Posh Gig bags

Gabriel · Post by **Gabriel** » Thu Aug 23, 2012 10:11 am

I've never really seen much talk about cases on here so I'd be interested to see what people's thoughts are. As I travel frequently on trains with a guitar and amp, lugging a hard case can be a bit of a pain in the arse. I keep my solid body in a Warwick Rockbag that does the job - but I'd never want to put a fragile guitar in such a case. But this got me thinking - over on the jazz guitar forums a frequent source of discussion is light weight cases. You can pay hundreds of pounds for an ultra light weight carbon fibre case, such cases offer a load of protection - but they're prohibitively expensive. Another option is to buy a 'posh' gig bag - this is the route I'm interested in.

There are quite a few option available, some hybrid hard/soft designs, and some just heavily padded.

The options I'm looking at are (in order of my preference, but also reverse price):

Probag Handmade Leather gigbag:

These are handmade in texas to your specifications. It'd cost around Â£200 with the cost of shipping (not sure what taxes you'd get hit buy when importing).

Reunion Blues Continental:

These are a hybrid hard/soft design. Built to handle airlines as well as the usual demands of a gigbag. If you look on youtube there are insane videos where they throw these off the top of buildings with guitars in without even a scratch to the instrument. Â£144 with free shipping on eBay.

Mono M80:

Not the prettiest, but probably the most practical. Reinforced gigbag, not quite as sturdy as the Reunion Blues but probably on par - maybe lighter - than the Probag. Â£139 from stringsdirect.

So what are your opinions on cases?

Gabriel · Post by **Gabriel** » Thu Aug 23, 2012 7:23 pm

Or a better question, of the three which would you buy?

johnnyseven · Post by **johnnyseven** » Thu Aug 23, 2012 10:48 pm

I was looking at the Jazzmaster page on the GAK website the other day, how about something like this - not the Jazzmaster version though. A fair bit cheaper than the one you posted.

laterallateral · Post by **laterallateral** » Thu Aug 23, 2012 11:05 pm

I'm not sure Fender still makes these but...

Obviously not something I'd put a fancy fragile guitar in but they are fucking classy looking.

Thomas · Post by **Thomas** » Thu Aug 23, 2012 11:54 pm

johnnyseven wrote:I was looking at the Jazzmaster page on the GAK website the other day, how about something like this - not the Jazzmaster version though. A fair bit cheaper than the one you posted.

I have a similar one to the case shaped one on here. Most of the protection of a hard case at a fraction of the weight, Plus cos it's got some give it tends to bounce when it's dropped rather than clatter like a hard case. It was easy on the wallet too.

Fran · Post by **Fran** » Thu Aug 23, 2012 11:57 pm

What guitar are you carrying? Knowing you it is a Semi. Fitted hardcase all the way.
Soft Cases are for guys like me that dont give a fuck and eat kebabs after a gig.

George · Post by **George** » Fri Aug 24, 2012 12:16 am

By accident I've only used gig bags with Fender style bolt-ons and hardcases with semi-hollows and set necks which is apparently "doing it right". To be perfectly honest though, unless you're really stupid I don't see how an appropriately padded gig bag would be a problem if you are packing/unpacking vehicles and keeping the instruments where you know they won't get stomped on. I can maybe afford to throw caution to the wind because mine have never cost much, and sod's law will no doubt rise proportionally with value.

Gabriel · Post by **Gabriel** » Fri Aug 24, 2012 7:28 am

Fran wrote:What guitar are you carrying? Knowing you it is a Semi. Fitted hardcase all the way.
Soft Cases are for guys like me that dont give a fuck and eat kebabs after a gig.

Yeah I'll be carrying the Eastman in my avatar. It's just a shame the case for it is as big as me...

George wrote:By accident I've only used gig bags with Fender style bolt-ons and hardcases with semi-hollows and set necks which is apparently "doing it right". To be perfectly honest though, unless you're really stupid I don't see how an appropriately padded gig bag would be a problem if you are packing/unpacking vehicles and keeping the instruments where you know they won't get stomped on. I can maybe afford to throw caution to the wind because mine have never cost much, and sod's law will no doubt rise proportionally with value.

This was my logic really, even in the hard case I don't let it out of my sight.

The warwick soft light is a cool design though. They don't make a 335 size one though unfortunately.

UlricvonCatalyst · Post by **UlricvonCatalyst** » Fri Aug 24, 2012 7:46 am

I think the middle one looks like the best buy of the three you nominated, but I'm sure there are many more out there to choose from.

The best lightweight case I have comes as standard with Seagull guitars (unless you live in the uK where guitar shops NEVER give you the case that's supposed to come as standard when you buy a guitar). It's called a Fort Tric case and is made out of the same stuff that's inside car bumpers, meaning you can literally bounce it off the ground with no problems. Weighs practically nothing.

I guess that middle one may be of similar construction/material, which would make it the best buy if money is no object. Personally I'd dig a bit deeper and look for a better deal on semi-hard (oo-er) cases by the likes of tribal planet. Try the Really Useful Music Co. on or off eBay - they usually have good deals on such cases.

Another thing I'd definitely look for is one with integrated an rucksack-type carrying method or at least a shoulder strap. Carrying a guitar with your trunk rather than your arms over long distances makes a world of difference (and obviously frees up your hands).

