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All roadcases I have seen commerically avaliable are made of plywood?

Obviously aluminium is a helluva lot stronger than some crappy plywood, why wouldnt u make roadcases out of aluminium?

I ask this, because I am getting roadcases for my gear and am thinking of making my own out of extrusions and checkerplate aluminium.

There are Hardshell Guitarcases made of Aluminium if that helps...


Originally Posted by GrandorAll roadcases I have seen commerically avaliable are made of plywood?

Obviously aluminium is a helluva lot stronger than some crappy plywood, why wouldnt u make roadcases out of aluminium?

I ask this, because I am getting roadcases for my gear and am thinking of making my own out of extrusions and checkerplate aluminium.

Because compared to wood or plastic it´s just plain un****inbelievably heavy if you want the same stability.... you can´t get away with thin sheets, most quot;aluminumquot; cases are actually plywood with a paper thin aluminum sheet for a hair of extra protection

Look at the quot;Abel Axequot;.. pure Aircraft Grade T-4 Body, and notably more holes in the body than actual substance, and still weighen just under 10 lbs.. a full body would easily go to 25 lbs

And that´s why, a 10lb guitar 35lb aluminum case = 45 lbs of fun

If I can put in my two cents worth. Most Road cases are overweight and over priced and you designed / built by people who quot;have always done it this wayquot; or as long as they can get away with it will never change!

Build your own.

Plywood is a great template, three-ply is good enough.

The trick is fibreglass or is you really want to ge safe Kevlar matting. I use Ballistic fiberglass matting and a slow cure expoy, this is a trade secret and am entitled to kill you if you try to get this out of me (something to do with amoured vehicles).

Basically start with a case then work out how to make it absorb shock loadings, lock down the load but support it, the 'glass is to protect it from impact and the Aluminium sheet and extrustions are the scuff barriers. I use a 0.5mm T5/4 satin finish sheet that is 'primed' to fix to the 'glass' but due to previous obligations I can't tell you how.

45lbs, thats 20kg right?
Meh I can live with that.
I believe normal road cases are ***** heavy too anyway? Does anyone know exactly how much weight difference there would be from an ATA300 case to an aluminium one?

If my gear is well protected. It is then - worth it.

I'd be getting:
- Dual Recto Case
- 2x12 Case
- Guitar Case
- Pedal Board Case
- Accessories (leads/picks/tubes/fuses/strings) case.

bump ^

Ok... I've got ATA road cases for all my gear. 1/2quot; ply on all of it (the heavy stuff). I've got my marshall cab in one case, my mesa cab in another and then the big un: holds my JCM2000, my Mesa Triple rec and a shock mounted rack with 6 rack spaces (but only 3 are full).

The LIGHTEST one of the three is over 100lbs. The double head case.... an easy 200-250lbs. All loaded of course. They're not light and will give you a work out. On the bright side, all my stuff is in as good of condition as when I put it in there. This is after about 25,000 miles of touring. Yes, 25,000 miles.

Now the reasons against aluminum. I'm not a scientist but I'll give you some reasons from someone understaning fabrication and a fair amount of scientific properties.

Plywood has more plasticity. Aluminum gives a bit sure, but its not gonna go back in place like plywood. Its gonna warp/get bent after getting banged around. Then you're gonna have problems getting your gear in or out.

Secondly, it will be way heavier. Sure aluminum is light... actually, no its not. Hear me out on this one. From what I understand the strength to weight ratio of aluminum is actually almost the same as steel. So piece of aluminum and a piece of steel of the same weight (not same volume or mass) would be equally as resistant towards breaking or bending. And in that case steel is much cheaper to buy. Would you consider making cases out of steel? I wouldn't. Just sounds heavy.

Lastly, the fabrication. When looking at ATA cases you start to notice how much recessed hardware there is. Now cutting notches and holes in thick pieces of aluminum is going to be a tremendous task compared to plywood. You're talking some serious drill bits, blades, hell even water jets or CNC work. And really, thats just silly. The cost involved in cutting serious metal is not cheap and often over looked. Don't believe me? Just ask my buddy who just built a jeep from the ground up with all custom suspension, cages, and all the other fab work done by himself how much it cost to cut metal. On a large scale for manufacturers (sp?) it just doesn't make sense to build out of aluminum.

Now plywood and aluminum skin would work, but ABS is a hell of a lot cheaper and lighter than metal. There's a reason that road case technology hasn't really advanced much. Any other materials that would improve upon the current ones strength or weight (various metals, composites, carbon fiber, etc) have too many draw backs... the biggest one being cost.

Unless you're on a tour with roadies and semi trucks, I'd strongly suggest that you save your money and save your back......buy Tuki Padded covers!!!

I've had a bunch of roadcases, and after gigging with them......well, it just sucks!

The Tuki padded covers aren't cheap, but they're cheaper than any roadcase, and they're form fitted to your amp. Of course, you can't drop your head on the ground, but the padding does offer plenty of protection.

Here's a direct link to prices for most amps. from : localhost/www.tukicovers.com/pages/pricelist.html

www.tukicovers.com

the tukki site do not work

Oops, I misspelled it. I just corrected it. padded covers are the perfect thing for speaker cabs, since you don't add weight.
I also use them for my amp heads, and they work great. I guess if I were in a situation with roadies or cartage companies, I'd go back to using heavy duty cases.

I need my cases to be able to go on planes/tour buses/band vans.

I'm sick of having to coddle all my gear so much, I wanna just be able to throw it into the belly of a bus and jump on, not worrying about taking it upstairs and having it put somewhere more secure within sight.

My Washburn Sonic 7 came in an aluminum case, and it was pretty freakin' heavy. I would have rather had a wooden one.