ShortScale.org

So the Mono case I ordered came today. I was really impressed, it's really tough - the photos make it look soft but it's actually pretty hard.

It's a really nice light weight, but the big selling point is the shoulder straps. The straps are super comfy and have a chest strap which takes a bit of the load off your shoulders which is ace.

Photos:

That headlock looks really good and the whole thing very reliable but those prices are eye-watering. I guess if you're a working or serious musician and have expensive gear it's definitely worth the investment. It makes me wonder about their dual electric case. Looks great.

Also, do you insure your guitars, and does the company require that they be in a particular case?

The case is brilliant, it's just a really well thought out piece of gear. The price is a bit crazy, but I'm carrying around a fairly pricy hollow body so I don't really want to risk any damage from being knocked if I can help it.

I haven't taken insurance out yet, I've been meaning to but I haven't gotten around to it. I don't remember reading anything about using particular cases, but I guess it would be similar to booking delivery services so a strong case would be required in order for insurance to be valid for any damage in transit. However I'm sure a case like this would only help back a claim - it'd take a serious knock to do some damage to the guitar.

I'm yet to take the case out of the house though so I won't know what it's like to wear over a distance until friday when I'm teaching again but so far I'm impressed.

I might buy this case for college... I can get one for 130$ at hellomusic.com right now.

Its the M80 vertigo though. Is yours a special hollow body version or just the 'electric' one?

Mine is the hollow body, the m80 vertigo looks ace too, but it doesn't really have any pockets.

Cross post from a discussion on jazzguitar.be:

We were discussing what gig bags are available and our experiences. Here is mine:

I've had the case for a month or so now and I've found it awesome. I carry around an Eastman T186MX which I've always felt was a little on the fragile side so I was quite picky when it came to choosing a case. The Mono cases are quite deceptive, from appearance they looks like they're going to be quite soft and now actually offer that much support. However, the case is actually more or less rigid, it really is a semi-hard case. I'm completely confident in hauling my guitar around in it.

Hauling the case around was another major consideration I had to take into account when choosing a case. I travel every other day or so, either just the 2 mile walk to the college I teach at two days a week or on the train to Birmingham or Manchester for music lessons. For such journeys the case is perfect. On the back the case is comfortable and well supported thanks to the chest clasp. Also the material the case is made from allows your back to breath - one of the biggest problems I've had with other gig bags (trust me, this is worth considering if you're going to be carrying the case on your back whilst walking any distance. There is nothing worse than arriving to teach a class with a big sweat patch on your back from your guitar case rubbing against you whilst you walked).

Living in the UK, I see a lot of rain so I had to trust that whatever case I was getting could keep all my things dry. It would suck to have all my music, my Macbook and my guitar soaked because of the rain I inevitably have to walk through fairly often.

Finally the material the case is made from is ultra tough. I have a cat that whenever he sees any form of bag or furniture, he will scratch to high heaven. However the material the Mono is made from is so tightly woven that his claws couldn't even puncture the fabric (and he made mince meat of my Warwick Rockbag).

The Mono cases are awesome, I don't think they're particularly good value for money, but I think for what they do, they do better than any case of the same kind.

Update to my gig bag tales. I had an issue with my last Mono case (I think it turned out to be a bit of a lemon) where basically the stitching inside the pocket disintegrated, but within a day or two of emailing Mono I had a new case shipped for me and the old broken case collected. Their customer service was amazing, but still it was a shame I had issues with the case in the first place.

Also for xmas my parents gave me a Protec Contego to lug my solid body guitars around in. If weight isn't too much of an issue this is a brilliant case. The case is very solid - feels more like a hard case than the Mono cases do, but it's also much heavier than the Mono. There are also more pockets to keep books and things in - which is quite an issue with the Mono cases. Overall I'm impressed so I'd say for Solid body guitar/small thinlines the Protec is the way to go, it's just a shame that they don't make 335 shape cases.