Guitar Cases/Bag

joems

Newbie
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I am curious as to what are you guys using as a guitar case or gig bag. Especially one who travels with more than one guitar. I use  a double gig bag case  made by reunion blues. It's gettong hard  to carry 2 since I have a 2 yr. old with me now! lol

I saw that fender case that carries 3 guitar, sounds an ideal case. I wonder if it will take too much space.

Any suggestions for a good case with a reasonable price would be greatly appreciated.
 
This is what I use:

http://www.goincase.com/products/detail/slim-bag-cl56063

It's pretty fancy, and slightly over kill for what I need it for.  But when I saw one in person at the Warmoth office it was simply too cool.  It's a hybrid hardshell/softshell case that even has an area inside for a laptop.  Pretty neato!
 
Jay, That's a nice case,  A bit spendy for me, But if I was gig'n  or traveling with My axe, I would get one.

John
 
I dunno about a double case, but I have an SKB case I use that is pretty hardcore.
 
Dig a thread out of the basement......

I use SKB semi-hard cases for my Strats and my Music Man. The inside is the same as their hard box cases but the outside is material with straps etc... Fantastic cases.


skb.jpg


My Kramer 5150 won't fit in one of the SKB semi-hard cases so I had to go the full size case route with the Gator case. I didn't skimp though. Got the really nice one with the TSA approved locks etc...
gator.jpg


MULLY
so, what cases do you kids use?
 
I've got a TKL for my LP and a cheapy Road Runner hardcase for my Ibanez, a really nice Fender padded gig bag for my acoustic, and a custom designed gig bag for my Lace Helix bass because ain't no way I'd be able to find any regular standard case to fit that thing.  It's just too weird shaped. 
 
I mostly use cheap gig bags, for local travel I think a case is generally overkill. Be careful with your instruments people! My Larrivee has a massively tough case that fits like a glove, but it weighs maybe 25 lb.
 
I'm a huge supporter of Incase products. I had a Macbook in an Incase sleeve, forgot I put it on top of my car and pulled out of the parking lot, dropping it about 5' onto asphalt. The case was a little dirty, but the Macbook was perfect.
 
I've pretty much gone with the Fender cases... of some sort or another.  Sometimes GC has 'em on super blow out sale.  Hell, I got a leftover once that had all the 52Ri goodies in it for a Telecaster.

This time... frankly I like that SKB.  Was thinking I should do one flight case.  I'm gonna need two cases... so I dunno... one of those maybe, and maybe something like a hard gig bag.  If the right Fender case comes along, I'd snag that.
 
tfarny said:
I mostly use cheap gig bags, for local travel I think a case is generally overkill. Be careful with your instruments people! My Larrivee has a massively tough case that fits like a glove, but it weighs maybe 25 lb.

Ah, let me say why I've upgraded to hard cases. About 2 months ago I was awoken at 5:07am with a 6.6 earthquake rattling the house all over the damn neighborhood. When I went down to the room where my guitars are my CD rack had fallen over, cd's all over the damn place, things had fallen off my shelves etc... Oddly enough, the night before I was playing my Warmoth Strat and instead of putting it on it's stand before going to bed I had just leaned it up against my desk. The room has hardwood floors too. To my disbelief the planets aligned. The Strat had slipped but instead of falling on the floor and possibly busting the headstock off, the CD rack had fallen in just the right position that the guitar slid about 2 inches and stopped against it. The reality of the possibility of another big one like that made me decide to keep all of my guitars in hard cases. Since then I've been on a quest to get everything cased up. I should be receiving that Gator case tonight or tomorrow so as of this weekend all of my guitars will have hard shells around them if I'm not there. This next Warmoth build is coming up so when it gets here I'll need to buy one more case. Luckily enough I'm getting these cases new off of Yahoo Auction and I'm only paying 65 bucks apiece for them. I think it's a good price for Japan.
MULLY
 
The handle broke on my SKB LP case, when I had it for only a couple months.  Blah.    Seems to be really low quality all around.  They sent me a replacement, but it's just as dinky as the first one.  Probably won't buy SKB again...

My SKB strat case is somewhat better.

My acoustic case is unbranded, but it's lasted beautifully for about 6 years now.  Hard shell with a arched top and metal latches.  Definitely my best case, heavy and old-fashioned.

I also have a padded gig bag that came with my old bass.  Meh.
 
Hard cases all around.  SKB-35, SKB-FS6, TKL generic strat,....and one unknown brand HSC.  OEM: Fender, Gibson, Epiphone, Ovation.

I played sax through middle and high school.  In that time I saw a lot of thrashed band instruments.  Since most of the damage done could have been avoided with hard cases, I never gave it much thought when I started getting guitars.  It seemed only natural.  Musical instruments need protection.  They're not in your hands 100% of the time and stuff happens.
 
It will fit in a Steinway case, however, you'll have to add a little bit of extra padding.
 
I have a few cheap hard cases, notably one of the Musician Friend "tweed" cases is the only generic Fender case I could find that would fit a Mustang - it's a short guitar, but with a long, weird body (Z-guitar, maybe? The interior specs are on the site). Other than that, it's decent hard cases all around - Gator, SKB, TKL, & name-brand cases. Buying a gig bag is just throwing money away, I can't think of any situation where it'd ever be a good idea to carry a guitar in one. It's a product that's been invented to fit no known need, then marketed heavily enough so as to create a need. If you need your guitar protected, get a case, if you don't, just carry it on the strap.... if it's "too heavy to carry in a case", just don't go anywhere, you don't deserve to be there. Ditto-meh. :icon_tongue:
 
Ah Stub you have your opinions!
My bass teacher is about a 20 minute walk from my house and I don't have a car. A nice simple gig bag with backpack straps is exactly what I need, am I supposed to strap the bass on in front and walk around the neighborhood like a looney? The singer for our band comes to practice by bicycle with her (not expensive) acoustic in a gig bag on her back. How else is she supposed to do it?
Gig bags offer protection from dings, scratches, and bumps, they have padding, they have pockets to carry your accessories. A guitar in a padded gig bag is plenty protected enough to go in the trunk of a car, and takes up less space. They don't protect you from airport baggage handlers, nor from dropping your guitar down the stairs, nor can you run them over with your monster truck and still have a functioning instrument. But - ah, you shouldn't do those things with your instrument anyhow dude! Gig bags provide enough protection for 99% of circumstances.
 
Gig bags are an excellent invention because when I was in high school and was taking guitar lessons, I had a short but mostly uphill (we're talking a steep slope too) walk to school, and I had to take my guitar every day.  My axe at the time was a Hohner acoustic that I paid $85 for.  It was not a great guitar.  If it got damaged, it wouldn't have been that big of a deal.  I also had to carry my backpack and books to school, and I think carrying it in a hardcase would have killed me. 

For my much nicer acoustic I have now (not a fantastic instrument, but pretty good for a mid-range), I have a heavily padded gig bag from Fender.  I've been taking it everywhere for years, including to college several times a week on a bus and to a few crazy parties, and it's still in one piece, no problem. 

Now, if I had a Taylor or a Larivee acoustic, that would have to have a hardcase no question.  But my Ibanez AE is just fine in a padded gig bag. 
 
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