Vintage Case Restoration

Bringing your older offset back to life.
User avatar
SuperAxe
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 291
Joined: Tue Sep 04, 2012 1:46 am
Contact:

Re: Vintage Case Restoration

Post by SuperAxe » Fri Aug 26, 2016 7:06 pm

I have completed restoring a vintage Yamaha Superaxe case. If you are interested and want to see lots of photos, check this link out:

LINK

User avatar
marqueemoon
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 7343
Joined: Mon Jun 20, 2016 9:37 pm
Location: Seattle

Re: Vintage Case Restoration

Post by marqueemoon » Fri Aug 26, 2016 7:46 pm

Any tips for dealing with mildew on tolex and other case covering materials?

User avatar
Artslap
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 87
Joined: Sat May 30, 2015 6:54 pm

Re: Vintage Case Restoration

Post by Artslap » Fri Aug 26, 2016 10:53 pm

Nice SuperAxe.

Did you have to replace/repair any of the Aluminium Strip?

CP.
"Curiosity killed the Cat. He's buried alongside all the great minds we never had." - P. Dempsy - SFK

User avatar
SuperAxe
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 291
Joined: Tue Sep 04, 2012 1:46 am
Contact:

Re: Vintage Case Restoration

Post by SuperAxe » Sat Aug 27, 2016 2:14 am

Every winter my cases develop the mildew patches. Every spring I clean them with a damp cloth and soapy water.

Thanks Artslap. I know what you mean... The aluminium strip holds the case together (sides, bottom and top). It is extruded and then bend in the correct angles. I thought about approaching a local company who makes aluminium extrusions, but haven't as I suspect the cost may be prohibitive.

For that reason I have not bought any of these cases with damaged or missing aluminium strips.

eggwheat
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 5151
Joined: Sat Mar 03, 2007 8:30 am

Re: Vintage Case Restoration

Post by eggwheat » Sat Aug 27, 2016 2:19 am

I think the first step would be finding supplies of the various tolex coverings and hardware used..or products that are are close as possible.

User avatar
shadowplay
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 25930
Joined: Thu Sep 27, 2007 4:30 am
Location: Glasgow. Scotland
Contact:

Re: Vintage Case Restoration

Post by shadowplay » Sat Aug 27, 2016 3:17 am

marqueemoon wrote:Any tips for dealing with mildew on tolex and other case covering materials?
On car seats I use distilled white vinegar, you can also use salt water but salt stains can be a pita to get rid of, this works on canvas as well (where the salt warning goes double), I've used it on hoods/roofs and carpets. I recently had a Land Rover that had vinyl seats that were covered in so much mildew you couldn't see the vinyl (cold weather mould), I was just going to replace them but I realised the seats were original, had 'that' look and were in really good order so I cleaned them, steamed them (best cleaning investment ever is a decent steamer), stripped them and renewed the foam and then cleaned them some more, finishing with a conditioner and they look essentially new.

You can get products to remove it but for me they are best used as a finishing touch.

Btw safety first with mould; mask, gloves and goggles.

D
Are you loathsome tonight?

User avatar
Paul-T
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 225
Joined: Mon Jun 11, 2018 4:41 am
Location: London

Re: Vintage Case Restoration

Post by Paul-T » Sun Oct 28, 2018 2:45 am

hornz wrote:
Tue Jun 14, 2016 3:29 am
FEXII wrote:
hornz wrote:I've just picked up a '68 Tele case that's going to need a bit of work. I've found a seller on eBay that can pretty much match the crushed orange velvet interior nicely, which I've purchased a couple of metres of, off the roll.

My bass case that I use for my XII has some custom padding that I made - I'll recover this with the new material. Will post photos if anyones interested.
I would be interested to find the seller of the orange interior lining material, but one thing to be slightly cautious about:

Some materials have dyes that can seep into the finish of your guitar, so there is always a risk using some material that is not 'tried and tested'
Sorry, only just seen this. I think the seller was "suzie-may-crafts-ltd". The material seems pretty good, but I'm hoping there's no dye seep now you've mentioned it.
Hi Hornz, how did your case turn out? Any change you might be able to post a photo?

(I always wonder if dye seep is as common as the interwebz suggests, but as I'm having my JM refinned I'm subscribing to the paranoia for now).

I found suzie may's fabric before coming across this thread, but I noticed the burnt orange, which otherwise looks promising, is billed as stretchy. Is that the one you bought?
Industries wrote:
Wed May 04, 2016 3:11 am
I found that a deep vacuuming followed by a day of sunlight and then a dose of clove oil works wonders.
Helpful suggestion, thanks, and might be handy for the G&G case I've traded for free ... and which only smells 'slightly' of cat pee. But what do you mean by a dose? A spray, a drop here and there? TIA.
"classic marked down to 20 pence bargain bin fodder'

Industries
PAT PEND
PAT PEND
Posts: 27
Joined: Sat Apr 18, 2015 4:40 pm

Re: Vintage Case Restoration

Post by Industries » Sun Oct 28, 2018 11:46 am

Paul-T wrote:
Sun Oct 28, 2018 2:45 am
Industries wrote:
Wed May 04, 2016 3:11 am
I found that a deep vacuuming followed by a day of sunlight and then a dose of clove oil works wonders.
Helpful suggestion, thanks, and might be handy for the G&G case I've traded for free ... and which only smells 'slightly' of cat pee. But what do you mean by a dose? A spray, a drop here and there? TIA.
Start with two or three drops. Some clove oils are very pure and strong, so be cautious if you don't enjoy the scent like I do.

