Will a too tight fitting gig bag hurt my ukulele?

Hi everyone, I have a question about ukulele gig bag fitting too tightly and whether that'll hurt my ukulele in the long run. I have a Cordoba 25CK concert uke (solid acacia) and an Ohana padded gig bag that came with another uke purchase. I managed to get the Cordoba into the bag, but the top of the headstock and the geared tuners are really pushing into the padding to the point where the top of the bag is stretching some after I push the lower bout of the uke into the bottom of the bag. Is that going to put too much pressure on anything, e.g. neck joint, etc.? Do I need to buy a bigger gig bag? Thanks!

Hi Tinaj,
personally I prefer tighter gigbags than "loose" gigbags where the uke move inside.
I don't know what could be the long term consequences of a "too tight" gigbag, but you could try a thing : push the padding on the bottom (the part that should accomondate the uke body) and on the top of the gigbag (the part on the headstock) to make some room. Sometimes the padding is made of foam that can be compressed (and stay compressed) a bit, so your uke won't be "too tight" in the gigbag.
Hope it helps.

Thanks, Mr. Stones for your input. I'll try pushing the padding more. Hopefully the fabric will stretch out a bit overtime so the fit will losen up a bit.

I own a Gretsch tenor uke and the gig bag supplied by Gretsch is really tight. Just like your gig bag the headstock area is quite tight. I have had that instrument for over two years and there has not been an issue. It has loosened up a bit with use. But I don't how "tight" your gig bag really is compared to mine.

I saw your post about humidifiers and gig bags. If this is the same instrument then buy an inexpensive hard case and solve two issues at the same time. A solid wood instrument deserves that kind of protection and it will give you peace of mind.

My laminate long necked soprano has survived being pushed into a normal soprano gig bag this past year, & I have a more expensive solid wood tenor necked concert pushed into a normal concert gig bag. I have to ease the bottom bout into both gig bags.

I would think more stress is put on the zipper the uke.

I'm going to be the contrary one now LOL - if it were me, I would not want a case or bag to put ANY stress on the instrument itself, since the whole point of the case or bag is to PROTECT the instrument, and not add stress to the scarf joint (which is how the headstock is glued to the neck) since if the uke were to have this added tension, pulling against the string tension, it seems to me that if your uke had an impact in the 'perfect' place, say the neck heel, with enough force I'd fully expect the headstock to get snapped clean off.

A properly fitting tolex/vinyl-covered hard wooden case, or canvas-covered hard foam case, whereby there is NOTHING touching the headstock or the tuners is what I would use. I tend to be paranoid about case protection, so maybe I am being too cautious, but I'd rather have more protection than not enough.

Wooden and foam cases can be had for $50 or less online at sites like Musicians Friend or Guitar Center. Look at the 'Musicians Gear' brand for the wood cases and the Lanikai for the foam cases.

I had made a thread about a great sale that was going on pre-Black Friday, but these prices have likely not held, but these cases go on sale often, so it might be worth checking them out.

See this thread:http://forum.ukuleleunderground.com...6-Concert-Tenor-amp-Baritone-cases-on-sale-GC

Thanks everyone for your inputs. I think I will buy a second hardcase, which will also work better for humidifying. Too bad I missed the GC sale... oh well .

If you have to grunt and make faces to pull it over it, and zip it, maybe it's too tight.
My rule of thumb with cases, is if I have to hammer it in with a rubber mallet, it might be too tight.....
Seriously, I've gotten a real nice case from elderly music, and it wasn't expensive.