How to Make a Vintage Looking Instrument Case. 

Some readers might know the guitar case story involving Gerry Marsden. His Rickenbacker 360/12 guitar was supplied by the manufacturer at the request of Brian Epstein and despatched to England in 1964 together with John Lennon's 320/12. Marsden used it on in the studio, on stage and on TV including during the recording of Ferry Cross the Mersey. Many of these films are on youtube. It appears that the 360/12 was his only guitar and by 1974 the case was reported so damaged that Gerry's manager suggested it be replaced before departure for a Far East tour. Marsden, a former carpenter, elected to make a new case and after three days labour, the night before departure came to place the instrument inside it for the first time. To his horror he found the guitar wouldn't fit. From what I have read I would say that the case was too short by twice the thickness of the material used to make the sides. In his film Mr. Hovington is shown planning the build with reference to the actual instrument whereas I suspect Marsden merely measured the Rickenbacker and cut the material to length without allowing extra wood at the corners. In desparation, due to depart the next day, Marsden elected to shorten the guitar, cutting about 40mm off the end of the headstock so dislodging the locations for two of the machine heads. As he says in his his book, he knew it would never play properly again. When Marsden reached New Zealand he sold the guitar and it later surfaced strung with only six strings in the hands of Alistair Parker of Bailterspace. Together with his effects the Rickenbacker has an amazing sound which may be judged watching the films where it is used, most notably their Splat single. It is clear that the end of the headstock has been horribly butchered. Subsequently Parker says he lost the guitar when he left it in a New York taxi. It's not been seen again and in the 1990's it was said to be worth around £90000. The lesson surely is to measure twice and cut once.

Beautiful. Love that rubber band trick to hold those boxes together during assembly.

What a wonderful looking case and Instrument! Thank you very much for taking the pains to film, edit and upload this, really appreciated! I'm going to build something using this as a bit of a guide. Again, big gratitude to you, I hope you're doing well.

The case is a work of art in itself! Beautiful mandolin also!

Nice! I build a lot of cases for instruments, but not stringed ones. (trumpets, sax, etc,,) The inside is quite a bit different and super custom fit in yours - LOVE IT! Lately, I have made some hardwood ones without the leather but with fancy jointery, like box joints or dovetails. So many people neglect making a nice case, and it is awesome to see someone doing a great job!!! Thanks!

I watched this vid several times when it was time to build a case for my electric octave mandolin. It turned out better than I had hoped. Tomy is a true craftsman. I'd like to meet him and shake his hand.

Proper job. Breaks ain't young forever, glad you got to enjoy your break.

Wow! Your craftsmanship and attention to detail to even the case is amazing, as much as that to the instrument itself. You, Sir, are a master of your craft. Respect!

That rubber band move was cool!

Excellent build!! No-one ever died from Overkill build! Cheers, BF

Love the way u used the shape of the Mandolin to make a better fit case!

Woooooow. This was so satisfying to watch. Beautiful craftsmanship. I love how the green interior subtly matched the inlays on the fretboard. Awesome job.

Nice demonstration. Thank you. Now I feel confident to have a go

Amazing how much work went into this.

Super accurate job. Really brilliant !!

Wow! Such great craftsmanship and attention to details. Had fun watching this. Thanks! Great job!

Great looking case! I've been thinking about building custom cases for wind instruments for a while and this gave me some great ideas. Thanks for sharing!

Beautiful work!

Excellent video!! Very helpful.

Lovely looking case, very classy :)

I should try this same idea for my microkorg case! Thanks for the great advice.

Insane skills on the mandola and the case. Both are amazing.

Lovely to watch your craft in putting together the mandola case. Also loved the BC scenery during your interlude. Luckily my mandola came with a case, but if it didn't I would have liked to have one of yours. Cheers from the UK.

Beautiful craftsmanship, on the mandola and the case. I have to make some cases for odd-shaped guitars, and this video is the most helpful I have found! Merci beaucoups!

Really really good

One of the best I've seen and very detailed.

Wow. That was amazing. Very clever techniques

Lovey Tomy. I have a Telecaster without a hard case. Now I know what to do. Best video I've seen yet on how it's done properly.

thanks Tomy ! Perfect job! The old atmosphear is coming in 2021 with your case!

Its very cool👍 very neatly done

Wow that is beautiful

Phenomenal job!!! Take this from someone who wasn't careful and is paying the price now; wear a dust mask!

Awesome job my friend..

Hello Tomy! Very neat cases and an extremely useful video. I've just bought an old zither with a nice, but rather battered wooden case. I'll need to refurbish it, or even better, make a new one, because the old wood may be mouldy. It looks very time consuming, but the result is awesome. It's well worth the effort. Greetings from Hungary!

incredible video...thank you so much

Killer work.

Awesome job, that looks Amazing!

Stunning! Love it

I've been trying to think of a way to make a couple of better cases for my guitars/refurbish one of my hard cases. This definitely gave me some much better ideas than I was working with as to how I might go about doing that. Thanks, Tomy!

Nice job !!!.

Great Job!!! Super video.... Looking into making a case my self... thanks for the inspiration.

Well done. I feel the design could be improved by an inner rim or band 4 to5 mm thick running around the inner perimeter of the top edge of the bottom half of the case. It should protrude about 10mm above the edge. This has two important functions, it keys the lid to the body when shutting and it acts to hinder or prevent ingress of water from splashes, rain etc.

