Huh, this is kind of weird. As journeybear points out, if you've removed four balls, why not do another four, instead of forcing the (now) open loop...
I have played both torrefied and non-torrified guitars and mandolins. Hard to say if the differences were due to the wood or the instrument, since I...
For instrument cases, I use a 2" wooden box with a sliding lid made by Heartwood Creations, like this: https://heartwood.com/collections/guitar-picks...