Problems with buying a uke in winter

Fropa

Fropa

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I ordered a Mainland mahogany last week from Uke Republic and I got an email from Mike that it would ship early this week. I have been reading a lot on here about the negative affects of temperatures and humidity levels and started to wonder about how well my new uke will survive the trip through the Polar Vortex from Georgia to Wisconsin. I'm sure it will spend time in unheated trucks and on loading docks during its trip. Has anyone had problems with instruments they have had delivered in cold weather?
 
Mike would not ship it if it were not safe. He knows. Another option is to get a quicker ship time, which he can also do! There still might be time to upgrade shipping!
 
Fropa said:
I ordered a Mainland mahogany last week from Uke Republic and I got an email from Mike that it would ship early this week. I have been reading a lot on here about the negative affects of temperatures and humidity levels and started to wonder about how well my new uke will survive the trip through the Polar Vortex from Georgia to Wisconsin. I'm sure it will spend time in unheated trucks and on loading docks during its trip. Has anyone had problems with instruments they have had delivered in cold weather?
Click to expand...
I live in Alaska...
I used to live in Georgia...

So basically let the uke sit in the box for awhile before you open it. Then make sure that you let it acclimitize to your environment. Yes the uke will spend time in unheated trucks and what not, however if you are really worried, pay for the upgrade in shipping. Less time in transit is better. But cold weather isn't always gloom and doom. There are many threads out there on this topic. I would provide you links but I am on my phone and not possible.
 
Some folks like to pick it up at the shipping depot (Fed Ex & UPS let you do this). That minimizes the time in a cold delivery truck and removes the chance of it being left on your front door when it is -35 windchill (like today!!!)
 
I ordered a solid uke during the last polar vortex here in the midwest, and I definitely had some anxiety over it. I had FedEx hold it at the nearest location for pick-up -- as vanflynn mentioned above. I felt a lot better about it sitting in the store (and room temperature) than out in a delivery truck or on my doorstep. Good luck!
 
When I bought my Kala from MusicGuyMic (who I miss very much!), he shipped it from Hawaii to Upstate NY the last week of December.

He said to let the unopened box sit in my house for 24 hours before opening it. So I did.

Haven't had a lick of trouble with that instrument.

So if MGM said that was what I needed to do, and the advice worked, I'd suggest the same to you, shipping from Georgia to Wisconsin.


-Kurt​
 
vanflynn said:
Some folks like to pick it up at the shipping depot (Fed Ex & UPS let you do this). That minimizes the time in a cold delivery truck and removes the chance of it being left on your front door when it is -35 windchill (like today!!!)
Click to expand...

quick question about windchill. Would windchill effect something that is in a box? Or insulated? I do not understand windchill (I know what it means) but it is cold enough here without factoring in windchill (though it is currently 40 F).
 
Windchill is an indication of how quickly body heat is moved away from human skin, due to wind speeds. Car engines* and ukeleles don't care about wind chill. ;)

I've only ever used overnight delivery for finer instruments, and allowed them to sit at room temperature for a few hours. Solid woods and lacquer finishes are more susceptible than laminates and poly finishes.

* An engine will cool faster in the wind, but not go below the actual temperature. Humans and animals will feel colder than the actual temperature if their skin is exposed, or light clothing worn.

P.S. I have a uke scheduled to be delivered tomorrow, and the high is forecasted to be 16* farenheit. It's coming from Florida.....
 
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Yukon Cornelius said:
I live in Alaska...
I used to live in Georgia...

So basically let the uke sit in the box for awhile before you open it. Then make sure that you let it acclimitize to your environment. Yes the uke will spend time in unheated trucks and what not, however if you are really worried, pay for the upgrade in shipping. Less time in transit is better. But cold weather isn't always gloom and doom. There are many threads out there on this topic. I would provide you links but I am on my phone and not possible.
Click to expand...

