Since Damir brought up shipping…

[David Dorwart]

I plan to purchase a new steel this week and need to transport it from Washington DC to Florida. I’m pretty sure it’s too large to take as carry on luggage on the airplane so do I take my chances with the baggage handlers at the airport and check it with luggage or have Billy Cooper ship it? It would be in the original hard shell case ( I don’t want to purchase a flight case as this is probably the only time it will fly ). Im pretty sure the airline isn’t going to treat it gently either…

[Jack Stoner]

Another option to flying would be a rental car, then transport it yourself.

I sold a steel last year, with only local pickup. The buyer flew from Nashville to Tampa, rented a car, picked up guitar and drove back to Nashville.

[Dan Beller-McKenna]

Normally, the rental car option would be okay. Might cost more than shipping, but generally safer for the steel (although the risk to your own personal safety goes up exponentially). But right now rental prices are unbelievably high, and there are very few cars to be had.

[David Dorwart]

Driving is not an option. I have a rental car while visiting DC but it is too expensive to drop it off at a different location in addition to the 16 hour drive back to Florida. I already have round trip airfare. Options are let the baggage handlers get their mitts on it or have dealer ship it

[Don Poland]

I fly almost every week of the year with a pelican bag filled with tools that weighs about 45lbs. I can't count the number of times that I have had broken tools/instruments in my pelican case. I would most definitely have Billy ship it rather than let the airlines lay their paws on it!

[David Dorwart]

Shipping was my original plan but Damir got me thinking differently. Btw Don I was born in Hanover General Hospital and raised in York PA. I sure do miss those Famous Texas Hot Wieners!

[Ricky Davis]

Pack the Steel in the case to where NOTHING moves at all. I usually use small bubble wrap around the steel; then small sheet type foam to fill gaps. Make sure the ends of the leg/pedalbar partition is braced with foam blocks or small wood blocks and sheet foam or bubble wrap in around and over that section and then bubble wrap over bottom of steel so the lid closes on it and fills that space between steel and inside lid. If you pack the steel like that in the case....they can drop it 10 feet on concrete floor and NOTHING will happen to the steel. Sure the case might crack...but the steel CAN NOT move; therefore CAN NOT be damaged.
I've been doing this for 30 years; when I flew/toured back through the 90's Europe 18 times, Australia twice and all throughout the states with ZERO damage to my steel; and I've been restoring/working on/refurbishing steels for guys all over the world and ship it back to them for last 25 years...with ZERO damage. Make sure the steel does not move one centimeter in the case is the best protection period/!!!
Ricky

[Paul Strojan]

Have you considered taking Amtrak to Florida. You should be able to keep possession of the guitar on the train.

[David Nugent]

My recommendation would be to have Billy ship the guitar. He has been shipping steel guitars all over the world for many years which to my mind certainly qualifies him as competent to do so.

[K Maul]

If the steel weighs more than 50 pounds you’re going to pay a big premium to take it on the airlines. Plus the fact that a regular steel case is not good enough to go on an airplane. You should follow Ricky Davis’s advise and trust that Billy knows how to pack a steel and ship it to you.

[Herb Steiner]

I believe that if Ricky's method for packing the inside of the case so that NOTHING MOVES, a steel in a regular case would make it through an airline flight, though the case might not. Of course, there are those exceptions... I put a LeGrande inside a flight case for a trip from Austin to Nashville, and wound up with a broken tuning machine. The case showed no damage, but I didn't pack the interior the way Ricky suggested. My bad.

One of my favorite quotes from the late John Fabian: "It is the mission of the case to die, so that the guitar might live."

[Ricky Davis]

Yes indeed guys, great stuff and one more thing.
Any client hiring me to do whatever work on their steel; I go over this WHOLE PACKING procedure with them before they send...it is important both ways.
Ricky

[Pat Moore]

David
Call Billy & discuss shipping. IMHO your best bet!
Pat

[D Schubert]

In the past 12 months, I've shipped a old Sho-Bud to/from Ricky Davis. Followed his intstructions to the letter, and no harm done either way. I also bought anew GFI guitar from Billy Cooper, that was shipped from his shop to my front porch. Packed tight and cushioned inside and outside the case. Accidents can happen, but seems that this minimized the chances of damage. The saddest part is the cost of the freight.

[Kevin Barber]

I'm flying from Florida to Nashville to pick up my new amp head. I know the steel guitar case is larger, but I bought an extra seat ticket for the amp head to get on the plane with me and avoid having it going through baggage. The amp head is too large for a carry-on. I booked in advance and the ticket was $78 for the amp head and $78 for me to fly back to Florida. It was $78 for me from Florida to Nashville too, but both ways are nonstop.

