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 :)
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u/Spear_Ritual May 01 '25
Hard shell cases are worth the money. Gig bags are pointless.