Guitar cases

[Rockfactor]

Hi all.

I'm going to need a guitar case for my MB-1 guitar so I am contemplating building one.

Anyone build there own case?

Thanks, Robbo...

[wazkelly]

Hi mate. Seriously contemplated building a case for my first build, the EX=5 as it was just a fraction too big for anything found here in OZ. The nearest may have been a Dean but Amazon wouldn't ship outside USA.

Ended up with a gig bag instead as the guitar is quite heavy and figured that I would probably over engineer the case and combined weight would need a forklift or 2 people to lift it (just kidding).

Trying to mould the foam around the shape of the guitar is one challenge but reckon you could buy a block from Clark rubber and use a hot knife to cut out the shape. Spotlight has lots of the velour stuff that many cases use and you just need to figure out how to tuck it all in nice and neat and glue it down to keep things in place. For the case 6mm ply would be the thinnest I would go as 3mm has too much flex in it, and some strips across every 300mm or 450mm to stiffen things up. A lot of cases are between 1000mm to 1200mm and one long piano style hinge would be better than 2 or 3 smaller separate ones. Aluminium edging and corners would be nice but add more weight & cost. Tolex can be bought in may places too, just can't remember where but our friend google should help. Latches and a handle are the final bits and plenty of simple to overkill options available.

Lot of time, effort and expense when there are many off the shelf hard cases from $89 and upwards. On the EX-5 I lugged it around to a few music stores to try out what they had to see if it would fit into something with no luck and maybe this would be a good idea with the MB-1 so that if you did go down the buy instead of build path you would have a clearer idea of which one to get.

You could always look at the PBG ones to see if it would fit?

https://www.pitbullguitars.com/shop/...e-guitar-case/
https://www.pitbullguitars.com/shop/...e-extra-large/

[Rockfactor]

Yeah it's a tricky one. I've picked my next kit and if I buy a case it counts towards the new kit budget, but just random ply and other stuff to build one, well, that doesn't count

I also think it would be cool to build my own case for my own hand built guitar.

I know it will probably be more trouble than it's worth but I may end up building one anyway.

I always take at least two guitars to gigs si I may end up building a case that takes two guitars and is on wheels.

We shall see.

[wazkelly]

By the time you add up all the parts required the budget may not be too far behind buying an already finished one.

A twin axe case sounds interesting? Would be big and heavy.

[corsair]

Yep; built about 5 now. All of my weirdly shaped guitars now have a custom case. The shell is dressed 2 x 1 and 4 x 1 with a 3 ply top and bottom, with an acoustic foam insert with the guitar shape cut into it and a thin sheet of foam rubber underneath. Covered the interior with a plush satin - or material of your choice - and the outside with a roll of vinyl bought off the web for pennies. Case hardware is available all over the place but I used an outfit in Brisbane whose name eludes me currently.









Be advised, though, that these are HEAVY cases, not at all light like the alloy or blown plastic ones you can get today! I'd've preferred a Gator with the movable interior blocks but that would have cost a kings ransom when I decided to build these! The internet is your friend; there are loads of case building videos about - find one you like and go nuts!

I cannot remember the total cost, but it certainly wasn't cheap and cheerful - the sheet of ply did two cases, the dressed pine was cheap as chips and the vinyl was the end of a roll; the case hardware wasn't terrifically expensive, either; but there's a good deal of satisfaction in making your own.... :-)

[Rockfactor]

Thanks Corsair.

Like Waz said it will probably end up costing more to build than buy but I like to be in the shed tinkering.

With a bit of thought I'd like to build a case that holds two guitars and when it's open, becomes a fold-out guitar rack that holds four guitars. As long as it's on wheels it should be all good.

Don't really know why, maybe I'm just a dreamer

I will have fun in the meantime though.

Robbo

[Simon Barden]

Substantial wooden cases are just so heavy. My DG Strat came with a Fender/TKL one, and it's about 3 times the weight of the guitar and is arm-wrenchingly heavy with the guitar in the case. So I got a nice light Gator case for it and the wooden one is now just stored away.

If you do make a multi-guitar stand, put a lot of thought to its design as it's easy to make a bad design where the guitars can knock against each other when you put them in the rack. I got knocks on both my really expensive guitars when I stood them in my mate's cheap folding rack stand.

[Dikkybee007]

I made a twin for a mate who was in a band a long time ago and made it out of Carbon fibre but fibre glass would be just as easy but not as cool looking but way cheaper but probably not as cheap as wood but way stronger and lighter. You just need to make a wooden mould out of any scrap and sand it fairly smooth and put some glad wrap over it so it doesn't stick and then you lay the glass over the outside and you never see the rough inside as it is covered with some sort of material. There is a paint you can use so the glass resin doesn't stick but I don't know how expensive it is and glad wrap is way cheaper or you can use Vaseline. Just make sure you put a slight taper on the sides so you can get it off or make the mould out of a number of pieces that you can pull apart to enable you to remove it. If you have anyone who can fold and weld Ally sheet that would be lighter as well and probably stronger and you can cover the ally with some sort of material and no one would be any wiser. Even Carbon fibre. If you want a retro look get some thin Ally checker plate would look really cool.The design I did was rather than a double width so they top and tail each one as I have seen I had it as a double depth so the back of each guitar was facing the other with a wall separating them and you have 2 lids so it is no bigger than a single just deeper. If you worry about the weight you can put a set of removable wheels on the side and a strap on it so it is easy to move or put a set of 2 wheels on the end with a handle on the other and wheel it around like a trolley you use to move refrigerators or large furniture or like the luggage bags people use on airplanes with 4 wheels on the end and the height would be right to just have a handle on the end. Should be stable enough if you have both guitar bodies at the bottom so all the weight is as low as possible. On the inside I actually made a wooden mould and used some of the expanding foam so I got the shape exactly and the guitar never moved as it was nice and snug. The possibilities are endless.

[fender3x]

I have been thinking about this for a weirdly shaped bass. Would love to see tips on building something light, cheap and strong.... Maybe this would be a good place for it. Also I think it would be great if there were a place for case build diaries ;-)

Sent from my ONEPLUS A3000 using Tapatalk

[Rockfactor]

My go to idea was plywood but the mention of alumium has piqued my interest.

I have access to everything needed, including labour to weld the alumium but then I had a thought.

The place that shall not be named sells aluminium tube, joiners, corners etc.

It may be possible to build a frame from these and rivet on aluminium sheets to the outside, a bit of vinyl or tolex on the outside and you have a guitar case...

Hmm, intriguing.

Edit: the connect-it system could possibly work but would be a pretty dear way to do it, but if you had no other means it might be worth it...