Make a Gig Bag for a Guitar Bass Ukulele Banjo

This Christmas I decided to make gig bags for my wife's and daughter's new instruments. My wife plays her shiny Christmas-present-opened-early baritone ukulele in the Diamond Harbour Ukulele Orchestra.  She'd been practicing on a restrung guitar for a few weeks to learn the chords.

Our daughter's christmas gift is an acoustic electric bass guitar so she can busk in Christchurch with her friends for some extra holiday cash.

So, we've got two new instruments that are going to be carted around a lot and nobody likes to carry their instrument around in those cardboard boxes they come in!  I made a gig bag for my acoustic electric bass a couple of years ago so I thought I'd document the process this time.

I reckon if you are handy with the sewing machine and have the materials at hand, you could do it in a few hours.  I did the first one (baritone ukulele) in an evening/morning (as you can see by the light in the pics) but I was making adjustments and taking lots of pics.  The second one (acoustic electric bass) was all done in an afternoon.  In fact, I think writing up this Instructable took longer!

Please feel free to comment, ask questions, and if you like it, rate it.

Step 1: Find something to make it out of....

You'll need:

Outer fabric - needs to be tough enough to protect and it can't be stretchy.  If you are going to be outside a lot, waterproof might also be worth considering

Liner fabric - needs to be soft and it can be stretchy.

Zipper- needs to long enough to let the instrument slip through it when it is open (with a bit of extra room to be safe).

We've renovated the house recently and ended up with a stack of roman blinds for windows that aren't there anymore.  They are thick cotton with an insulation filler and what looks like ironing board reflective material.  I used these for the liner fabric with the cotton facing the instrument because it was soft and padded.  For the outside we had more of the thick cotton glued to the reflective material (they were roller blinds).   It was good because it didn't stretch and was tough. THe zipper was from a bag of zippers my mother bought at a thrift store when she was visiting.

For the bass bags, I liberated the zippers from a freebee messenger bags.  You know the type that you get free with your "welcome pack" at conferences (and only use it while you are there).  I promise there are at least a dozen at every thrift store.

Comments

[shadowynne]

Was there any problem with the zipper scuffing up the instrument. I'm guessing that since it's nylon, it wouldn't do that too badly, but just wondering. Also, have the nylon zippers held well? Thanks for doing this! I have some ideas for making my son a gig bag for Christmas, and this is helpful because it implements a lot of what I was thinking, and it seems to work.

[tewharau]

I haven't had any problems with the zips wearing out or scratching. Because the bag is sewn more like an envelope (2D) instead of a box, the zips are kept away from the instrument. A few years back I made a more fitted case using the zip and side panels from one of those freebie conference courier bags and even though it is a tighter fit, zips are doing fine and no scratching.

[cdousley]

i thought it was a guitar bass ukulele banjo not all of them. Now that would be a cool instrument!

[cameronhirsch]

Excellent instructable, I wanted to make a leather gigbag for my uke and keytar. I would favorite it but I keep getting an error.

[tewharau]

Thanks Cameronhirsch, I've worked with leather for making guitar straps ect... but if you want to sew thicker hide, you'll have to use a "walking foot" industrial machine or stitcher used for making shoes. When I made my double bass case a few years ago, I put hide between my inner and outer layers where I wanted extra protection. I kept it in place by sewing the inner and outer layers together around it (like quilting?). That was 15 years ago and the leather pieces are still in place and I didn't have to sew through the hide.

[cameronhirsch]

Yeah, I've been a freelance tailor/seamster for 6 years now. It's amazing some of the stuff you can make with a little effort and some time.

[japonica12]

Thanks for instructions on making a guitar bag. I am going to try it. Like your re use of old curtains.. this is exactly what I will use with an old mattresss protector as lining. Good to see a bloke so handy with a sewing machine. well done.

[tewharau]

 Thanks for the compliments.  As my wife says,  I'm a bloke and its a machine.  Shouldn't be too surprising.... If you caught me hand sewing something.... that'd be a different story.

[octopuscabbage]

Hey man sweet idea. Idk if id trust my les paul in it tho but it would be cool for taking an acoustic on a campout.

[tewharau]

 Fair enough.  I still carry my Fender Jazz Bass in a hard case but it's a pain on public transport!

[octopuscabbage]

Well duh no one cares about jazz instruments haha jk ive been trying to get in my schools jazz band for ages....

[The Rocketizer]

Wow nice work, I made a similar bag for my friend recently for her ukulele but mine was only a single layer of fabric and the zip I had was so long it took up a whole side of the case. Unfortunately, the ukulele I measured off (my brothers), was just a little bit smaller than hers-as it was a surprise present I couldn't exactly ask to look at hers-and hers didn't fit..She liked the thought though!

[tewharau]

 Man, that's tragic.  At least it wasn't a dress....too big or too small has disasterous consequences.

[randofo]

Very cool! I was thinking just the other day that I needed a soft case for my electric guitar to carry it around more easily. Perhaps I will modify your instructions for a smaller guitar and give it a go. If I do build up the motivation to make a variation on this, I'll be sure to let you know (perhaps even post an Instructable or slide show). Anyhow, thanks for the inspiration!

[tewharau]

 Hey Randofo,  I love your instructables, especially the T-shirt floor.  You can definitely use this instructable to make a guitar gig bag.