June 20, 2023

Electric Guitar Cases Hard

Smooth or Tough Guitar Case?

I’ve traveled with my electric guitar all over the world. It was in a hard electric guitar case lots and lots of kilometers on countless airplanes, trains, buses and taxis.

It has in addition traveled in a padded situation simply across the street to a gig and/or regional guitar store.

In both cases (ha! accidental pun) my guitar managed to make it safely to my location.

I’ve learned as you go along, but that choosing the right instance is approximately the problem rather than necessarily towards spending plan.

Do I need to buy a smooth or a difficult Guitar Case?

Back in my days as a salesman at a big-box music shop, a guitar case was a very nearly particular add-on sale. People would constantly ask me personally “Should I buy a soft situation or a hard case for my electric guitar?”

Definitely, when you’re making commissions it is quite simple to accomplish the mathematics –> hard situation is much more expensive, consequently earning me personally a more substantial salary. Nearly all my co-workers had been quick to really make the larger purchase, but we urged visitors to ask on their own a couple of concern before purchasing their particular electric guitar case.

Concerns such as for example:

Do I want to travel long distances or bring away my electric guitar?
Do we consider my guitar a good investment or a test?
Do I reside in an extreme weather? (i.e. it is truly dry or really humid)

In the event that you answer “yes” to virtually any of those questions, a hard case is normally a great fit obtainable. Still, there’s no “one size fits all” response, therefore I like to take a fast go through the features of each.

The benefits of a smooth Case (Padded Gig Bag)

I’ve possessed a soft case for about a decade now and love deploying it occasionally. It’s not what I shop my electric guitar in (I’ll explain more about why below), but i actually do put it to use for quick transportation to locations near where I reside.

You will find many reasons to wish and make use of a smooth situation:

Efficiency: smooth cases usually are easier to carry (many have backpack straps) and tend to be less heavy than a tough instance
Storing: soft cases typically provide more pocket space to hold things such as cables, electric guitar tuners, books, straps, etc.
Space-Saver: when you remove your electric guitar from situation, a smooth case can fold away into a case, case or little corner
Economical: …sometimes. You can easily get really cheap with a smooth case (not recommended), one thing you can’t do with a tough instance

In the event that you rarely travel and don’t own a laminate lumber electric guitar, a smooth case could potentially help save you $50-$100 or even more. And really it’s all you need.

I highly recommend an incident similar to this one by Profile. You will find less expensive options, but you’ll realize that the cushioning is virtually non-existent and design is shoddy.

Some great benefits of a Hard Situation

To Begin With, before I-go any further, in the event that you spent anymore than $400 on your own guitar…BUY A DIFFICULT CASE.

Ok, given that I’ve got that taken care of, let’s move on. 🙂

There are obvious advantageous assets to having a difficult case plus some not-so-obvious people. Let me explain:

Travel Protection: flight luggage handlers don’t heed the “Fragile” indication, so your difficult situation better be good.
Climate cover: exceedingly dried out or humid climates tend to be your guitar’s worst adversary. Tough cases work as a type of vacuum pill that safeguards your guitar through the elements. For this reason I constantly store my guitar in its hardcase.
Idiot Protection: and yes, that includes me the dog owner. My uncle once went over their electric guitar together with his car (not absolutely all the way, obviously) because he set it by the trunk area and not got around to placing it in. The difficult case ended up being quite banged-up nevertheless the guitar performedn’t have a scratch.

Numerous top-quality guitar makers provide cases with their guitars, however, if yours doesn’t therefore answered yes to at least one regarding the three concerns I inquired above, you ought to simply bite the bullet and get a difficult case.

Hard situations tend to be a bit trickier because they're designed to fit a guitar like a glove. If you have a Dreadnaught guitar, i would recommend the SKB Standard electric guitar Case. For everyone with a Jumbo style, browse the SKB Universal Jumbo Hardshell.

The Reason Why SKB? These are the best value of hard situation on most useful cost. That’s not merely my estimation either – many anyone who’s played electric guitar for more than a few years does know this.