Strings - loose or tight on guitar for shipping?

Norman_T

Norman_T

New member
I have had lots of different opinons on whether guitars that are being shipped (by air) or even taken on board for short journey flights should have their strings slackened or not.

Some people have told me that you should slacken the strings off one whole tone, some to slacken the strings completely so that they are like rubber bands and others saying they should be kept in tune to retain tension on the neck. FWIW I have had guitars shipped out to me with all of the above and there has never been any problem for me. However it may well be because I live in the UK it has not caused me problems or perhaps some of the guitars are just well made.

So what are your experiences and what is really the best way?
 
Re: Strings - loose or tight on guitar for shipping?

The last two guitars I had shipped to me were the Jem and my M1; and they both were tuned to pitch when they arrived.

I've never shipped. When travelling for a gig, I never de-tune. Never had a problem yet.

But, I don't know definitively if this is good or I'm just lazy!!
 
Re: Strings - loose or tight on guitar for shipping?

ship it tuned because if you slacken the strings you could very likely mess up the action and cause the saldles to come out of place
 
Re: Strings - loose or tight on guitar for shipping?

I don't see a down side to tuning down a step.

I think the chance of a problem is worse in winter, when there are more drastic differences in temp between cold outdoors, and warm indoors.... that's what causes problems, AFIK, but I happen to live in a pretty moderate climate.
 
Re: Strings - loose or tight on guitar for shipping?

well i take my guitar on holiday to the lebanon every year, and never detune it.

i dont have any problems with it
 
Re: Strings - loose or tight on guitar for shipping?

All the guitar shops I've ever gone into have guitars hanging on the wall tuned to pitch. Some for years. If there was a problem doing this for extended period of time you would think the shops would want to protect their stock by making sure all their guitars were detuned while not in use. I don't don't know if you can damage the guitar by leaving it tuned to picth for lenghthy periods.
 
Re: Strings - loose or tight on guitar for shipping?

I'm not sure if it matters much about the pitch, but it's a good idea to put paper in between the strings and fretboard, especially if it's not shipped in a case. That'll keep a hard hit from denting the frets. The most important aspect of shipping a guitar is to make sure the headstock can't be broken, if mishandled.
 
Re: Strings - loose or tight on guitar for shipping?

I ship with the strings tuned to pitch. You should probably tune down if you expect the box to get dropped a lot, though. :laugh2:
 
Re: Strings - loose or tight on guitar for shipping?

I don't know if it made any difference, but when shipping 2 basses awhile back, I slacked all the strings. I was convinced if something fell on the neck with tense strings, it'd break.
 
Re: Strings - loose or tight on guitar for shipping?

strat_master said:
ummm club med?? lebanon is a country man
Click to expand...

yeah its where my dad comes from.

gorgeous place, hot as hell but its really nice
 
Re: Strings - loose or tight on guitar for shipping?

I always tune down a whole step for shipping, regardless of whether it actually helps or not (i feel it CAN, depending on the situation) I just feel that it´s better to take extra precaution all the time than to be looking at a broken axe even once ;)
 
Re: Strings - loose or tight on guitar for shipping?

Bludave said:
Any body who is planning on traveling with a guitar MUST READ THIS ARTICLE!!!!

http://www.acousticguitar.com/gear/advice/flying.shtml
Click to expand...
Great stuff and thanks for the article very useful. So the advice is to de-tune at least a pitch or two when shipping guitars.

BTW whenever I have had to fly I have insisted that it is carried onto the plane and off and that usually there is a special section in the airport where you have to take them and collect them. I use hiscox cases when I do this because they are built like tanks and and pad out the guitar inside the case with some of my clothes.
 
Re: Strings - loose or tight on guitar for shipping?

Like Zerb, I also prefer to tune down half a step to avoid any tension on the neck. It probably won't be so drastic to make it noticeable, but it's a precaution simple enough to take, even if not needed.
 
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