Restore a Case??

[CashSax]

Well I did 3 so far..I have 3 great vintage(TH&C, S20, SBA) tenors that were closet horns and so absolutely fine that I decided to see what I could do to bring the original cases back to life..they weren't shot by any means but some usual bad scuffs and scratches, worn and torn bindings, etc..luckily all the handles and latches were fine and and on my SBA Chesterfield case the zipper works perfect..
Anyway my local SHOE REPAIR guy with some custom color-blended leather dye, good glue work and clean-up did some amazing work.. and now I've got 3 vintage cases that look like new and are as fine as the horns in them..BTW,I mostly use a trusty old selmer flight case or pro-tech contours when I gig with these horns so the orig cases should actually stay in nice shape.

[mostly alto guy]

Good on you, Cash. I recently acquired a Big B alto with a case that's structurally not bad, but totally tattered cosmetically. You may have inspired me. Like you, I carry horns in aftermarket cases most often, keeping the originals home. Some day that's gonna pay off, assuming my daughter sells some of my horns after prying them out of my cold dead fingers.

[Big Al]

Cash

Did you just get the exteriors cleaned up?

I have an original vintage SML tenor case that the interior needs "bulked up" padding-wise. There is just too much room in there and the sax moves around too much---any suggestions?

The exterior is in fair shape so the shoe repair guy sounds like a good idea for that.

[CashSax]

Yes Al, I just did mainly exteriors on these cases at the Shoe Repair guys.. a second good vinyl/leather cleaner/armor-all treatment finished them off at home for the coups' de gras..I beeswaxed (chapstick) the zipper on the Chesterfield and oiled and cleaned/polished the hinges and latches on the other 2 and overall they really look great..As far as interior stuff goes, I've used carpet/upholstery cleaner and a good vacuuming then hot sun or air dry then some deodorizer spray then I'll shut the case overnite then next several days leave it open while practicing..in a couple of days you'll have a decent smelling case again..far as looseness goes, my TH&C fits loose in the case..I lay a very thick terry bath towel flat inside the case first then put the horn in, then fold the excess back over the horn it takes up all the slack perfectly, my King and Selmer box cases both have some end-play and just a small folded cloth at the neck-plug keeps the horn snug and immobile..other wise I'd cut some fitted pieces of cloth-wrapped foam if the horn was really loose.. :wink:

[Dr G]

Back in the '70's I did a restoration on my Conn straight sop's case - bought some purple velvet at the fabric shop and some high density foam from a guy that did car upholstery. The rest was just a matter of cutting, fitting, and gluing. The product would compete with the finish on the best of today's cases.