shipping over seas

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shipping over seas

Pyronauts Joined: Feb 27, 2006 Posts: 1172 Northern CA	Posted on Aug 06 2008 11:07 AM Hey everybody, Anybody ever shipped an amp to the UK from the USA? Wondering what the best way to do this may be. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Paul Top
WR Joined: Feb 27, 2006 Posts: 3832 netherlands	Posted on Aug 06 2008 01:07 PM What kind of amp, and why? form what I understand, it's common to ship the chassis and the cab separately, to stay under weight maximums for standard parcel shipping. ends up being cheaper than one overweight package. HBKahuna should chime in, he shipped that gorgeous showman to Italuy not too long ago if I remeber correctly. Dario has shipped to Europe as well. — Rules to live by #314: "When in Italy, if the menu says something's grilled, don't assume it is." https://www.facebook.com/The-Malbehavers-286429584796173/ Top
estreet Joined: Mar 17, 2007 Posts: 839 United Kingdom	Posted on Aug 06 2008 01:08 PM Well, the only amp I ever imported from the USA was my Crate Powerblock - which is pretty small and not particularly heavy or delicate. Nonetheless, by the time I'd paid the carriage, the V.A.T and the charge that the post office makes for collecting the other charges, it cost nearly double it's original price. At least it had a switch-mode power supply so there was no cost to convert the voltage. Now, if you were talking about importing something with valves and speakers that was built to run at a different voltage, it certainly wouldn't be financially worthwhile unless it was particularly rare or if maybe it's of sentimental value. A friend of mine shipped one and I do know he removed all the valves and packed them seperately. It cost a lot of money to send. The tax thing is weird here - you don't always have to pay it. I think that as a rough rule of thumb, if it's sent by USPS, then they interface with the Post Office here and you always get charged. However, stuff sent by Fed Ex seems to be often immune to the VAT. I had a guitar delivered the other day that there was nothing to pay on, and that came by FedEx. Not sure if it always works that way tho. By contrast, I had a cheap pedal delivered from USPS - the tax was only 4 dollars but the post office charged 16$ to collect the 4$. Grrr!! — http://www.myspace.com/thepashuns Youth and enthusiasm are no match for age and treachery. Top
D22 Joined: Apr 20, 2006 Posts: 2056	Posted on Aug 07 2008 11:28 AM Paul, Use plenty of 1.5-2 inch foam (you can buy it in sheets at Home Depot) all around and remove all tubes and ship them separately. I also recommend using 3M's Hi-Strength 90 adhesive spray on the cardboard box panels/flaps. You may not even need tape to seal the box when the adhesive has finally cured-it's that good as a bond. I've shipped a bunch of amps to Europe and overseas and they all have arrived in great condition via this method. I recommend using USPS for shipping and insure the heck out of it. USPS Air Mail Priority has good rates and they pretty much get there in 6-10 business days. Gluck, Dario — Top

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