Thread: Guitar Cases

i havent, but i want to see someone who has as i've been meaning to.

A while ago I saw a site on the net where someone had made his own bass case. I can't find it now unfortunately. From memory the case was rectangular wood, with a few shaped pieces inside to cradle the guitar - a bit like the standard black vinyl covered wood ones that are around. The major difference was the outside appearance because it was hardwood. From memory the corners were dovetailed, with some metal corners for protection. It looked nice.

Peter

Yeah, that was my thought, or a nice tweed-like fabric.
Just seems like the complete finishing touch for these works of art people are making. We learn all these skills and tecniques for making guitars, we should probably go the last yard and make a designer case. The whole package.

There was a tutorial on PG a few years back, i will see if i can dig it up.

I made a plywood case for the 9 string to ship it to the US. I didn't cover it with carpet or any plush either, just left it natural and stuck foam on the inside and wrapped the bass with bubble wrap. The owner of the 9 is currently converting it to a normal case. He bought tolex for it.

It's made with 9mm plywood and 14mm Tassie Oak bought and cut at Bunnings. I was pretty happy to be able to find all the hinges, locks and hardware there too.

This is the way I did it, I glued and brad nailed the Oak sides on one of the plywood panels and nailed/glued the top panel on top of that, pretty much making an enclosed box. I trimmed the sides and rounded them over with a router then used a table saw to cut the case open in its thickness by slicing all 4 sides.

RGM, the tutorial thread was made by Garehanman if you want to look for it.

Damn thats a smokin Bass!
I think you're onto the right idea phil. I had thought of ply with ribbed re-enforcing, possibly domed a little like an accoustic back, to give it strength, wouldn't have to be much.

Mozart once performed one of his new pieces to a member of the European royalty. having played the piece Mozart enquired as to what the monarch thought of the piece...to which he replied...."too many notes".

Originally Posted by kiwigeo

Mozart once performed one of his new pieces to a member of the European royalty. having played the piece Mozart enquired as to what the monarch thought of the piece...to which he replied...."too many notes".

Hehe....good one Kiwi .

I think weight is a major consideration with building your own case. How heavy was the plywood/tas oak job Phil? Looks nice and functional.

It would be nice to "go to town" on one and really build a feature case but I think plywood is a must due to the weight factor.........tolex covering is a good suggestion.......or how about a sunburst paint job

I'd say the case was bout 4-5kg.The bass was 5.5kg and the total shipping weight of the package was 11kg (includes shipping cardboard box + styrofoam). It's really just a slightly longer version of every plywood case you find in music shops for abot $100 (minus the tolex and plush) so it wouldn't be any heavier than one of those.

I've tought of finishing it with some lacquer but really, since it's going to be banged up pretty often, there's no point (know anyone that's careful with a carrying case? )

If I sell more unconventional instruments that don't fit in a normal case, I'll make them a whole case next time with either speaker carpet or tolex as covering. It was easier and cheaper to build than I thought it would originally.

Hi,

I built all my own road cases when I was heavily into giging. I posted some pics of my guitar case. Makeing cases out of roadcase hardware is too easy. The outer frame you buy the aluminium in lengths of 4m, and just cut to length with 45deg joints. The corners, hinges and latches are pop rivited on. The large surfaces within the frame are typically 10mm ply, but you can use other materials I used 2mm sheet aluminimum to keep it light and durable. You can cober the py in anything you like. I made on for a mate and covered it in vinyl and looked a million bucks with the silver frame.

I lined it all myself with foam rubber and velvet. Why the tiger print? Why have plain when you can have tiger print?

Cheers,

Peter

I'd love to know where you found the plush, foam and aluminium

The case looks amazing. How much did that set you back?

Great job Peter, that looks awesome! Very inspirational

Originally Posted by Phil Mailloux

I'd love to know where you found the plush, foam and aluminium

The case looks amazing. How much did that set you back?

I got the road case hardware from Cliff Electronics http://www.cliff.com.au/

Foam rubber was from Clarks rubber. Could probably get it cheaper wholesale.

Velvet was from Spotlight (heaps of selection)

Hope this helps,

Peter

This Is a case I made a few years back that has served well a bit banged around now but held up well
Built from 19mm KD with 6mm ply ,internal is layers of foam rubber covered in a felt type material.



Cheers Mark