Gabriel · Post by **Gabriel** » Fri Aug 24, 2012 8:26 am

I was actually trying to find a Tric case, but they don't make one for a 335 size guitar (well mine is slightly bigger but it should fit a case made for this guitar style). It was the same issue with Tribal Planet, my bassist swears by his semi-hard case for his J bass.

The other option I'd thought of is finding an ultra lightweight plastic or fibreglass case

like this:

But again I can't find an es 335 sized one that doesn't cost a fortune.

johnnyseven · Post by **johnnyseven** » Fri Aug 24, 2012 9:15 am

Fran wrote:What guitar are you carrying? Knowing you it is a Semi. Fitted hardcase all the way.
Soft Cases are for guys like me that dont give a fuck and eat kebabs after a gig.

The bass player in my band once left one of my guitars in a kebab shop.

UlricvonCatalyst · Post by **UlricvonCatalyst** » Fri Aug 24, 2012 10:07 am

Yeah, My Tric case almost fittted my Casino, but the headstock was just a little too long. Are you certain it won't fit a 335? (Casino headstocks are longer than most.)

Another alternative would be to get a luggage trolley/hand-truck to cart your gear around, then the weight and arm strain of humphing heavy gear on public transport would be less of an issue and you could be sure your 335 was properly protected.

The heavy-duty stair-climbing ones with barrow-type handles crop up in Lidl and Aldi from time to time.

Fran · Post by **Fran** » Fri Aug 24, 2012 2:59 pm

johnnyseven wrote:
Fran wrote:What guitar are you carrying? Knowing you it is a Semi. Fitted hardcase all the way.
Soft Cases are for guys like me that dont give a fuck and eat kebabs after a gig.
The bass player in my band once left one of my guitars in a kebab shop.

Lol, did you get it back?

Gabriel · Post by **Gabriel** » Fri Aug 24, 2012 3:33 pm

UlricvonCatalyst wrote:Yeah, My Tric case almost fittted my Casino, but the headstock was just a little too long. Are you certain it won't fit a 335? (Casino headstocks are longer than most.)

Another alternative would be to get a luggage trolley/hand-truck to cart your gear around, then the weight and arm strain of humphing heavy gear on public transport would be less of an issue and you could be sure your 335 was properly protected.

The heavy-duty stair-climbing ones with barrow-type handles crop up in Lidl and Aldi from time to time.

Ah well I don't know anywhere near me that sells them so I wouldn't be able to test fit it though. My guitar does have a very large headstock though - Eastman use the old D'angelico design:

► Show Spoiler

A trolley is definitely an option, but I'm looking for something I can carry on my back so I can have my hands free. I use a ZT Lunchbox for an amp, which has a little gigbag, I'm also going to pick up a pedaltrain nano at some point which I could strap to the gig bag. I'm still tempted by the Probag case, but they're very expensive - however they look to be the cheapest case of its kind (leather).

johnnyseven · Post by **johnnyseven** » Fri Aug 24, 2012 3:48 pm

Fran wrote:
johnnyseven wrote:
Fran wrote:What guitar are you carrying? Knowing you it is a Semi. Fitted hardcase all the way.
Soft Cases are for guys like me that dont give a fuck and eat kebabs after a gig.
The bass player in my band once left one of my guitars in a kebab shop.
Lol, did you get it back?

Yeah, I made him run back and luckily it was still there.

Gabriel · Post by **Gabriel** » Mon Sep 10, 2012 2:31 pm

After a fair bit of googling over the past few days (I'm starting teaching at a college next week, as well as travelling to Birmingham on weekends) I found that Peavey make a semi-hard case for semi-hollow guitars.

It's called the JF1 Lite Case, and I just ordered one on ebay for Â£39 with free postage. It looks pretty rugged.

SGJarrod · Post by **SGJarrod** » Tue Sep 11, 2012 6:26 pm

I think that you will be happy with thae case. I use to have a case that looked almost exactly like that one for my acoustic. It was light as a feather and just as durable as a HSC. I actually felt it had more protection than the HSC. Mine was one of the Roadrunner cases that GC use to carry. They still carry them but mine was an older version that looked more like the Peavey one u ordered.

Roadrunner

Sloan · Post by **Sloan** » Tue Sep 11, 2012 6:42 pm

Gabriel wrote:After a fair bit of googling over the past few days (I'm starting teaching at a college next week, as well as travelling to Birmingham on weekends) I found that Peavey make a semi-hard case for semi-hollow guitars.

It's called the JF1 Lite Case, and I just ordered one on ebay for Â£39 with free postage. It looks pretty rugged.

I've had a case similar, they are pretty great, a perfect blend of hardshell case and gigbag, very very light.

Gabriel · Post by **Gabriel** » Mon Sep 17, 2012 8:29 pm

After the order for the peavey was cancelled (it was out of stock indefinitely), and the handle on my hard case snapping off I decided to take the plunge on a new case.

After talking to a few other guys that I know that use a lot of public transport, the most practical case in their eyes was the mono - some of them had the reunion blues but hated it as it was bulky and the backstraps were positions awkwardly.

I order a Mono M80 today so it should be here in the next couple of days. I look forward to seeing what it's like.

Sloan · Post by **Sloan** » Mon Sep 17, 2012 10:00 pm

Those mono cases seem pretty sturdy. Some touring act came through the venue I work at and they had a few of them. I would prefer road cases, but if your carrying it around all day, a lighter case will be far more practical.