The worst thing you can see when you get a new guitar from Fedex/UPS

[sid45]

an asteroid descending very rapidly would be bad for the guitar and also the soon to be owner...

Originally Posted by vindibona1

There is a silver lining in that cloud... I decided to buy another guitar which turned into two...which turned into 13!... and and a serious avocation (again).

I understand this. I don't know why one guitar isn't enough. But it isn't.

[ManyMartinMan]

It was in the Oakland area 12-24 hours prior to delivery. That means it was in the truck and likely warmer than the area ambient temperature so between 65 and 70. You would likely be more than fine opening immediately. I wouldn't wait in that temperature range.

Originally Posted by ManyMartinMan

It was in the Oakland area 12-24 hours prior to delivery. That means it was in the truck and likely warmer than the area ambient temperature so between 65 and 70. You would likely be more than fine opening immediately. I wouldn't wait in that temperature range.

I'm tempted. I'll pop the case quickly and see how the the air feels. If it's cold I'll shut it right away. If warm, I'm playin'. I'll see how the latches feel before that like someone suggested. It was only in Indiana for about four hours and probably in a truck and then a warehouse. I think its fine too. It's not like it came from Anchorage.

[Mr. Jelly]

Originally Posted by llew

Exactly why I have mine held at the local UPS/FedEx hubs for pickup. Then it's always on my time?

Exactly! And it's not setting by your front door all day

For cold guitar deliveries I use a thermometer probe and poke a hole with it into the box to take the temperature inside. Then you know.

This is telling of how often I have gotten guitars delivered.

[HHP]

Have a small package in transit to me now via USPS. Got the tracking number Monday and status was "in transit" and show expected delivery Thursday by 8pm.

When I checked yesterday, it was at the regional distribution annex and continued to show "Thursday by 8pm" well after I knew it wasn't being delivered.

Today, they dropped the "Thursday by 8pm" and just say "in transit" but I noticed that the last update is the same time/location as it was yesterday morning.

Now I have to wonder how long I should wait before calling to check as I know things don't just sit for 24 hours at the destination facility.

[SprintBob]

We in the south are lucky in that in most instances in the winter, a guitar will acclimate as it travels to us. My most recent NGD started in 10-30 degree temps but then spent two days in 50-60 degree temps traveling from Dallas to Jackson, MS and its last day in transit was in the 60's. Even then, I waited a couple of hours after it arrived and a tip I got off this forum is that if the outside of the case feels the same as a piece of wood furniture inside your home, you are safe to open.

[edmang]

Worst thing that happened to me was opening the case and finding the headstock snapped. Was a Gibson SG.

Looked and saw the crushed corner of the shipping box. Someone must have dropped it off the truck.

[davenumber2]

24 hours is overkill in my opinion. An hour or two to acclimate should be just fine.

[1Charlie]

Remember that during shipment from hub to hub, the guitar is in an 18-wheeler's unheated trailer, for as many as five days, coast to coast. Over mountain passes, across snowy plains. Plenty of time to get really, really cold (meaning that the wood and finish have slowly contracted that whole time).

Also appreciate that the case acts like a cooler to keep cold air trapped inside. Even if the temperature inside the box is warm enough, it might still be too cold inside the case.

I have seen far too many weather-checked guitars that did not deserve that fate. Better safe than sorry, unless you happen to like weather-checking.

[bitraker]

A shout out to UPS

I recently moved from CT to CA and had UPS pack and ship my guitars - they did a stellar job - the boxes were top notch (better than anything used by Martin or Taylor; rock-hard, threaded cardboard; I kept them they are so good) and the guitars were bubble-wrapped with no skimping on material - thanks UPS

[Von Beerhofen]

Must be pretty close to 24 hours now, oh the agony waiting for the shots.

Ludwig

[CrazyChef]

You guys are freakin' me out - I have a Taylor 150e walnut (bought via reverb.com) on a UPS truck out for delivery today...

[rsmillbern]

I got the delivery notice for my Waterloo and when I called my friend where it was delivered several hours later I got the response "... no, there was no delivery here today..."...

After 2 minutes of wondering what could have gone wrong, my friends husband told her that there was a delivery, he'd put it in another room...

Was a tense couple minutes :-)
Also a frustrating 2 week wait until I was back in the US and got to take possession.

[lowrider]

Originally Posted by llew

Exactly why I have mine held at the local UPS/FedEx hubs for pickup. Then it's always on my time?

This is a funny story because it all worked out fine and it wasn't Fedex's fault. I've shipped two bicycles in cases from NY to Naples Fl, to the same Fedex office for three years, to be picked up by me when I got there. I don't know where I got the address the other times but this year I got the address from Google. Got a delivery confirmation the day before we left, but when I got there they didn't have them. I showed the confirmation and they told me that that's not the address. Told me to try the Walgreens on the corner because they did some Fedex, nope. Finally went back to Google maps and it was the address for the maintenance yard for a golf course. The office was closed for the day but I could see the two bike cases sitting in the office. When I went back in the morning, the woman said ''I didn't know why someone would sent us two bicycles, but I thought you would show up eventually.''

Luckily she was honest but I learned to verify the address before I ship.