Case or gig bag? Seems easy but.... Shipping a vintage guitar

  • Thread starter Thread starter Music&Chaos
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Music&Chaos

Music&Chaos

Well-known member
Hello RT,

Thinking of listing some things for sale. One of the items is a 1969 all original Fender Mustang in Dakota red. Owned by a single person before making it into my hands. It's well loved but is a great guitar.

That being said - I may be listing it for sale and need to ship it. Now, I have shipped several guitars at this point, and varying types.

I have shipped with gig bags, hard cases, and bare.


All of them have arrived safely.

That being said, I am trying to figure out my best route for shipping this guy. If it weren't Short scale, then grabbing a hard case would be easy.

I see some vintage mustang cases but they don't look like they honestly fit the guitar snug for shipping or look reliable without having to pack it as if it didn't have a case.

Some new fender cases look nice but are a bit pricey. Of course, I would be shipping a pricey guitar, so if it is a solid fit..... Just seems Short scale hard cases are hit/miss.

There are some really nice gig bags that sometimes provide an ever better fit than a hardshell with Short scale guitars.

Wouldn't be shipping this one bare.


What say ye? If you bought a vintage instrument, what would you prefer it arrive in?

I would imagine most people would say hardshell, but just curious.
 
You can get a decent Fender short scale gig bag for about $50 and figure it into the selling price. Then, just bubble wrap the shit out of it.
 
I've shipped and received many Fender and Fender styled guitars that were only in gig bags and with a lot of bubble wrap and popcorn, I've never had a bad incident. I wouldn't try that with an angled headstock Gibson style though.
 
Yeah honestly Fenders new gig bags arent half bad and they have them in short scale too and the prices are pretty good.
 
I may go the gig bag route and list it up for sale then. I think the cheapest one of these 60s originals are around $2800 currently. Many of them have been refinished or are missing parts.

Any way, you may see this hit the classifieds for sale or trade soon.
 
I personally wouldn't ship a 2800 dollar guitar in a gig bag .....

just my opinion ...

I've had a couple of guitars show up from GC only wrapped in bubble ..... they were OK ... but man .... no way would I do it

especially if you're the one responsible if the neck is in two pieces when it arrives

I run a Industrial warehouse as my day gig ..... The UPS man shows up everyday ..... you want to know where boxes the size of guitars go ?? ...

on the floor of the truck .... where 60lb boxes can get stacked up on it .... drivers can step on it ... etc ... etc ...

you can put as many " Fragile stickers " as you want all over it .....
 
griff10672 said:
I personally wouldn't ship a 2800 dollar guitar in a gig bag .....

just my opinion ...

I've had a couple of guitars show up from GC only wrapped in bubble ..... they were OK ... but man .... no way would I do it

especially if you're the one responsible if the neck is in two pieces when it arrives

I run a Industrial warehouse as my day gig ..... The UPS man shows up everyday ..... you want to know where boxes the size of guitars go ?? ...

on the floor of the truck .... where 60lb boxes can get stacked up on it .... drivers can step on it ... etc ... etc ...

you can put as many " Fragile stickers " as you want all over it .....
Click to expand...
Hard case it is.

Now...do I go with a modern Fender one or a vintage correct/period case? Hm....
 
If your going the hard case route the Gator plastic hard cases seem good if you stuff/pad it a bit in shipment and extra bubble wrap/newspaper and all that in the box to make up for the short scale and probably better than a gig bag if you decide to go that route. 90 bucks and not a whole lot and it’s probably better and safer as griff said than a gig bag for sure.

Normal price is 160 so your getting a nicer case at a good deal that is better than a gig bag and doesnt cost a whole lot more also plastic absorbs shock better than wood so there is that too.


Also with all the crazy stuff going on now with shipping may consider insuring the shipment for 100% peace of mind.


https://www.zzounds.com/item--GATGC...MIgruX6uWmjgMVuxBECB0e5hcdEAQYBCABEgKxqvD_BwE
 
Hello all,

A nice modern Fender branded mustang case in mint condition popped up on reverb for like $130 with free shipping last night.

I snagged it.

Thanks for all of the suggestions. Most definitely will be well packed and fully insured when I do ship/sell it.
 
Music&Chaos said:
Hello all,

A nice modern Fender branded mustang case in mint condition popped up on reverb for like $130 with free shipping last night.

I snagged it.

Thanks for all of the suggestions. Most definitely will be well packed and fully insured when I do ship/sell it.
Click to expand...
The modern ones are probably a better fit than the originals. I had a competition Mustang that slid around quite a bit in the original case. (sold it when the Cobain craze drive the prices through the roof)
 
chumbucket said:
The modern ones are probably a better fit than the originals. I had a competition Mustang that slid around quite a bit in the original case. (sold it when the Cobain craze drive the prices through the roof)
Click to expand...
My same exact thought. The old cases I found are also worn in that the padding, what little there was, has shrunken up and you can see it would just be hitting wood.
 
griff10672 said:
I personally wouldn't ship a 2800 dollar guitar in a gig bag .....

just my opinion ...

I've had a couple of guitars show up from GC only wrapped in bubble ..... they were OK ... but man .... no way would I do it

especially if you're the one responsible if the neck is in two pieces when it arrives

I run a Industrial warehouse as my day gig ..... The UPS man shows up everyday ..... you want to know where boxes the size of guitars go ?? ...

on the floor of the truck .... where 60lb boxes can get stacked up on it .... drivers can step on it ... etc ... etc ...

you can put as many " Fragile stickers " as you want all over it .....
Click to expand...
Yeah I would never ship a guitar that was worth anything in a gig bag.
 
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