Cases or at least Gig Bags

I'm with you Dick, especially on the mid and upper end instruments. My Martin came with a gig bag but I think if you spend over a few hundred dollars, a hard case should be part of the bargain. Anything over $100 should have at least a gig bag too.

The Martin gig bags are worthless. They're awkward to use, offer little protection, but convey bragging rights, "Ooh, can I see your Martin?" Fine for a modern series one. My T2K deserved (and got) better.
 
Years ago, 60’s, better guitars came with hard shell cases. Less expensive ones either chip hoard cases or nothing. I don’t remember padded gig bags back then, but maybe.

I think ukuleles from the early days 20’s-30’s probably came without cases or came with a canvass bag. I think some came with canvass covered chip board or wood, but others have more info on that than I.

All of my ukes are in hard shell cases or gig bags. I have a Gator bag I use if I take a uke out with me. I don’t have an issue with ukes not coming with a hard shell case unless it is around $1000. But nothing is free, so the cost is built into the price of the uke. Over a few hundred should have a padded gig bag. The cheap canvas “dust covers” should come with most instruments.

John

In 1960, I bought a Goya M-26 which came in a black chipboard case.
In the early sixties I bought a Gibson J50. It came in a brown chip board (cardboard) case.
In 1967 I bought a Gibson ES175. It came in a brown chip board case as well.
These all have hard shell cases now, but bought separately.
The first guitar I bought that came with a hard case was in the mid-seventies and that was a Martin D-18 that came with a grey fiberglass Martin case. Martin used to make a big deal out of their hard shell case being included free with a guitar.
My last new guitar was a Gretsch arch top. I had to buy the case.

I have a few ukulele gig bags and hard shell cases, but I usually use a gig bag for gigs. My harmonica rack will fit in the ukulele gig bag, but not in the guitar or banjo cases.

Gig bag ukulele.jpg
This is the gig bag I use most. It has a big pouch and is well padded. You certainly couldn't sit on it, but who would want to?

Hard shell uke case.jpg
This case is used more for storing than for gigging. I'd probably take it if it were the only instrument I were taking to the gig or session.
 
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The Martin gig bags are worthless. They're awkward to use, offer little protection, but convey bragging rights, "Ooh, can I see your Martin?" Fine for a modern series one. My T2K deserved (and got) better.

I must have low standards. My Martin-shaped Cort came with a gigbag which I have been told is same making as the Martin gigbags except for the colour. And I find it pretty neet compared to other gigbags I have seen.
Perhaps because the thin gigbags for entry level ukes are worthless.
I have a hardcase for this uke, but will often use the gigbag for transport in stead.

Of course, the Cort is less than $300, I would probably feel different about a really expensive uke.
 
Years ago, 60’s, better guitars came with hard shell cases. Less expensive ones either chip hoard cases or nothing. I don’t remember padded gig bags back then, but maybe.

I think ukuleles from the early days 20’s-30’s probably came without cases or came with a canvass bag. I think some came with canvass covered chip board or wood, but others have more info on that than I.

All of my ukes are in hard shell cases or gig bags. I have a Gator bag I use if I take a uke out with me. I don’t have an issue with ukes not coming with a hard shell case unless it is around $1000. But nothing is free, so the cost is built into the price of the uke. Over a few hundred should have a padded gig bag. The cheap canvas “dust covers” should come with most instruments.John

I hadn't thought about it, but you're right about gig bags. They were very rare in the sixties. Pete Seeger was the first person I saw with one and he had to make it himself. (He included instructions in his banjo instruction book.)
There was an ad for a gig bag (They didn't use the term "gig bag".) in a Sing Out! magazine from the sixties. It was made of leather and was as expensive as a case.
I don't think I knew anyone with a gig bag till shortly before the turn of the century.
I have a couple of early banjoleles that came in chipboard cases covered with cloth. They open at the tailpiece end.
banjolelefromjimmy.jpg
 
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So speaking of gig bags....I once read a story about John Denver's collection of guitars, in which it mentioned that John apparently hated hard cases, and carried his guitars around in leather gig bags. Which, the article mentioned, helped explain why so few of Denver's guitars survived intact, since quite a few were damaged while traveling.
 
The only place, so far, I ever take my instruments is to have them serviced or traded in, etc., so I’m satisfied with a good gig bag. Some that I have are pretty skimpy, but they still make a good scratch protector/dust cover, so they’re okay too.

However, I have a gig bag from Gold Tone for my Mando Banjo that is so huge and thick and bulky that one could kick it or punch it or throw it without harming the MB. It’s shaped like a big, black light bulb, and I’d be ashamed to carry it any where. I had it set up in my music room for dust and scratch protection, but I was embarrassed to have it there. It looked really stupid.

If one buys a GT MB with that gig bag, he/she will surely get his/her money’s worth. :eek:ld:
 
While I have always thought that an airline baggage handler would have to go out of his/her way to cause the amount of damage I've seen done to guitars by airlines, I would never ship a guitar in a leather gig bag. Here's what happened to Loudon Wainwright III's guitar.

 
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