Official Luthiers Forum!

OK, so we all make guitars that are unique.

some fit in standard cases, and some need custom made cases.

for those who sell their guitars it's OK to factor in the cost of a custom case, but for those of us who make for ourselves, and sell for pretty much cost to fund the next build........

I've considered building to fit a standard case rather than the other way round.....

anyone else put the cart before the horse like this?

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Give Nancy at Ameritage a call and explain you are a builder. Builder's pricing is pro rated by order sizes. 1-2 cases, 3-5 cases, and 6 or more cases. Even the 1-2 order price may surprise you. That is pretty much all I can say due to confidentiality agreement

Take Michaels advice.
Ameritage is great.

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Jim Watts
http://jameswattsguitars.com

[QUOTE=Jim_W] Take Michaels advice.
Ameritage is great. [/QUOTE]

Apart from the fact that shipping them to Ireland probably costs as much as the case!!

Martin,

In the sense that I check the design against case sizes I put the cart before the horse, but the overall design comes first with only slight modifications to fit on occasion. Having a custom case made is not easy or cheap - it usually means Calton - and for my harp guitar that's what I may have to do. The Weiss is tricky but I have found somewhere in Spain that sells imported Goldtone Weiss cases.

Failing that a DIY option like this may be the way to go.

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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

Dave, you might be suprised. They are built in Costa Rica so shipping might be a different story. Drop Nancy a line and have her quote you shipping.

I have a Calton case for each of the body shapes I use, and if I'm taking a guitar around then I put it in the Calton. However my guitars live in Hiscox or SKB cases when not being taken way.

Ameritage really isn't an option over here, as Dave said, with the shipping on top of the case price.

My latest shape, OM is the second one I've done of that shape, The first one lives in the Calton so I had to get a case for it, and could only find the Kinsman which fits it perfectly, but it would probably have been sesible to check case sizes before I changed my design, 5mm narrower on the upper bout and 'the world have been my lobster Rodney' or at least it would have been a nice fit in a Hiscox!

I have to make my own cases for the lutes I build. It's not really that difficult, if you can build a guitar you can certainly make a case.

Colin

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

I don't understand why Ameritage does not set up a Euro distribution. After all the cases are not made in the US They are made in, I believe Nacy told me the Philippines. It would seam as simple to have distribution there as here. Go figure. So much for a one world market

[QUOTE=martinedwards]
I've considered building to fit a standard case rather than the other way round.....

anyone else put the cart before the horse like this?[/QUOTE]

Absolutely. That's my plan.


Some of the OO shapes fit in a classical case, and OOO cases are pretty common.
At the rate I work, and since I'm not an 'official luthier, in the business' I really don't want to have 5-10 cases around the house/shop- it just ties up too much money and space.

That said, Nancy at Ameritage is quite helpful, though the shipping is quite expensive, even to Canada. I've bought a few standard cases, but nothing custom, from Ameritage.

Cheers
John

[QUOTE=MichaelP] I don't understand why Ameritage does not set up a Euro distribution. After all the cases are not made in the US They are made in, I believe Nacy told me the Philippines. It would seam as simple to have distribution there as here. Go figure. So much for a one world market [/QUOTE]

Michael,

I suspect it works on volume. Ameritage I would think buy in bulk and they come via ship at a shipping rate and wholesale price that gives enough margin for Ameritage to sell on. Individual cases shipped by air would be an entirely different matter. For a Europeam operation they would need a hub somewhere where enough volume could be shipped plus staff and the hard part - a big enough European demand to sell on to.

It would be interesting to know if the Kinsman cases Colin posted about come from the same Far East manufacturers as the Ameritage cases.

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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

p.s

What I like about Hiscox and Calton is that the cases are made by the people who sell them.

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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

Dave, I stand corrected about the shipping. I didn't realize that there was no distributator there.
BTW, Ameritage aren't far East made. Costa Rica. I don't know why that matters but I thought I'd clarify.

[QUOTE=Pwoolson] Dave, I stand corrected about the shipping. I didn't realize that there was no distributator there.
BTW, Ameritage aren't far East made. Costa Rica. I don't know why that matters but I thought I'd clarify.[/QUOTE]

Paul,

I used the Far East as Michael P said above that Nancy told him they were made in the Phillipines. That would make it the Far West too I suppose

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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

Sorry Guys I had remembered wrong. Costa Rica is correct.
But my main point to Colin was that I do not understand why Ameritage does not set up a European direct distributorship I realize they may be a bit higher but at their luthier rates it would not be that bad. Sure would seam to me the market would support it.

Michael, Ameritage, would have to come in significantly cheaper than a Calton, which I get for a bit less than $700. They'd have to fit into the difficult mid-range market between Hiscox and Calton, probably pricing in the $400 range on a one off basis. Most custom builders over here who are building in the up to $5000 dollar range give the Hiscox case as their standard offering, many will offer the Calton as an upgrade for another $500 or so.

Most people are very happy with the Hiscox and if they want to splash out will get a custom Calton. That's basically what I do for my own guitars. Have a Calton for each size and Hiscox to store the rest in.

Colin

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

I really like the homemade vintage case. I've bookmarked it for future reference.