Mono bag with Pelican Case? Ultimate flight case combo, or lost cause?

[peteolynciwbass]

Anyone have any luck with putting a bass in a Mono Classic gigbag, and putting said gig bag inside ofa pelical/"pelican type" case?

Does anyone else do the combo gun-case/gig-bag?
Seems like the best of both worlds, since it seems mono bags dont fit in the SKB shell?
Any similar alternative?

My last flight case sh*t the bed recently and I'm back to the carry-on life. While I've been very lucky so far, I'd like to go back to checked bag life. While im a patient dude, I'm tired of doing the dance of reassuring flight attendants that "yes, i promise my bag will fit in the closet" when they already have their hands full with other absurd customers.

 

[amper]

I've looked at this, but I don't have the money to test it out. Here's the thing. Injection molded cases like those from Pelican and SKB only come in certain, set sizes, and bass guitar gig bags are large, with Mono gig bags being some of the largest of all.

A Mono Vertigo Ultra measures (according to Mono Creators) 49.6" x 18.9" x 5.5" (126.0 cm x 48.0 cm x 14.0 cm).
A Mono Vertigo measures 49.6" x 18.9" x 5.5" (126.0cm x 48.0cm x 14.0cm)
A Mono M80 Classic measures 49.2" x 16.5" x 4.7" (125.0cm x 41.9cm x 11.9cm)
A Mono Stealth measures 50.5" x 17" x 4.7" (128.27cm x 43.8cm x 11.94cm)
A Mono Sleeve measures 50.5" x 17" x 2.5" (128.3cm x 43.2cm x 6.4cm)

A Pelican V800—the widest case they make—measures (internally, according to Pelican) 53.00 x 16.00 x 6.00 in (134.6 x 40.6 x 15.2 cm). Someone here has a thread on fitting a GruvGear Blade gig bag into one with a bunch of pool noodle foam.

It should be mentioned that the Vault line is a budget line, and not as protective as their standard cases, as evidenced by the fact that the V800 costs only $230 from Amazon, but for our purposes, as we would be putting a heavy duty gig bag inside it, probably works to our advantage.

The other Pelican cases, like the 1750 (13.3" internal width) and the IM3330 (14") are not going to fit any Mono case, and probably won't even fit any other gig bag that has enough padding to actually protect your instrument in transit.

A SKB iSeries 5014-6 measures (internally, according to SKB) 50.5 x 14.5 x 6
This is the size they use for their fitted bass cases, which have only 1/2" padding to either side of the body for a StingRay or Fender bass, so those won't fit any Mono case, either.

An SKB iSeries 4719-8 measures 47 x 19 x 8, and might be long enough on the diagonal to fit a standard M80 Classic, but costs 50% more than the 5014-6.
An SKB iSeries 5616-9 measures 56 x 16 x 9, and might work, but is almost twice the price of the 5014-6.

Now, the obvious observation here is that SKB has the industrial capability to produce iSeries injection molded cases up to 56" long (actually up to 60" long for their longest model, the 6018-8), up to 19" wide, and up to 9" deep, which means they could produce a 5019-6 that would perfectly fit even the biggest Mono Vertigo Ultra bass gig bag, but as I understand it, the tooling to produce new models of injection molded or rotomolded boxes is immense, something like on the order of $500K USD for each model.

And what this really means is that, unless the US military orders a box in that size, neither of these companies is ever going to make one, because there's just not enough of a market in the MI industry to justify the investment solely on that basis.

 

[amper]

I am probably going to buy a Protec Contego PRO PAC Bass Guitar Case pretty soon, which sells for $140 USD at Amazon, which is less than half the price of a Mono. Protec, unfortunately, does not publish actual external dimensions of their cases, but Amazon has it at 5 x 49 x 17 inches, which might fit in the SKB 4719-8 (which is theoretically 50.69" on the diagonal).

Bass Guitar Case - PRO PAC, Contego

I still won't be able to afford a Pelican or SKB case to see if it fits, but if I ever have the chance to visit the SKB factory in Orange, California, or the Pelican factory in South Deerfield, MA (which is actually only about 20 miles away from me, but I have no car), then maybe I'll get a chance to find out what cases might fit it.

 

[amper]

I just did something I've been meaning to do for a few days, and that is get my Warwick Corvette Proline short scale out and measure its overall length, which comes to just about 41" including the strap button. Which unfortunately means that it will *not* fit in a Protec Contego PRO PAC Electric Guitar Case, which has only a 40" internal clearance. It will fit a lot of other electric guitar cases, but I was really hoping it would fit the Contego, because of its very reasonable price and external pockets.

However, it absolutely will fit in a Mono M80 Vertigo Ultra Electric Guitar Case, which at
Internal Dimensions: 41.5" x 14.5" x 3" (105.4 cm x 36.8 cm x 7.62 cm)
External Dimensions: 44.5" x 18.9" x 5.5" (113.03 cm x 48.0 cm x 14.0 cm)
should fit just fine inside an SKB iSeries 4719-8, as will any standard electric guitar

Fortunately, right now, I have no real need to transport the Warwick by air, but since it is a Custom Shop instrument, it is definitely worth the investment in the Vertigo Ultra and SKB iSeries, if I were to take it on the road.

