cases and cases

My mailorder Uke arrived with a case that doesn't hold it's shape, a so-called gig bag. I would perfer something a little more substantial.

Should I try a nicer gig bag or a hard case? Is there a particular brand I should buy?

hobnob said:

My mailorder Uke arrived with a case that doesn't hold it's shape, a so-called gig bag. I would perfer something a little more substantial.

Should I try a nicer gig bag or a hard case? Is there a particular brand I should buy?

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You'll need to check around and decide how much traveling and what kind of traveling you'll be doing with your uke. I mostly use two higher end gig bags. A Reunion Blues and a Fusion F1 limited, both tenor. I've only traveled with a uke by air once last year and the Reunion Blues gigbag was fine for that. I haven't traveled anywhere with the Fusion, but I prefer being able to carry both like a backpack instead of carrying the hardcase. Especially helpful if I have my five-year old son in tow. I also have a soft-case gig bag that I use to carry my daily player between my home and work a few times a week. I definitely prefer the gigbag but a nice hard case has its merits too.

I also prefer the gig bag route. I have a Fusion F1 that I really like. I did an extensive review with photos that is here on the forums somewhere... I have a nice Oahu hard case that came with my Pro Classic Pono, but my Pono lives in my gig bag because it's just more convenient. Being able to tote it as a backpack is a huge plus.

SmilingPanda said:

I also prefer the gig bag route. I have a Fusion F1 that I really like. I did an extensive review with photos that is here on the forums somewhere... I have a nice Oahu hard case that came with my Pro Classic Pono, but my Pono lives in my gig bag because it's just more convenient. Being able to tote it as a backpack is a huge plus.

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. . . and thank you for that review. You're review is what got me to pull the trigger on the Fusion. It was the handle/grab on top that really did it for me

As an inbetween a gigbag and a hardshell, look at a polyfoam like the Kala UkeCrazy. Lanikai sells the same thing unbranded. They are lightweight and very sturdy.

Living in an area of wide seasonal fluctuations in humidity, I chose a hardcase for my Mainland. I think (but could be wrong) that it provides a more stable environment than the semi-hard poly foam and certainly than a gig bag.

Jim B

itsme said:

As an inbetween a gigbag and a hardshell, look at a polyfoam like the Kala UkeCrazy. Lanikai sells the same thing unbranded. They are lightweight and very sturdy.

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:agree: - I really like these for anything short of flying. I don't think I'd trust a nice uke to the tender mercies of a baggage thrower in one of these. I have seen these crush (in fact, Mim gave me one at UWC that got crushed in shipping - it's got enough shape left to provide a little protection for my coffee-can resonator uke). I dropped one of my sopranos in one of these cases, going so far as to kick it with my foot as I was trying to break it's fall. It bounced around enough that the humidifiers (home-made from "glitter tubes") came out of the strings and went inside the uke, but the case protected it well, no damage at all.


But, for anything short of that it's nice to have a case that doesn't weigh ten-times what the uke does! Since I don't fly with a uke but very, very rarely I probably won't every buy another true "hard" case. But, that's me. Some people think of their cases as more than something utilitarian.

John

Kayak Jim said:

Living in an area of wide seasonal fluctuations in humidity, I chose a hardcase for my Mainland. I think (but could be wrong) that it provides a more stable environment than the semi-hard poly foam and certainly than a gig bag.

Jim B

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I think you are right about that. I know I have to fill the humidifiers in my poly foam cases more often than those in my hard cases.