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DIY road cases. Where to find Black egg crate foam?

Big Hoss

Big Hoss

Up note, down note, blue note, brown note...
Sep 5, 2014
5,455
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In body. Texas. In spirit on the road.
daves-workshop.blogspot.com
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#1
So I want to build a couple of road cases for my PA pieces, most importantly my new mixer. Nothing commercially available is all that appealing, and I am actually rather skilled at woodworking so making a pretty simple box is no big deal. My big problem is sourcing the specific internal cushioning material I want. If I weren't so picky, I would go with simple white egg crate foam from a mattress topper, those are cheap and readily available, but I want proper black material like they use in commerical cases.

Can anyone recommend a source for this stuff in CONUS, and preferably in the Houston Texas metro region?
 
#3
Big Hoss said:
Can anyone recommend a source for this stuff in CONUS, and preferably in the Houston Texas metro region?
Click to expand...
Believe it or not, fabric stores (like Jo-Ann's) often have varying grades of foam in stock, and if not, have sources from which one can order what you are looking for.. They have 1/2 a dozen stores in the Houston area.
 
#10
Frankjohnson said:
I see mixer cases all the time - $50-100 Chances are you may tie more than that up in materials -
what are the dimensions of your mixer? Just curious.....

If you are set that you are building one - I will completely disregard -
Click to expand...

Physical dimensions specs from the manual are.
5.31" H x 16.53" W x 17.32" D.

I am not wedded per se to a hard case design either. And I had never considered a pre made case. I didn't figure there would be that much for this model as it is an older model now... I think I might have found a winner on ZZSounds...
 
#12
Problem solved, maybe.... For the price I am willing to order it, return it if I don't like it...

ZZ Sounds has a custom fitted semi hard case / gig bag with hard polymer front / back protection and 20MM (2cm) padding which is quite sufficient. Assuming it's not a complete dud, this solves the much bigger than my last mixer protection problem...

My XENYX 1202FX literally just slipped inside the mic bag. This X2442USB is bigger than the entire mic bag... I should be able to put the mixer into the new gig bag / case, and put this into the tote along with my cables, and mic bag, and be good to go with more than enough protection for load in / load out.
 
#16
modulusman said:
I did see the post above mine. You said if you didn't like the case you were going to order you would return it. If IRRC I bought the gator bag for about $50.00. Since you didn't give more information in your post I don't know what the one you were going to order costs.
Click to expand...

Ah, I got it... I guess I am slow this week... And yes, I like Gator bags / cases. They make nice stuff that isn't terribly expensive. The gator cases I found though would have been sloppy around the mixer allowing it to slide around and potentially break.... Now having said that, I am not allergic to the idea of stuffing some small poly backpacking pillows (I have a bunch of them in the attic) between the mixer and the bag to keep it tight in there. Something worth looking into...
 
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#18
The bag arrived today with no problems. Took it out of the box, and found the rigid plastic part is in the top, bottom, and sides, but not on the front and back. The back seems to have an extra layer of padding, and the front has a big zippered pleated pocket that is pretty idea for holding things like cables. A couple of old T shirts tossed in over the knobs and that should be WAY more than sufficient protection for anything I will ever throw its way abuse wise. So I think I am good.
 
#19
BigHoss... you could always cut some foam to fit on top of the mixer, so it's snug when you slide it into the case. That should help protect the knobs, faders, etc. in addition to the case.
Idk about you, but I'm pretty darn "a n a l" about looking after my gear, and keeping it in "like new" condition.
Whether I got a deal on it or paid full price.. it's MY hard-earned dollars, and the investment will [hopefully] generate more :hyper:
I also keep the original shipping boxes.. all helps with resale value (if you ever do that)!

Lets us know how the new console works our for you!
 
#20
s0c9 said:
BigHoss... you could always cut some foam to fit on top of the mixer, so it's snug when you slide it into the case. That should help protect the knobs, faders, etc. in addition to the case.
Idk about you, but I'm pretty darn "a n a l" about looking after my gear, and keeping it in "like new" condition.
Whether I got a deal on it or paid full price.. it's MY hard-earned dollars, and the investment will [hopefully] generate more :hyper:
I also keep the original shipping boxes.. all helps with resale value (if you ever do that)!

Lets us know how the new console works our for you!
Click to expand...

No worries, and yes I am a bit OCD about keeping my gear in top shape.... After 2+ years of use, I can honestly say the 1202FX still looks like it just came out of the box... But I don't actually keep the boxes. I used to do that but they take up too much room... Yes, I do believe I am going to get some foam to put in here on the knobs / sliders, I don't like the slop in the bag. The mixer is wedge designed, the bag, not so much...
 
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