Gig bag vs hard case.

I have ukes in both hard cases and padded gig bags. Here are my observations.

Of Humidity:
Hard cases retain humidity better than padded gig bags. I use Oasis humidifiers almost exclusively so it is easy to compare evaporation between the two styles of case.

Of Protection:
I have traveled with both styles of case. I take reasonable care and have no fears about the protection offered by my Access or Mono bags. I prefer the Access as they are less bulky.

Of Foam Cases:
Worthless. One of my first ukes, a tenor Pono, came with a canvas/foam case. the handle was attached with a 3/4" screw directly into the foam. This pulled out within 24 hours of receipt. Any method to securely attach the handle would have entered the ukulele's space and damaged the uke.

I carried a Flea backpacking in Spain for 2 months. Carried it in the outside mesh pocket of my pack with nothing but a tube sock over the headstock. Never a problem.
 
Not sure if this has been mentioned but most uke hard cases (even the good ones) don't have enough support for the neck.

Most good quality guitar hard cases have a support at the neck near body and support at near headstock.

Uke hard cases, I guess manufacturers think the relative light weight of a uke doesn't qualify for it, have only a support at body.
Most or half of the uke weight comes from the neck. A sudden g force laterally will shock the neck as the body will be held sort of immobile in its insert.
So best to keep some sort of cloth or bubble around the headstock neck to support it.
Thus, sometimes it is safer to travel (not airline) w a gig bag as we are mentally mindful of the limited protection a gig bag offers but merits usage bc it prevents minor bumps and scratches. Which I believe is 95% of the reasons we need to have a bag.
 
I have hard cases to preserve humidity and gig bags for going to jams. This thread makes me want to invest in those foam cases Booli mentioned. The Martin gig bag that came with my 0XK is pretty sweet indeed.

Here is the link to the EMPIRE MUSIC page for the canvas-covered hard foam cases (like the Uke-Crazy):

http://empiremusic.net/index.php?route=product/category&path=26_342

NOTE: this page is for USA sales, if you are elsewhere, i.e., Canada or International, click on the 'American Flag' icon at the top of the page to switch locale.

Right now are the following prices as per the time this message is posted:

Soprano--$25.90 USD
Concert---$28.98 USD
Tenor-------$29.98 USD
Baritone - not listed now

If I add 3 tenor cases to my cart, the shipping is $7.50 USD, adding a 4th case raises the shipping to $10 USD

If you ask me, the shipping is cheap for the size of the box, and in my experience it takes about 2-3 days processing time before the order will actually ship and then about 6-7 days to travel across the USA from Bellingham, WA to NJ...

Hope this helps. :)
 
Here is the link to the EMPIRE MUSIC page for the canvas-covered hard foam cases (like the Uke-Crazy):

http://empiremusic.net/index.php?route=product/category&path=26_342

NOTE: this page is for USA sales, if you are elsewhere, i.e., Canada or International, click on the 'American Flag' icon at the top of the page to switch locale.

Right now are the following prices as per the time this message is posted:

Soprano--$25.90 USD
Concert---$28.98 USD
Tenor-------$29.98 USD
Baritone - not listed now

If I add 3 tenor cases to my cart, the shipping is $7.50 USD, adding a 4th case raises the shipping to $10 USD

If you ask me, the shipping is cheap for the size of the box, and in my experience it takes about 2-3 days processing time before the order will actually ship and then about 6-7 days to travel across the USA from Bellingham, WA to NJ...

Hope this helps. :)

Thank you!!
 
Thank you!!

any time brother - just sharing what I know :)

but if I win the Mega Lottery, I might buy a Crossrock 1000 case in each size, just to have for hostile travel environments :rolleyes:
 
Okay, since this doesn't seem to be an entirely 'serious' thread...

My preferences are entirely subjective and based on self-image. I prefer gig bags because they have a more rucksack-y over-the-shoulder vibe - they better suit the rugged outdoorsman look that I like to cultivate. Hard cases seem more like attache cases for instruments and I always feel a bit like I should be in formal evening wear when carrying one (and on my way to orchestra practice).

I don't like pod cases (the polyfoam things) at all. They are a weird hybrid - neither one thing or the other - and they're just way too fluffy on the inside.
 
Prefer a close fitting hard case. Even in the house they provide better protection from, sitting upon, bashing while vacuuming, dogs, children, guests.
Short journeys walking or bussing a heavy gig-bag. Longer journeys hardcsase with extra closed-cell bits of foam cut to shape for extra support. (Camping mat)
Flying I never take an instrument, not a professional, I can live without for a few weeks a year. On business never had much time for it anyway, on holiday never missed it too occupied.

Personally on long-haul flights I find it hard to deal with people with special hand luggage. I don't care how you struggle to fit your concertina, accordion (or ukulele) into an overhead locker just don't move my stuff to another locker do it.( Across the aisle or down or up one maybe.) I don't care how valuable, if its worth a significant amount of money buy another seat. If you can't afford another seat check it in. If you aren't prepared to check it in well what about learning harmonica. Or fly in first class and avoid me in pig and chicken.
 
