Vintage Case Restoration

altamont · #1 01-16-2012, 11:31 AM

Hey there,
I recently bought a 75' Gibson Ripper off eBay and it didn't come with an original Gibson HSC, it came with an old beaten' up case. At first it's only purpose was to secure the shipping process. It turns out that the case is an old Rickenbacker case but still quite usable! There are some little issues thought.

One of the key latch piece is missing so one of the locks is completely non-functionnal. The other one works OK, but I figured that if I'd replace one, I'd be better off replacing both. I've looked over the internet and found out that the locks seems to be Cheney locks. I've found reissues of that model on eBay, dimensions seems alright but it's not the exact same lock design. Anyone knows of a place where I could find these on internet besides eBay?

eBay - New & used electronics, cars, apparel, collectibles, sporting goods & more at low prices

The other issue is the interior. Since the case was made for a Rick, someone cut out the interior body foam to fit a Ripper Body. Aesthetically, it's not the best job but it works. I'd like to restore that interior also, anyone knows where to find the raw materials for that? I guess I could find a square piece of foam that I'd cut out to fit the Ripper's shape. The main ingredient missing here is the plushy-like material covering the foam. Any ideas?

As anyone ever had experience in restoring vintage cases? Any pointers or tips?

Here's a quick shot of the exterior, I'll take more pictures soon.

themacinator · #2 01-16-2012, 03:38 PM

I have an old Robin bass case the needs two installed. Going to look at it tonight and see what I can do.

testing1two · #3 01-16-2012, 04:07 PM

I would bet that a Ric fanatic would take that case off your hands which would partially fund (if not entirely) a generic case that would hold your Ripper securely. I hear that coffin cases work well as do Epiphone cases, both of which are reasonably priced.

T-Bird · #4 01-16-2012, 08:38 PM

Hi.

Quote:

Originally Posted by testing1two

I would bet that a Ric fanatic would take that case off your hands which would partially fund (if not entirely) a generic case that would hold your Ripper securely. I hear that coffin cases work well as do Epiphone cases, both of which are reasonably priced.

^This, times 1000.

Have You seen what the old Gibson LP and SG cases go for?

Didn't click the link, but if You plan to restore it, do purchase the same hardware there already is, Ric folks may be able to help.

Regards
Sam

BogeyBass · #5 01-16-2012, 08:57 PM

I'm not a case expert...but i have moded a gibson case for my fender J

Likewise i just cut the existing foam.

Most likely you would find foam with the right height and size.
cut the shape.
Finding some furry material to line it would be a quick trip to the
fabric store.

You would have to trim it nicely and then attach it with a very light spray adhesive, or brush it on by buying a can of cement.
not sure if certain glues react to foam.

Otherwise as you may know the ripper case followed the shape of the body.
Buying a case might be a good idea, because after you buy the materials like, foam, fabric and hardware. It could be over or around 80 to 120$ the same cost as a new case.
as far as locking the case if someone wants to steal it they will just pick it up, the best use for case locks for me was to lock yourself out of your own case after losing the keys, most likely 10 minutes before show time, but thats just my luck

I found this original Ripper case

and found this new Epiphone case

As far as the Ric case......well it looks like you get to buy a Ric too to match that case.

or sell it to a ric owner who may be interested in restoring a matching original case.

coffin case are cheap as hell, ive had 2 of them fall apart on me, so never again.

altamont · #6 01-17-2012, 08:15 AM

yeah that's what I was thinking. I've got a friend that just bought a Rick 4003 without a case, I guess I can just sell it to him to fund my future purchase. As for the Ripper shaped cases, they're really hard to come by! I don't know if the Epiphone case will fit the exact horn patern of the Ripper. I would have to measure it.

BogeyBass, the original Ripper case would be perfect! By the odd thing is that I'm not able to contact the seller to verify if he ships to Canada. The form always returns an error. I'll see if I can find another one online.

Thank you