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Hi all,

I have a Yamaha P200 in great shape, and I wanted to send it to my daughter in Houston - I don't use it much anymore and I know she'd use it regularly and enjoy it tremendously.

I no longer have the original box. I do have a heavily-padded soft case with casters and had originally thought I'd just take it as oversize baggage when I fly down to see her, but I looked into it and found that it's too large - it's over-oversize and the airline will not accept it.

Next option would be UPS or Fedex. Going by size and weight, it would cost about $90, which I'm fine with. But I'm concerned that the soft case might be a bad idea.

The keyboard is larger than most, and weighs about 66lbs, so it won't be easy to find a box that will fit. I guess I could construct a box around the case with heavy cardboard and lots of packing tape, but I'm not sure that helps much and it sure would make the thing harder to handle. Then I thought maybe I could rent a case somewhere for a few weeks, but haven't been able to find anyone that does that.

Does anyone have any experience with this? Any ideas?

Thanks much,
Larry

if it was me I would put something over the speaker grills. to keep them from getting punched in. and then probably construct a case like you said out of cardboard. And then I would probably put extra on the edges and duck tape it on there. And then mark it which side up.

just my opinion though

If you could get cardboard over the soft case, that would be good. I've bought multiple keyboards that were shipped in cardboard and *most* were fine. Most of the damage was the result of the shipper not packing the ends well. So pack those ends well! You're right that a soft case alone will do little to protect the keyboard during shipping -- UPS/FedEx may not even accept it because things like straps and zippers don't play well with their conveyor systems. They will also throw things on top of the keyboard and otherwise abuse it.

The best luck I had with cardboard-box-only shipping was with the entire keyboard wrapped multiple times in large bubble wrap, put in a box and surrounded by peanuts. Since you have a soft case, you can probably skip the bubble wrap, or use very little. I'd still do the peanuts, though. You don't want any dead space in the soft case or outer box. Put a good layer of extra padding over the keys.

Worst luck I had was with a K2000, a lightweight keyboard that should be easy to ship, but somehow nearly got destroyed. The seller had shipped in a box surrounded by chunks/blocks of styrofoam on the inside. I think it has to do mostly with who handles it, because I've seen bigger and heavier keyboards survive just fine with worst packing. I should note that the K2000 is old and the plastic is "fibrous" in that it snaps rather than having any give to it.

When I bought my Kurzweil K2600X used, the seller had custom-built a plywood box and lined the inside with multiple layers of styrofoam. Then he screwed it shut and put handles on one side and one end. The keyboard did remarkably well and was probably the best way to ship it outside of an ATA case. Better yet - UPS accepted it (though it cost about $150 total).

Hello, around 14 years ago I moved from South Jersey to Jacksonville- company was paying my relo though.

I took my Fatar Studio 900 to a UPS packing store and they shipped it and packed it PERFECTLY.
Got it the day after I got down to Jacksonville.

However it cost $250 to ship but that came out of my relocation expenses.

From what I remember they built a custom box for it.

I would construct it bubble wrapped in box within a peanut filled box, attention to the ends as mentioned-in both boxes.

Larry, I see you're from Boston. Have you thought of going to a local Boston store that sells Yamaha keyboards and simply asking them (or offering to buy) a cardboard case that would work?

I'm sure the P200 must share dimensions with another Yamaha keyboard.

... or maybe the local Yamaha store can order a new shipping case for you for a fee. Just a thought.

These are some great ideas - thanks! I will try a local Yamaha dealer and see if they have any or can get any boxes. I should also try the UPS Packaging store as the second option....outsource the problem to the pros.

I also liked the idae of constructing a wooden crate to fit the soft case, with room for some peanuts or bubble wrap between. Seems easy enough and will definitely provide a rigid case. That'll be option #3.

I'll let you know how it turns out. Thank you!

Yes -- that's what I did -- went to a local music store and got a box. In my case, a guitar box worked for a 61 key synth but in your case, it will probably take an 88 key keyboard box. I would find some styrofoam and cut it out to fit the keyboard in, and wrap the rest with bubble wrap. Keep in mind that shipping may damage they keyboard anyway as that P200 is heavy as heck (I know -- have one).

Strongly recommend ground shipping. It will be better cared for, and I'd go FedEx.