A lot of the repair work I see is due to plain negligence in transportation. Now, I sure wouldn't quite put it THAT way to a paying customer standing in front of me, but it's important that he or she understand that a good safe instrument case is worth it's weight in gold.
Now I'm gonna throw you a curve ball: you'd THINK I'd cast my vote for the heaviest, strongest instrument case money can buy, right? Well, if you're a touring musician and always at the mercy of airlines... the answer is "yes". But for you and I (travelling across town to practice, or the gig 20 miles away) the answer is "no". In fact, I cast my vote for a SOFT case, and here's why: hardshell cases give a false sense of security! We think that instruments inside are safe from bumps, excess weight, etc. in a hardshell case, but they're not. I've found that keeping an electric bass (or what-have-you) in a soft case makes me a little bit more aware of what's laying against it, what's on top of it, and how I'm carrying it. In fact, one of the coolest bass cases EVER is a leather soft case that holds -two- basses, end-to-end! Not cheap but works wonderfully.
Anyway, the point here is to not become lax about your guitar just because it's in a hardshell case. They can mildew... they can't take much weight on 'em... the locks aren't worth squat... and (worst of all), they make us think the guitar is bulletproof...and that's just not correct. So let's hear it for soft cases! Not only do they fold-up to "nothing" at the gig, they kinda' FORCE you to be more careful with that precious baby of yours!
The disclaimer? Well, I have a few electric basses hanging-around the house. Most of them DO live in soft cases...but the '66 candy-apple red Jazz stays in a hard case. C'mon... I'm not THAT dumb!
good pickin'.... Mike Kolb
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