How to Build a Guitar Gun Case

In lugging my rifle & shotgun cases to the range, and worrying about leaving them in my truck afterwards I had a thought.

Why not a guitar case?

I’m thinking an El Mariachi-style case, not really a Desperado one that can be used to shoot from within. A quick Google Search shows many many folks have thought of this before, but only a few resources:

  • How to Build a Custom Gun Case for M1 Garand Rifle
    Looks cool, but the expanding foam-in-a-can looks like waaaay too much work. Why not just use firm foam, cut-to-size?
  • eHow: How to Convert Guitar Cases to Gun Cases
    Some decent info but no pix.
  • Custom Rifle Case from Violin Case
    Again, useful info, but too much d@mn work to use the expanding foam! Interesting idea to use the broken-down AR-15 in a violin case to make it look even smaller/less-threatening. He used rivets for the interior velcro straps, which I was concerned would compromise water-proofing and look odd. Took him 2 months but he says he could have done it in a weekend if pushed. Some outfit called “Thug Case” is selling similar small cases for $200.

There appear to be a few products available to meet the need:

Looks great but apparently unavailable now.

There are a number of soft-sided “gig bag” gun case available for ridiculous low prices:

To me, the softsided ones looked a little suspiciously military, plus I had already made up my mind I wanted a hardshell case. Soooooo, I decided DIY was the only way. I know, famous last words…

THE BEST HARDSHELL GUITAR CASES

Approaching this from a non-musicians frame of reference, I had to do some research.

SDK apparently makes the best cases. They’re not too pricey:

Some people apparently get all crazy visual with their case.

One disadvantage I had not anticipated is that apparently guitar cases do not come with shoulder straps. While there is a $40 “Back-saddle” that might work, for the time being I am going to just use the handle.

Guitar stores in Seattle told me it’s not an uncommon project. But all the cases they had did not have locks,

or were soft cases that I did not want to have to cut and somehow sew foam into.

I like the idea of a hard case anyway, tho the soft cases did have shoulder straps.

A week of Craigslistin’ netted me a nice SDK for $40:

Gutting it took some doing

I saved all the black velvet lining but ended up throwing away. I think it looks better with the raw foam, plus much easier to modify in future.

Talked to the friendly folks down at the aptly-named Friendly Foam Shop. Alyx was very helpful and expert in her work on the case.

Can choose open-cell accustical polyurethene foam or closed cell. On the thought that the closed-cell would be less liable to keep oil or water, I chose the more expensive closed cell, for $160, plus Alyx’s labor to cut. 5-7 day turn around. I used both Goop glue and contact cement to bind the foam pieces, both of which worked fine if held in place for 20min.

The Friendly Foam folks cut a little soft foam as a barrier between the two guns but I ended up throwing it away. I replaced it with velcro straps glued to the case. Had to build a little backing out of hard cardboard to account for the bulge in the top. Also cut slots through the foam for the straps. If the Goop glue ends up pulling loose I might pop rivet the straps. Also might someday trade out this older case for a newer SDK one with more secure locks.

To finish the look of the case up, I bought a bunch of band stickers. Believe it or not, this was one of the toughest parts of the process, as the packs I ordered kept tending to be too small or otherwise flawed. Eventually I found a good selection. Next step is to scuff the case up real good 😉 Weighs 22lbs without ammo, but you’d never believe what’s inside once closed.

That’s the story! Tell me what you think, and if you want to do something similar, hit Alyx up at foam[at symbol]friendlyfoam.com

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