Double Bass ISO repair advice for (cheap) hardsided case

[Dfunkman]

The zipper broke on my $900-ish Howard Core hard(ish) case. Anybody have an bright ideas on how to keep it usable?

I bought this thing a little over a year ago and regretted it almost immediately. The hardware is cheap and immediately started falling off. The casters suck. It feels very flimsy when it's open. But I needed a bass-shaped box to throw in the band trailer and the next step up in quality comes with a really big price jump

. What should I do??? Tear out the padded insert and build a sturdier box to put it in? I'm not that handy but maybe I can ask around?

 

[TroyK]

If it's for the band van, how about straps, or zip ties or duct tape? Anything to keep it closed and safe.

 

[Dfunkman]

If it's for the band van, how about straps, or zip ties or duct tape? Anything to keep it closed and safe.

Straps might work. Thank you!

 

[Rebop]

Call a luggage store. Some of them repair things like this all the time. I've had good luck with them for gig bags.

 

[slappahdabass]

Luggage store saved my regular case. This is similar enough it should be in that vein.

 

[Don Hergert]

Industrial Strength Velcro saved my soft case, replaced zippers, etc. I tend to at least consider it for many repairs now.

 

[Don Kasper]

Industrial Velcro saved my soft case, replaced zippers, etc. I tend to at least consider it for many repairs now.

Yes...More precisely - 3M Dual Lock -

 

[KUNGfuSHERIFF]

A shoe repair shop replaced the zipper on a cover for me years ago for under $100.

 

[james condino]

Almost every good backpacking / climbing type outdoor store will know someone who can do excellent zipper repairs for reasonable prices. They also sell giant kayak type cam straps that will work fine. I've been using a mandolin case for almost a decade that is held together with cam straps. That look alone makes it theft proof when lined up with the rest of the band's hipster $1000+ cases; like showing up driving a manual transmission!

 

[Dfunkman]

Call a luggage store. Some of them repair things like this all the time. I've had good luck with them for gig bags.

I contacted my local luggage repair place and they wanted nothing to do with it.

 

[Dfunkman]

Repairing a zipper on a hard case like this is a much bigger job than on a gig bag because the cloth cover needs to be separated from the wood/foam frame.

 

[Smith357]

Any good tailor can replace a zipper, or cobbler, or even the ladies sewing circle at your local church or senior center.

 

[Dfunkman]

Almost every good backpacking / climbing type outdoor store will know someone who can do excellent zipper repairs for reasonable prices. They also sell giant kayak type cam straps that will work fine. I've been using a mandolin case for almost a decade that is held together with cam straps. That look alone makes it theft proof when lined up with the rest of the band's hipster $1000+ cases; like showing up driving a manual transmission!

I used to work at my local REI. The places we would recommend for frame pack repair were all on the west coast. Imagine the cost/hassle of shipping a hard-sided upright bass case from Atlanta to Seattle on top of the expense of having it repaired.

 

[Dfunkman]

Any good tailor can replace a zipper, or cobbler, or even the ladies sewing circle at your local church or senior center.

I'm sure they could, but most won't on a hard case because of how labor-intensive the work is.

 

[bherman]

Nylon straps with plastic buckles seems like the right approach. Amazon has a ton of choices, seems like 3 or 4 of them will do the trick.