tigertoy

So, many months ago, one of the hinge mounts on my guitar case handle half broke. I could still carry the case, but one side of the handle was not held quite as well as it should have been, and it looked like it would probably break at some point. So, after some while, I thought to ask at Upper Bout (the new guitar store that's in the same commercial building as Titan Games where I often play games) if they could fix it. They said no, but there was a guy who could and they gave me his number.

Last Friday at OVFF, as I was taking my guitar down, the hinge mount finished dying. The handle was now only attached at one end, which felt really awkward and also like it might fall off at any moment. So today, I called the number the guitar store gave me. The guy answered the phone, "Shoe repair." This sounded slightly off, but I told him my problem, and he said that he used to do that kind of work, but it often didn't work out, so he decided to quit and just do shoes, and he doesn't have the parts any more. And he doesn't know of anyone else who does it, so I'm on my own.

So I looked a little closer at what was broken. The brass bit that attaches to the case was actually broken, but the longer part still seemed to be securely attached to the other brass bit that actually is connected to the handle. The rivet that had held the broken bit was simply gone. I looked at it and decided that if I could bolt this metal bit back on, it would probably hold, even though only being anchored at one end was less than perfect. This would also have the drawback that one end of the bolt would have to be in the case, and I'm not up to re-upholstering the inside, so it would stick in. But I checked how the guitar sits in the case, and it conveniently protrudes into an empty space; the guitar shouldn't come near it. Just to be sure, though, I decided that it might be better to have a scrap of cloth over the metal. I can't manage a scrap of cloth that will look like it belongs, but I can manage a scrap. So a few bits of hardware out of the collection, a quick drilling, and some tightening, and I think I can use my guitar case again.

Which is good, not because it's an exceptionally well-made case, but because I would be very sad to have to retire the collection of stickers.