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Double Bass The Best Upright Bass Case

#66
It's been a coupla days, care to compare, EF?

Does the Lemur Deluxe have backpack straps? (It doesn't say so or show them on Lemur's website.)

I'm surprised at how many people in this thread are loathe to use backpack straps. For my needs, wheels on bags don't work for 95% of the terrain I cover. Nor does a bass-wheel doesn't suit my needs. Shoulder straps and hand-holds are only good for short durations/distances, otherwise they are literally a pain in the back/neck/side etc.

I need to carry my bass long distances, there are no cars on my hilly island and I regularly gig in town necessitating ferry rides, busses, taxis and yet more hiking up and down mountain sides (albeit concrete covered). For my needs, and back health, shoulder straps are the most comfortable, efficient and safest way for me to get my bass around town. Yes, I have smacked the scroll occasionally, but luckily my bass' neck is thicker than a Louisville Slugger.

I'm very conscious of the scroll's height and I find manoeuvering through the HK crowds to be easier with backpack straps than any other method of carrying/wheeling my bass.

I've had four bags, well two were just ultra-cheap covers (not even padded) sans backstraps and two bags both with backpack straps. The first bag lasted two years, the second... six months. I'm not abusive to my gear, it is just well-used and though I've only had two proper gig bags, I selected the best ones available to me locally. Most bags I've seen couldn't stand up to my usage, including popular name brand bags I've inspected in person.

What I'd like to see is a bag company employ a hip belt, as found on expedition backpacks, to take some of the weight off the backpack straps and that would really suit my needs.

Check out this opening shot of a dapper gentleman carrying his doublebass, note the distance between where he is and where he needs to be, imagine how far he's come...
YouTube - ‪Romance With A Double Bass (1974) clip‬‏

Sorry for the long post, needed to vent. Supposedly I have a new bag awaiting me at this coming Monday's lesson...
 
#68
I was hoping it would be in today, even though FedEx ground tracking gives the delivery date as tomorrow (the 23rd). But YES, it does have backpack straps and apparently even has clever pockets for stowing them away when not in use. If you click on the VIEW ADDITIONAL IMAGES, there's a Invalid Link Removed you can see what looks like two short bow type pockets (where the straps go when not in use) and the arrangement of rings where they clip on.
 
#70
Feral Feline said:
It's been a coupla days, care to compare, EF?
Does the Lemur Deluxe have backpack straps? (It doesn't say so or show them on Lemur's website.)
I've had four bags, well two were just ultra-cheap covers (not even padded) sans backstraps and two bags both with backpack straps. The first bag lasted two years, the second... six months. I'm not abusive to my gear, it is just well-used and though I've only had two proper gig bags, I selected the best ones available to me locally. Most bags I've seen couldn't stand up to my usage, including popular name brand bags I've inspected in person.
Click to expand...

OK, I justpulled it out of the box and there are a few differences from the pictures.

First, the backpack straps are permanently affixed, rather than being removable and stowable. It seems pretty sturdy: the webbing is pretty wide, up top it's sewn into the leather AND riveted, below it's a leather patch sewn to the bag, with a web loop holding a rectangular metal ring that is sewn in UNDER the leather and also riveted. The webbing is adjustable (sliders) and each side has shoulder pads. On the front there's a bow pocket, an endpin/music stand pocket, and a wheel/accoutrement pocket; all have velcro closures.
On the back there's the tux/portfolio pocket. The padding seems very similar to the Messina bag. There's extra padding and a leather patch on the front of the bag over the bridge, leather patches on the exterior of the scroll area on the top. all of the handles are sewn into the bags with leather patch overlays that are sewn and riveted in and there's a leather strap above the upper bout/ base of the neck to stabilize that area (I guess). I'll throw the bass in it tonight when I get back from the session and then I gotta push the bass around the city tomorrow for a gig.
Anything else?

As far being surprised about the lack of enchantment with back pack straps; even though I live in a pedestrian friendly city, I don't actually walk that much. It's mostly to the subway and back, so dealing with escalators (and the attendant low ceilings, stuff hanging from ceilings and rapidly changing ceiling heights) getting on and off trains (walking around like a Cossack dancer is NOT gonna happen), standing on trains (with low ceilings) with other people (who, for some reason, see the attempt to move my bridge around as the challenge they've waited their whole lives for) etc etc. If I used straps instead of the wheel, all I'd be doing is putting the bass on and taking it off and putting it on and taking it off and putting it on and taking it off etc etc etc ad nauseum.
It's easier just to push it around.
 