Glorious!

Lovely work there Tomy! Great job. Nice bit of holiday scenery to break the vid up a bit. :)

Absolutely Awesome Build!!!! Nice Work!! ~cheers

This is indeed very nice Tomy. A wonderful video & build.

Great video thanks you've given me a lot of ideas. I need to make some cases for my viola d'amore and i think your pine sides and plywood top and bottm is the way to go. Really nice how you wrapped the outside with cloth. I think Richard christie might be right about some kind of lip on the inside to keep the rain out. I'm thinking maybe a thin ply (3mm) wrapped in some kind of plastified paper or something like that, tacked on the inside of the bottom and sticking up 5/6mm...

Beautiful case!

That is a great case.

Stunning video. Your attention to detail in the production of the video alone is worth praise. My step-dad was a furniture builder and upholsterer and your methods took me back 40 years to when I watched him work. Thank you so much for posting.

Excellent

Very nice

Nice work. I bet the nicest wrapped Christmas gifts come from you!

I'm building a case for a guitar just now, and this will be mighty helpful.

Very nice. I'll be using some of your techniques building a case for an antique rifle.

Nice!

boss thank you ....awesome case

outstanding!

thoroughly enjoyed this video!

When you took a break I did drugs 👍 more channels should add halftime

Wow! 😍

Classy!

supercool!

Awesome.

Great video. Geez, when I take a break I go out back to my modest deck with a cup of coffee and the neighbors dog barks at me incessantly until I go back inside.

They both look really vintage! The best part is seeing that little one of yours having fun in "the break" When you have the opportunity you should show him Skookumchuck, that made an impression on me to never forget!

superb

I fucking love boxes! ❤

Amazing work, where did you purchase the hardware you used on the exterior for the corners of the box, latches, and handle?

Great job. What are those tiny clamps? I like them so much.

nice

que agradable sujeto

Well Done

Looks fantastic. I would think solid wood would be too heavy for a case, even though its obviously strong? How much does this case weigh?

Follow up: have you ever made a case for a nyckelharpa?

godamn! thats one sexy guitar case!

Nice work. I have made cases for rifles in the past and for cutting the foam rubber I used a electric meat carving knife. It did a excellent job of cutting intricate details in the foam rubber which I then covered with fabric.

Very beautiful case. I am planning on making one for my wifes banjolele. what were the dimensions of the box?

Thank you for sharing this video! I'm planning a similar build for a lap steel guitar. Do you recommend using contact cement over spray adhesive?

Very nice build . I built one very similar to this and shipped an octave mandolin to the states . I shipped it United Parcel . Somewhere between here in Creston BC and Kansas , the case got one end and the lid ripped off . Fortunately the mandolin was not damaged . Be careful who you ship with .

That is REALLY nice. Did you make the instrument, too? Very nice work!

Veeeeeery nice

Beautiful! However, anybody can make a case. How in the world do you make those floppy kites?

What type of glue did you use to glue the fabric on top of it...?

What time of wood you used?

so normally I would be like, WTF when you took your break. But this is COVID lockdown week 412 :-) and I really enjoyed the quick break for some nature. I think I will search youtube for some hiking vlogs... lol nice job by the way!!!!!

So good, well done... which material are you cutting at min 2:58? Is that a kind of hard foam? Thanks

Hey buddy which fabric did you used to cover the box from out side, It looks awesome!

what kinda glue is that?

Great build , What kind of wood did you use? I’m planning on building a case for my custom oversized Ggress SG it will fit in a Gibson 335 case but it’s still a snug fit . I’d imagine the wood i need something durable but also light and thin wood any suggestions?

This is very impressive Tomy. Is there a difference between the pink foam under the neck and the yellow under the body, or I can use the same?

great job!!!!👌🏻👌🏻👌🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻 supppper please.. where you get the inner green fabric?? kind regards

If you don't mind, what was the adhesive you used to cover the case with that fabric?

coool

Awsume Job, & video! i'm for sure gonna make a case for my Fender squire Jaguar guitar. save $150, thanks!

Hello very good job !!! One question on the glue, do I have to pay attention to something not to damage the guitar finish (Celluloid for les pauls for instance). As an info if you have brands to advice j'habite en France ;-)

Same question for the foam ... what type of Glue, & where did you get it from?

Damn nice case.i may have to try one myself if i ever get this axe done that i started makeing.my healths been fked for the last year with copd and pnumonia thought a few days ago when i had to go in the ambulance that my number had been called .but nope im still kicking. Aand feeling bettter too. Its always good to watch a vid eo where the maker of it knows his craft.😉bravo.it sure looks as though a 12 l.b. les paul is going totip the scalesat around32. How heavy are they on average?

thank you Tomy what a great idea good stuff . loved the break they are not little very long , enjoy em . mine are from 44 - 24 lol yup old geezer here . not meaning to be rude but what is the cost of the cases . i try to find as much info on this stuff as i can . thank you .so much to learn i am loving it

Hallo. I see you use glue contact cement only on the one of the two objects and you dont wait but join them immediately. I would like to ask if by this way they are glued strongly, especially on edges, corners etc. Are you doing this so as to have enough time to stretch the fabric? Thanks!!!