Making a Better Guitar Case

Not surprisingly, E. has decided to join the guitar club.  At this rate, he'll be a one man band by the time he turns 10.  This year will be the fifth year he has been taking piano lessons and has become quite good.  Learning guitar should be a piece of cake since he knows how to play the violin.  Yes, my 9 year-old plays 3 instruments and it amazes me how dedicated he is to them.  

Since he has to bring his guitar to school, I wanted to find him a case that he can wear as a back pack, but I wanted one that was as sturdy as a hard case.  I'm not a fan of hard cases because they are quite heavy.  Since he plays with a 3/4 sized guitar, finding a nylon case that was sturdy in this size is a little more difficult.  Therefore, I decided to buy a nylon case I found online.  It seemed sturdy enough, but since it collapsed, it made putting the guitar back in the case a little more difficult.  I decided to reinforce the exterior of the case for both protection and at the same time, making it a lot easier for E. to store his guitar.

I decided to use card board and luan (thin wood).  I took a piece of cardboard, measured and cut it to fit the bottom and top of the case.

I made sure it was exactly the same size or it would be difficult to slide in.  I also cut pieces for the sides of the case that would go all around.

 

Next is the messy part.  I removed the stitching on the largest side of the bag.  Its always hard to destroy something that is perfectly new.

 

Then I slid the piece of cardboard right in.  I made sure to have the padded side towards the inside of the case to protect the guitar.

 

I then slid cardboard all around the sides of the case, bending to fit the case.  Towards the head of the case, I used pieces of luan (wood) to enforce the sides instead of card board.

 

I hand basted the top and sides together.  I know, it doesn't look that pretty yet, but just wait.

 

Last, I pinned the edging over the new stitched ends to cover it up.

 

Voila!  I have a new semi-hard case.  Its hard, but has a soft surface.

 

E. has no trouble putting his guitar back in the case.  He doesn't have to worry about pulling the sides up to zip it all around. Before reinforcing, it the sides would just collapse.  Now it stands straight.

 

He loves his new case as do I :)