[Chris Lucker]

In seasons where weathers not extreme, I like to ship Greyhound Direct when I can -- especially for amps. Greyhound direct is not a service where your package sits in a storage area for days. It is next bus out that is direct to your destination. You watch your item go under the bus and the recipient accepts the item at the destination upon the scheduled arrival of the bus. Your item is never more than, what, eighteen inches or two feet off the ground? No conveyor belts. No tossing to the ground.
From LA to Phoenix or LA to Portland is costs about the same as Fed Ex Second Day Air. I still pack a guitar the same as I would if shipping by Fed Ex -- Packed inside the case so nothing rattles or moves. Tight cardboard box around the plastic-wrapped case. Two inch styrofoam sheet glued to the six sides of the inner box and another cardboard box tightly fitted to that. I will confidently ship a Bigsby that way. Unless you have Heritage or some other vintage musical instrument insurance, don't waste your money, unless the guitar you are shipping is still being manufactured and you can claim it is new.
With amps, I don't even remove the speaker with Greyhound but I do pull the tubes, But one box rather than a separate box for the speaker.

[Ken Mizell]

I’ve purchased a new steel from Billy Cooper in the past. He is an expert in packing steel guitars. I would trust him to ship me the best steel money could buy, without reservation. I wouldn’t risk shipping anything on an airline these days. They are rough with everything. You are MUCH better off having Billy ship it. The Greyhound Bus idea isn’t too bad, but I haven’t did that before. I had experience within the last year with shipping and receiving steels via FedEx - No problems. Just let Billy do it.

[David Dorwart]

Thanks for all the great advice - I’m gonna have Billy ship it and take my chances with parcel delivery. That saves me from having to cart it around the airport as well.

[ajm]

Reading through all of the posts, just my inexperienced but generally pessimistic opinion, having Billy Cooper pack and ship it is a low risk option.

(By the way, definition of a pessimist: An optimist with experience.)

A couple more random thoughts..........

When I got my new Carter back in 2001, there were a couple of short pieces of 2x4 in the leg section. I wondered what they were for. I have since learned why.

Have the item sent "Hold for pick up" if possible.
You don't want the driver leaving a $2000+ steel on your front porch if you're not home. (Which by the way, you didn't say what kind of item it is or how much it cost.)
Also, if you go to the post office or UPS or whatever facility, you can inspect the item there when you receive it.
If you don't want to fully unpack it there, you can at least look at the box to hopefully get a warm and fuzzy feeling if there might be any damage inside.

Rental cars and drop fees: Some car companies charge OUTRAGEOUS fees for not returning the car to the point of rental, some don't.
Many years ago I tried renting a car, and they wanted a THOUSAND DOLLARS if I returned it to another site that was only 150 miles away.
Needless to say, I found another car company that didn't charge extra and went with them.

I read an article once where Joe Bonamassa bought a Dumble a few hundred miles from home. Let's assume that it cost more than your steel. ;>))
He packed it real good, and shipped if Fed Ex overnight. I think that the reaso for shipping "overnight" is that the less time that it spent changing hands and moving around out in the "real world", the less chance that there is for damage.
Shipping probably wasn't, but he can probably afford it, and the Dumble was probably maybe worth more than your purchase.

[Gary Spaeth]

gruhn guitars has a great tutorial on shipping instruments on their website. they say "if you can shake it, they can break it." i shipped a $7000 mastertone banjo with fed-ex using their packing method and it arrived in perfect condition.

[Mike Vallandigham]

I agree with most here. Pack it so it can't move in a sturdy case. Wrap up levers and such.

2X4 blocks in the pedal compartment are a must.

Sturdy box, expect it to take some jabs and scuffs.

Then bend over when you go to pay.

Last few times I was involved in shipping a steel it was north of $250 cross country.

[J D Sauser]

If you'd fly back business, you could make a "gig" bag and carry the cabinet only on board. I've done that on multi-connection flights with my S12 keyless which is short, compact and light. It's been a bit a discussion, but US carriers are now obligated by TSA to allow on-board instruments as long size and weight make it reasonably "accomodable" (spell checker just told me "accomodable" ain't a word... I think it's a cool word, Ha!). I've been quite lucky with that on business class flights.

I don't know about a D10, a Bigsby or something like that.... evidently, my S12 keyless is "compact".

I would however remind, that most steel MFG's live of SHIPPING guitars all around the globe. Some went thru a learning curve and as I stated on that other thread: Behold The Destructive Powers Of Stupidity!
Stupidity is infinity and just like with infinite space it keeps ever expanding a the speed of light or maybe even faster... so new dumb ways to wreck things come out by the second.
But most MFG's have developed a packaging routine which has brought about only the fewest losses.

... J-D.

[Wayne Baker]

Just bought a pp. The pedal board sustained a lot of scaring in the move.

[J R Rose]

Wayne, I all ways wrap the pedal bar in the thin bubble wrap. And all ways block it in place so it does not move. Your shipper could have done better. J.R. Rose