I ordered a vintage hollow body from a shop out of my home state and had it shipped to my home. I arrived in one piece and on time. Insist that the guitar be insured by the shipping company against thieft and damage. AND MAKE SURE that the shop you are purchasing from will let you return the guitar if you don't like it. Keep in mind also you will be expected to pay for the frieght charges. After paying these fees, how much money are you really saving? It's also a good idea, when purchasing any musical instrument, to try it out along with several others so you can compare. Even if they are the exact model and make, guitars have this strange quality of sounding completely different from one another. My situation was unique becuase I had played the guitar previously at a guitar show. So to answer your question, Yes if is safe to mail order a guitar. But I would rather go to a local shop and try out several so I could get one that fits my hands, plays well, has no dead spots and sounds good. It's very hard to test for those things when the guitar has to be shipped to you.