Over the Thanksgiving Holidays, I received from my MIL, her Uncle Harley’s Harmony Opus X Guitar. He bought it new in the 70’s, had a stroke a long time ago, and left it untouched for at least 10 years. I’ve cleaned it up a bit. Only when I was cleaning the case did I notice the handle was missing. The hardware for one end of the handle is still there but that’s it.
Has anyone every jerryrigged a new handle for a case? I’d like to spend $0 if at all possible. If a person had to get a new handle on a guitar case, where would they go? There is a shoe repair shop in my town. That was my first thought.
I’ve repaired many cases, restored antique cases and built them from scratch. Hardware is generally available for handles, latches, locks and hinges. You just have to look. The luggage shop is not a bad idea
There are several standard solutions for a missing handle. If the mounting posts are still there, you can get replacements that have strap buckles on each end which work well.
If the posts are missing, there are complete handles that have to either be riveted or bolted into the case - depends on the original case structure. Places like eBay (Asian suppliers selling direct to U.S customers one part at a time), AllParts, and most large music repair retailers stock these.
Worst case, no pun intended, you can drill two holes in the case, use a piece of rope as the handle and tie it through the inside of the case. That’s seemed to be a common qiuick and dirty solution that resulted in the case coming in for a proper repair.
Congratulations on the Opus X. That is one of the best acoustic flatops that Harmony ever made, basically a souped up Sovereign. I’m sure Uncle Harley is smilin’ and waiting to hear a tune or two.
Sweet. The guy who plays electric bass in our church folk group is the local luthier. He’ll be able to fix it but definitely after the holidays. He has more work to do than you can imagine.
Thank you. The guitar sounded sweet even with 10 year old + strings.
http://www.stewmac.com/ is the most popular go-to site for all kinds of parts, including case handles of every description. The one you’re after is about four bucks.
There are an awful lot of obselete suitcases cluttering up charity shops these days, often in excellent condition. When I was in this position, I went to one, found a case in the right colour, bought it for a dollar or two, and salvaged a useful handle from it.
