Gig bags: The Good and Bad

[JeffD]

I use a fusion mandolin gigbag. ...

I have seen these and they seem really good. There is a specific video on using the tenor uke bag for mandolin.

[Al Trujillo]

I’m surprised the Access Stage Three gig bag has not been mentioned. At 129 dollars it offers protection just short of hard cases.

Fine looking bag. I see the company is bringing out a Stage 5 bag sometime in the future.

[colorado_al]

everything I own goes in a quality "soft case"

Opposite for me. I travel by air frequently and instruments always go in a hard case. Bulkier and heavier, but far better protection.
I like the Superior fiberglass case, with a shoulder strap. Not too heavy and very good protection.

[Barry Canada]

It seems like this thread is headed into an endless loop!
Are we discussing possible useful gigbags or just lambasting them!? I do have excellent cases like Carlton cases! But when I walk to a gig I would like to have a comfortable and ergonometric means of carrying my instrument. For those of you who are worried about the slight possibility of the sky falling on you...yes carry your Carleton, Pegasus or whatever case you desire. There are add on strap designs to help you convert your heavy case to a backpack type of carrying case. It is easy to rig one up yourself! I still use the standard high end protective cases when I feel they are required. I have not seen any industrially designed gigbag as well thought out as the fusion cases. By the way these are called fusion cases because you also have the added advantage of being able to fuse an add on small backpack to the main gigbag giving you the option of carrying more STUFF with you to wherever you are going. I recently travelled to Germany for a workshop and performance with the fusion add on. The backpack add on serves a general secondary service as a day pack when travelling around your destination.
If you want the ultimate protection for your instrument do NOT consider a gigbag at all!
A gigbag serves a different purpose. These fusion cases are expensive but good design and quality products are costly.
Before choosing the fusion gigbag I looked at all my options. I have no financial interest in this product and I'm simply adding my own thoughts to this thread. When I discover an excellent product I like to let others know about them!
I recommend that those interested in considering these gigbags should check out their website. Feel free to PM me if you want more information.
Best, Barry Canada

[Eric Platt]

Haven't been carrying my mandolins in a gigbag, but for acoustic guitar, have been using them for 15 years. My main one is an old Reunion Blues bag. Also have a very vintage Levy's with a cowboy fabric cover.

Have a number of friends with the new Reunion Blues bags and, even though they are made offshore, they offer better protection than most of the old bags, IMO. Although the old leather bags look cooler.

[Tobin]

It seems like this thread is headed into an endless loop!
Are we discussing possible useful gigbags or just lambasting them!?

The OP asked for the pros and cons of gigbags. That's what people are discussing.

[Cary Fagan]

I agree that a gig bag is useful but not for all occasions. I always add some strips of padding--one around the headstock, one under the end-pin, and if there's room a strip on each side. There's usually room and it makes a big difference in terms of avoiding knocks that will dent the instrument if it slips off your shoulder or knocks against something. But for my good F5 I use a gator foam.

[PJ Doland]

A Travelite foam case offers FAR better protection without really being any heavier. This is why I don't really get the point of gig bags for mandolins.

Solid-body guitars are another story entirely.

[Mark Gunter]

The "gig bag" that came with the Eastman I bought scared the **** out of me just thinking about carrying it to house parties or gigs. No padding. I ordered a hard case right away. The light weight and portability of a mandolin in a hard shell case is one of those things that appeals to me so much about a mandolin, after carrying around a Breedlove guitar for a while in it's case - that thing is heavy as an amp.

That said, the bags (or soft cases) mentioned here with dense foam padding are really serviceable; I use one for my reso guitar and also one for my uke. Don't see the need for one for my mandolins, especially the Collings, because the mandolin in its Collings case is light as a feather.

@Brad Laird, I thought of that episode, you had some interesting and funny "horror stories" there!

It's good to read about the brands and styles of bags recommended here, because if I ever felt the need for another, I'd want some insight into which ones do offer a bit of protection. It's not just how you handle the instruments, it's also about those unforeseen accidents. Brad tells a story about Doc Watson's guitar ... It wasn't in a gig bag, but illustrates how just about anything can happen when you're not looking. Even the best hard shell case won't protect your instrument if you're not careful.

[Caleb]

Biggest con to me: Can’t put stickers on a gig bag. And case stickers are one of the best things about being a musician.

[mandroid]

... from our Cafe sponsor .. https://www.elderly.com/accessories/...lin-gigbag.htm

Might be able to hand sew an embroidered patch onto the accessory pouch on the outside.





...

[Mandoplumb]

Years ago when I first heard of gig bags they could be had for less than $20 and a inexpensive hard case was approaching $100. I used a gig bag on a very cheep mandolin. Now the bags are more dollars than the hard cases thus losing the only advantage on bage IMO

[Scott Rucker]

...after carrying around a Breedlove guitar for a while in it's case - that thing is heavy as an amp.....

Man, I had one of those, too, an Atlas concert model. I used to haul it, full of accessories, cables, etc., to church for every practice and service. Broke two handles on it. After doing that for a few years, carrying a mandolin in a hard shell case (sometimes in backpack for hands free operation) feels pretty daggone easy. I do sometimes use foam cases and gig bags for banjos and guitars, though. They're bigger and heavier instruments.

