How to pack an amp

A

alund

Well-known member
Fantastic work by the seller on packaging an amp to prevent breaking. Needless to say anything can happen but this is as good as it gets.
 

Attachments

  • D3ACACED-3D97-49B5-87E8-A7FEBE5A75B8.jpeg
    D3ACACED-3D97-49B5-87E8-A7FEBE5A75B8.jpeg
    3.8 MB · Views: 82
  • EDADFA5B-3560-4F83-818C-642ACCC2AA08.jpeg
    EDADFA5B-3560-4F83-818C-642ACCC2AA08.jpeg
    3.6 MB · Views: 75
  • 59B74F3D-7C29-49F2-9143-B9B3557EBE02.jpeg
    59B74F3D-7C29-49F2-9143-B9B3557EBE02.jpeg
    2.5 MB · Views: 65
  • 55BBEF6C-CE31-4226-8ED3-423ECAFFFBCC.jpeg
    55BBEF6C-CE31-4226-8ED3-423ECAFFFBCC.jpeg
    4.8 MB · Views: 72
Not double boxed and is one puncture away from losing all of the peanuts and getting damaged. That wouldn’t fly here in MD. Bubble wrap is the only way to go and I double box everything - meaning bubble wrap around the first box too - before shipment.
 
glpg80 said:
Not double boxed and is one puncture away from losing all of the peanuts and getting damaged. That wouldn’t fly here in MD. Bubble wrap is the only way to go and I double box everything - meaning bubble wrap around the first box too - before shipment.
Click to expand...
Actually. It it doubled. Each side is double cardboard. The box slides off the other box. Very slick way
 
I like the pool noodle idea. Not sure how I feel about peanuts. What is that stuff that form fits around the contents? I think you can get it at UPS stores?
 
alund said:
Ehhh. I guess I’m lucky this time. Came to me in good shape. I guess better lucky than good.
Click to expand...
Even with the best possible packing it’s still part luck. I personally would never use peanuts for an amp. Too much possible compression and then resulting slop in movement in the box. I’m a fan of enough bubble wrap to almost fill the volume of the box with some room for stiff, corner reinforcement. Then filling what gaps remain with more bubble wrap. I think double boxing where it’s a box, then buffered by additional protection inside a larger box is over rated in that how much do you really want to spend on shipping? That’s getting to be quite heavy and large in dimensions. it get’s a little ridiculous. One good quality box with the right insides will get it done.
I’ve shipped a fair amount recently including two full size amps and a Mesa Quad, including large footswitches (one amp was a Mark V 90) and all went well. When I worked music retail in the 90’s, not one Manufacturer shipped heads double boxed. Granted, they usually had custom molded foam, for at least the corners, but it was never overkill.
Key for me is decent buffer size from the sides of the box and zero movement when I give it a good shake.
 
I’m with you on peanuts alone. This however at first pic. 3 bubble wraps.. then those noodles which I’ve never seen used for this. (Maybe that’s why I’m intrigued on this packaging) then the peanuts between. Then a box that’s doubled. I’m not a fan of packing anything but this strikes me as better than most.
 
I always buy a home depot box and slice up a second one to double box it. I used to wrap the entire amp in giant oversized bubble wrap which worked very well. Time consuming and expensive. When I did my most recent run of clearing house I switched to the giant oversized expanding foam.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CLHY6TVS?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

I used 6 of these per box and it allowed it to mold to the amp very well. Takes 10 mins to do and there was no movement in the box. Not saying my way is the best way but I had good results with it and the cost of materials was lower than rolls of bubble wrap and it took less time.
 
itsgoodnow said:
I always buy a home depot box and slice up a second one to double box it. I used to wrap the entire amp in giant oversized bubble wrap which worked very well. Time consuming and expensive. When I did my most recent run of clearing house I switched to the giant oversized expanding foam.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CLHY6TVS?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

I used 6 of these per box and it allowed it to mold to the amp very well. Takes 10 mins to do and there was no movement in the box. Not saying my way is the best way but I had good results with it and the cost of materials was lower than rolls of bubble wrap and it took less time.
Click to expand...
I just ordered these , I'm going to send my mark IV back to Mesa at some point for the "once over" and this looks like a good way to do it (along with other foam padding I've accumulated form other shipments). I have my Splawn box but the amp shell is a narrower than the mark Iv shell so i can't reuse all of that packing :(
 
kmanick said:
I just ordered these , I'm going to send my mark IV back to Mesa at some point for the "once over" and this looks like a good way to do it (along with other foam padding I've accumulated form other shipments). I have my Splawn box but the amp shell is a narrower than the mark Iv shell so i can't reuse all of that packing :(
Click to expand...
I just shipped a mark 4 using these in an oversized box and it got there 100% if that helps at all
 
kmanick said:
did you ship it in the head shell or just the chassis? and do they want to footswitch
Click to expand...
Mine went to a private seller. When I’ve sent amps back to Mesa they wanted it shipped in the headshell and I believe shipped upside down so there’s less stress on the headshell. But I would ask them. They shouldn’t need the foot switch
 
itsgoodnow said:
Mine went to a private seller. When I’ve sent amps back to Mesa they wanted it shipped in the headshell and I believe shipped upside down so there’s less stress on the headshell. But I would ask them. They shouldn’t need the foot switch
Click to expand...
Like we have control over which direction they’ll put the box in shipping. I always thought of them seeing “This way Up” as a challenge 😂
 
I ordered an amp once from GC that showed up in a box that could fit two 4x12 cabs in it and about half the space was empty in the box and the rest was full of crumbled packing paper. The shell was destroyed and the bell on the OT was dented in. While the amp powered on and worked the tone shift switch electrocuted me if I touched it and the strings at the same time. They tried to get me to pay to ship it back :ROFLMAO:
 
No packing peanuts.

I got some wall insulation board from HD that is like 2” thick and line the inside of the box before playing the head wrapped in bubble wrap inside that.

I’ve seen people ship with the power tubes in and no issue. I pull them, label location and wrap them with bubble wrap real good and stuff them in the head shell with more bubble wrap.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top