Official Luthiers Forum!

Before I build the guitar I have designed I'm wanting to make sure there's a case for it.

This guitar looks a lot like a mini Gibson J200 with a very round lower bout - not flat like a lot of OMs or GCs.

Here are the dimensions:

Upper bout: 10.625"
Waist: 9"
Lower bout: 15"
Body length: 18.75"
Body depth at heel: 4.625"
Total guitar length with short scale neck: 38.5" (without endpin)

And here is a photo of the shape:


I've sent an email to TKL - but am also looking for other options.

Any suggestions out there based on my size and shape??? (under $200 please)

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P A U L B U R N E R
Burner Guitars

Ahh.....there's the kicker, eh? What you're describing is slightly smaller than an OM, but deeper than an OM.
I can suggest a case that's more money, but not less.
That's the problem with custom guitar designs...they often require require custom cases, and the industry prices are going up.

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"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

Yep the kiker is the word similar. Waist location, depth, body length, bout shapes, lots of small thing can make a huge difference in the fit.

Just as Michael says it....

Now, if you want a case that's considerably more than you want to spend but that will fit it pretty well, Ameritage makes a case for an SJ which should work nicely. There are two versions, the SJ, and the SJ-OLF (or something like that). I worked with them to create the SJ case - based on my SJ (an Olson-esque SJ), and Michael worked with them to create the SJ-OLF case, which is slightly bigger (nice design, btw...the OLF SJ that is). Your guitar design might swim too much in the OLF version of this case.
Understand that you're going to pay a good bit more for these cases, but they are exceptionally good. If you want a proven combination, then buy the OLF SJ plans and get the appropriate case from Ameritage. You wouldn't regret the decision.

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"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

I am mot sure why this is but the Ameritage SJ case (AM-32) is 1/2" longer body than the OLF-SJ case (AM-32OLF). All off it in the lower bout. That does not jive with Olsen dimensions but that is their case they quote for an Olsen SJ. Go figure

Anyway the cost to have them build a custom luthiers case is far less than retail even at a quanity of one. Great cases by the way 8 weeks to build and ship.

I am posting this for you and others benefit. You may already be aware of this but others might not have considered it.

Other things to consider when looking at an OEM case is; The depth of the body at tail with neck plane flat, depth of heel with neck plane flat, dimension of the heel from the tail of the body, depth of neck at the case neck support, location of the waist from the tail of the body, depth of waist and radii of waist, height of the bridge and saddle with the neck plane flat. All these things and more go into properly fitting a case. Many OEM cases will work with many shapes but do not provide the best protection because of minor misfits that if dropped can cause damage due to the misfit. All case manufactures will provide you with a dimension spec sheet for fitting custom cases. Plus you should send a 100% to scale PDF template to them to insure you get the shape proportions correct that really are not covered in the spec sheet. The better the case fits the better the protection.

Hmmm......that's not good. The Olson SJ is shorter than the OLF-SJ by a good 1/2" if I'm not mistaken. Narrower too. This means that somewhere in the translation, the dimensions got fouled up, or they based it on something else or someone else's input.

Thanks for letting me know about that Michael...this means I'll have to go the custom route again when ordering more of these. Rats. This SJ case was supposed to be basically a deep OM case, but just a wee bit bigger in a couple spots. My SJ can fit in their OM case, but it's a bit snug, and not as deep as I would like.

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"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

At least the AM-32 they sent the first time for the OLF build #2 was 1/2" too long that is why I had them build the first AM-32OLF case. other than the 1/2" too long LB it fit fine and I know My SJ is longer than an Olsen by nearly 9/16" so the AM-32 would be 1" or more too long for an Olsen

Daddy..... my thread got hijacked!!!

Just teasing.

So - do luthier's get a break from Ameritage on these custom cases? I've heard that hinted.

(like I can call myself a luthier yet - HA)

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P A U L B U R N E R
Burner Guitars

if you are a builder you are able to buy at luthiers price. I can't say how much or what the price is. that is confidential per Ameritage but you can get a quote from Nancy Worslfold at Ameritage. See link at top of page

Where can I buy a plan for a small jumbo?
Thanks.

Thanks Michael! I was able to make contact with Nancy at Ameritage and she sent me the luthier info.

I'm waiting to hear from their engineering dept on what my options are - but the prices were much more attractive that I had thought they would be.

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P A U L B U R N E R
Burner Guitars

Well first contact Brock Poling to see if ther is any way the forum can still issue plan sets from the apparently defunk Library of plans.

If no sucsess let me know. I will see to it you get a set

If you built handcrafted instruments, the instruments deserve top notch well fitted cases. They are not cheap but far less than retailyou will love them.