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Case worms. Anyone?


JustKid

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Posted

Here is something I always wanted to ask. Does anyone gets them ones in a while? I personally do not have them inside of my cases ( and I have more than a few) and they do not breed in my environment. But occasionally I'd buy a guitar and find some pretty dry and crunchy man-in-black kind of creatures inside , that I'd call worms. Never seen one alive, but this fact somehow doesn't make me feel better.

So, anyone seen them? Anyone knows what they are? Do the lay eggs inside the case? and most importantly - HOW THE PHUCK DID THEY GET IN THERE IN THE FIRST PLACE???

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Posted

Okay, that's just nasty. Never in my life have I seen or heard of case worms. And those last two pics make me feel dirty, in a bad way.

Posted

Opening this thread may have severely damaged my preference for buying used. I already took an amp I bought off eBay, cleaned it while outside, in winter, then put it in a plastic bag and kept it outside for a few days. I never saw signs of a bug problem, but the overall condition of that amp made me suspicious. (And I haven't bought an eBay amp since).

But no, I've not had this happen.

Posted

yeah - this is totally new for me too - where do you live?

The question is not where do I live, but where the person who I buy it from lives - NJ in this case, the Garden State :D

Posted

Okay, that's just nasty. Never in my life have I seen or heard of case worms. And those last two pics make me feel dirty, in a bad way.

Yeah, kinda Pecan with pleasant crunch nasty.

worm2_zps13f85e76.jpg

Posted

Wow.

I've had a bunch of old gear come and go, but have yet to encounter anything crawling or flesh eating. Occasional spider web, hairball, nondescript goobers, etc.. are more the norm.

If it were me, I'd probably try to carefully delouse that case- spray the hell out of it with white vinegar (should kill eggs in the event those things are spawning in there), let it air dry, and then wipe it down with a moist rag to clean it out, vacuum, etc... I've had to do that to a couple cases that smelled like Keith Richards had passed out in 'em.

Posted

well...when one buys 5-10 guitars a year, most likely he will not find it, although if he's lucky he might. I've bought over a thousand easily in a course of 10 years. And I tell you , this shit really happens. And sometimes it's a few thousand dollar guitars in new condition. I got no effin' idea how do they get there.

Another question is - when the person sells the guitar, doesn't he open it to look at it? doesn't he see it? how disgustingly dirty your should be if you allow yourself to pass your personal items to someone with this kind of bonus?

Posted

well...when one buys 5-10 guitars a year, most likely he will not find it

That's me- slow and steady. So you've given me something to aspire to. I'm only in this for the glamour, after all :)

Have no idea how someone could let it get that far, but it could have been sitting unused/unnoticed in an environment that had a lot of pests (...envisioning an episode of Hoarders).

Posted

I found mouse droppings and dried mouse urine inside a Fender tube reverb unit and a Fender amp head.

I DO NOT want to know how you knew it was dried mouse urine.

Also, to the original poster - the New Jersey connection explains it all.

Posted

Holy effin' crab, that's very scary! I travel frequently to NJ and often see bears and deers, but never inside guitar cases. :P

No, seriously, it looks disgusting as hell. Luckily, I've never seen any of those worms or maggots before, and sincerely hope won't ever get any of those critters coming from Europe or the US or the rest of Canada to my place. Cat and dog hair is already borderline inside the cases I've bought from you guys. :lol:

Posted

Yep. Nasty. Nothing but the smell of smoke and some animal hair as the worst for me.

Posted

I never saw any insects, but I did buy a used amp once that smelled like it was in a wet barn for 20 years. I scrubbed, then completely removed the tolex; sanded and varnished the cabinet, and finally cleaned the electronics--it still stunk! It would make the entire house smell within a couple hours. I finally had to sell it at a loss, as I swear it must have been possessed by a stink demon!

Posted

... I swear it must have been possessed by a stink demon!

That reminds me of that episode of Seinfeld when a valet stunk up his car and nothing could remove the smell.

Posted

The closest I've come to "living" thing in a piece of gear was a wah pedal with a wasp nest (the dirt dauber kind) inside the casing. No wasps, just those muddy cylinders.

The craziest thing I've seen in an amp was in a college buddy's Marshall head. The amp didn't have the back grille on it, and Joe had a cat that would often get up in the head box atop the chassis, I'd assume because the chassis would be hot/warm after Joe would play it. One time I met up with Joe to jam around and the most disgusting stench ever began overtaking the room. Turns out the cat took a big shit on top of the chassis and the turds started simmering/melting under the chassis heat. Despite several cleaning attempts by Joe, the smell never went away completely - everytime Joe would fire up the amp, a faint whiff of cat shit would fill the room be it the apartment, a small club, wherever.

Posted

Did your case come with some home grown bud in the pocket? Those look exactly like bud worms. Not that I'd know what that is. But you did say the Garden State.

Posted

Looks like larvae of some kind. Never seen or heard of such.

Homer: "Where ya goin'?"

Jethro: "Thought I'd go a-fishin'."

Homer: "Have ya got worms?"

Jethro:"Well,yeah, but I'm goin' anyway..."

We presently got our own problems at my home---yellow jackets that nested inside a gap near the front door and went goodness knows how far indoors. A couple will creep out each day into my man cave/office next to the entrance. Cold weather's 'sposed to get to 'em and kibosh the queen. Have tried more than one spray but they're apparently still around.

Posted

I've seen them. Not often but maybe once every few years when I buy something-they usually look like they've been dead a long time though and are usually in a crack or crevice.

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