MyCaseBuilder.com (Custom Foam for Harmonica Cases)

When I was teenager, I really enjoyed making my own harmonica cases. I would take a cool, inexpensive case, originally used for who-knows what (tools, cameras, makeup, etc.), that was a good size and I schemed up how I could layout my harps and accessories in it. I would cut the foam with an electric turkey slicer, or for the real dense foam, my dad’s electric shop tools.

In the late 90’s, I designed and manufactured cases for the harmonica. In the first picture is the Harmonica Stage Case—the flagship case that I sold. The case I own is now over 20 years old and the foam was in dire need of replacement (flaky foam in your harps is no bueno). The company I used to make the foam was an industrial foam company, only dealing in orders of 100 or more. Quite a few years ago a BluesHarmonica.com student told me about MyCaseBuilder.com, and I finally had a chance to try them out. I did my measurements and designed the case with their easy-to-use online design tool. It was fast, and in the end, inexpensive (around $45 shipped), and the craftsmanship is very good.

Due to the Corona Virus, I’m doing all of my lessons via Skype, from my home studio, and space is at a premium. I took two filing cabinets and a wooden tabletop that I built for another purpose and threw it on top. After receiving my new foam, the idea came to mind to design foam for the top drawer of the filing cabinet. It seemed like a silly idea at first, but a very functional idea. Since I do all my teaching from this room, and I have small set of Filisko harps (thank you Joe) for the road, I went for it. It was a lot of fun to dream up the design and it works great. So… this long story is to share that you can use MyCaseBuilder.com to pretty much make anything, including a filing cabinet, into a harmonica case. To see pictures of this, visit the positing on 5/4/2020 here https://www.facebook.com/bluesharmonica/