My StingRay will fit just fine in the Contego Bass Case. And frankly, that is the one that would be coming with me, or another instrument the same size. Of course, my StingRay at this point, being a rare piezo model and fretless, is worth a lot more than I paid for it, so really would warrant the royal treatment, as well. But I will be looking into finding an instrument that isn't a difficult to replace, should anything happen to it.

 

[JakobT]

Anyone have any luck with putting a bass in a Mono Classic gigbag, and putting said gig bag inside ofa pelical/"pelican type" case?

Does anyone else do the combo gun-case/gig-bag?
Seems like the best of both worlds, since it seems mono bags dont fit in the SKB shell?
Any similar alternative?

My last flight case sh*t the bed recently and I'm back to the carry-on life. While I've been very lucky so far, I'd like to go back to checked bag life. While im a patient dude, I'm tired of doing the dance of reassuring flight attendants that "yes, i promise my bag will fit in the closet" when they already have their hands full with other absurd customers.

A lost cause, I'm afraid, as the very thorough and detailed post by @amper demonstrates.

However - that doesn't mean it's not a good idea, but I think it might perhaps be overkill. A good soft case like those made by Mono doesn't really need the extra protection of a Pelican case. The padding is very good, and should keep the bass safe in most situations, but even the best soft cases has an achilles heel, which is rigidity.

This problem has in fact been more or less solved by JAL, which provides travellers with guitars and basses with a shipping box large enough for a gig bag. The bag is strapped inside this box, and the whole thing is then put in the hold. The bag provides the necessary cushioning, and the box provides stiffness and impact protection. However, this box seems to be a fairly light affair. There aren't many pics available but the one I've been able to find shows a box that seems to be made out of corrugated plastic with a thin layer of foam inside. This makes the box light, cheap, and easily replaceable. Now if someone could just make a version of this that was generally available, perhaps even make it collapsible, the worries of the travelling bass player could be at an end.

 

[JdoubleH]

Anyone have any luck with putting a bass in a Mono Classic gigbag, and putting said gig bag inside ofa pelical/"pelican type" case?

Does anyone else do the combo gun-case/gig-bag?
Seems like the best of both worlds, since it seems mono bags dont fit in the SKB shell?
Any similar alternative?

My last flight case sh*t the bed recently and I'm back to the carry-on life. While I've been very lucky so far, I'd like to go back to checked bag life. While im a patient dude, I'm tired of doing the dance of reassuring flight attendants that "yes, i promise my bag will fit in the closet" when they already have their hands full with other absurd customers.

I have the Pelican V800 and recently traveled with it. I can confirm the Mono M80 fits inside it, however I chose to use a Protec Contego instead, because it has several advantages in my eyes. One being the closed loop fabric on the inside, which velcro sticks to nicely. The neck pad / block is movable because of this, so I move it to where the upper horn / strap button contact it, which helps the bass from sliding towards the headstock end of the case. I also use a couple of laptop case spacer strips along the contours of the body. I'm tempted to make some cutaway pads of some sort - maybe out of yoga blocks if I can find a suitable adhesive for loop side velcro. I wrapped the headstock in bubble wrap to minimize any additional bouncing around, and to protect the tuners.

The Mono M80 I have is an older one and my basses just kind of float around in it. It has a lot less structure than the Protec Contego, which I feel is just a better case overall, despite being considerably less expensive. The Mono is lighter by maybe a pound, and my first instinct was to take it, but I just couldn't live with how much more the bass slides around in it. I've had both for quite a while and hadn't realized it, but the stucture of the M80 just seems a whole lot flimsier than the Contego.

I also have the SKB Bass Safe, and ran into fit issues like many others. I have three contego bass cases, and only one of them is short enough to fit in it (even after digging out a bunch of foam). The oldest contego case doesn't quite fit my 35" scale Lull PJ. It is very snug on the headstock. The thing I really dislike aobut the SKB though is the single-point-of-failure strap buckle thing which is very difficult to use. I have little faith that TSA will get it back together properly after inspecting the contents. I have previously checked it with a velcro cinch strap around the handle - which is almost a necessity to get the primary buckle fastened properly.

Once closed though, the SKB rolls and handles and is WAY easier around an airport and public transit than the pelican case. I oriented the bass with the body towards the wheels in the Pelican, but the location of the wheels and length of the case mean a lot of the weight is on your hands, rather than out over the wheels. The SKB case has the wheels on the narrow end, which sifts the balance better, like using a properly loaded hand truck. I had to navigate a zig zag check in line this weekend to get to the counter to get a label, and with a spinner suitcase and my backpack, it was a way harder than it needed to be.

The SKB case also stands on end, wheras the Pelican can only lay flat or stand on the hinge edge, and will not stand on end. The handles are also really uncomfortable on the Pelican, and at about 40lbs with just a sub 8lb bass and a Contego case in it, it's no not all that light. The SKB's handles are far more comfortable too.

All in all, I'm happy with the Pelican and feel confident in the security it provides. I'm currently scheming a way to attach a roll-aboard suit case to it to shift more weight over the wheels and possibly stand on end better.