What he says !! I would wait a day to acclimatize !!! Patients my fiend !~! :)
 
Windchill is an indication of how quickly body heat is moved away from human skin, due to wind speeds. Skin and wind not Ukes !!! :)
 
Thanks for the replies. My wife or I will be home when it is delivered so it won't sit on the doorstep in the cold. As much as I'm ready to start playing, I'll be patient and give it a day to acclimate to the house temps and humidity.
 
It's -8F right now(actual temp) where Fropa and I live. That's still damn cold!

Don't wear out the "update" button on the shipping tracker website!

We'll need some new uke day pics when it arrives (and warms up)
 
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vanflynn said:
It's -8F right now(actual temp) where Fropa and I live. That's still damn cold!

Don't wear out the "update" button on the shipping tracker website!

We'll need some new uke day pics when it arrives (and warms up)
Click to expand...

-8 is cold.
clicking that update button is frustrating.
 
I ordered mine on the 19th when it was in the 40's. Never occurred to me to think about the weather - and then we got that extended cold spell.

Looks like mine will miss most of the frigid weather, though. It was minus 5 degrees here in WV when it was picked up in Honolulu yesterday. It is supposed to get to me tomorrow when it is forecast to be a balmy 34 degrees.
 
We've had a couple cold spells across the country. I don't recall anyone (including me) talking about any uke damage (from cold) this year.
So, I guess the advice folks have previously mentioned must be working.

See if I can summarize

1. Keep it out of the cold, if you can.
2. Minimize the transit time, if you can.
3. (the most important) If it arrives cold, let it sit for about a day in the box.
 
Atlanta has been in gridlock yesterday and today. I hope Mike is okay. I'm wondering if the wacky winter weather down here will affect the ship date.
 
Doc_J said:
We've had a couple cold spells across the country. I don't recall anyone (including me) talking about any uke damage (from cold) this year.
So, I guess the advice folks have previously mentioned must be working.
Click to expand...

I didn't really feel a need to chime in until I read this, but I have had what we believe to be cold-related shipping damage on a uke. It got delayed a day, due to the last east coast storm a week or so ago, so it likely sat in a cold truck somewhere for 24 hours during a polar vortex. Of course, there is really no way though to know for sure if that is what caused the damage. Yes, I did let it come to room temperature in the packing, and it was in a good, fairly insulated case in addition to a box and packing material. I'll just add that I have shipped, and had shipped to me, five guitars/ukes, with terrible timing in the past month or so. All went through one of those below zero cold snaps. Of the five, only this one was damaged. I am still feeling heartbroken from it, as I totally love that uke, and it will have to be sent back. So my personal plan from now on is to not ship and not request shipping in winter on any wooden instruments when the temps are predicted to be in the teens and below or storms are brewing that might more likely cause a delay.
Still sad,
Jamie
 
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JamieWG said:
I didn't really feel a need to chime in until I read this, but I have had what we believe to be cold-related shipping damage on a uke. It got delayed a day, due to the last east coast storm a week or so ago, so it likely sat in a cold truck somewhere for 24 hours during a polar vortex. Of course, there is really no way though to know for sure if that is what caused the damage.
Click to expand...

What was the nature of the damage?
 
RichM said:
What was the nature of the damage?
Click to expand...

The damage is what appears to be multiple hairline cracks on front and back that run parallel to the grain, plus a corner of the bridge coming up just a very tiny bit. Two of the cracks go through the finish, and two appear to be under the finish. Disclaimer: I am not an expert, so I can only describe what I see, and not diagnose why they happened, or if they are in fact cracks through the wood.
 
ksiegel said:
When I bought my Kala from MusicGuyMic (who I miss very much!), he shipped it from Hawaii to Upstate NY the last week of December.

He said to let the unopened box sit in my house for 24 hours before opening it. So I did.

Haven't had a lick of trouble with that instrument.

So if MGM said that was what I needed to do, and the advice worked, I'd suggest the same to you, shipping from Georgia to Wisconsin.


-Kurt​
Click to expand...

That's what I do too. Let the box acclimate before you open it. Everything will be fine with the shipping.
I live in Illinois so I make sure I have a humidifier in every case and check them regularly.
 
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