Official Luthiers Forum!

Hi All

I ordered 2 cases from Ameritage and just received the last one today. The first was a standard case and I received it shortly after ordering. The case I received today was a custom order. Both cases are very well made and the fit is excellent. I received the Luthier pricing so both cases were very reasonably priced. High quality, low price and great customer service; thanks Ameritage. And shipping here in the US was under $35.00 per case. I'm a very satisfied customer.

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guitarsbygiltzow.com

Good to know, especially as they are a forum sponsor.

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George :-)

Thanks for the praise Michael. I have been thinking of using Ameritage for my bouzouki cases. Would you care to go into detail about the custom ordering process and pricing? Where are these cases made?

The cases are VERY heavy, mine weighed 18 pounds empty The gigging musician who has the one Ameritage case that I ordered hates it for it's weight and he is a big, strong guy too.... He also proactively complains about the weight so this is something to keep in mind.

My experience with Amertige was not good. If you are interested it's posted on the ANZLF with the details but in a nut shell the customer service sucked big time and they seem to be into telling you what you want to hear and then delivering nothing until they are ready. Not good for movers and shakers on a deadline.

After this I went with Cedar Creek and never looked back.

It's pretty rare to get a negative review from me.... for what it's worth....

Hesh - Does Cedar Creek offer discounts for luthiers?

Yes absolutely - call them and they will be happy to help. I also receive my Cedar Creek stuff as promised and on time, this is huge for me.

I've used Ameritage cases exclusively for quite a few years now and have no complaints about their service. The cases are heavy but that's because they're made from thick plywood.

I'm not familiar with Ameritage cases, but in my experience the better made cases are heavier and tougher. How strong you need a case to be depends a lot on the individual user. Often I can get by with a 1/8th inch thick plywood skinned, lightly padded home made job. If I was a gigging musician I'd want something a bit stronger.

I have a couple. They'd be perfect if I had my own roadie to carry them.

Yeah I understand this and I'm happy that they work for you. For me if a client complains it's something that I have to address, plain and simple.

Lot's of folks use Amertiage cases and are happy with them as well. Don't get me wrong I also think that they are well made and well priced too.

Other then the one ball-buster case that I have from them I had to also cancel my order for the initial three because they lied to me over and over again about the ETA. That's something that I will not tolerate and as such ended the relationship with me.

They are also in Costa Rica IIRC and not stateside which can lead to some ETA and shipping issues as well.

One good thing about them though is they have serviced the individual maker market for a very long time and unless one is producing a one-off body shape they likely have a case to fit.... if you can lift it....

Where does one go to get a one off custom case made? For a long scale five course bouzouki with a custom tear drop body shape?

I had a similar situation that Hesh describes. I am a gigging musician. I don't fly but I do many local and regional gigs throughout the year. I was using a Calton case for my old Martin dread but I had to get rid of it because it was just too heavy to lug around. My shoulder would be sore after lugging that big basterd around for 4 days in a row. So I sold it and just use a simple arched lid 5 ply Canadian case now at about half the weight. Works great.

I have bought from Cedar Creek as well. A custom ordered Acoustic Bass Guitar case. It was a huge case and was, as expected, heavy and costly. The shipping alone was over $100. They were great to do business with and I was very satisfied with the service. Ameritage cases are heavy and possibly not for the traveling musician.
Hesh - sorry to hear your experience with them wasn't as good as mine. I did send measurements to them well in advance and so I did receive both cases when I needed them.
Goodin - There is a measurement form on Ameritage's website. Just down load and fill it out with your specific measurements. Send it in and they'll give you a quote. If it's a custom case you will want to order far enough in advance to meet your deadline.

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guitarsbygiltzow.com

I ordered one Ameritage case a while back for a pro musician and the weight was an issue. Very nice case and the service was good. Pretty much Cedar Creek/TKL for me now or Tamarkin (generic TKL) if money is an issue.

Cedar Creek makes a custom for my size 2's and they were great to work with. Their builder's series cases are heavier than a stock TKL professional of the same size. Really nice though.

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It's not what you don't know that hurts you, it's what you do know that's wrong.

Not trying to belabor the point here that I made earlier but I found a post that I made in 2009 about dealing with Amertage. What's interesting is that I was not the only one with the very same concerns about them back then, honesty, efficiency, and ease of doing business with not to mention case weight.

I'm also someone who is not wedded to buying US made stuff. For me it's all about value and I will spend my coin where I think that the value is. But in this case (pardon the pun please...) Ameritage not being stateside directly contributed to two of us having to send them tracings and then the tracings were lost and never arrived, or.... so they said...

Here's a link: http://www.anzlf.com/viewtopic.php?t=1973

Now here's a question/puzzle for the engineering sorts on the forum and I honestly do not know the answer. Does a case that is heavy enough that it does make some folks have to struggle provide more protection because of it's construction (design dependent I know....) or can it provide more opportunity for accidents because of the difficulty in handling it? I have visions of egg drop contests back in university....

