Posting a valve amp without taking out the tubes?

NCo

Hi everyone,

I'm reaching out for a bit of advice about selling and shipping my Marshall 2525C Silver Jubilee combo amp. Originally listed at £550 for pickup only, I've seen a lot of interest at various price points but for postage only. Even dropping it to £525 on Reverb and now £475 here on the forum, I haven't had any luck with local pickups.

It seems like postage might be my only option to reach those interested parties, but I’m quite concerned about the potential risks, especially concerning the valves. The amp has been recently serviced and re-biased, and while I understand removing the valves could prevent damage during transit, accessing the tubes isn't straightforward for me. I'm hesitant to attempt taking the back panel off and messing with the valves myself, plus it might require the amp to be re-biased again after reassembly.

Does anyone have experience or tips on safely shipping a valve amp? Particularly, is it safe to send it without removing the valves, or is that a must? Any help or courier recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks a lot!

ICBM

If at all, you only need to remove the power valves - not the preamp valves - and they won't need re-biasing once put back. Ideally, mark on them which positions they came from, although if they're a matched pair and the amp doesn't have independent bias (this one doesn't) then it doesn't really matter.

It's not absolutely essential to remove them, but it is a good idea - power valves are a bit prone to shock damage. That said, if you pack the whole amp really well, they'll be fairly well protected. To pack it really well, you actually need to allow some gentle movement inside the outer box - the big problem with shipping a heavy combo is that if dropped and it comes to rest hard, the weight of the speaker and transformers is enough to do damage through their own inertia. You're best to box it tightly, to protect the knobs, speaker grille etc, then put that box inside a larger one with at least an inch or more space between them on all sides, filled with soft packing material - bubble wrap is good, polystyrene peanuts are OK for that *only if* you've already boxed the amp itself, never put an amp itself into a box full of them.

Make sure the outer box is taped up really heavily - all joins, all corners, preferably more than one layer - you need to ensure it remains rigid and doesn't twist if dropped. Tape is cheap, amp repairs are expensive.

That said, if you're in London I'm really surprised you haven't had any interest from close enough for a delivery or collection in person.

ryanverbena

If you can afford to, and have the space, I would hold out and wait. As @ICBM said - you’re not exactly out in the sticks.

I’m in London and have had similar experiences selling gear, it always eventually sold. Especially around payday, start/end of each month.

You might get a few knobheads trying their luck, but worth putting it on FB marketplace and Gumtree as well. A fair amount of guitarists don’t even know Reverb and this site exist. 

pt22

Surely every (most?) guitar amp ships with the tubes installed. Why bother removing them for shipping? Pack well and send it off. 

NCo

ICBM said:

If at all, you only need to remove the power valves - not the preamp valves - and they won't need re-biasing once put back. Ideally, mark on them which positions they came from, although if they're a matched pair and the amp doesn't have independent bias (this one doesn't) then it doesn't really matter.

It's not absolutely essential to remove them, but it is a good idea - power valves are a bit prone to shock damage. That said, if you pack the whole amp really well, they'll be fairly well protected. To pack it really well, you actually need to allow some gentle movement inside the outer box - the big problem with shipping a heavy combo is that if dropped and it comes to rest hard, the weight of the speaker and transformers is enough to do damage through their own inertia. You're best to box it tightly, to protect the knobs, speaker grille etc, then put that box inside a larger one with at least an inch or more space between them on all sides, filled with soft packing material - bubble wrap is good, polystyrene peanuts are OK for that *only if* you've already boxed the amp itself, never put an amp itself into a box full of them.

Make sure the outer box is taped up really heavily - all joins, all corners, preferably more than one layer - you need to ensure it remains rigid and doesn't twist if dropped. Tape is cheap, amp repairs are expensive.

That said, if you're in London I'm really surprised you haven't had any interest from close enough for a delivery or collection in person.

Thank you for the detailed post. Here I was thinking that I only need to be concerned with the tubes...

Since I've never done this before, I think you're right - I'll wait it out.

ICBM

pt22 said:

Surely every (most?) guitar amp ships with the tubes installed. Why bother removing them for shipping? Pack well and send it off. 

Of course, but that’s because manufacturers and dealers treat replacing the occasional broken valve as part of the cost of doing business.

If it’s your own amp, it’s better not to.

Th4fonz

pt22 said:

Surely every (most?) guitar amp ships with the tubes installed. Why bother removing them for shipping? Pack well and send it off. 

My recent Cornell purchase was purchase brand new and the valves were seperately bubble wrapped for myself to install.

Nerine

I've never taken the valves out of any amp I've shipped. I've also never received any amps with the valves removed. I've never had any problems, personally. 

Not saying it isn't or won't be an issue, but I'd sooner they were in the sockets and potentially wrapped there than being loose in the box where they could potentially get crushed if the package was subject to a lot of inertia and the amp was to move too much.

Same with any shipping really. Take care to pack it well and the valves being in the sockets or not shouldn't be too much of an issue.

theterracat

Bought a 5e3 Rift on here from a fellow forum member in N Ireland (shipping to me in London). Was properly scared everything would be wrecked when it arrived but no. The good man did pretty much what @ICBM ;suggested, but he removed all tubes and individually wrapped the hell out of them in bubble wrap in individually labeled bits, and then taped the wrapped tubes inside to the chassis wall. That worked perfectly and it got here. Took me ages to unwrap everything but it was in perfect nick, and then I reinstalled the tubes according to his labeling scheme that he wrote on a bit of paper. Worked immediately and beautifully.

It can be done! That said, I'd agree with folks above that you should keep the faith; surely someone will come pick up your Silver Jubilee. If I had not gotten a 1987x RI last year (my current marshall sound of choice) I'd be keen at the price you have it on for. Those things sound cool. (Sorry!)