Moving to USA.... help transporting my stuff?

[The Beatsmith]

Hi guys

I'm 'worried' about how to get my stuff to america. I'll be working there for a year, but have accepted the fact that i'll have to leave behind my leaving behind my turntable, event tr8 monitors (and stands), keyboard, tft screen, and other stuff. But i do wanna take:

The rack stuff:

- My mac - 6U when rackmounted (i intend to put it in a marathon rack)
- A 4U rackmounted pci expansion chassis, with UAD's in it, and room to expand.... (just about to purchase this...)
- A 2U Synth
- A 1U Mic Preamp

So like a 14U case or something? The other stuff which would be in a box:

- Mackie Control (in it's box, pretty light)
- Mixer: Again, small, probably go in a suitcase

I can carry on my laptop, mic, MPD, audio interface, and a load of wires etc. I'll probably take the HD's out of the computer and carry them with me in my backpack.

But... how on earth do you get your stuff over there safely? I have searched the forums and looked at the shockmounted cases - they are really expensive though. I don't really want to sell my stuff and re-buy it again in america - similarly i don't really want to pay £xxxx on a shockmounted rack case when i could buy the gear i'm taking for nearly the same cost. I'll take the stuff over there, and i planned to just keep it in the rack while using it. Then a year later, i'll come back, and ship it back (might have a couple more new toys though!).

I'm worried about who ever carries it across dropping my computer/magma and ****ing it up. So... uh.. two questions ahem - a) how do you take rack mount stuff - an expensive rackmount shock proof case? and b) do you have to go through a specific company to ensure everything is safe? i don't really have THAT much stuff, it could all go in one 14U case (apart from the mackie control...?).

I'll stop rambling now. Any help appreciated, thanks for reading this crap

Cheers again

Edd

[Tim Farrant]

There are companies who specialize in moving this sort of thing, people are travelling with this sort of gear all the time, but, you will need the shockmount racks unless you can pack back into the original cartons. You can always sell them later when you have finished with them. And I would suggest 2 smaller lighter racks rather than 1 big heavy one, they will get less bad treatment if the cases are not too heavy.

Tim

[lucey]

freight forwarders like Rock It cargo exist for gear transpoprt, good but not cheap.


Where are you now? What are the shippers there? I'd probably just double box everything in single units and go with FedEx/UPS.

[The Beatsmith]

hi guys, thanks for your replies - i forgot to add that i'm from the UK!

unfortunately the only thing i have the box for is the 1U mic preamp and the mackie control, and the (small) mixer.

i wonder if i can get an old g3/g4 box from somewhere.

i wonder what prices UPS would charge to send all that stuff.. probably pretty steep.

i'm still researching... not going that soon, so any advice would be appreciated

thanks!

eddie

[Remoteness]

Eddie,

I also believe you should FedEx the stuff to the States. And, it may not be necessary for you to leave behind your turntable, Event monitors and other stuff. Well, maybe you should leave the stands behind.

Pack your Mac but wait until you’re in the US to rack mount it. For that matter, anything that you want to do extra to your setup can wait until you’re here. Pack everything individually and wait for the sexy racks and such. Why pay for the extra weight?

IMO, don’t bother with shock mounted cases -- They cost a bundle, they weigh a ton and you will not need them when you get here. Right? If you travel a lot and specifically needed the gear for location recording that’s one thing. If you need your stuff shipped here safely, transport it via FedEx or another efficient transporter.

Like it has been suggested, there are folks who specialize in moving sensitive equipment worldwide. Some do it better than others. But, do you really need this kind of service?

Since you don’t have most of the original packaging and boxes look into picking some up from your local retailer or a friend’s studio. They may have them stored away somewhere. If that’s not possible, consider buying heavy duty cartons and a lot of bubble wrap and such. Make sure you pack the equipment in a sturdy box then take another larger box, fill it with foam or more bubble wrap and place the boxed device into it. You MUST double box the equipment with plenty of cushion in between. Nothing less than that will work for you! Even if you have the original boxes, I still would double box them. Better safe than sorry. Keep in mind, it will still be cheaper than buying and shipping shock mounted road cases.

UPS is Ok but, I would go with FedEx. Their prices maybe steep but, the vertical rise in economics will not be as great as shipping heavy duty shock mounted road cases across the pond!

[deepwater]

Sell it all in the UK and with the currency exchange you can buy all new stuff here

[forsooth]

Eddie, with regard to the old G3 or G4 boxes talk to someone in the graphics dept. of your local technical college.

I'm an ex-graphics teacher and we would get shipments on computers every year and our techie used to stack the empty boxes and keep them till the next computer shipment came in. I've gotten boxes from her often when I need to sell something on ebay etc.

I'm sure you can find something there.

Also equipment is cheaper here than the UK. I'm from the UK and I couldn't afford the gear I have now if I still lived there!

Good luck thumbsup

forsooth

[The Beatsmith]

hi guys!

thanks for the great advice. Remoteness - thanks for the detailed message, i'll look into what you've mentioned.

Forsooth, it's funny i actually work for a university! I will definately try them, they all use macs in my department (physics and comp sci). No idea why i didn't think of that earlier.

Re selling my stuff: that's what my brain says - but i've grown too attached to it all to sell it! I thought the screen could be re-bought, monitors (my current monitors are so cheap over in the USA), eventually i guess. They are kinda impersonal... but the computer i've invested so much time/effort/cash into it over the years, i don't wanna part with it! i guess i could sell my monitors when it comes to time to leave.

Remoteness: why did you think i'd not have to leave stuff behing, like the monitors etc? Would it be 'not much more expensive' to ship that stuff too? The main reason behind leaving them and the turntable is the weight, and the tft's box is kinda bulky (albeit pretty damn light).

One thing's for sure, i plan to buy a couple of guitars when i'm out there

This site is brilliant, thanks for the advice from guys who know what they're talking about

Eddie

[Remoteness]

Eddie,

The money you could save by NOT buying and shipping heavy road cases would be one of the reasons why you need not leave anything behind. The second reason: You would be up and running the moment you got all your stuff this side of the pond. Everything will be exactly as it was before…

I believe you will know best -- what you should leave behind; what you should bring. Economics may drive this endeavor but, maybe sentimental value about that special scratch you put into one of those items can be cherished. Sounds corny, right? .