I don't know the answer (spent too much time out of class back in university... ) but James's statement got me thinking about baggage handlers, roadies, etc. Seems to me that something that is more difficult to schlep is more likely to have an accident and then there is the issue of terminal velocity as well.... just can't remember my physics well enough to take this thought any further.

Some years later now and with an Amertigage case next to me at this very moment to look at I do believe that they are decent cases for the price, just heavy and in my case from a company that does not subscribe to the same book that I do for client service. OTOH Cedar Creek has been issueless to deal with, has met or exceeded expectations on deadlines, the cases cost me less IMHO, and the cases look better as well also IMHO. I'm supporting a Canadian based company with production in the US as well as Canada which also works for me. No language barriers, no suspicious "drop boxes" in Miami that never seem to get opened..., and all promises kept to date.

Lastly I have a personal objection to ever spending money to have a problem.... who needs it!

For me, my personal safety is more important than the safety of my guitar. If I don't have an arm, then I can't play a guitar!

I'm not in the US and about the only guitar cases I get that are made in Taiwan is fairly standard hardshell cases included with most mid range guitars, costs about $100 dollars for me... no luthier pricing or anything since the volume wouldn't really be enough (really, you have to be a music shop moving thousands of guitars a week, and even large music shops in Taiwan have trouble moving that many guitars).

I can't even entertain the idea of including an Ameritage case at no extra cost like a few luthiers do, not unless I add at least 500 dollars to the price of the instrument, because shipping alone would have cost me at least $200 dollars (yes, the price to ship a completed guitar over), then if the customer is say from the US (kinda unlikely but you never know), a lot more money paid to re-ship that case with the guitar inside... So I think I'll stick with standard hardshell cases unless a customer specifically asks for something better (and is willing to pay the price).

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Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com

I have a guitar that is just a bit smaller than an L-00. It has a 14" lower bout and body length is about 1" shorter than the standard L-00 size. Finding a case has been a giant pain.

Ameritage says they can fit it. I've seen their cases and other than being heavy, I'd be ok with it. Their price isn't that bad, but more than I really wanted to spend at the time.

Cedar Creek on the other hand was more than double just to get my foot in the door. I had mentioned that I was building these guitars and asked for the luthier pricing, but if what they quoted me was a discount, then I need to go into the case building business. I've heard good things about Cedar Creek, but felt like they were just blowing me off.

Is there some sort of super secret handshake you need to give them that will get you in on the Luthier pricing, or are my expectations out of line? I still need to find a case and expect to need one, possibly two more in the next year.

My plan now is to just add some padding a Canadian case from Elderly or gut a used case and re-pad that. Or depending on budget, Ameritage.

Wow, $35 bucks?

That works well and is quick and easy. Strip out the side padding and add your own. Matching fabric can be found in fabric stores, with textile adhesive.

Pat

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formerly known around here as burbank
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http://www.patfosterguitars.com

Thanks Pat. I just need to pick a case and give it a try.

They will also make one-off cases, and not that much higher of cost. Yes, they are heavy. Some will like, some will not. What I don't get is why they do not offer a lighter option. I really do like their internals.

Mike

Being as they are a sponsor, and they have done me right in the past, I choose to speak well of them. I do however hope they will read some of these comments and choose to build lighter.

Hesh, I like the looks of those cedar creek cases. Will they send a price list like Ameritage? Swear I think I saw a true Gieb style case there!

Mike

Interesting.

Hesh, I had quite the opposite experience in the case of both vendors. I had a nightmare experience with a custom case from Cedar Creek, and a fantastic experience with Ameritage. I view the heaviness of the case as a sign of the quality of construction and the ability to protect my instruments.

Try playing a Les Paul like mine, it weighs more than an acoustic in an Ameritage. And that's without the case!

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"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

I have been buying six to twelve cases a year from Cedar Creek, usually the TKL Prestige series (I don't do nearly the volume that would be needed to buy directly from TKL which is located in the same building). The price that they give me is very good, better than I can get anywhere else. They said I could get an additional discount if I went to dealer status and ordered two dozen at a time. I don't have the storage for that ( or a lot of extra cash laying around either). When I've asked about a custom size, the price goes up a hundred or more depending on what I ask for, but still, I feel the quote has been reasonable. If they can, I believe they take an existing shell and fit foam within to work for the custom sized guitar. For the custom cases, they can make the shell right there in their Oilville, Virginia headquarters given that they have a mold close to what you need. If they don't have a mold and have to make one, I expect that the case could get quite expensive. A couple of years ago, I begged for and got a factory tour. I was really impressed at the number of people working there and old and new technologies side by side. The company is family owned and run. They are proud of what they do. It may be that you have to order more than one case at a time to get better than retail pricing, but they have always been very reasonable with me and have always been a pleasure to work with. Call the number on their website and ask for Stephanie. Explain what you need and listen to what she says. They like to have happy customers. I expect that they will have my business for as long as I am able to build guitars.