In my experience, the keyboard ends see the most force and are more prone to damage as a result of the synth's weight focused on one end during a conveyor belt drop or what have you. With that, after bubble wrapping the board as shown and instead of filling the empty space in the box with random chunks, you want to bubble wrap the ends with about a 10" overlap on the face sides which increases both the width and height of the wrapped board, making it look like a dumbbell or Q-Tip. You want to keep wrapping the ends until the wrapped thickness or keyboard height makes for a snug fit, both in length and thickness, on each end of the box. This both centers the board and makes it absolutely immobile within the box. Most importantly though, it adds a solid 6" or so dense bubble wrap cushion at both ends which is absolutely necessary for heavy synths.
That is a great suggestion, like building up and filling in the space the original, molded foam inserts new units ship with would do. Solid advice, thanks!
can't believe there was actually a video for this. Thank you! It was very detailed. Now I am off to dumpster dive. Thanks again for the instructional video!
I had an 88 key Yamaha S80 sent across country from California, the ample bubble wrap saved it because the shear weight and bulk had it busting out of its box by the time I received it. I was happy that they had wound the big bubble round and round up and down also around end to end with lots of strong packing tape. The S80 is a very heavy keyboard, the only other option would have been a wood crate but fortunately mine survived without incident. UPS did pretty well, I’ve worked at UPS so I know how unruly heavy items can be when loading. Heavy items easily bust through cardboard so keep that in mind.. Thoroughly wrapped with heavy multilayer big bubble wrap saved the day in my case.
Thanks Syntaur. I'm selling off all of my vintage gear that I've used and collected over the years, starting back in 1977. I've always feared the "packing and shipping" process of selling. After seeing this video, (and others), I am very confident that I will pack a keyboard most safely! Thanks for the instructional video!
bubble wrap is key, not just for physical damage of the case, but shock absorption for internal components.. also if you cut your box to fit, its not hard to tape reinforcement cardboard on the sides for extra protection on the corners.
Note to self: Syntaur does not double box, and does not water seal the single box, also heavily bubble wraps, and don't secure the keyboard so it doesn't travel in the box. Also, the keyboard might get crushed if too heavy a weight on top, like me sitting on the box... Guys, you can do better than this!
tip from my old site faq. it's pointless to bubble all around. Save material and emulate factory pack job by taping more around ends. IF there's extra? hehe ...no put 4" on each END(ie. box length = 8" over key length brotha.) That'll make it so corner hits don't ever damage. What you did there can still stress corners when the knucklehead package chucker throws it over other boxes and CRASH. I get those guys often..learned the hard way. If it has sliders...oh just read my old pack faq ... keep it all away so side drop doesn't pull sliders sideways! Middle material does no good if you have a thick box. if a fork lift hits it..padding won't stop forks :-)
great! i'd also usually mark the box with, BOTTOM / TOP as well as REAR / FRONT and last but not least, "F R A G I L E - H A N D L E - W I T H - C A R E - P L E A S E /! " labels (or merely using a marker pen just writing them down if i don't have labels) so myself, the shipper driver and the final receiver know which side of the box they should place on the ground or a table first in order to open the box from the correct side!
found something better than taping the bubble wrap -- movers stretch wrap, its amazing and hold without tape, preserving the bubble wrap and quicker than taping ... the small green stretch wrap from home depot works well
brilliant I've been looking for how to pack a (heavy) keyboard for ages. I've shipped keyboards before on ebay but they were all inexpensive & many had mini keys & were also light. I would use big pieces of polystyrene got for free or blocks of cardboard which I made myself to fill empty spaces in the box.
When I bought an Aelita from Ukraine, it came in it's original bulky smelly case and was wrapped in styrofoam and taped up with those white bags you often see used on farms for manure or something. It very much resembled a dead body of a child. What was a functional, good condition synth had few of its keys damaged, like each broken in multiple pieces, in the shipping process.
I've considered selling my Classic Motif, but it's so darn heavy, I think it probably needs a wooden crate. Or a very heavy duty box. But since, I've decided to fix it.
Agree with everything except cut the box. If you make sure it doesn't lose structural protection (making it a new box with no weak corners or sides), it will help the synth not sliding around. I also recommend something to press down on springloaded keys, because they can shake loose in transport without rough handling and leave metal parts loose inside. Then we have the guys who don't do their job but play football with the packages. No amount of packaging works against that. No pity at all for them. They should be fired on the spot, fined the value of the package, and banned from handling packages for five years.
