Stacking Roadcases?

[guru007]

I'm running out of room in the control room and wondered if stacking my two 16 space shockmounted roadcases (made by Case Unlimited) was not entirely insane.

My fear, of course, is that the bottom case wouldn't take the weight. I've tried calling the manufacturer but there's no answer, so I have no idea how much weight these things can stand.

Roadcase 1 has mostly solid state gear like eq's and compressors, a patchbay, and a rackmounted computer.

Roadcase 2 is full of tube and class A gear.

Any advice?

guru007

[smoothmoniker]

If they're truly road built, and not just SKB hard shells, then you should have no problem. Those things are build to withstand being at the bottom of the stack on the Rocket Cargo truck as it bounces on the 10E from LA to Florida.

-sm

[Remoteness]

Well, sort of...

Not all road cases are created equal. Not knowing whether you have light, medium or heavy duty cases, its hard to tell for sure.

With that said, even the light duty cases can be stacked, depending on their load. Consider doing a dry run. Test it out by stacking them, then look to see if the bottom case is buckling from the weight. Chances are, you'll be just fine.

Get a few "C clamps" and clamp the bottom case's top side to the top case's bottom side. This will keep them held together. Another approach would be to strap the two cases with ratchet bucket strap. You don't want them shifting or worst, falling over during a session, etc.

[guru007]

Originally posted by Remoteness
Well, sort of...
Not all road cases are created equal. Not knowing whether you have light, medium or heavy duty cases, its hard to tell for sure.

Thanks for the advice. I will take a dry run soon with fingers crossed.
incidentally, these roadcases have foam in-between a second layer (of wood?) that makes or helps it to be a "shockmount" roadcase. So, I can't tell the thickness of the outer layer of the shell.
How can one tell if they have a light, medium, or heavy duty case, aside from the thickness of the shell?

guru007

[Remoteness]

A quick way to tell whether it's L, M or H duty is to take the lid and twist it slightly.

If it stays rigid, it's heavy duty.
If you can flex the lid more then you think it should go, it's a medium one.
If you twisted the lid and in return you turned it into a new piece of "art", it's light duty.

You can also, visually check the construction of the cases. Light and medium duty cases tend to have less reinforcement.

[Steve Smith]

Originally posted by Remoteness
Get a few "C clamps" and clamp the bottom case's top side to the top case's bottom side. This will keep them held together. Another approach would be to strap the two cases with ratchet bucket strap. You don't want them shifting or worst, falling over during a session, etc.

that is def worth mentioning again. File it under " Lessons not to learn the hard way"

[smoothmoniker]

Slightly OT, but not much ...

do you ever run into somebody who is just so brilliant at their niche, that you can't ever picture them doing anything else? There's a custom case guy here in LA who is just brilliant at setting foam. Sounds simple? you have to see this guy work. I bring all of my old vintage keyboard to him, and he finds ways to set them perfectly in place, snug as bugs, without any pressure on the protruding knobs.

I'm just a really big fan of things done well.

-sm

[Remoteness]

Amen to that sm!

[guru007]

Originally posted by smoothmoniker
do you ever run into somebody who is just so brilliant at their niche, that you can't ever picture them doing anything else?
I'm just a really big fan of things done well.

-sm

Here, here...that level of skill (at least in the service industry) seems rare these days. That's what I dig about these forums - an appreciation and recognition of the Masters that perform their crafts so well that we're grateful to be able to pay them for it.

guru007

[JayCrouch]

If you are not 100% confident in the lower case's construction, make it stronger. Simple wood cut into braces for the inside corners, or you could use actual metal pieces that are meant for support. Any hardware store has what you need.

Does the case have rear rails? If not istall some - not only is this handy for mounting rack panels for i/o and power - you can also use a few blank sheets to add horizontal support to the frame of your rack, just mount the rails propperly.

Foam - by a few big sheets of the cheap 1-2" stuff from a vendor such as Markertek, keep it under a bed or in a garage or something. Having a bunch of foam always seems like a good idea whenever finishing off a case or something. Sometimes stuffing some foam into a few areas just so that there is a bit of absorbtion (physical) and it provides the rack with a bit of give.

Perhaps a nice sign for the top of the upper rack would be "no, that doesn't go here"

[smoothmoniker]

Originally posted by guru007
... we're grateful to be able to pay them for it.

My wife was trying to understand why I paid 450 to case a board I paid 900 for (cherry JP 8, it was a steal), when Guitar Center has "road cases" for like 80 bucks.

The closest I got to an explanation was, "I'll never have to worry about the board again. There's nothing much my tech, rocket cargo, or American Airlines can do to it that the case won't absorb."

-sm

[JayCrouch]

hallo strongbad

There are a few music stores in my area that deal with alot of trade ins, people never want the calzone/anvil cases - it's always easy to show the salesman that you are doing him a favor by taking it away.

I'd recommend buying any cheap anvil / calzone case - make it into a case for something. I think I might just say **** it to luggage and just start condensing all of my personal belongings into cases. yes