Posted by Tom B. on September 01, 2001 at 08:29:55:
In Reply to: Re: shipping a tuba posted by Lew on September 01, 2001 at 07:05:19:
Try Amtrak's package express service. I had David Fedderly use it to ship my horn to me and it works great. He took the horn to the station on a Friday and I picked it up in Dallas on the following Monday, so it was fast. There was no damage to the horn or case and when I picked it up I disovered that when they know something is a musical instrument they take special care of it. When I got to the station they had been storing the horn inside in a locked office seperated from all of the other packages and luggage.
I my horn was sold to me with a flight case, so of course it was used when the horn was shipped Amtrak, but I would feel fine about using them without a hard case provided that it was a box that was correctly setup. The bigger the better when shipping your tuba...it reduces the chances of being handled, tossed, stacked, and damaged.
BTW, I payed the shipping on the horn...$50. I'd say it was money well spent.