Simply wrapping it in a few layers of bubble wrap and putting it in a box is a poor way of protecting it - knobs and switches can and will get damaged this way.
to much time and to much material used. best use bubble bags. put it in bag use two bag. and put it in box. less time less money and opening box very smooth. or best thermocol. make 4 corner of it and slide it in box. one inch thick thermacal use.
Thanks for the instructional video. Just an opinion here, adding the muzak to the video wastes your time. No one likes it, as it's truly annoying. I muted the video, and only stayed long enough to type this. It also makes it much more difficult to hear the speaker.
Horrible packing. Box too big, and you used those inflato bags. In hot climates such as Texas, those pop due to heat expansion and end up deflated for temperature or for keyboard weight being too heavy for their rating. Only way is tight bubble and exact tight fit box dims, or exact cut medium soft foam. Not hard styro, or soft sponge, but medium dense foam.
Thats just alot of bubble wrapping and perhaps material wastage. Bubble wrap cost alot in my country and all that could have amounted to $10 additional cost. NO No no!!!
In my experience, the keyboard ends see the most force and are more prone to damage as a result of the synth's weight focused on one end during a conveyor belt drop or what have you. With that, after bubble wrapping the board as shown and instead of filling the empty space in the box with random chunks, you want to bubble wrap the ends with about a 10" overlap on the face sides which increases both the width and height of the wrapped board, making it look like a dumbbell or Q-Tip. You want to keep wrapping the ends until the wrapped thickness or keyboard height makes for a snug fit, both in length and thickness, on each end of the box. This both centers the board and makes it absolutely immobile within the box. Most importantly though, it adds a solid 6" or so dense bubble wrap cushion at both ends which is absolutely necessary for heavy synths.
Thank you for this
That is a great suggestion, like building up and filling in the space the original, molded foam inserts new units ship with would do. Solid advice, thanks!
can't believe there was actually a video for this. Thank you! It was very detailed. Now I am off to dumpster dive. Thanks again for the instructional video!
I had an 88 key Yamaha S80 sent across country from California, the ample bubble wrap saved it because the shear weight and bulk had it busting out of its box by the time I received it. I was happy that they had wound the big bubble round and round up and down also around end to end with lots of strong packing tape. The S80 is a very heavy keyboard, the only other option would have been a wood crate but fortunately mine survived without incident. UPS did pretty well, I’ve worked at UPS so I know how unruly heavy items can be when loading. Heavy items easily bust through cardboard so keep that in mind.. Thoroughly wrapped with heavy multilayer big bubble wrap saved the day in my case.
Thanks Syntaur. I'm selling off all of my vintage gear that I've used and collected over the years, starting back in 1977. I've always feared the "packing and shipping" process of selling. After seeing this video, (and others), I am very confident that I will pack a keyboard most safely! Thanks for the instructional video!
bubble wrap is key, not just for physical damage of the case, but shock absorption for internal components.. also if you cut your box to fit, its not hard to tape reinforcement cardboard on the sides for extra protection on the corners.
Note to self: Syntaur does not double box, and does not water seal the single box, also heavily bubble wraps, and don't secure the keyboard so it doesn't travel in the box. Also, the keyboard might get crushed if too heavy a weight on top, like me sitting on the box... Guys, you can do better than this!
PEOPLE, PLEASE USE STYROFOAM OR KAIZEN FOAM!!!!
BUBBLE WRAP WILL NOT ABSORB SHOCK WHEN HEAVY KEYBOARDS ARE DROPPED (AND THEY PROBABLY WILL BE)
i mean as long as the seller packs the rest of the item with something surrounding the actual keyboard from the bubble warp then its going to be safe.
tip from my old site faq. it's pointless to bubble all around. Save material and emulate factory pack job by taping more around ends. IF there's extra? hehe ...no put 4" on each END(ie. box length = 8" over key length brotha.) That'll make it so corner hits don't ever damage. What you did there can still stress corners when the knucklehead package chucker throws it over other boxes and CRASH. I get those guys often..learned the hard way. If it has sliders...oh just read my old pack faq ... keep it all away so side drop doesn't pull sliders sideways!
