UPS attempts murder on Heritage Super Eagle

[Wildcat]

I had a friend who worked part-time for UPS around 1989.
He said the company was formed with exmilitary individuals. There was a clear present military mind set there. Get it done what ever it takes. More recent I met a younger individual who worked at a distribution center. He said he stood in one place for 10 hours and just heavied boxes. He said that staff and managers routinely argued and almost came to blows.
Money is decent. Keeps people there. That guy left UPS and went to a USPS distribution center. Loves it there compared to UPS.

Stunning repair but so sad that UPS has not changed their ways and the insurance you buy from them is not worth the paper it is written on. UPS is a horrible company plain and simple. Even the private UPS drop off hub owners despise UPS. Not to mention the drivers hate working for UPS. I deal with UPS deliveries daily and the drivers are never happy and always under the gun. A company rotten to the core.
Thank God for Pete Moreno !!!

[Dennis D]

I was anticipating selling ( and shipping ) one of my newer archtops last year and seeing as how we've got a local branch of Dave's Guitar, I gave them a call. I was told they use UPS exclusively. I had good luck with my Mark C shipment- - ( FedEx), so I asked about another shipper. Again the Dave's guy said they pack them and ship ten a week ( ? ) and haven't had a problem yet. So I had them inquire about UPS second day air, same as MarkC's timeframe, and yes they also offered that, and at a competitive rate as well. I'd also bought a used guitar from CME /Reverb a few years ago and they too shipped UPS overnight with no problem. That shipment included one of UPS's 'impact buttons' which would register severe impacts etc.....Not sure if that's snake oil or whatever, it was just the first time I'd seen that.
So while my sale fell through, I have to take Dave's word for it, FWIW.

Hope this helps.

[Marty Grass]

FedEx, USPS and UPS have all very occasionally done serious damage. All of them hire from the same gene pool- normal human beings under time pressure.

[JazzDaddyD]

I have had friends work at UPS. It's pretty awful work, heaving heavy boxes around all day, day after day. My friends attest that many of their fellow employees were on drugs of one kind or another, didn't give a rats ass about the boxes, and destroyed many with glee. One friend in particular had seen boxes dropped (on purpose) from 15-20', just to see what would happen. This was in a big city, the centers were very busy and usually understaffed. That's show biz-

[2bornot2bop]

Moral of the story. If you choose to ship you must pay the piper. I’ve never shipped a guitar without double boxing it. And with that you absolutely must use very dense styrofoam surrounding the case. I triple frame the interior of the top and back with double thick cardboard. That’s 4 plys of folded Amazon boxes in addition to the double boxing. The extra shipping weight is going to cost extra. And if you’re unwilling to pay that you shouldn’t ship. I’ve shipped over a hundred guitars over a seven year period. Never once did any guitar sustain any damage.

[Marty Grass]

Shipping can be expensive. The last archtop I received came from North Carolina to Michigan. The FedEx shipping charge was $182 with standard ground shipping insured. Shipping was included in the sale. The poor guy had no idea it would cost that much. Packaging it added even more to the total.

He bought the Stew-Mac packing material and used that. With that extra bulk the guitar didn't fit into a single standard FedEx box. He added a bigger box on the lower part and a standard one for the top. That made the maximum girth and the length larger.

I have had only one casualty shipping a guitar in the last few years, and it is the one in this thread. But I have learned the hard way over the years.

I agree with 2b about packing, at least on most counts. When I'm shipping a Les Paul, there's plenty of room in the box for extra padding. I still pack the area of the headstock tightly, and I mean tightly. I loosen the strings a lot and take the toggle switch off. The same is true with thin bodied guitars. Archtops and flattops are more delicate and bulky. The Super Eagle may have made safe passage with double boxing, but it is uncertain. The force that came upon the box was focused and severe enough to crush a hard shell case.

A few years back I received a great Unity archtop that was double boxed and well padded. Nonetheless the headstock was fractured in route.

The effect of the risk of negligence during shipping is significant. The cost goes up substantially. That impedes a "global market" and favors local sales on the more expensive instruments and makes the cheaper ones more attractive for anything else.

[DMgolf66]

Im not sure any of you have ever heard of it or have used it before, but recently used U-Ship for 3 guitars i grabbed at an estate sale in St. Louis (im in NJ). Its sorta like Uber. Private shippers who drive all types of packages, freight, etc. to and from exact addresses. You post a listing for what you want shipped along with a description of packaging and different shippers send you quotes. You speak directly with them and get all details of how they will be stored during transit, etc. There is insurance that be purchased as well. Anyway, may not be for some of you, but my delivery guy was super kind and professional. Actually delivered it on Thanksgiving morning. Everything was perfect. I gave him a $20 tip for delivering on Thanksgiving and just being so professional with the whole transaction. Cost was $320 from St. Louis (they picked up at the house, no need drop off anywhere) to NJ. The guitars werent even boxed, just in the case. They rode up in front of truck with him. I would use again in certsin situations.

[Marty Grass]

Great work by Pete Moreno - a genuine miracle worker. I have to agree with Jabberwocky - leaving the bridge in place was not a good idea...... I have always followed the helpful advice on packing at Archtop.com and to date haven't (thankfully) had any issues

archtop.com: shipping your guitar

I should have noted this long ago. The bridge was supported in place and secured with padding on both sides. It did not get loose. The tailpiece was also wrapped. The placard was glued to the tailpiece. Whatever happened to the case was violent enough to knock the placard off the tailpiece and have it slide out of the wrapping.

The Guild Artist Award I received was months old and said to be in new, mint condition. It was shipped without strings and with a floppy, heavy Guild gold tailpiece that was not wrapped or secured in any way. That put dents in the top. The seller offered to take it back.

[Marty Grass]

I reread this thread because someone asked how Pete Moreno filled it. He "sweated" the wood, which made it swell. He didn't add extrinsic filler.

This is an old technique that has been used for minor dings and scratches.

[Bill Eisele]

I reread this thread because someone asked how Pete Moreno filled it. He "sweated" the wood, which made it swell. He didn't add extrinsic filler.

This is an old technique that has been used for minor dings and scratches.

Mark, as we all know, Pete is the master. You are so lucky to have him very near you. I am loathe to ship guitars anymore, and particularly in standard wooden cases and cardboard boxes. I'm not sure what the best approach is anymore. I hope you are doing well.

[Marty Grass]

My son-in-law traded the Super Eagle back for an old but mint stunning flattop. We're both happy with the exchange. He plays folk and doesn't use an amp.