History of the gig bag?

i honestly don't remember when they became common: but i'm glad they did! i still have a hardshell case that i could use if i needed extra protection, but i'm so glad i don't have to lug my instruments around in them.

i've been using gig bags exclusively for 20+ years, i think. much less bulk and awkwardness, IMO.

 

I've been playing 17 years now and have never used a hard case except for the one that came with my Ken Lawrence brase 5 (formfitted and foam - about the same weight as a good gig bag) and even then I switched over to a nice gig bag my wife bought me. Levy's Leathers LM-88 that has separate sides like an acoustic guitar gig bag. Still using it after all these years and have never had a problem with it.

Dan

 

When I played nearly full time from '68 to '83 I don't remember ever seeing a gig bag. I'm an old fart so I refuse to use them. Hard shell cases for all of my basses.

 

Fender had a brown gig bag available for the original P bass back in the early '50s.

 

Vintage 1950s 17" Archtop Guitar NAUGAHYDE GIG BAG ! NEEDS ZIPPER & HANDLE WORK | eBay

 

I guess I'm just too old school. I don't trust gig bags to keep my basses safe.

 

I had 1978 Musicman Stingray & it came with a gig bag.

 

My '66 Ampeg AUB-1 has its original heavy vinyl gig bag. Padding is a joke, though, it's basically just a layer of flannel.

 

I remember my bass teacher had one in the early to mid 80s and I was like "What's that?!" And he explained it was a gig bag. In NYC most session players had them since they were running around town doing multiple gigs in a day. The bags were easy to walk around in, get in a taxi, etc. My first 2 good basses came with gig bags as an option so I chose them so I have been using them since 86. I am very glad I started with them early. While they were great for getting tossed around in, they are otherwise the greatest thing since sliced bread.

 

I have some old Japanese basses that came with gig bags like that. Brown pleather. Sometimes black. And like zero padding. But so much vibe!

 

That is why most manufactures don't give hard cases any more for anything less than the top of the line models.

 

If I remember correctly, sometime probably in the 80's they started not including hard cases w guitars and started charging extra for them. Customers balked and the gig bag became the alternative.

 

I'm with @Gravedigger Dav on this one. I care too much about my equipment to trust a gig bag. To me, and I completely understand this is my OCD kicking in, it looks like you just don't care about you ax when you stuff it in a gig bag. I get the practicality of it, just not worth the risk/reward to me. But I'm not pressed for space in my vehicles or have to take a taxi to a gig either.

Oddly, and ironically, enough, soft padded bag was ok in my brain for my upright though. Go figure...

 

I was going to say I bet it had as much to do with cost cutting as anything. I worked in MI in the early 2000s and by that point virtually nothing came with a hard case.

 

That's odd, I was at Berklee from '78-'82 and that's where I discovered gigbags for bass. Seemed like all the cool bassists -- and even the not-so-cool ones -- at Berklee had gigbags back then. Maybe there was an anti-gigbag backlash in the early 90s?

 

I was at Berklee in 71-72 and I had what I remember being a leather Fender gig bag.
The zippers eventually went bad on it and I don't quite remember what happened to it.
I don't think I saw many bags at the time, but, it was great for the bus commute.

 

I remember an interview with Nile Rodgers talking about before Chic hit big talking about how proud he was to be a working musician and going around New York with his gig bag was part of that image.