Middle material does no good if you have a thick box. if a fork lift hits it..padding won't stop forks :-)
great!
i'd also usually mark the box with, BOTTOM / TOP as well as REAR / FRONT and last but not least, "F R A G I L E - H A N D L E - W I T H - C A R E - P L E A S E /! " labels (or merely using a marker pen just writing them down if i don't have labels) so myself, the shipper driver and the final receiver know which side of the box they should place on the ground or a table first in order to open the box from the correct side!
found something better than taping the bubble wrap -- movers stretch wrap, its amazing and hold without tape, preserving the bubble wrap and quicker than taping ... the small green stretch wrap from home depot works well
If someone expects shipping included AND a very cheap overall price, he can't necessarily expect packaging like this. ;)
You would not want to ship a keyboard that heavy with minimal packing it would definitely get damaged.
Excellent video!! Thanks so much Sam!!! God bless you guys!!
Great explanation of dimensional weight. Thank you.
brilliant I've been looking for how to pack a (heavy) keyboard for ages. I've shipped keyboards before on ebay but they were all inexpensive & many had mini keys & were also light. I would use big pieces of polystyrene got for free or blocks of cardboard which I made myself to fill empty spaces in the box.
Very useful videos. Thank you
Nice work fellas!
When I bought an Aelita from Ukraine, it came in it's original bulky smelly case and was wrapped in styrofoam and taped up with those white bags you often see used on farms for manure or something. It very much resembled a dead body of a child. What was a functional, good condition synth had few of its keys damaged, like each broken in multiple pieces, in the shipping process.
Very useful, thanks.
I also love your website/service... I feel I can buy any cheap vintage synth I find thinking 'Syntaur has got my back'.
“Pimp my Synth”
great JOB! thank you
Hey guys! I really love your videos! Good tips on the keyboard packing too! Keep it up!
So a double boxing, isn't necessary?
Im about to pack a keyboard but im going to pack some foam stip under the keys so they don't get pushed down in transit is the box get knocked
Very helpful. Thanks!
Nice tape dispenser.
Thanks for the video. Who do you use to ship? USPS calculator for a YPG-625 says the item is too big to mail. UPS?
I've considered selling my Classic Motif, but it's so darn heavy, I think it probably needs a wooden crate. Or a very heavy duty box. But since, I've decided to fix it.
Awesome tip, thank you! I need to go dumpsters diving now!
What do you do if it’s a heavy electric piano? I have a Roland DP990F that I need to ship.
I sent you two wrapped in Tyvek last year and still feel dumb about it!
Agree with everything except cut the box. If you make sure it doesn't lose structural protection (making it a new box with no weak corners or sides), it will help the synth not sliding around. I also recommend something to press down on springloaded keys, because they can shake loose in transport without rough handling and leave metal parts loose inside.
Then we have the guys who don't do their job but play football with the packages. No amount of packaging works against that. No pity at all for them. They should be fired on the spot, fined the value of the package, and banned from handling packages for five years.
Thanks for the video
Would you wrap a 86 key piano the same way?
Love your videos!
Ahhh, the venerable TS-10... Do you know any shops in California who would be able to replace the parameter/value knobs on a ZR?
There is a listing of service centers on our website: syntaur.com/service_centers.html . Hopefully one of them can help you out!
Thanks
I save styrofoam pieces and cut them to secure the ends when I ship keyboards.
How do you shop for keyboards or parts?
Its a shame bubble wrap costs as much as a synth
Simply wrapping it in a few layers of bubble wrap and putting it in a box is a poor way of protecting it - knobs and switches can and will get damaged this way.
to much time and to much material used. best use bubble bags. put it in bag use two bag. and put it in box. less time less money and opening box very smooth. or best thermocol. make 4 corner of it and slide it in box. one inch thick thermacal use.
Thanks for the instructional video. Just an opinion here, adding the muzak to the video wastes your time. No one likes it, as it's truly annoying. I muted the video, and only stayed long enough to type this. It also makes it much more difficult to hear the speaker.
Horrible packing. Box too big, and you used those inflato bags. In hot climates such as Texas, those pop due to heat expansion and end up deflated for temperature or for keyboard weight being too heavy for their rating. Only way is tight bubble and exact tight fit box dims, or exact cut medium soft foam. Not hard styro, or soft sponge, but medium dense foam.
Thats just alot of bubble wrapping and perhaps material wastage. Bubble wrap cost alot in my country and all that could have amounted to $10 additional cost. NO No no!!!
Goof job! :-)
I recommend Woodglut to every beginner and not only.
This time I will use Woodglut plans for this.