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Topic: SKB case question |
Christopher Woitach
From:
Portland, Oregon, USA
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Posted 13 Apr 2022 8:34 am |
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I want to lighten my pedal steel case weight for flying. I can’t get the pedal bar etc into my suitcase, and I have an excellent Red Dirt case, but it puts it over 50 lbs.
The solution (suggested by Dan Tyack) I chose was buying an empty SKB case from Jim P, to be fitted with foam. Most people buy packing foam and cut it to fit the steel, and that’s still an option. The case is great, has a place to put rods legs and pedal bar, and even has wheels.
My question is - has anyone tried wrapping the steel in plastic and using some kind of spray foam to make a perfect fit for the steel?
1. Is this a dumb idea?
2. If not, what product should I use?
Also, if cutting foam is the best way, exactly what foam should I get - understand that I am utterly clueless about any kind of DIY stuff that most of you seem very adept at… really smart about the use of altered dominant chords, but that doesn’t seem to apply here. I would like to not worry that my lame skills will result in a broken steel guitar……
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Christopher Woitach
cw@affmusic.com
www.affmusic.com |
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Ian Worley
From:
Sacramento, CA
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Posted 13 Apr 2022 12:49 pm
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The spray foam seems like a cool idea, though probably not the easiest or most practical. You would need to provide some void space between the lining and the tuning keys/strings/changer fingers. You would need to allow for a soft finished lining material, which would be tricky to install cleanly over a pre-shaped foam liner. Perhaps the way to do that would be to pre-cut and sew the inner fabric liner material to the correct shape to fit the guitar, including any necessary voids for strings, tuning keys, etc., and with all the stitching on the back side. Cover the guitar with thin plastic as you suggest and temporary foam blocks to form the shape of any desired voids in the liner around the tuning keys, etc., place the actual finished liner over that and apply the foam. If you did that outside the case to ensure a nice snug void-free fit around the guitar, then you would still have to shape the outside to fit it into the case itself.
The soft foam plank inserts that come with some of the SKB-type cases are pretty useless for a PSG, but light weight rigid foam liners are really simple to fabricate. Rigid EPS foam is also very cheap and forgiving to work with. I've made custom liners for guitar and bass cases, and most recently a PSG case, just using rigid foam, some cheap velvet from the local fabric store and spray-on contact cement. For the liner in the pics below, the fabric is glued lightly to the foam, the rest is just pressure fit into the case, it's very stable when installed but it all comes out in about 10 seconds. It's all 1" foam except the bottom pieces, which are 1/2", the thicker pieces on the ends are just built-up, and the center leg channel partition, which is a piece of 1/2" plywood for rigidity. Just pre-cut and fit the back and ends of the foam to fit the contours of the case starting from one side and working your way across for a tight fit.
The case in the pics is an SKB iSeries 3614-6, it weighs about 17# alone, the liner adds about 3#. With alloy legs my Emmons S10 PP weighs in at 49.5#. One minor inconvenience with this particular case is it's very popular model with gun enthusiasts, so you tend to get questions at the airport as to whether it's a firearm, can get held up at baggage claim.  The V-Series 3611 trap case is ~4# lighter but less durable. It's not big enough for guitar + legs/pedal rack side by side like this, but it's taller so you can make a padded separator and stack those parts on top of the guitar. Lots of other options for different shapes and sizes from different manufacturers like Gator, etc. A Martin backpacker guitar gig bag is the perfect size for legs and pedal rack, you can carry them on or check them separately. Good luck!
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All lies and jest, still a man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest - Paul Simon |
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Christopher Woitach
From:
Portland, Oregon, USA
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Posted 13 Apr 2022 1:22 pm
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Ian!
Thank you so much for all the information! When I get the foam, do I just ask for rigid foam, or is there a particular brand or type I need to ask for? I’m really clueless about stuff like this…
Thanks again - really helpful!
