Shipping a Mixer

[avieth]

I'm thinking of buying a Mackie mixer, but I don't need the latest and greatest. So I went to eBay and there are some good deals. However, if I buy one it will have to travel from the lower USA to Canada, and probably face rough abuse on the way.

Has anyone shipped a mixer before? I've received preamps in the mail and they turned out fine, but a mixer is much more mechanical and I'm a little worried.

[Creamyapples1]

I've received them in the mail and sent them. I've only had one bad experience and it was my own dumbass fault. I put the power supply on top of a wrapped up board, all of it firmly placed in the box. I didn't have enough filler though so somewhere along the line, the power supply shifted and bent a few of the faders. Could have been worse I suppose but that was bad enough. I felt like such a dufus for it, but it was a valuable lesson.

I guess bottom line is, as long as you don't have any stray pieces in the box that aren't fastened to something securely, you should be okay. If they use as much filler (peanuts, paper, foam) as will fit in the box, there should be no worries.

[ocnor]

Mackie mixers are cheap pieces of junk. I'd be worried about it being fully functional even if it was shipped from across the street in a featherbed with a police escort.

[liv_rong]

I ordered a mixer from MF last year and they shipped it in the normal packaging, meaning they didnt put it in another box or anything. They just threw a sticker on it and sent it on its way. When I got it the box had a pretty good size hole in it on the side with the faders and knobs, and the box was all dented up and shit. I thought it was pretty stupid that they didnt put it in another box to protect. The mixer was fine though, all of the knobs survived.

[Somnium7]

When I got rid of my old Tascam MM-1 mixer I packed it with a good four inches of foam on all sides and made sure there wasn't any wiggle room at all plus wrapped the mixer in bubble wrap. I also removed the rack ears, rolled them up in bubble wrap and wedged them in between the foam sheets so they wouldn't scratch anything up or make the box tear. The guy on the receiving end reported the unit survived it's trip from Virginia to Washington state without any damage even though the box looked like it went through a meat grinder when it arrived.

It needs to be packed tight with good protection for the control surface. Avoid the foam peanuts and have solid foam sheets used instead. The thicker the better.

[Roguetitan]

Go Grayhound!

[MadHatterTCM]

Here's a little advice from a guy who actually works at a UPS hub:

First of all. it's been shipped before, it gets shipped from the manufacturer to the warehouse, to a wholesaler, to a store... if it's packed well, there won't be a problem.

Wrap it in bubble wrap a couple times over, and pack it in a box that's at least a few inches of room from the mixer on all sides, fill it with peanuts .... OVERFILL it with peanuts and pack it tight. Put it in a box and use excessive amounts of tape on every corner and every opening. Doing this alone will be fine. Not enough? Scared? put the box in a bigger box that's also filled with peanuts.

Or take it to a UPS store. (not a pack and ship etc or any of those stores). A UPS store gaurentees their packing. Just for them packing it, anything has insurance for 100 bucks for free. If a box that was packed from UPS store is damaged, and the shipper or receiver charges UPS for it, the UPS store gets it taken out of their pocket. So they pack their shit right to avoid that.

[bigtoe]

Originally Posted by ocnor

Mackie mixers are cheap pieces of junk. I'd be worried about it being fully functional even if it was shipped from across the street in a featherbed with a police escort.

i've had my original 1604 for 14 years - using it in insane environments. it still works...though it's about time ye old ribbon connector on the two bus to be replaced. it's one of the only things i own besides the hardy pres and some old postcards i'd put some stamps on and drop in the mail box.

i took shipment of a 32 channel ghost in it's original crate from Fed Ex ground. great service.

Mike

[SuperGeek]

Originally Posted by ocnor

Mackie mixers are cheap pieces of junk. I'd be worried about it being fully functional even if it was shipped from across the street in a featherbed with a police escort.

I have a 1642 VLZ still works great used every were just needed one ribbon cable to be replaced so the control room outs worked again

But no complaints at all


My 2 Watts

[ch2os7]

Originally Posted by Creamyapples1

I guess bottom line is, as long as you don't have any stray pieces in the box that aren't fastened to something securely, you should be okay. If they use as much filler (peanuts, paper, foam) as will fit in the box, there should be no worries.

Make sure everything inside the shipping box is secured so it can't move when the fed ex or ups guys toss it around because they will.
Since you aren't doing the packing, you gotta hope the seller is a "good guy" to deal with. (just in case!)accidents do happen.

I bought a resonator off ebay and the seller taped the steel bar to the inside of the box with so much packing tape that it was a pain to get to it but if he hadn't, it would have probably wrecked the guitar during shipping.

good luck

[MadHatterTCM]

Originally Posted by ch2os7

so it can't move when the fed ex or ups guys toss it around because they will.

mHmmm, it's true

[solo2racr]

be sure it is separate from the alcohol otherwise that would be bootlegging