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I'd say the value of the Uke should determine what kind of case you use. <$200 Uke? Gig bag. >$300, use a case. But gig bags are nice in that they are light, cheap, not cumbersome, and can be easily thrown over the shoulder and carried like a backpack like it's not even there. I mean my Uke came in a package deal with a gig bag, good tuner (with battery) extra set of premium strings, a felt pick, and even a beginners book.....all for $20 extra than the base price of the Uke by itself. The bag alone would cost that much or more.

It also depends on where/how you're going to be storing it. I could hang a gig bag in a closet off a hook on the wall. Clean and not much chance of being crushed by anything else. I could probably use a gig bag in a car no problem. Now if I was travelling and have to say, store something in a compartment with other luggage, I'd 100% use a hard case.

In some ways a gig bag could be more protective than a hard case. Hard cases aren't necessarily padded. They're just a hard outer shell. It might protect your Uke from a kick or from having things stacked against/on the case, but it might not protect it from a high fall since the Uke is still impacting the inside of the case.

If you're in a home, or transporting it in a car, or anything like that, you're pretty much in a controlled environment to where a gig bag is adequate.

Another thing to consider for more expensive Uke's is environmental factors. A Uke stored in a tightly shut hard case could be in a more stable environment, but that could also be a bad thing if it's moist/too dry, you'd essentially be trapping those conditions inside a closed hard case. So you might end up with a cold/dry environment, or a hot and moist environment, both of which would be bad. Gig bags will obviously breathe better.
 
Prefer a close fitting hard case. Even in the house they provide better protection from, sitting upon, bashing while vacuuming, dogs, children, guests.
Short journeys walking or bussing a heavy gig-bag. Longer journeys hardcsase with extra closed-cell bits of foam cut to shape for extra support. (Camping mat)
Flying I never take an instrument, not a professional, I can live without for a few weeks a year. On business never had much time for it anyway, on holiday never missed it too occupied.

Personally on long-haul flights I find it hard to deal with people with special hand luggage. I don't care how you struggle to fit your concertina, accordion (or ukulele) into an overhead locker just don't move my stuff to another locker do it.( Across the aisle or down or up one maybe.) I don't care how valuable, if its worth a significant amount of money buy another seat. If you can't afford another seat check it in. If you aren't prepared to check it in well what about learning harmonica. Or fly in first class and avoid me in pig and chicken.
I agree with you. I would think that there is a better chance of damage by it being kicked around, stepped on, or jammed into with other people throwing crap up in the overheads, than if it is if it is packed in a suitcase with clothes around it to protect it, and checked in. Anyway, the latter is the way I do it, and I've never had any damage from it.
 
I have a tenor-sized Reunion Blues gig bag I bought used from Gerald Ross. I use it for the occasional festival. My 1920s Stella Banjo Uke lives in a Cordoba gig bag, but rarely leaves the house.

I have a Uke Crazy tenor padded bag that I got with my Kala from MGM. It sits on a shelf. Everything else is in a hard shell case. (I found out that the Firefly Soprano Banjo Uke fits beautifully in the Ohana Vita Uke Case, so I got another one of those!)

I have the older Hard Shell Gator case for the Fluke Tenor - fits great in the overhead bins, and when Brad Donaldson was building my custom concert case, I bought a used Ameritage Silver case from WickedWahini11, and had her ship it to him. It fits like it was made for it!

The only ill-fitting case I have is the Phitz soprano case I got for my Timms - it is too large, so I have felted wool roving all around the body and across the top until I get another case for it.

(And I tested all of my sopranos - the Phitz is too large for any of them, yet too small for a concert.)

-Kurt​
 
My $1500 Farallon came with a pretty nice gig bag, but I just couldn't imagine not getting a hard case for something that expensive. So I found a a Crossrock 1000 on sale and have been using that for jams around town. It works great, BUT the hardware on the strap rattles something awful, giving off a sound as if the clasps have come loose. Need to find a better strap.

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As much as I like the protection, if I were going to a gathering where I had to walk around a lot I would probably use the gig bag, just because it is lighter, has dual backpack straps, and doesn't hurt when it bangs against you (the Crossrock 1000 is HARD).
 
All my ukuleles are in hard cases, which are relatively easy to find and not much more expensive than gig bags. One exception however - my Fluke lives in a Fremont Gig Bag - the coolest gig bag I've ever owned.

This thing is built like a tank (not that the Fluke needs all that much protection). It has a little padded neck block that is velcro-attached, so you can make the instrument fit snugly in there. It's well-padded, with a large outer pocket and heavy-duty zippers. Ever since I've had my Fluke, I've had a hard time finding the right case for it, until I got this thing. I can't say enough good things about it.

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