Turning a Suit Case into an Amp Case or Talk to Me About Gray Spongy Foam.

[warwick.hoy]

edit: Now With Pics

Gray Spongy Foam.

I've been researching and searched here. I found a thread about working the material, but not where it can be sourced from.

I've outgrown my solution to carrying my cables and odds and ends back and forth to gigs which has been an unused camera bag.

I picked up one of those old American Tourister small hard shell suitcases from the thrift store. I got all my cables orginized into it and realized....damn I've got enough room to put my Gallien-Krueger MB2-500. The amp weighs only a shade under 4 lbs and is about the size of a DVD player. I was putting the amp in the cargo pocket of my pedal board...but I've never been satisfied with that. That is where spare patch cables and the wall wart should be. Plus it seems like a good place for the amp to get damaged.

The inside smelled like old lady so I ripped it out and when I was looking at it I thought to myself....hey....how about some of that gray spongy foam custom cut to fit the suitcase and notched to fit my amp. I could leave enough space on one end to hold all my cables and their backups plus earplugs, extra strings...on and on.

My next step is to source the gray spongy foam. I checked REI since they sell Pelican Cases. I checked hardware stores as well. No luck and I ran out of time to check fabric and craft stores (Sunday ). I've been researching on the web but am finding more questions then answers.

What would help me is to know what the stuff is actually called. I initially thought is was High Density Foam, but it seemed that in my research a lot of styrofoam came up and that is not what I'm looking for. I tried Medium Density Foam and seem to be getting a lot of upholstery material. When I searched Foam I came across this Pelican Pick 'N' Pluck Foam but that seems a bit pricey and I would hate to waste money if I mess up.

Then it struck me....I need a large sheet of thin foam. I can then cut the shape of the amp out of multiple pieces and then layer and glue (like a laminate) and then cut the shape to fit into the suitcase.

Now the question is...where can I source the foam? Fabric store? Website?

I'll keep up on the research but thought I get the collective genius of TB on the task as well.

Thanks TB

~James

[bongomania]

Believe it or not, the times I have needed foam for a project like that, I looked in the Yellow Pages under "foam" and there were suppliers right there. Often they also deal in fabric, upholstery, mattresses, or car/boat fixtures.

[warwick.hoy]

yel.....low...pag......es.....???????

Edit: j/k Thanks for the Idea....I'll give that one a try tomorrow.

[warwick.hoy]

Well....I was able to find some foam....it was in the yellow pages as bongo suggested....under foam. 12 bucks from an upholstery place and it is called a "topper". I don't remember the exact dimensions but it came in a sheet about the size of a bedroll and 1" thick. I bought some foam glue as well to help me shape it to fit the suitcase

I should have taken some progress pics but I knew I'd wind up with a hack job. I want to redo it with some adjustments but I'll probably live with it for a moment. Give it a test run and see how it works on a gig. Here is the end result.



So I cut the sheet into 5 equal rectangles and cut the shape of the amp out of two pieces. Those 2 pieces also got trimmed about 2/3 the width of the suitcase. I left 3 pieces the entire width of the suit case. I then glued the two amp pieces together and then glue a whole piece to form the bottom. The two remaining whole pieces were also glued together and they form the lid. I then carved the finished piece to fit the suitcase.

I don't mind the hack job, I just want a little more space for the cables.

Side note: I basically have a cable for every situation. I take a pedal board with me on gigs as well. I used some different colored electrical tape to identify the cables as mine (they are those blue shrink wrapped jobs from GC.) and also which lengths they are. Over time I've collected a 10' an 18' and a 30'. Having all these cables gives me a lot of options depending on stage size; if there even is a stage. There are also a speakon and an XLR cable and the power cable to the amp. I plan to carry backups at least one of the insturment cables and the speakon. I like to be prepared.

I may make holes for tools batteries and such.



Ready for Stickers (If you want to send me your un-used stickers.....)

[lowendblues]

Very cool! Hell of an idea!

Looks great. Probably better than a factory made case.

[nsmar4211]

Watching this one with interest...... just decided myself that the rack was getting heavy and found a hard shell suitcase at goodwill that fits my amp head. Fits it darn near perfect but I was thinking a little padding wouldn't hurt..... and you know, I have an extra eggcrate foam bed thing hanging around.

[warwick.hoy]

Originally Posted by lowendblues

Very cool! Hell of an idea!

Looks great. Probably better than a factory made case.

Cheaper...that's for sure. I paid all together $25 and spent about an hour putting it together. I used an electric knife to do most of the cutting, and it works well.

If I had a shop and spent a little more time it would have come out better. My main gripe is that the amp's position could be shifted to the right and give me more room for my cables. Unfortunately I brain farted and cut the wrong end. I tried to make up by stuffing remnants in the left end. That's where the hack job is. You can't see it in the photograph and it ain't pretty.

[bongomania]

Looks like it will do the job just fine though, and the next one will be better!