FL Time - Posted - 01/07/2025:  22:14:03

I am planning to move from east Tennessee to the Tampa, Florida area (to be near my grandkids) in early March. I have hired a professional moving company to move my furniture, etc. I have several banjos and they will just take up too much room if I try to fit them into my Nissan Rogue, as I have other stuff I intend to haul in the Nissan. I will probably put one in the car though.



Anyway, I think I should put each banjo (in a banjo case of course; just the regular banjo case, nothing fancy, heavy, thick or elaborate) into a cardboard shipping box of some kind and let the moving company haul them. The boxes I have found on line are all for guitars but banjo cases should fit equally as well. These boxes are pretty pricey. The best deal I have found so far is on Reverb where they have three boxes (a pack of 3) for $39.99. Looking for opinions and thoughts.

Joe

Edited by - FL Time on 01/07/2025 22:15:57

OK-4 - Posted - 01/07/2025:  23:02:07

You might ask your local music store if they have a box or two leftover from a recent guitar shipment. Guitar boxes can work well to fit banjo cases. Even better, maybe they have a banjo box.

Look up advice on how to pack a banjo for shipping. Don't assume your hardshell case will protect the banjo by itself. You need to fix things *within* the case: Loosen the strings, put the bridge and any other loose parts in a bag and pack so they can't rattle around and damage the instrument, put ample padding around the banjo, paying special attention to the two areas of the neck most likely to break: up by the pegboard, and down near the rim. Then, add padding to keep the hardshell case snug inside the box.

maxmax - Posted - 01/08/2025:  01:43:01

If you want to put the banjo cases in boxes, like Dave above said, ask your local music shop if they have any boxes they are going to throw out. I've done this several times and always received boxes for free. If you are lucky, they will even give you stuff to fill out the boxes with.



First, make sure your banjos are not moving around inside their cases. Stuff the cases with something soft so there is no wiggle room for the banjos inside the case. Then, make sure the top and bottom of the box is filled with something; lots of hard packed newspapers, styrofoam, whatever, so the cases are in the middle of the boxes and can't slide to one side. Then fill out the sides and everywhere else there is free space. Again, just make sure the cases are in the middle of the boxes and can't slide around in there.



But just thinking out loud here, if the moving company is going to your house to place all your stuff in a truck and then drive that truck to your new home, without moving everything out to a different truck, I'm kind of wondering if maybe just putting the banjos in their cases (still filled so they are tight and secure inside), would be enough without placing them in boxes. If you tell the movers that they are fragile, they will hopefully handle them with care. You can probably even be there to place them in the truck yourself. If they are placed in boxes, there might be more risk that one of the movers unknowingly treats them like any other heavy boxes of books, shelves or something. I don't know. A banjo case is kind of self-explanatory "fragile". These moving companies are used to handling all kinds of fragile stuff and probably don't want to get a bad reputation for destroying anyone's personal stuff. But again I don't know.



Good luck with the move either way, exciting times!

Max

Edited by - maxmax on 01/08/2025 01:57:52

mike gregory - Posted - 01/08/2025:  03:40:45

IF you're packing anything using little foam "peanuts" or similar, have the peanuts in closed bags, so you don't have to clean up thousands of those when you unpack.
Since you're moving your clothing and towels ANYWAY, why not stuff them in the banjo cases?

As has been suggested above, if the moving pros are doing it, a banjo case, with masking tape around it in a couple spots, so the latches can't pop open, is better than a random unlabeled box.

jdeluke137 - Posted - 01/08/2025:  05:07:15

If it were me I’d put a hitch on the Rogue, rent a small one way covered trailer, put some of the stuff I was going to put in the car in the trailer and put the banjos in the car. I’d never trust movers with my banjos.

FL Time - Posted - 01/08/2025:  05:52:49

quote:

---

Originally posted by mike gregory

IF you're packing anything using little foam "peanuts" or similar, have the peanuts in closed bags, so you don't have to clean up thousands of those when you unpack.

Since you're moving your clothing and towels ANYWAY, why not stuff them in the banjo cases?



As has been suggested above, if the moving pros are doing it, a banjo case, with masking tape around it in a couple spots, so the latches can't pop open, is better than a random unlabeled box.

---

Hey Mike, I understand that those little foam peanuts can actually reproduce themselves. If you see a few in one spot today, you will see many more in that same spot tomorrow.

Joe

randybartlett - Posted - 01/08/2025:  06:54:05

How many? That might be important if you want the package them as a bundle, interlocking them somehow to create a tour de force of banjo goodness.

I'm imagining one of those wardrobe boxes with all the banjos sitting vertically, supported by the case on the tailpiece side. Extra cardboard in between every case and around the outside to double up the wardrobe box.

After a tremendous amount of packing tape, I'd be labeling that box with caution tape and giant letters that say fragile musical instruments. I wouldn't put the word banjo because that might invite damage or thievery.

GS - Posted - 01/08/2025:  08:32:05

You could get the grandkids to move to east Tennessee! 

Edited by - GS on 01/08/2025 08:33:10

From Greylock to Bean Blossom - Posted - 01/08/2025:  11:43:47

Bring the banjo's with you and then come back and get the wife. But if you want to live a long life and want to be extra careful, here is a great video on packaging banjos from Warren Yates. youtube.com/watch?v=tfqT2m8Rp4I

Good luck,

Ken

FL Time - Posted - 01/08/2025:  18:58:49

Thanks for all the excellent tips. I think I will have a successful move.
Joe

Will Frady - Posted - 01/08/2025:  22:23:45

Brother you are leaving a beautiful place . East Tennessee is home to me for my whole life so I’m partial. I admire the love you have for your children and grand children . I hope you have a blessed life. I also hope you don’t get them East Tennessee blues . Safe travels. I don’t have a better idea for transporting your banjo than has already been offered. God willing we’ll make a trip to the Gulf of America in the summer . Take care .

paulhealey - Posted - 01/09/2025:  05:01:09

If you can’t get free boxes at your music store, I’ve found those Reverb boxes to be just fine for mailing a banjo. They are a bit long (as they’re design for mailing a bass if you want) so depending on how big your case is you may want to slice the four corners the long way some so the box “folds in” more so there is less open space inside it.
But I’ve bought those Reverb boxes a bunch of times and been happy with them.

FL Time - Posted - 01/09/2025:  07:09:16

quote:

---

Originally posted by Will Frady

Brother you are leaving a beautiful place . East Tennessee is home to me for my whole life so I’m partial. I admire the love you have for your children and grand children . I hope you have a blessed life. I also hope you don’t get them East Tennessee blues . Safe travels. I don’t have a better idea for transporting your banjo than has already been offered. God willing we’ll make a trip to the Gulf of America in the summer . Take care .

---

Will, east Tennessee is a beautiful place, but I am from central Florida so it will be like going home to me. I am currently out in the country (basically in the middle of nowhere) and we are over run with insects, varmints and critters. I am tired of them. Also, with my degenerative disc disease, I am no longer able to wade the streams and fly fish (which is one of the reasons I moved here). The National Park is over run with tourists and the crowds get worse every year. Often times when I would go to my favorite fishing spots, there would be people (i.e. idiots) splashing around in the stream and I could not fish. Also, it's just too darn cold here in these mountains. My best friend lives in Sarasota and I miss seeing him. And, I do miss my children and grand children. I also miss fishing off the piers in the beautiful Gulf of MEXICO. In my case, I think the pros (Florida) out weigh the cons (Tennessee). But, thanks for the well wishes.

Joe