What's the best way to ship a cello overseas

Question

Hi, my cello is in storage in Wisconsin, and I am living in London. Can anyone recommend the safest way to ship a cello overseas? I would carry it on a plane but am not visiting in the near future.

Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

I've never had to ship my cello anywhere, but I do remember a friend who let the airplane cargo take his cello. It survived the trip, but needed some repairs. If you have a strong heart, the cello should be fine if you let a shipping company do its job. You might end up having to get your cello checked and fixed though.

Do you have a hard case? If so, it will provide the protection the cello needs during shipping. However, you will still need to wrap cloths and rags all the way around the cello (to cushion the cello against the sides of the hard case and prevent it from moving around during transportation). I learned this from personal experience.

You should also loosen the strings. Not all the way, but just a few notches so the tension is not that much. If you accidentally loosen the strings all the way, your bridge will fall out!

I'm sorry, but I don't know what else to tell you! I hope your cello makes it to your destination safely!

Answer 2

Contact a local theatre that houses an orchestra and try to ask someone there. If you're really nice you might get a chance to talk to the conductor/director.

They ship instruments all over the world, I'm sure.

You can also try calling a cello manufacturer and see what they have to say.

As a last resort, (obviously they have no expertise on instrument shipping) call the post office or the shipping company and see what they have to say. It couldn't hurt!

I've honestly never shipped something that fragile before, so I couldn't tell you further.

I'd say for sure though, make sure it's in a hard case. Carrying it on a plane would suck anyway, since it takes up a whole seat you'd have to buy another plane ticket.

Good luck and I hope your instrument makes it ok!