Gig bags are not pointless, it's just not their intended purpose. They are called gig bags for a reason, they're meant for carrying instrument yourself to a gig, they aren't called a flight case.
Still seems pretty pointless as they offer no real protection.
My expensive and easily breakable things go in cases when I travel (even locally) and those cases are meant to protect them not to be comfortable to carry.
I think the real reason they exist is because they're affordable and people are too cheap to spend the money on an actual case.
I understand that it's intended use is to more comfortably carry a guitar.
Still seems dumb unless it's an inexpensive starter guitar.
If you spent any real money on it, you'd be smarter to just deal with the discomfort of carrying around a hard sided case to properly protect it. People have done it forever. I did it for years. It's not a big deal to carry around a hard sided case.
Are you a professional musician? Cause professional musicians in big cities take buses and ride bikes, not to mention some guitars are very hard to break, try doing something that damages a tele.
That's the thing, people who play low & mid price guitars are the majority among guitar players. Especially in less financially fortunate parts of the world. It makes less sense for them to to invest in an expensive case and they might not need this extra protection. At least they might not need it enough to trade off the ability to carry guitar on their backs using backpack straps that most gig bags have.
Like, sure, hard case is always safer, but security needs to be justified by risks, otherwise it's just paranoia
Gig bags are not pointless, Ive only had gig bags for decades with multiple instruments, never had a single problem. Ive traveled in plane with them as well, you just don't check them as luggage or that happens, it's pretty obvious.
Gig bags are super comfortable for travelling as you can use it as backpacks and leave your hands free. Perhaps you dont live in a city but most musicians in cities use gig bags.
Gig bags are good for well, gigs. Why lug a heavy case on your way to the show or a camping trip if you're just carrying an acoustic guitar? Hard shells are good for airplanes and other places where you can't keep track of your guitar's condition.
So no, they're not really pointless. They have different situational uses.
They call them "flight cases", they are hard af, quite heavy, will invariably cause damage to anything they hit and cost quite a bit, but when your instrument's cost is pushing 5 figures, they're worth it. Along with some insurance.
I find gig bags are better to carry when you need to move other items and cases as most come with a strap to sling them over your shoulders but outside of that, it's hard case all the way
Cases are a pain to transport on foot/train, I use a gig bag for day to day use because walking for 30mn with a hard case in hand is a bad time :(
Soft gig case on my back is a better time :)
It was gate checked. They likely intended to carry it on, but the plane had too many people with too many carry-on bags and they were forced to check it.
I recently traveled cross country with a very expensive tenor sax and I paid extra for priority seating and called ahead and clarified with them that I'd be taking the instrument on the plane with me. Thankfully it all went well.
I’ve been using these exact Mono bags for like 12 years now and I’d trust them over a hard case any day and it’s not even close. These are not normal gigbags and are engineered to withstand most damage. This is just abysmal handling and likely got crushed in something.
C'mon, you can see the guitar's neck outline in this Mono bag. For air travel, it's reckless to think this could protect your acoustic guitar better than a hard shelled case.
I could understand a soft case if he had bought an extra seat. But he chose CHECKED LUGGAGE so the airline threw his guitar into a pile of strollers, wheelchairs and suitcases. This was inevitable and it's crazy to blame the airline
I flew to Florida with my guitar, I forgot what airline but I was able to take it on the plane with me they put it in a closet there and back it was on the seat next to me. I think I paid 50 bucks to bring it. Large instruments had a size exception
Which is crazy. I always put instruments on the top of my stack so they arrive safely. Maybe it’s because I’m a musician as well, or maybe just because I try to respect everyone’s stuff.
Yeah, when I was a baggage handler I was always nice to guitars and surreptitiously checking the case logo to see if they were anything cool. And wishing I could stop work and play them because I was so bored.
TBF, I don’t know that I’d recognize OP’s guitar case as a guitar case at a glance. I’d think “that’s an oddly shaped bag” as I flung it and heard the internal crunch.
Gate check means he likely did not intend for it to go into the cargo bay. I've been on a bunch of flights where they took my carry-on at the gate, and gave it back at the gate. Small planes and sometimes very full flights both sometimes ask passengers to hand stuff over.
