How To Make A Guitar Case 

13.30..balancing the case with the guitar inside in order to get a balanced handle..nothing is overlooked in this shop! Great work!

This is an excellent tutorial for something that is rarely covered by others. Very nice job. It might be the definitive tutorial for folks going forward.

I built an electric octave mandolin about 5 years ago. Yeah, it needed a sturdy case, so I looked up on Utube to see what other folks were doing. I went to the lumber supply & the fabric store at the mall and the sweet little lady running her shift in the cloth department saw that I was about to make her day by doing something cooler than her normal customers would be doing and bent over backwards to help me out. The mando is called the Blue Rose, and when I showed her the mando and case, it must have knocked her socks off. She came to want to help me like I was her long lost cousin. Anyway, she gave me tips on cutting the fabric and tips of the kind of folds & of adhesive to use to get it to stick for the life of the case, which, I hope, will be 100 years after I'm long taking my dirt nap. The hardware is first quality all around and the instrument could be dropped from the Empire State building with no damage.... That's good enough for me and those that come after. The whole thing weighs around 25 pounds. Around as much as your Teley or Strat in a decent custom case. Life is good. Bob

The Duratex is a great choice for quick finish that looks good too.

Holy smokes! Awesome idea! So many “how-to” videos on building guitars, but this is literally the first I have personally seen on building a custom case. Great work!

Best video I’ve seen on case building. Well done. Looks Brilliant

Great tutorial, as with all of your videos, immaculately explained and fantastic end result, keep up the great work Chris 👍

Beautiful case for a beautiful guitar. Well done. Wish I had the tools and talent to do this for my guitar.

Great job…. The case balance tip is brilliant.

Wow you made that look so easy...and built an awesome guitar CASE. Thanks for the tutorial and my next woodworkng project!

Looks amazing!

Excellent!!! Best custom case build ive ever seen!!!

Thank you so much for this demo! Nice results 😎🎸🪐

Nice work! I never thought of using a coating instead of a fabric covering.

one of the first guitar case building videos ive ever seen nice job dude

When you opened the case to reveal the guitar inside the case, while drilling the pilot holes for the latches, I realized you were now just showing off. Jokes aside, absolute banger of a video. So glad I found your content.

You’re videos are always well timed for my needs. Thanks in advance!

Beautiful results and helpful tips on making a Custom Guitar Case. Thanks

Excellent video! I have something of a case fetish and have made cases over the years for instruments, tools, hobbies, etc. There are some great tips here I will definitely try!

Of everything I've researched on the Web about building cases for musical instruments, this was - by far - the simplest video to understand. It is encouraging to see videos of this type, detailed, concise and very enlightening in this area, without having to take the crap of the “quick video” that prevents a clear perception of the needs and solutions for this type of personalized construction. I'm grateful, Highline Guitars. Best Regards. Macedo Pinto Portugal

Great job, thanks for sharing the process.

I had no idea it was that straight forward. I was literally looking at websites for either bass or XL guitar cases for my current baritone project. They were either way to big or JUST too short. This is such a good answer to the problem!!!

That is amazing! You thought of everything.

Great build, Chris. It's a great design and not too difficult for most DIYers to make. I like the idea of the roll-on finish instead of covering with vinyl or Tolex. I believe that is the same or similar product that Peavey used (or still uses) on their cabinets. Back in the day I had some SP-3s that had a rubberized coating like that.

Excellent video sir. This is the most useful thing I’ve seen on RU-vid in months. Thank you!

Great video! Very helpful and informative. Now off to make two of these for my basses.

Wow!! Talk about attention to detail. Even strategic placement of the handle for balance. Very well done without making it complicated. Thank you for sharing!

Thank you for the video! I'm thinking about making a case for my keyboard, so this helps a lot! Very beautiful and professional looking case!

Always wanted to see somebody do this. Great Job.

Thinking of building one myself thanks for the tips.

That is outstanding. I have never seen one of those built. Simply beautiful. Phenomenal work.

Very informative. Need to make a custom case for my custom guitar. This was perfect.

This is one of the best DIY custom guitar case videos I've watched on YT. This is so cool... 👌👍🙌

Love it. Restoring one right now

Been looking for a good guitar case building video. Keep putting out great content like this my friend 👍

I don't think I've ever seen a case constructed. That was actually very cool and informative.

Fantastic Video, covering every aspect of Case construction ! 😊🥰 Well done, thanks ! 👍👍 Cheers ✌️

Hello! I love your videos, but I have to be the Resident Safety Sally here! You demonstrated good technique in standing sideways and not being in-line with the path of the workpiece, but when performing a box lid opening operation on the table saw, you have to be very careful when applying lateral side pressure against the blade, such as you were at the 4:30 mark with the square. You are effectively running a very high risk of pinching the blade between the wood, which is 100% a recipe for kickback. Underpowered saws will cause burning and/or stall out, but anything with a bit of oomph will send that piece of lumber back in a direction you would rather it not be. While you certainly can cut the lid of the box in a single pass, I would suggest a safer method: Do not make a full depth pass. Instead, make a partial cut to establish your lid/kerf line. Leave a thin strip of support material that keeps the entire box intact. Then you can take any handsaw of your choice (flush cut, or Japanese pull saws are my preferred type) and finish the cut. Then finish the remaining cleanup with your preferred method of choice; block plane, sandpaper, trim router, etc. While it is a little more cleanup work, you get your sharp line established by your table saw, but without the potential of your large unwieldy box suddenly turning into an unexpected projectile. You can also have a bit of shim stock the same width as your saw kerf if you decide to go the full cut method, but I think that simply keeping the box more-or-less intact for the initial pass is a little more intuitive. Other than that, I love the content on a subject that is not really shown on RU-vid!