User avatar
hornz
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 952
Joined: Fri Apr 05, 2013 12:02 pm
Location: UK

Re: Vintage Case Restoration

Post by hornz » Thu Nov 08, 2018 1:51 pm

Paul-T wrote:
Sun Oct 28, 2018 2:45 am
hornz wrote:
Tue Jun 14, 2016 3:29 am
FEXII wrote:
I would be interested to find the seller of the orange interior lining material, but one thing to be slightly cautious about:

Some materials have dyes that can seep into the finish of your guitar, so there is always a risk using some material that is not 'tried and tested'
Sorry, only just seen this. I think the seller was "suzie-may-crafts-ltd". The material seems pretty good, but I'm hoping there's no dye seep now you've mentioned it.
Hi Hornz, how did your case turn out? Any change you might be able to post a photo?

(I always wonder if dye seep is as common as the interwebz suggests, but as I'm having my JM refinned I'm subscribing to the paranoia for now).

I found suzie may's fabric before coming across this thread, but I noticed the burnt orange, which otherwise looks promising, is billed as stretchy. Is that the one you bought?
Industries wrote:
Wed May 04, 2016 3:11 am
I found that a deep vacuuming followed by a day of sunlight and then a dose of clove oil works wonders.
Helpful suggestion, thanks, and might be handy for the G&G case I've traded for free ... and which only smells 'slightly' of cat pee. But what do you mean by a dose? A spray, a drop here and there? TIA.
Hey Paul, sorry I've only just seen your reply. That particular case is long gone now but I can confirm that the material is stretchy - it can be tricky to work with for this reason. The colour match was very good though. I still have a metre or two of it in case another project comes along.
hornz
Spin The Black Circle

User avatar
Paul-T
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 225
Joined: Mon Jun 11, 2018 4:41 am
Location: London

Re: Vintage Case Restoration

Post by Paul-T » Fri Nov 09, 2018 11:18 am

hornz wrote:
Thu Nov 08, 2018 1:51 pm

Hey Paul, sorry I've only just seen your reply. That particular case is long gone now but I can confirm that the material is stretchy - it can be tricky to work with for this reason. The colour match was very good though. I still have a metre or two of it in case another project comes along.
thanks, Hornz. They have a similar fabric in a local store that I think is similar, fantastic texture exactly like my Strat case. But I'm worried about the stretch aspect! Tell me about how you worked with that if you have a moment.
"classic marked down to 20 pence bargain bin fodder'

User avatar
hornz
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 952
Joined: Fri Apr 05, 2013 12:02 pm
Location: UK

Re: Vintage Case Restoration

Post by hornz » Tue Nov 20, 2018 2:09 pm

My use for it was to cover a custom cut piece of high density polyethylene (PE) foam which I used to pad out an area of a P/J Bass case that I was using for my Electric XII at the time.

Cutting the material was the first task. I found stretching it out on a hard, flat surface and a good pair of fabric scissors helped to get an approximate size accounting for the "stretchiness". Then I just applied some UHU All Purpose Adhesive in key areas to glue it. Avoid super glues or contact bonds that can leave residue or stain fabric materials if you go down this route.

Are you re-lining a whole case or just making minor repairs?
hornz
Spin The Black Circle

User avatar
Paul-T
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 225
Joined: Mon Jun 11, 2018 4:41 am
Location: London

Re: Vintage Case Restoration

Post by Paul-T » Tue Nov 20, 2018 2:26 pm

hornz wrote:
Tue Nov 20, 2018 2:09 pm

Are you re-lining a whole case or just making minor repairs?
I swapped out a case that had been stained by cat pee and various cleaning products, across maybe 1/3 of the main, bottom section. It actually arrived Monday, and in the flesh the marks aren't that bad so I'm considering my options. I can leave, replace one section, or redo the whole thing in orange to match the guitar date. I guess finding good fabric or not might help sway the decision. I think stretchy fabric across the whole thing might be pushing it too far.
"classic marked down to 20 pence bargain bin fodder'

User avatar
zepset
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 70
Joined: Wed Aug 02, 2017 7:21 pm

Re: Vintage Case Restoration

Post by zepset » Tue Nov 27, 2018 9:11 pm

I would skip the baking soda. It can damage the guitar finish.

The best cleaner and deodorizer is UV light. Let the sun kill any nasty stuff growing in there.

Now if I could just figure out a way to fix vintage case latches?

User avatar
hornz
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 952
Joined: Fri Apr 05, 2013 12:02 pm
Location: UK

Re: Vintage Case Restoration

Post by hornz » Fri Nov 30, 2018 1:48 pm

Paul-T wrote:
Tue Nov 20, 2018 2:26 pm
hornz wrote:
Tue Nov 20, 2018 2:09 pm

Are you re-lining a whole case or just making minor repairs?
I swapped out a case that had been stained by cat pee and various cleaning products, across maybe 1/3 of the main, bottom section. It actually arrived Monday, and in the flesh the marks aren't that bad so I'm considering my options. I can leave, replace one section, or redo the whole thing in orange to match the guitar date. I guess finding good fabric or not might help sway the decision. I think stretchy fabric across the whole thing might be pushing it too far.
Oh yeah, I agree in that case, its too stretchy for a large area. To be honest, if you can get away with it, I'd keep the original material and just try and clean it up, air it out etc.
hornz
Spin The Black Circle

User avatar
cjs
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 56
Joined: Thu Feb 15, 2018 11:48 am

Re: Vintage Case Restoration

Post by cjs » Tue Dec 25, 2018 4:42 pm

i think about this all the time.


i bet jack white knows someone.


next time i see him i'll try and ask him.

Post Reply