Rickenbacker Finish and Case Foam

[jon]

Wonder if anyone can give some advice please.

I need a replacement case for a 4080 and almost all the quotes I have been able to get have been for flight case style cases foamed to fit. Knowing that certain materials - such as the 'rubber' on cheaper guitar stands - can react badly with the finish, I am reluctant to go this route without clarification as to what materials might be unsafe.

I did post this on the 'official' forum and got one reply. It was helpful in that it gave me an idea of a case manufacturer to avoid. Can anyone help with some definitive information regarding what foams to avoid?

Thanks

Jon

[jon]

I really hoped that someone here could help with this. Anyone?

[jps]

This company can make anything you want.

www.ameritage.com

[jon]

Thanks very much, I'll contact their UK distributor in Bridgewater and see what they come up with.

So, is the general consensus that the foam found in typical flightcases is harmful to the finish?

[jingle_jangle]

There are several types of foam found in flight cases. The two I am most familiar with are open-celled polyethylene foam (quite soft and lightweight, perhaps 2 or 3 pounds/cu ft.) and foamed-in-place polyurethane (urea-formaldehyde) foam. The first type--polyethylene--is pre-foamed and sold in blocks and sheets, usually for upholstery and packaging purposes. It is, for our purposes, chemically neutral and non-reactive. Because it's sold pre-foamed and pre-cut, it must be cut to fit per the application, using a sharp knife, bandsaw, or hot knife or wire.

Foamed-in-place urea foam is likely to be unsuitable for purposes of lining flight cases for Rickenbackers, because it is sold as two reactive liquids which are mixed by the user and poured into the cavity around the object to be shockproofed, which is pre-wrapped in polyethylene film like a trash or lawn bag. In production, a "dummy" instrument, which copies the shape and dimensions of the actual instrument to be housed, is often made up.

The problem with foam-in-place comes down to the accuracy of the mixing, and the care taken to mix thoroughly. If quantities are not exact, the foam remains chemically reactive for some time as one half does not have enough of the other to react with. This could potentially be harmful to a guitar's finish.

Urea foam that is still reactive smells like cat pee. Urea is what gives "urine" its name. Formaldehyde is used as an accelerating agent, and de-gases from the foam for weeks after it's activated.

As far as I know, Ameritage uses cut-block polyethylene, as the padding in their cases is covered with plush fabric and has no odor. But I'm not going to cut apart any of my Ameritage cases to find out. You might wish to ask them, just to be sure.

[jon]

Very useful information. Thank you Paul.