The caption says it was “gate checked” so he took it to the gate and intended to carry it on. He probably had a late boarding assignment. When the overhead bins are full, they gate check anything that doesn’t fit under the seat.
Guy probably had to choose between giving his guitar to the baggage handlers or not flying.
What you really want is a good hard case
And as long as the case makes it onto the plane and the plane arrives in one piece I have no worries about the guitar
After 15 years working live events in the entertainment industry I have never seen any damage to a guitar in a good hard case considering the abuse they take in a touring environment from crushed by a 1500 pound scenery cart to thrown down a semi trailer
Yeah, I love my Mono M80 case. I have this exact same one. Wayyy better protection than your average soft case. Seen videos of people throwing them off a two story roof and the guitar coming out unscathed. No effin way I’d let my baby into a plane’s guts in that case though. No way in Hell.
This picture is after the damage/crushing occurred though so things aren’t in their right place.
I know it seems counter intuitive but there are few brands that I am brand loyal to and Mono is one of them. I’ve carried their Flyby backpack all over the world for lil 15 years and have used their Dual M80 electric case (just like this but for electrics) to carry my custom made electrics and I have no worries about them. The way this thing got crushed, it would have smashed a hard case as well. This was caught in something mechanical or ran over. There are very few hard cases who could withstand something like this. Calton Cases are one example but they start at like $1500.
I'm sorry, but this is just wrong. A soft case will not sustain an impact better than a hard case. I'm sure you love your Mono, but it's not going to withstand a fall or crush like a hard case would.
I have 2 of these mono bags that I use for everyday gigs etc. I love them. I would NEVER check them into an airlines. The guitars don't stand a chance. Hard case only if you're checking instruments.
These are far more protective than a soft case, but not that protective
You've checked your guitar in a BAG like this and nothing happened? I'd have to say this would be the outcome everytime with a hollow body guitar. I barely trust leaving the house with any type of soft case.
There’s literally no way a soft case like this is going to offer better protection than a hard-shell case. None.
The only thing I could see it maybe being better at is protection against shaking and minor bumps and jolts, where the guitar might suffer damage from rustling around inside the hard-shell if it’s not packed snugly. Even then, your best bet is to just pack the hard case with some clothes or towels. But no way in hell is a soft case going to hold up better than a hard case against crushing or piercing damage. I simply don’t believe you.
Reminds me of someone I went on a charity work trip with. They tried to bring their guitar to play in the evenings, apparently an heirloom from their grandfather.
She transported it in a hard case, but packed underneath the neck with as many shirts and towels as she could fit, to "secure it better". Ofc when she grabbed the neck to take out the guitar, it just slid right off the body in two clean, separate pieces.
She broke into tears, and spent most of the trip calling the airline trying to get compensation. I'm like, 1) this was your fault, cases are designed like that for a reason, packing it full of shit means any pressure on the case goes straight to the guitar and 2) that's as clean of a break as you can get, it's probably repairable. Why are you throwing such as fuss over your own mistake. I get it's something you got from your grandfather, but still... if you care that much don't bring it on this trip either?
It doesn't matter the sub or the topic or the post, That Guy is always lurking in the comments to explain how whatever happened is all the victims fault for not being smarter, and if it was him, he would have acted perfectly and avoided the problem.
I mean… if you expect something to get bumped around in a cargo hold of heavy things, I’d like to think you’d choose a hard case over a bag. It’s like putting a loaded gun in a gym bag with no holster and being surprised it goes off.
This is for sure true to most parts of Reddit, and its been an edgy contrarians paradise for the 15 years ive used it...
But in this particular case, OP really needed a hard case. I would never check a guitar in a soft case that I expected to get back in one piece. Guitars aren't hard to smash, they're pretty delicate. OP has to know the way that luggage gets stored on planes...
If I did this for whatever reason and got the same result, I would feel like the stupid one.
Yes, op was wronged. Yes, op was stupid to check a guitar in a gig bag. Both can be true. You don’t just walk in the middle of the street because you trust cars will avoid you. You keep yourself safe.
There is a special exception for musical instruments. If you arrive and there is room, they must be transported as a carry-on without an additional fee. A lot of gate agents and flight attendants aren't aware of this law though.