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Christopher Woitach
cw@affmusic.com
www.affmusic.com |
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Ian Worley
From:
Sacramento, CA
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Posted 13 Apr 2022 2:03 pm
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Just EPS foam, expanded polystyrene. It's softer, easier to work with and generally cheaper than the more dense stuff like polyisocyanurate. The stuff in the pics is just 1" 'R-Tech' polystyrene from Home Depot, about $14 for a 4x8 sheet (enough for 4 or 5 case liners). The 1/2" stuff on the bottom panels was some scrap polyiso I had laying around but anything similar will work. I used 1/2" on the bottom just because of the limited interior height of this particular case. The soft egg crate foam in the lid was integral to the case. The side support rails in the guitar cavity are just strips of the same foam, they're glued to the side pieces and overlap the bottom piece to hold it in place, they hold the guitar so that the tuning keys are about 1/8" above the bottom liner. The velvet is just a remnant from Joann Fabrics, they always have tons of cheap scraps, lots of colors and textures.
I cut the foam on a table saw, which is the best way to get nice straight, clean cuts, but it can easily be done with just a sharp utility knife, a good straight edge and a little patience. Shaping the backs of the pieces to fit the case was some table saw work, but mostly just manual with a knife, little at a time to fit it in. It goes fairly quickly overall. For my Emmons it worked out that the interior surfaces could be built very straight and square, which makes it very easy to cover with the velvet, the fabric is not very flexible. Some guitars might require a little more finagling or some irregular shapes here or there depending on what might be sticking out. Not sure about your MSA.
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All lies and jest, still a man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest - Paul Simon |
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Ron Pruter
From:
Arizona, USA
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Posted 13 Apr 2022 7:51 pm
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FWIW. I've cut foam rubber very successfully with an electric carving knife. The type that has one blade moving toward you and one moving away at the same time. Clamp the foam gently between two boards and cut right along the boards for a straight edge guide.👍 RP
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Emmons SKH Le Grande, '73 Fender P/J bass, Tick tack bass, Regal high strung, USA Nashville 112. |
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Olli Haavisto
From:
Jarvenpaa,Finland
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Posted 14 Apr 2022 8:16 am
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Some pro flight case makers can make a digital model of the guitar and cut the foam using CNC.
I’m in the process of getting that done soon, for my U12 MSA, single body.
I’ll let you know how it goes.
What’s the model of the SKB?
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Olli Haavisto
Finland |
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Christopher Woitach
From:
Portland, Oregon, USA
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Posted 14 Apr 2022 8:46 am
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Weirdly there’s no model number anywhere but here’s some pics. Olli, your solution sounds very cool (and thank you everyone for the terrific information!)
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Christopher Woitach
cw@affmusic.com
www.affmusic.com |
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Ian Worley
From:
Sacramento, CA
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Posted 14 Apr 2022 9:50 am
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That looks like the vSeries 3611, it has two latches, the bigger vSeries cases have four https://www.skbcases.com/search/by-keyword/query=vseries
If so it's probably not wide enough for both the guitar and pedal rack/legs side by side without really skimping on the padding and protection, but it's tall, so if it's too tight in width you could make a separate horizontal partition to put them in the lid
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All lies and jest, still a man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest - Paul Simon |
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Malcolm McMaster
From:
Beith Ayrshire Scotland
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Posted 14 Apr 2022 10:10 am
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All the SKB 3611w cases I have seen used for steel have , as Ian suggested, had a horizontal separation panel fitted, created a separate section for the pedal bar and legs, Know Paddy Long in NZ uses them regularly, and is pretty pleased with them.
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MSA Millenium SD10, GK MB200, Sica 12inch cab, Joyo American Sound Pedal/ Jay Ganz Straight Ahead amp, Telonics 15inch in Peavey cab, Digitech RP150, Peterson tuner.Hilton volume pedal.Scott Dixon seat and guitar flight case. |
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Susan Alcorn
From:
Baltimore, MD, USA
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Posted 17 Apr 2022 4:41 pm
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It is not good for steel guitars to be sliding around inside the case, especially when flying. One problem with using spray foam might be with TSA or whoever opens up your case to make sure you're not transporting anything illegal or dangerous (My SKB case commonly gets put into a back room at baggage instead of a carousel which at times adds another hour or two to my trip). If they want to look at your pedal steel or check it (sometimes they take the steel out of the case), they might take off the foam, before putting it back in. That would be my worry anyway.
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www.susanalcorn.net
"So this is how you swim inward. So this is how you flow outwards. So this is how you pray."
- Mary Oliver |
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