• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Hard cases - do you use them?

#61
After a switch on my Warwick $$ got broken I now NEVER use gig bag for transporting my basses.

I have one of the great RoadRunner semi-hard cases - nylon over rigid foam - that I use for transporting the bass I am using at the moment. It was about the same cost as a good bag, weighs nothing and provides quite adequate protection.

If I had to fly the bass, it goes in a real HSC. The new cases from Fender for the MIA basses are fantastic.
 
#62
The answer totally depends on the gigging situation, IMO.

If you are going to local gigs in your own car, a good gig bag can not be beat. The instruments fit in between seats etc better this way; and you have control over the the mechanical exposure. If you aren't heavy handed with your own stuff, a good gig bag is excellent.

If you are traveling for short road trips with a band trailer, and the bass is going in the trailer, then the HSC is a minimum.

If you are doing air travel or a lot of band trailers on a regular basis, then a good quality flight case is more appropriate.

Use common sense; it usually works.
 
#68
i kinda like soft cases, if i were just taking to a friends house to jam ill happily use a soft case. But to places like school or a gig or concert or w/e...hard case all the way.
im glad i have one cause people are always just hittin it around..jerks (lol)

plus u can put a buncha stickers on it! :D
 
#69
i have a couple of cases that i use.. and i've used gig bags before, and they are fast and easy, but it's so easy to damage the bass inside it..

i have an old, but lightly used Anvil Force II case that was originally for a Yamaha DX7 keyboard.. it fits all my basses with extra room to spare, and cutting shipping foam spacers to fit different basses isn't that hard to do.. considering that the case is already lined with foam.. i got the case from a local shop.. it sat in a corner for about 15 years and was covered in a thick layer of dust/dirt.. got it for 55 bucks..

my 83 MIA Jazz is in it's OHSC that i happened to find in a Goodwill for 27 bucks.. it's an SKB Fender MIA case..

and that goes into a SKB 88 Key ATA case.. that was bought in a resale shop for 100 bucks..

if i did get another gig bag, i'd get a Ritter or an Incase.. leaning more to the Incase..
 
#71
Maybe I've just been around too long -- seen too many damaged instruments that could have been saved in a hard case -- but I own only one gig bag, out of 10 instruments in the current herd, and it came with a Gibson SG I just bought. It's due to be replaced by a hard case next month, and in the meantime, it'll have to stay at home.

I don't get this idea that a hard case is a PITA. I feel that way about gig bags (again, I have limited experience). Where do you put them where you can be SURE that nothing will knock into your axe, or where you can be SURE nothing will be set on top? I once bought a Yamaha 12-string for $25 because it had been allowed to ride around in the back of a van until the driver hit something and a pipe (also riding around in the back of the van) punched a neat, round hole in the top of the guitar.

Or maybe it was just too many years before I could afford a good guitar or bass, so that when I got one or two, I didn't look at them as disposable consumer junk; I take care of my gear, and I have to say that I tend to look down on people who treat theirs badly.

Non-musicians, especially, but musicians as well, show so little care in handling other people's gear that that alone is reason enough to go with the hard cases. (I've had visitors who came in my house with one of my friends, who immediately -- without asking -- grabbed a guitar off its stand and start whanging on it. Screw that.)

No, thanks. It's so easy to put the bass inside a hard case and then have peace of mind, that I don't even consider an alternative.
 
#73
#74
I think my right arm is still two inches longer from hauling my Rick around the NYC subways and buses 25 years ago. I didn't have the option then. It's nice to throw a bag over your shoulder and be on your way, paying attention of course.
 
#76
I switched to a hard case once I started hauling my bass around three times a week: practice, lessons, church. Even though I'm only driving a few miles each way, not hauling other gear, and the bass is only worth a little more than the case, I really don't want the expense or heartache of having to replace my bass due to a stupid accident.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back