Wow love the case design and workmanship....a perfect match for the great looking guitar too...

Wow, thank you for the amazing tutorial. It looks great!!

Great vid. Straight forward and easy to follow. Thanks!

This is great ! Especially the cut open part!!

So much fun to watch such a beautiful art

Love it.. I think I'm going to make my case shells this weekend.

Fantastic tutorial here. Well done.

This is great, thanks for sharing!

fun project. thanks Chris.

Great video! Simple way to keep everything custom!

Man! This is so damn beautiful. Very well done. Cheers mate! 👏🏻✨

Excellent job on the case, also a great tutorial. 👍

This was a joy to watch.....Thank you for posting!

Fine job my friend while I also think that if one has found a guitar that they love, it too deserves the hugs of a loving custom case. 🙏

Excellent tutorial. Thanks! I carry my Tele in a gradually crumbling 1968 Baldwin [UK] case that's held up longer than it ought and I could (almost) do this.

Nice work and a great tutorial too!

That is a lovely case. Well done.

Awesome! Great work brother 🤘

Thanks for that. Great info.

Nice watching you work.

Ugh! God Bless you brother! Why aren't more folks asking these types of relevant questions? So frustrated that to even get a case w/ a guitar the se days is almost unheard of. Wow, thanks for this great vid!☺

Nice work! Simple and efficient! I intend to build a case to my hawaian guitar (lap steel) and I will follow your experiences! Great video! Thanks,,!!!

55 years ago I made a similar case for an aquatic insect collection (120 small bottles). I was so proud of it (and the collection) that I kept it until 6 months ago. End of story, I finally took it to the dump. My case was no where as good as your work.

This is such a good video tutorial !!! Than you !

Nice! Great job. Guitarists usually slide their guitars in and out of vehicles. The raised screws can catch and rip off the case. Glue on the threads will help prevent this, as would flat head screws. I gave up using rubber feet on the back edge for the same reason---they ripped right off even with glue on the screws. A piano hinge makes a nice touch, too.

Just wanted to say THANKS! Great job and video.

beautiful craftsmanship!

Thanks for sharing this content. I plan on build a custom pedal board. I think this will be perfect for that.

I really enjoyed the video and learned a lot. Thanks for sharing it with us. p.s. What an absolutely gorgeous guitar!

Very nice and well done! Congrats.

This was an awesome build - the materials look very accessible and budget-friendly, the tools were pretty standard for a woodworker (except for the cnc but that isn't necessary), it was fairly simple yet demonstrated so many tips and tricks that made for a simple yet thorough build that looks and functions professionally.

I use very different joinery building cases. However I always learn something from every other method I see. Thank you for the tips and tricks! Even after 50 some years I'm always learning!! Very nice case!! 8) --gary

Just last week I began to think of a way to make a guitar case 60% of what you did is what i thought of.. get out of my head! and thank you for being on time with the other 40%

Great video, Chris. Many thanks!

Amazing work man!! Cheers from Spain!!

that is a nice case, smart design. 👍

That looks awesome. Excellent video. Actually the first vid ive seen of someone building a case. Great work.

Loved this video. Very easy to follow your step by step instructions.

Great video and now i have another project on the to do list.

Nice work! Congrats and Thanks for sharing your experience! 👍🏻👏🏻🙏🏻

Your video is the best one I ever seen on cases 👌👌👌

the is an excellent example of how to build a case! ty.

Nice job. Its great, 100% perfect. A Lot of great details. I do worry about the hinges' screws pulling out of the pine. Pine is fairly soft.

great looking case. Thanks !!

Amazing build🔥🔥🔥🤘

This is great. I am looking at building custom guitars in the future and was wondering what options were for cases. This is very helpful. Saw another one where he radiused the corners with like a kerfing cut and it was interesting but not sure I would want to bother. Square edges are nice. Well see when I get there but going to save this as a reference so than you again for doing it.

I'm making a case as of right now! I was inspired by this video. Although, rather than using fur and that type of foam, I'm using a foam made for firearm cases which I've found to work just great. I'm also going to leave the wood exposed to show off it's grain. Awesome video though, keep up the great work!

really nice! makes me want to build a case

Awesome tutorial.....AND, an excellent custom job :-)

Immaculate woodwork indeed. I particularly like the routing of the edges; never thought about that tbh. Almost a pity to cover it in paint!

Excellent video! Thanks Chris. I have some ideas for this. It's funny you used what we do on our door wall in the winter. Good old Formular 150. Now the case has an environmental retention rating of R-10...but only on one side (snicker).

Thanks for that. I have been thinking king how to build a case for my 335. This has given me ideas and inspiration. Liked and subscribed.

Thanks for all the great info presented very well!

Ive got to give this a try!

I made a similar case the same way about 40 years ago. I called it Ben's Folley. I used #4 countersunk screws insteas of brads because brads do not support tension loads at all. It worked fine. It weighed a ton. Brutally heavy. I carried my Ibanez solid body in it 2.5 miles almost every day to conservatory. What a fool. Finally, I packed up a guitar that I sold in it.

I completed the case yesterday. A bit different (tweed exterior), but this was an excellent guide. Thank you.

So nice to see someone use a screwdriver to install the finish screws, instead of a drill driver and rounding off all the heads.... Great video!

So many smart little moves 😎

What an awesome video... That was cool to watch

The roll on coating is a revelation. Careful with the nailer, you got your fingers in some places I wouldn't want mine.

I dig it! I have some Surf Green Tolex waiting for when I take on the same job. It matches the Tele I made perfectly! Have a good one.

Man, you make it look easy. Me and my old man once thought it was a good idea to build a case, without many tools, and it soon became a nightmare.