The Steel Guitar Forum

How important is it to leave vintage cases as is? The Rickenbacker I bought came with the original case which has a covering someone stuck on over the original. The handle and locks are really rusty and the interior smells like a dirty sweat sock. Should I leave it the way it is? Should I try to remove the funky wrap covering the original exterior? I suppose if I remove the funky covering I could recover the case body with tolex if the original cover is beyond help. I have been told that corn starch would get rid of the dirty sock smell of the interior. What do you guys think?

Looking for a little expertise here! What do you guys do about caring for vintage cases?

Leave the old case in the closet and buy a custom case from Kevin Hatton!

What Matthew said.

Diddo what Matthew said. I have one on order for my Stringmaster D8.

Thanks guys! I had a feeling it would be a mistake messing with it. It's just that it is so dang ugly the way it is and stinks ta boot!

Is it the guitar shaped one, or a rectangular one?
Fixing an old case takes enough time to build two new ones. Been there too many times..........

It's the rectangular one Bill! I can't tell how bad the original is without taking the wallpaper looking stuff that's covering it off. I suppose the original is either stained or messed up somehow. I have a new case for my Rickenbacher, it's a baritone ukulele case that I modified. My concern is weather changing the case from it's original (poor condition) is a resale no no. If the case doesn't add appreciably to the value of guitar then I would go ahead and start working on it. Paul

I NEVER cared what an instrument case LOOKED like,no matter how funky, If it does the job it was meant to do [protect the instrument] Who cares how pretty it is,[I SURE DON'T ] YOU BETCHA, DYK?BC.

My concern is weather changing the case from it's original (poor condition) is a resale no no.

I'm certainly no expert, but in general, it seems that its always best to leave vintage as is.

I'd fill that case with baking soda and stash it in the attic. If those latches break and that 8 string Ric falls on the ground it could break into pieces. So much for being vintage then.

The reason it smells bad is because of mold and bacteria.... If you guys want to "Be vintage" and yet play a guitar that smells like dirty socks, go for it... you're a stronger man that I am.

Rule number one for me is to protect your instrument at all costs.

IMHO, Lap steels just don't get any better than the 8 string Ric Bakelite.

Thanks Danny! I am going to stash that case in the attic as directed after a little fumigation work. After I croak the next owner can figure out what to do with it. Amen!

Bakelites don't like contact with the floor when falling out of the case. (don't ask how I know)

Oh my god Bill! I don't want to know!

Another option I know about is to take it to a hockey rink, because lets face it hockey gear is quite possibly the worst smelling/most difficult to clean stuff in the world.

The trick is that some of the fancier rinks have a O3 (ozone) cleaners that use ozone to oxidize the bad smelling stuff, supposedly the concentration and duration are good to get rid of the easier to oxidize stuff like mold and bacteria but wont affect other oxidizable stuff such as metal and plastics.

Look in up with the google.

Sounds like a very odoriforus answer to the problem Ben!

My suggestion would be to try to get the wallpaper off since it is not original anyway, if that compromises the structure of the case then you got problems. If it is still ok after that find some silica gel packs to put in the (closed) case to suck out any moisture, also put some baking soda in it and keep it closed for a week. Depending on what the inside material is you can either use a spray mold killer, or a dry OXY-type powder cleaner which kills mold and is much safer than the wet sprays, keep it dry and once again spread it all around, keep the case closed for a week or so. Of course don't leave the guitar in the case during all this. These things will help but don't expect miracles...

Just setting it out in the sun for a few days will do wonders for the odor problems.

Buy a duplicate instrument with a better case.

Switch cases.

Sell the duplicate instrument with the worse case.

If you lose a little in the resale look at it as the cost of a vintage correct case.

This is what is meant by the expression "a worse case scenario."

Thanks for all the comments guys! I just finished modifying a new baritone Ukelele case to fit my Ric. I bought some green velvet to match the cases interior and a piece of craft sheet foam and some spray adhesive. I just needed to fill up the bottom of the case as it was too deep. I think the finished result looks as good as factory. It holds the instrument very snugly. As for the old case I am going to try the sun drenching method as soon as it quits raining up here in the forest. Then I will add some silica gel packs and stick it in the attic for now. Chris thanks for the recomendation, but I wouldn't feel right about selling a case that I can't get the stink out of!

I've had a few of those cases. Try this; get a terry cloth rag and soak it with Febreze. Put it in a sock (preferably not the dirty sweat sock mentioned earlier) while the rag is wet but not wet enough to soak through the sock. Close the case and put it in a really warm place. Leave it for a few days. When cleaning the lint and dust out use a Bounce or other dryer sheet to wipe it with. When you store it fill it with cloth and a lot of dryer sheets. The sheets have an anti-bacterial in them that really knocks it down.