[Rob Ross]

This is my Boulder gig bag at a Hotel near Denver International airport on Christmas Eve last year. I am a big fan of the Boulder bag, it has worked for me. I've posted before on how robust the Kentucky KM-505 inside is. This is it's normal life. Every month, 4 to 5 trips, anywhere from 1 to 5 days a trip (averaging 15 days each month), sometimes up to 4 legs a day. Sometimes we "keep the airplane", meaning we'll fly several legs in a row on the same jet, other times we'll do a "plane-change", and drag our bags in and out of 2 to 4 airplanes a day. That means dozens of times a month, the mando gets chucked into a car, a bus, then, neck down, it gets slung through the handles of my roll-a-board bag and schlepped through several airports, airplanes, and hotel vans. My current plane, the Airbus 320, has a spacious cockpit, with a closet the mando goes into, very nice. My previous plane, the MD-88, had no spare room in the cockpit. The mando got stood on it's head in the only small free space available behind my seat, not so great. Several legs a month are "deadheads", meaning we go sit in that middle seat way in the back of somebody else's jet, and the mando goes in the overhead compartment. It fit's nicely alongside a 22" roll-a-board bag. On smaller regional jets that can't take roll-a-boards, the mandolin fits nicely in any overhead.

I bought my KM-505 and the Boulder bag over 9 years ago. This has been their life since. I am never going to be better than an intermediate level picker, but I was never going to be better than a beginner if I didn't practice, and you can't practice if you don't have your mando with you. I've definitely gotten better over the years of hauling my mando with me, and I've gotten to play bluegrass, old-time, Irish, and Scottish jams across the US and Canada. In all those years and trips, I've never suffered even small damage to my mandolin. I have even taken to putting my Flatiron A-5 into the gig bag for bluegrass festivals, since I'm also schlepping around a nice fiddle in a substantial Bobelock fiberglass case, fiddles being way less robust than mandolins.

Gig bags, they're where you want to be (playing music!)

[Mark Gunter]

Man, I had one of those, too, an Atlas concert model. I used to haul it, full of accessories, cables, etc., to church for every practice and service. Broke two handles on it. After doing that for a few years, carrying a mandolin in a hard shell case (sometimes in backpack for hands free operation) feels pretty daggone easy. I do sometimes use foam cases and gig bags for banjos and guitars, though. They're bigger and heavier instruments.

The Breedlove has been my main axe the past five years or so, and just in the last month I've decided to change that. The weight has a lot to do with it. I'd like to get my chops up well enough to make the mandolin my primary instrument, and I want a lighter Martin to go with it.

Gig bags, they're where you want to be (playing music!)

Cool story/testimony

[Ranger Tommy]

The Reunion Blues Continental is IMO fantastic. Seems to weigh almost nothing. It keeps the mandolin very safe for everything it is likely to experience, the normal bumps and drops. If you get to see the case you can see how tough it is.

No guarantee, but I believe you have to deliberately try to hurt your instruments inside one of these cases. A rifle shot, run over with a car, explosion, wood chipper, sledge hammer. For the range of things likely to happen, I really can't see that it leaves your mandolin vulnerable.

You have to see and feel one of these to appreciate what I am saying.

And they look so cool.

I concur! Reunion Blues gig bags are INCREDIBLE! I've never seen one like them for either my mando or my banjo. Super light, super well made, very protective, backpack straps, very comfortable handles, and dang cool looking. Before my RB gig bag, I had a Boulder gig bag. The difference is so stark, it's hard to exaggerate it.

[zedmando]

Generally I prefer hardshell cases or better
There are some gig bags that are more durable than most and some have been mentioned here.
The main issue though is cost--a gig bag that is good enough for what I want costs way more than a HSC that does the job for what I need.
But if you come across something that will work--go for it--but check it out carefully.

[Cary Fagan]

I have a hard case, a foam case, and a gig bag and I use them all. The foam case is fairly light but still not that comfortable when you're on your bike, not like the gig bag. But I always add a strip of foam (usually tucked into an old sock) around the headstock, the heel, and in a couple other places to protect more against the inevitable occasional bump.

[RustyMadd]

I love gig bags and use them for all my equipment as long as it is always in my possession. But if I must trust anyone else with my axes, then it's hard cases only. That said, I use my hard cases very few times a year. I'm always throwing something into a gig bag and a couple of soft packs carry amps, preamps, microphones, and accessories. They pack easier, tighter, lighter, and carry easier.

You be the judge, but in my opinion the foam cases are just too much to store if you already own a hard case for the same instrument.

Blessings

[mcgroup53]

Love my Mono 80 dreadnought bag

[Ivan Kelsall]

FromCary Fagan - ".....but still not that comfortable when you're on your bike,...". Cary- a Travelite case used with 2 straps would work superbly on a bike. I use one strap over my right shoulder,but i have tried it using both straps & the weight simply vanishes !,
Ivan

[Eric Platt]

Recently got an experimental mandolin that is too deep for any hardshell that I can see. The builder angled the neck like a violin and used a very tall bridge. For now, the only way I have to transport it is with a gigbag.

[Br1ck]

I bought a cheap gig bag for my MK. It had a nice pocket for strings and things. Only when I got it home and went to put strings in the bag did I realize the nice pocket was stitched down the middle and could not hold a pack of strings. I decided to live with it because it was a cheap bag, but a real lousy design.

[fatt-dad]

the Superior gig bag is the perfect case cover for my Flatiron 1N's 5-latch case. That way, I use it as a case cover when travelling and when I get there I go too and fro using just the gig bag!

f-d

[Tom Wright]

A custom gig bag may be the only solution for an unusual mandolin, e.g. my 10-string instruments. I was lucky to get some of Glenn Cronkhite’s last efforts before he quit. There is a need for the heavy-duty, deep-foam leather bags he made. I carried my acoustic mando on many flights, using the overhead compartments. Glenn’s bags used heavy leather and about one inch of closed-cell foam. He always asked for a tracing to do the shape, and the fit is excellent. Double shoulder straps complete the package.

Blue Heron makes custom gig bags, but they are light-duty. I have one of theirs but it is not in the same league.