Tomorrow I have to attempt to move my Musser M500 5 octave marimba from my house to my school. It's too big to fit through door ways, of course, and I only kept the packaging and the box that the keys came in. I'm really worried I'm going to do something stupid and end up breaking something.

So does anyone have any tips, suggestions, or "things not to do" for my incredible journey I must make tomorrow? (the school is actually about 8 blocks away...)

Unless you get some sort of moving truck, it's very likely that you'll have to break it down entirely. If you have to do that, make sure you take your time and don't rush through it. Have someone help you, don't try to do it by yourself. If need be, write down what went where so you don't forget and end up with a random screw. Make sure you wrap the keys up in blankets, too. It's been a few months since I've had to put together or take down a Musser, so I don't really remember much that was trouble for us. I just remember that it took a couple people to line things up right so that it all fit together fine.

Take pictures on a digital camera before you take it apart and during the different stages of disassembly. If you could leave the frame together then you could transport that in the bed of a pickup. However you do it, take your time and don't do anything stupid. Good Luck.

When I had to move my Musser to try out for All-Region, it was very easy to move (everything folded up in half, I don't know if yours does also). However, like they said, make sure you wrap up the keys (and if possible, everything else) in blankets or towels or something soft so that you can keep them as safe as possible.

i would make sure you protect the bars. wrap them in a blakent, don't let the bars rub against each other

Not only should you write down the number of screws and bolts, but you should try to label them and write down where each specific piece goes, in which hole. That way, when you put it back together, everything is exactly as it was before.

Im not sure if your marimba is different from the Musser one at my school but when we took that apart it just sort of pulled apart. So im not sure if you need to take any screws out.

if you have to take it apart use tape to label what goes where. I did this when I moved my stereo when I was a lot younger and dident know where all the wires would go