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If you have ATA rated cases I wouldn't worry. Touring shows pack expensive gear in trucks and vans and travel all over and of course retailers take delivery of musical instruments every day through various modes of transport. I have known musicians who have checked nice guitars in the cargo hold of an airplane half way around the world , the case got damaged but the instument was okay. It was not an ATA rated case. If they will let you personaly load and unload the gear that would be advisable. I would bet most moving companies are aware of the risks associated with moving musical instruments.
what if you don't have ata rated cases? I can ship them on ahead to someone's house, so I was thinking to go to UPS and have them wrap and ship them. We have the packing boxes they came in, some with cases, but not heavy duty cases.
Are you driving? Do you have enough room in your car for the more fragile instruments?
When we moved, we entrusted the ones that could handle Army movers (generally OK), but had them in heavy duty cases. I brought all of my woodwind and brass instruments in the car.
We are planning on moving from long island to florida. We have many musical instruments.
I am not worried about the pianos or the organ.
I am concerned about the guitars (both electric and acoustic), sitar (very fragile), banjo and mandolin.
Would it be sufficient to entrust the moving company with these items? We plan on using one of the more well known, such as allied or united
thanks in advance
With regards to the bluegrass instruments, I'd be more concerned with the possible heat damage, assuming you have a reasonably sound case. Invest in some insulated case covers to protect against both temperature extremes as well as rapid temperature changes, both of which can destroy acoustic instruments.
We entrusted a large mirror and two stained glass windows to our mover, who had a crater build "crates" for them. I would discuss this issue with the mover, to see if they can safely pack and move your instruments.
However, I don't think I would want to have them in storage in terrible summer heat, at least not for very long. So there is that aspect.
UPS will package your things, but I am not sure they are that great at packing. I entrusted a lamp to a UPS person, and the lampshade arrived bent out of shape. (I didn't find out about it until several years later.)
I think the major issue is how they would be packed by the mover. I trusted my mover to pack all my fragile items. I trusted them far more than I trusted me! You should have seen how well they packed my stuff!
I know this was years ago, but, when my parents moved from Arkansas to Florida, the guitar and flute made it in the moving truck with no problem. They were packed in hard case moving crates. My mother's cello was also in a hard case moving crate and it was stolen. All told, in that move with movers, she lost 1 cello, 4 boxes of china, 1 antique chest filled with hand made antique doll clothes and her wedding dress. After contacting the company, all that was returned was the wedding dress. Movers sold the rest or something. Since then, we have never trusted moving companies.
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