How to build a “Case candy” kit, straps and cases
Hello Guys and Gals welcome back to the Online Guitar Genie blog. In my last post I described what “Case candy” was and in this post I will explain how to build a nice “Case candy ” kit for your guitar to increase it’s resale value and appeal without breaking the bank.
In this post I will use an example of an actual guitar I purchased a short time ago. I was in the market to find a nice all original mid/70s Fender Stratocaster, it had to be with a rosewood fingerboard (I prefer these over maple) and a Sunburst finish, all original, and if possible with it’s original case. I was fortunate enough to find one locally which fit my description perfectly from a local vintage dealer at a fair market price. It was a 1975 Rosewood 
fingerboard Fender Stratocaster, all original finish, hardware and electronics with the OHSC. A great playing guitar that had been played but well loved. The original Fender Tail logo case was included and in really nice condition with all latches working and very slight wear on the tolex. All that was missing was some nice era correct “Case candy”. Now just let me make something clear, had I been offered this guitar without the OHSC, I still would have purchased it but having the original case or era correct case always makes the guitar more attractive in many ways. Let me compare it to someone who would not buy a great car because he does not have the original tires on it!!!
An original case or OHSC as we call it (Original hard shell case) is the starting point in our hunt for a great “Case candy” kit. If you do not have the OHSC try to find one that will match the year and model of your guitar. Many online dealers and vintage collectors are now offering them, but be ready to pay high dollars for them. I my opinion a OHSC or era correct case is a great way to protect your investment and add value to it. I will have an upcoming post on this subject in the near future
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Since I had the OHSC, the first thing I went hunting for was an original Fender guitar strap. Starting around 1969 Fender started offering guitar straps with the Fender logo sewn on it with leather backing. This was the one I was looking for!! Either brown or beige with the metal buckle. In the mid 70s they were abundant and I recall owning a few and eventually discarding them in place of a cool wide leather strap (Argh!!!). To my surprise dealers were selling them for well over $100 usd.
A bit of price gouging in my opinion but that’s the market. One has only to look at the price of original 1950s and 60s straps to see that the 70s model prices are not far behind. Unless you have one in a drawer or old guitar case at home or perhaps a friend has one that they would sell or trade you.
I did not have an original 70s strap available so I opted for a Fender vintage reissue strap. I found one on ebay for $10 usd . Many seller on ebay offer them up for auction and you can pick them up pretty cheap. They are very similar to their 1970s counterparts except for the metal buckle has been replaced with plastic and the simulated leather backing has changed from brown to black.
The next part of my “Case candy” kit would be a nice set of strings that would have been used on this guitar at one time. Fender made some great looking string packs in the 70s and I was after a particular pack of CBS -XL-150 with the Stratocaster headstock and sunset in the background in the cover picture(A story about that in a future post). I found a complete set on ebay with the original strings(Used) still in their envelopes for a very reasonable 12$ usd, great deal!!!
So my kit is starting to look pretty good at this point, I have the strap, strings and not to forget the tremolo bar which also fits in to the “Case candy” category. For the next items I had to dig deep into my drawers and old parts boxes to find some old Fender or generic pics from the 70s era! This is what I found. Pretty nice considering that on ebay some of these pics go for quite a few $$$$. So go hunting in your drawers, closets, old cases to see what you can find, you may be surprised.
Some of the pics have the Fender logo on it some have the Logo followed by the (R) copyright, the older more valuable ones have no copyright (R)
There are a few more items that I am going to add to the kit to complete it, I will cover that in part 2 of this post.
That’s all for now my friends see you next time for another magic carpet ride around the amazing world of the guitar.
You can visit the Onlineguitargenie on ebay to purchase Case Candy for your vintage or modern instrument. Onlineguitargenie carries many hard to find parts and accessories for collectors and players alike. Here is where you can find the Genie http://www.ebay.ca/usr/onlineguitargenie