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I've sent my drawings to Ameritage for a quote on custom cases for these alto guitars of mine. The nearest mold/shell they have to this size and shape is a banjo case. You'll see from the photo below what the shape of this instrument is and how it looks against the size and shape of the banjo case. They would custom fit the interior, but I'd like to look into some alternatives and wonder if any of you have suggestions for who might make a case that is a closer fit to begin with, and which could then be custom fit on the inside. The body width is 12", body length about 15", and overall length about 33". As you can see, the shape looks more like a bouzouki, cittern, octave mandolin, or something, than a guitar. Thanks!

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Todd Rose
Ithaca, NY

https://www.dreamingrosesecobnb.com/todds-art-music

https://www.facebook.com/ToddRoseGuitars/

Not much use to you Todd but in the UK we have several custom instrument case makers, the one I like is Kingham cases, they will literally make you a case for any instrument. Google them in the US and see if they have an agent over there, shipping may be a killer though.

Kingham cases

Colin

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I don't believe in anything, I simply make use of a set of reasonable working hypotheses.

Google Cedar Creek. They also provide custom cases.

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JJ
Napa, CA
http://www.DonohueGuitars.com

Thanks for your replies, Colin and JJ. I'll check those two out.

Any other suggestions out there?

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Todd Rose
Ithaca, NY

https://www.dreamingrosesecobnb.com/todds-art-music

https://www.facebook.com/ToddRoseGuitars/

Dart Cases in Vancouver BC has made some custom cases for my solid body electric bouzoukis. I don't have the contact info to hand - I'll check for it when I'm at the store next.

Thanks, GD. I'd appreciate it if you could get the contact info. I tried Googling them, but all I can turn up is cases that are made for carrying darts!

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Todd Rose
Ithaca, NY

https://www.dreamingrosesecobnb.com/todds-art-music

https://www.facebook.com/ToddRoseGuitars/

That's odd. We were discussing Ameritage at our meeting of New England Luthiers just yesterday. One of our members brought in a prototype acoustic bass guitar that was a completely unique size. It was in an Ameritage case. he said that Ameritage will do a full custom case. It costs more than the custom interior in a standard shell but they will make a custom shell. Did they offer to make a full custom case? Perhaps there was a communication breakdown.

Todd,

I'm pretty sure GD meens Datt cases. Kris Datt has been making cases for over 30 years now, he makes cases for National Resophonic, Tacoma and a host of smaller companies and for small shop luthiers. I've bought several cases from him and his prices are really good. He doesn't have a website though, so you'll really just have to call him and send him an outline in the mail.

Here's his contact information and a couple picutres of one of the cases I've bought from him

Datt Cases Ltd
5761 126 Street, Surrey, BC V3X 3G8
Telephone : 604-598-3134

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Thanks a lot, Rod. I'll look into dat dere Datt dude.

Mike, thanks for your reply. Ameritage did say they could make a custom shell. We've been communicating by email, and the last email I got from them said simply that that would be "expensive". I've emailed back to ask just exactly how expensive, but I haven't heard back yet. In the meantime, I'm also exploring other options.

I keep thinking there must be somebody who makes cases for mandos/bouzoukis/citterns who would have a standard shell that would work for this instrument, so I wouldn't have to get into the cost of ordering a custom shell, but I haven't turned up anything yet.

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Todd Rose
Ithaca, NY

https://www.dreamingrosesecobnb.com/todds-art-music

https://www.facebook.com/ToddRoseGuitars/

Todd,

Hobgoblin in the UK do mandola, bouzouki etc cases (go to the Bouzouki on line sales page and scroll down the page a lot to find them). Duty and shipping may be a killer though. I thought somewhere like Lark in the Morning in the US might do a similar range but it doesn't look like it.

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Dave White
De Faoite Stringed Instruments
". . . the one thing a machine just can't do is give you character and personalities and sometimes that comes with flaws, but it always comes with humanity" Monty Don talking about hand weaving, "Mastercrafts", Weaving, BBC March 2010

Thanks for the suggestion, Dave. I'll look into it.

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Todd Rose
Ithaca, NY

https://www.dreamingrosesecobnb.com/todds-art-music

https://www.facebook.com/ToddRoseGuitars/

I chatted with Nancy Worsfold at Ameritage a while back about this same issue, I was looking into cases for Irish Bouzouki style both flat and arched. She indicate that a single case could be designed that would accommodate both with just some padding differences. We never got to the pricing stage but she was very helpful and I intend to follow up on it later in the Fall.

Alan D.

Thanks for chiming in, Alan. Nancy is the one I've been dealing with, and her customer service has been great. In her last email to me, she said the making of the custom mold would cost around $200, which seems very reasonable to me - not nearly as much as I imagined it might be. She's going to get back to me, probably today, with an exact quote for that and for the first case to be made with my choice of colors and materials. Once the mold is made, I can order more of these cases in the future for their regular case prices, i.e. the custom mold fee is a one-time charge.

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Todd Rose
Ithaca, NY

https://www.dreamingrosesecobnb.com/todds-art-music

https://www.facebook.com/ToddRoseGuitars/

Just to avoid spreading misinformation, I'll post one more time to correct my last post. I heard back from Nancy at Ameritage again, and, with apologies, she told me the cost of producing custom molds has gone up considerably, so they now charge $450 for that. Still, that's not really that bad if you're going to be ordering several cases made from that custom mold. Their discount for guitar builders on the regular price of cases is substantial, plus their quantity discounts are good as well, so, overall, I would still consider Ameritage cases a very good deal.

They are also bending over backwards to make it possible for me to have a suitable Ameritage case for my instrument on a tight timeline. I won't bore you further with more details about all this, but suffice to say that I've been very impressed with the folks at Ameritage so far. If anybody cares to know more about my experience with them, pm me and I'll be glad to fill you in.

Meanwhile, thanks again to all who shared suggestions for other case makers to look into.

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Todd Rose
Ithaca, NY

https://www.dreamingrosesecobnb.com/todds-art-music

https://www.facebook.com/ToddRoseGuitars/

Rod,

I think that Kris Datt retired and was looking for a buyer of his equipment. Ted Thompson bought his cases from him as well but last year had order them from back east. Have you dealt with him recently?

Shane

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Canada

Howdy Todd!
For my octave mandolins, I just use a tenor banjo case, a standard one. I like the ones with arched tops.

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Mark Swanson
Swanson Guitars
http://www.MarkSwansonMusic.com

Howdy, Mark! And thanks! So, who's your favorite tenor banjo case maker?

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Todd Rose
Ithaca, NY

https://www.dreamingrosesecobnb.com/todds-art-music

https://www.facebook.com/ToddRoseGuitars/