#71
It fits the bass very well, if it protects the bridge area the way it looks like it's gonna, I'll be a happy camper. Sucker is definitely heavier than the Messina and the long zipper is on the opposite side of the case, so it feels like it's a "left hand" model, if that makes any sense. It just means I hold the bass (or lay it down) the opposite way I've grown accustomed to. The middle front handle appears to be in the perfect place (I get to push the bass around in a few hours, so we'll see how I feel after that) for wheeling about.
The only downside so far is that the bow pocket is about two inches too short for my bow case...
 
#72
It's definitely gonna take me a minnit to get comfortable with the handle arrangements. To be fair, I've been using that Messina bag for well over ten years (I think more like 14?) and I developed a specific approach to how I move it around to go up stairs and sit on the train and **** like that. So I can't really say now how much of my discomfort is actual how much is because "it's just not like the other one"....
Sucker is HEAVY though...
 
#73
Oh, one nice touch is the padding under the zipper, I might haveta take a pitcher to post, but there's a ridge of padding that extends under the zipper on the inside of the case so when you zip it up, the zipper never touches the instrument.
 
#74
james condino said:
Ed:
How does the Lemur deluxe compare to a Moradian in person? It looks like they are fairly close in price.
j.
Click to expand...

Denser padding, backpack straps aren't removable, EXCELLENTLY PLACED CENTRAL HANDLE for pushing around with a wheel, zipper doesn't touch the bass, velcro on the pockets rather than zippers (the zipper on the wheel pocket was the first thing to go on my Mooradian AND my Messina) And it's MUCH heavier.
 
#75
hmm... Interesting bag FED. Wonder how the weight compares to the Soundwear.

My performer has been going on some 5 years with what I'll call light use as I don't gig much at all. Starting to show a little wear (some zipper handles broke and some broken threads here and there). Still truckin' tho. Don't see any reason why it wouldn't last another 5 at the rate I'm going.
 
#76
needed a new bag after my very old mooradian finally hit the dust. I read this thread and decided to call about the Lemur deluxe bag. Talked with the owner and she said it was based on the old reunion blues bag (which I really liked) so I bought it

Lemur Deluxe: heavy bag that does not fold up well has backpack straps that can't be used (unless you want to break the neck of your bass off) plenty of pockets in the right places but the same uneasy feeling of cheapness that I got from the very cheap and crappy Upton deluxe bag whose zipper disintegrated on me after six months and Upton left me hanging with it. (bad Business, I stopped buying anything from Upton because of it...,3 bills large for a bag made in China that is a piece of ****.)
So I was really skeptical about the Lemur Deluxe too...felt like the same bag maker as the Upton.
After two weeks the leather (if that can be called leather) reenforced handles ripped out.
Lemur however took the bag back after first sending me a Mooradian Deluxe (I paid the diff) so I was not without a bag.
Thanks Lemur...stay outta china for bass bags though...
The Mooradian Deluxe fits my new criteria for a bag, can it be repaired? Everything on it seems sewed better and is a lot less about looks and more about light weight good protection, foldability and most important strong sewing. I really like this bag the best, and the fact that it cost $50. more then the Chinese crap cases does not bug me.
Get the Mooradian deluxe it is a good bag.
 
#77
Oh and one other thing I really resent the waste of materials that goes into these cheap bags. In this world so full of waste already to make something that big and material intensive and then for it to be so lacking and weak that it breaks quickly is a crime against the planet. I don't want to have to send back a giant case that will be bulldozed or disposed of. I want to buy one that works for ever and I want to be able to repair it if something goes wrong and save the planet the space of another bass case full of land fill.
Note to bass gear sellers:
Please make cases strong enough that bassists don't return them after two weeks. When you go to china to order bags make sure they are not made with the crappyest thin brittle papery leather inferior zippers etc. Bassists don't want them and neither do our landfills...
 
#80
I can't stress enough that for the price I swear by Gollihur's green house bag!! Its durability and design is fantastic I sometimes sleep inside it thats how much I love it! For Air travel forget those heavy fibreglass trunks get one of those light polystyrene case!

timobee4 said:
I just got my new green gigbag from Bob Gollihur! It's beautiful, well built sturdy can't ask for a better bag for the price. So well padded, plenty of well placed pockets. Happy as Larry!
Click to expand...
 

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