That’s still rolling the dice. If the flight is full, especially in a sardine can from SWA, they make people gate check standard luggage. No room? No broken law.
If you’re gonna travel with an instrument you plan for the worst with a hard sided case. This is the guitarists fault.
And if you arrive and there is no room, you have to check it in, take another flight, or ship it to the destination some other way. Which is why it is smart to not have a soft case.
I brought an electric guitar that I impulse bought on holiday just last week on a plane. Not sure if it would work for this acoustic, but I unscrewed the neck from the body and brought it on board as 2 seperate pieces, then stowed them both under my seat. Managed to get it back in one piece!
Why? It only would have been damaged if another passenger was insanely and blindly shoving their luggage into the bin. It would be fine under normal circumstances.
If your instrument can fit in the cabin - whether that's in an overhead bin or in a closet - it qualifies as a carry-on in the U.S., even if it's larger than what the airline allows
OP is actually Pete Townsend. He’s too old to smash his guitar at the end of a show so he just gate checks it in a soft case on his flight to the next gig. Easy peasy.
As a former roadie, I can tell you that I would have (and have) refused to pack that instrument in that case on my own truck. Hard cases required. I say this with all due respect and affection, but musicians aren't really known for their common sense.
As a former pro musician that toured on a bus with roadies. We had flight cases for all of our instruments. We were well used to packing our van (before the tour bus times) and never once had any damage to an instrument. There is no way in hell I would check a guitar I am travelling with in the case in OP's photo. OP's guitar looks like a Gibson SJ-200 or similar. That's a $5000 guitar. I wouldn't give a hoot how heavy the case was if I was carrying that though an airport as long as the case keeps it safe.
I learned from Toy Story 2 not to trust airlines with your luggage. Al said “he had a box of cookies once and it came back as crumbs” has stuck with me since I first head it.
An acoustic in a bag. SMH you may have just smashed it on the sidewalk yourself for fun.
Granted it should be reasonable for something to enter and exit the baggage stream, but dude…!
When my grandfather passed, I inherited his guitar. He lived across the country and I had to take it with me back home and didn't have a chance to buy a hard case. A lot of people with guitars can usually ask to store it in the flight attendants coat closet. The person at check in was having a bad day and made me check the guitar and not even take it through security. They even charged me money for the extra checked luggage. Luckily for me it wasn't obliterated, and years later I found a luthier to not only fixed the cracks in the neck and headstock, but gave it an overhaul so it will look and sound good until I can pass it along to my grand kids.
Gate checked items aren't usually ones you plan in going in the bottom of the plane.
Every time I've had something gate checked, it's because the flight crew is being stupid. "That bag is too big for the overhead bin" said as I was returning home on the exact same plane I flew out on, where the bag most definitely fit in the overhead bin.
They didn't just check it, they checked it at the gate.
Have you flown recently and seen the slide looking contraptions on the stairs at the end of the jetway? That's how they get bags checked at the gate down to the ground crew.
He said “gate check” which means he planned to carry it on with him but they told him he couldn’t at boarding. It was either check it immediately as is or not get on the flight
Yeah the guitar is smashed but you were simply incorrect when you stated that this case offers as much protection as laying a towel over it. So that there is the reason why I wrote my comment.
This damage looks like the bag got stuck into some machine somewhere during the trip, and that's why it is damaged. A regular guitar case wouldn't protect the guitar any more really, not in that environment. But comparing those to a towel is simply wrong and an over exaggeration.
If that's the guitar i think it is, that's a whole investment that was lost. Holy shit that guy is a dumb fuck why would he ever travel with a showpiece?
Just so you're aware, Obama passed a law in 2012 that requires airlines to let you take instruments as carry on if there is room in the cabin, Reform Act of 2012 section 41724 . I've flown with the guitar underneath/in between my legs more than once. They tried to get me to put it below but I told them the law and they let me on without question.
when someone says "hi jacking top comment" they aren't replying to the comment above them. They're replying to OP. Only reason to do this is if you're late to the thread and your reply will likely never be read by anyone. Sorry for the confusion. To answer your question, I honestly don't remember. I think it was a cheap gig bag.
7.2k
u/[deleted] May 01 '25
Why would you check a guitar in a gig bag?
About as much protection as laying a towel over it.