Chaosanator Posted March 10, 2022 Share Posted March 10, 2022 Hello, I'm seeking opinions from the basschat collective. I will soon be sending my bass from the UK to the US. I have the option of sending either by sea freight, which takes ~months, or by air freight, which takes ~weeks. The bass will be shipped in a ABS hardcase. I have no expertise in this area, but currently have the following thoughts. - naively, I feel that the risk of impact damage to the bass is greater by air freight than by sea freight. (I have no evidence to support this) - also naively, I feel that the risk of damage via temperature change is greater by sea freight than by air freight. (Again I have no evidence to support this) - I'd like to pack the bass as well as I can. Does it help to stuff the inside of the case as much as possible with tshirts? Any thoughts on this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Browning Posted March 10, 2022 Share Posted March 10, 2022 I would certainly say it's much colder at altitude than it is at sea level. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ped Posted March 11, 2022 Share Posted March 11, 2022 Go air. The less time it’s in transit the better, and I think it’ll go through less ‘transitions’ via air. Make sure it’s properly insured and packed for sure, everything tightly packed in with foam. Leave strings tuned to pitch. Cargo planes and passenger planes are heated inside both passenger and cargo areas otherwise stuff would get damaged. 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fiatcoupe432 Posted March 11, 2022 Share Posted March 11, 2022 Yeah totally agree I have always posted via Air and I never had any issues Once I sold an old tvr which I loved and spent more than 3 years as restoration project , loads of work and money spent on it and once I sold it I wasn't making really any profit so decide to value the car a little less than I got paid Put it on a boat in a container ready for the journey in US and 2 container cupsized after rough sea, obviously one if this container contained my car i was heartbroken so I promise my self I'll never post by sea ever again 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ped Posted March 11, 2022 Share Posted March 11, 2022 2 minutes ago, fiatcoupe432 said: Yeah totally agree I have always posted via Air and I never had any issues Once I sold an old tvr which I loved and spent more than 3 years as restoration project , loads of work and money spent on it and once I sold it I wasn't making really any profit so decide to value the car a little less than I got paid Put it on a boat in a container ready for the journey in US and 2 container cupsized after rough sea, obviously one if this container contained my car i was heartbroken so I promise my self I'll never post by sea ever again Sorry to hear that. Was it insured? I read about a similar event recently, a container ship with tons of nice cars went under. A bloke I know had a brand new Porsche on it 😑 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fiatcoupe432 Posted March 11, 2022 Share Posted March 11, 2022 10 hours ago, ped said: Sorry to hear that. Was it insured? I read about a similar event recently, a container ship with tons of nice cars went under. A bloke I know had a brand new Porsche on it 😑 Hey Ped I did read the news couple of weeks ago Apparently ferrari porsche and vw where on there! more than 400mil damage Mine was less damaged 😅 but I spent 2 years working on it and I was really attached to the car I didn't wanna sell it but we had to move away and we decided to sell it to raise some money . I did insure it but only for the money that i have bought prior to restoration than spent 2 years of work alot of material Probably lost about 3k and 2 years work The funny thing is that the were around 13000 containers and only mine and another one cupsized After that I went to a shaman ti see if I had any spells on me Such a luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chaosanator Posted March 13, 2022 Author Share Posted March 13, 2022 Thanks everyone for the replies! My Sunday afternoon task is going to be searching for decent foam 🙂 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hiram.k.hackenbacker Posted March 13, 2022 Share Posted March 13, 2022 Air every time and it shouldn't take weeks either. You may wish to read this though, which details my recent experience of shipping a bass to the USA. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ambient Posted March 13, 2022 Share Posted March 13, 2022 On 10/03/2022 at 22:37, Steve Browning said: I would certainly say it's much colder at altitude than it is at sea level. I believe airplane holds are heated and pressurised nowadays. It helps reduce stresses on the metal. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dad3353 Posted March 13, 2022 Share Posted March 13, 2022 5 minutes ago, ambient said: I believe airplane holds are heated and pressurised nowadays. It helps reduce stresses on the metal. ... and any animals being transported (horses, dogs, cuttlefish etc...). 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassfinger Posted March 14, 2022 Share Posted March 14, 2022 On 11/03/2022 at 07:51, fiatcoupe432 said: Put it on a boat in a container ready for the journey in US and 2 container cupsized after rough sea, obviously one if this container contained my car i was heartbroken so I promise my self I'll never post by sea ever again Ive sent exploration drilling equipment by air, and one lot was badly damaged with the nosewheel collapsed on the Hicksville Airlines 737 freighter as it landed in Panama. So that leaves driving or rowing... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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