidding.... I've never once had an issue with either of these methods. I suppose any process could be suspect to issues...
 
While were on the subject, how about internationally? Does anybody have experience with that? Need to ship my '65 Slingerlands from California to Germany. I'm worried sick about it.
 
While were on the subject, how about internationally? Does anybody have experience with that? Need to ship my '65 Slingerlands from California to Germany. I'm worried sick about it.

@mikeyhanson
Maybe this helps: for international art transport I used a specialized art mover. The one I worked with (couple of years ago) is working in Asia and Europe, not in the USA so far as I can see. But probably easy to find one nereby on the internet. Very safe. Not cheap. But a '65 Slingerland is a piece of art...
 
Thanks, Phills. I'd be willing to do something like that. That's a great suggestion, thanks! And you're absolutely right, they are art. It would sicken me to have them arrive ruined [like my apple tower was] or hurt in any way.
I've grown too attached to these to sell them, and I'm certainly not going to let them sit in cases much longer. I need 'em. I miss 'em more than I miss my family sometimes [don't tell my family that].
 
Not sure about the keyboard but the safest way to ship drums across the USA is greyhound, Heard lots of horror stories about UPS, Fedex and USPS and I had USPS completely destroy a snare drum that was shipped in a padded SKB snare case inside a box.When it arrived the box and case looked fine but it sounded like a maraca and when I opened it up it was a box of parts and pieces.

Most drums get from the manufacture' warehouse to the store via UPS.

All anyone needs is the right size box, some bubble wrap, and tape. That's what your drums came in originally.
 
Most drums get from the manufacture' warehouse to the store via UPS.

All anyone needs is the right size box, some bubble wrap, and tape. That's what your drums came in originally.

Maybe so but like I said USPS couldnt deliver mine without destroying and it was in a molded SKB case and inside another box besides plus I know another guy that got a 12" tom damaged by UPS that was inside one box with bubble wrap and that box was inside another box that was lined with 1 inch styrofoam and they still busted the shell. Besides you would never know how many dont make it to the dealer in one piece as you only see the ones that do.
 
Most drums get from the manufacture' warehouse to the store via UPS.

All anyone needs is the right size box, some bubble wrap, and tape. That's what your drums came in originally.

Agreed. If you receive a drum that has been destroyed while the outer packaging is clean and intact then the drum was broken when they packed it, or it was left so loose in the case that it beat itself up.

Properly packed freight can withstand falling off the conveyor belts, falling out of the trucks, and being stepped on by drivers reaching for the top shelves. Unless the box itself was destroyed in transit, then the freight company isn't at fault.

If you want 'kid glove' handling of your packages, don't ship them the cheapest way possible. You get what you pay for.

If you care about an item you are shipping, then ship it 3 day or 2 day air. Those packages get better and less handling than the cheaply shipped items do.
 
. Besides you would never know how many dont make it to the dealer in one piece as you only see the ones that do.

I've worked for 4 drum shops in my life, so I was talking from the perspective of the dealer.

I can't say I ever recall getting a damaged shipment.
 
These belong to a friend of mine Robin Porier and were shipped in their factory boxes and didnt make it unharmed, You can see the damage in the pics and one drum nor shown wasnt salvageable.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/PEAVEY-RADI...129?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1e6487a919

Also Mike Kelly from upstate NY had his 6 piece shipped in original boxes and the 16" tom was damaged as well. All you can do is have them insured and hope for the best, not so bad if its still something that is in production and the insurance will pay for another but when you have a 1 of a kind prototype or something thats long out of production you get screwed. I could list at least a dozen more guys just in the last couple years that have had drums damaged in transit and were packaged more than good enough.

I am just lucky I can now get a new bridge made for my one of a kind Bobby Rock brass snare by the guys at Boogie Woodie but even though USPS paid me the cost of the snare and the shipping it was insured for, by the time I get the new bridge and get it painted and back together it will cost more than twice as much as I had paid for the snare originally and thats only because I have my own paint shop and will do my own paint and assembly once the new bridge arrives.
 
One piece of advice: When shipping the bass drum, take the hoops off! You can also fit a floor tom and maybe another rack tom inside of that.
 
These belong to a friend of mine Robin Porier and were shipped in their factory boxes and didnt make it unharmed, You can see the damage in the pics and one drum nor shown wasnt salvageable.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/PEAVEY-RADI...129?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1e6487a919

Also Mike Kelly from upstate NY had his 6 piece shipped in original boxes and the 16" tom was damaged as well. All you can do is have them insured and hope for the best, not so bad if its still something that is in production and the insurance will pay for another but when you have a 1 of a kind prototype or something thats long out of production you get screwed. I could list at least a dozen more guys just in the last couple years that have had drums damaged in transit and were packaged more than good enough.

I am just lucky I can now get a new bridge made for my one of a kind Bobby Rock brass snare by the guys at Boogie Woodie but even though USPS paid me the cost of the snare and the shipping it was insured for, by the time I get the new bridge and get it painted and back together it will cost more than twice as much as I had paid for the snare originally and thats only because I have my own paint shop and will do my own paint and assembly once the new bridge arrives.

That's too bad... wow.... Geeesshh.. My last 3 drumsets were sent UPS to me directly and not a mark on them. In fact the boxes were still in good enough shape that I used them to ship stuff to someone else.
 
Pallet crate, screwed construction, PVC weather sheet inside the box, then fully expanded foam lined (min 2" wall style insulation with foil outer), then everything packed/insulated so nothing can touch, & nothing can move, not even a tiny bit, in any direction. Dissemble everything, & nest where you can. As it's palletised, nothing is thrown or conveyor belted. For bulky shipments, the pallet rate is often better than parcel rate too. it's an investment in a good box, but you can keep it & use it time again. That's as near to a guarantee as you can get. It'll cost you, but assurance costs money.
 
I'd hire a van and drive them, ebven if it meant a week's worth of driving. Then at least if something goes wrong, it's your fault, not someone that you've paid to take care of your stuff!
 
+1 on the good box! I just shipped my breakables from the UK to Germany with Fedex, and my dad and I built a wooden box for them to travel in. After packing them I filled all remaining space inside with cardboard, bubblewrap and plastic bags of packing peanuts. The box had fabric handles to make it easier to move around. Everything arrived safely! In the next week or so I'll be shipping it home again so I'll let you know how that goes.
 
No matter how careful you are, if something is going to happen it will. I don't work for a drum shop, but I've seen my share of damaged boxes and drums in recent years. The last real damage I saw came from a "fork lift' driver that didn't judge his distance very well and speared a bass drum. A little polish couldn't fix that one, lol. Just recently I was told by an employee of a Five Star shop that he witness a female delivery person actually roll a bass drum container from end to end off her truck and into the doorway of their shop.

There is a lot of carelessness in the shipping business, and this includes the packing of the drums into their cartons by the manufacturers. I've been very lucky, but like they say, stuff happens.

Dennis
 
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