Reunion Blues and Mono Gig Bags

[sayheyjeff]

Lisa

I will be interested in knowing your feelings on the fit of the Mono Bag. I carry my Martin 00 around the house in a Reunion Blues Continental Classical. The bag is large, but nor all that bad. Wouls love to have a smaller and lighter bag for my 00 and my parlor.

jeff

[JodyB]

Just ordered a Mono Classical bag. The weight was my determining factor, too, Lisa. I'm heading to the Swannanoa Gathering at the end of the month, and I just couldn't face another year carrying a heavy case up and down the hills in NC. And it looks like this bag has plenty of storage for capos, strings, tuner, etc. Looking forward to the arrival!

[Kindness]

OMG this bag is amazing! Very thick and protective and the Shorty fits nice and snug. Here are some pictures. Note the thickness of the padding and the neck holder.

[JodyB]

Lisa, thanks for the pics with the Shorty! i'm taking several guitars to Swanny, all OM size, and I plan to use my bag to take each one to class at various times. Sure looks like a quality bag!
By the way, sure is nice to meet another gal who loves guitars and gear!

[Kindness]

Originally Posted by JodyB

Lisa, thanks for the pics with the Shorty! i'm taking several guitars to Swanny, all OM size, and I plan to use my bag to take each one to class at various times. Sure looks like a quality bag!
By the way, sure is nice to meet another gal who loves guitars and gear!

Jody,

Nice to have another gal on the forums, it's a great group here!

But you have me beat by far as far as guitars and gear! Wow, what a sweet collection you have!

[SteelPastor]

.

Lisa (and others... Ted?),

Here's a question... I really like the idea of a gig bag for travel, however I have had bad luck with tuners getting nudged or tweaked during transport.

Does anyone make a device of some kind to Velcro around the headstock (before it is placed in a gig bag)? Something lightweight and hard plastic... maybe like a clamshell sorta-deal that would Velcro closed in a fixed position around the headstock?

.

[sayheyjeff]

The pics are a big help. Thanks for posting them. Case looks nice, but I am afraid it is a little large for my 00 and even more so for my parlor. I use the RB Continental for the 00 around the house, but the lower bout is 14 1/8 and there is room in there. The Mono looks to be a similar size inside to my RB. An AGF member recommended a Blue Heron bag. Inside it looks quite a bit like the Mono. Have any experience to the Blue Herons? Hope your bag works for you. Looks great.

thanks again,

jeff

[Kindness]

I don't have any experience with the Blue Heron gig bags. What attracted me to the Mono M80 are the ABS panels.

I did not know what ABS panels were so here is an explanation:


http://www.ask.com/question/what-is-...astic-used-for

The M80 is so light! My partner questioned how light and picked up my TKL case and said wow!!! And the backpack straps are super nice.

[JodyB]

Just got my classical/OM size Mono bag today. Really excellent quality and it fits my Martin OM-40LE like a glove. Surprisingly, my OO is a good fit as well. It is a deep body so that probably makes a difference. I will probably tuck some towels around its neck and headstock when I carry it in the Mono, as the neck isn't as secure as the OM. Probably the same will be true for the Shorty I have coming. The case also fits a couple of my other OM size guitars as well, so it's going to be a great addition. Here are a few pics:

[/IMG]

(Martin OM in the case.)

[/IMG]

(Circa OO)

[/IMG]

[J.R. Rogers]

That's a nice case! Thank you both for the pics.

JR

[Kindness]

And here is Mono customer services response when I asked about gate checking:

Brett Zadlo (MONO Support)
Jul 12 06:56 pm (PDT)

Hi Lisa,

Thanks for the email.
Yes, lots of touring musicians do this all the time. Some even check them with the baggage (not recommended). I have personally gate checked my dual bass case a number of times with no problems at all.
Let me know if you have any other questions.

Thanks,
Brett

Stay in the loop with MONO...
Like us on facebook :: www.facebook.com/monocase
Follow us on twitter :: www.twitter.com/monocase
Join our mailing list :: www.monocase.com/join

>< DESIGNED FOR CREATORS™

[open-road-matt]

Great thread!
It looks like Lisa has made her choice but for whatever it's worth, I'll offer my take. I've owned, traveled with and gigged with the Blue Heron, the RB Continental, the Reunion Blues Classical and the Mono. I know people are mainly pondering the RB Continental and the Mono but someone also mentioned the Blue Heron.

The Blue Heron:

Pros: Custom Design. When I ordered my Blue Heron cases I made tracings of my guitars and had the cases made from those tracings so the fit was perfect on all of them. Because you can do custom designs, you have quite a bit of flexibility. For a while I was touring with two Godin thin-bodied guitars and had Blue Heron make me a double case that held both instruments! I also really like the sling strap configuration. The construction is great. Nice handles and big pockets.

Cons: I don't know this for a fact but of the three cases mentioned, the Blue Heron seems to offer the least amount of protection. It's more like a nice, padded backpack for your guitar. I never dropped any of my guitars in the Blue Herons so I can't substantiate my feeling that they aren't as protective but this is the lightest and least padded of the soft cases I mentioned.

RB Continental:

Pros: This case is the most "hard case" like of any gig bag I've ever seen. I think a guitar could survive quite a bit in this case. Very beefy and seems very protective. It's well built, has a great handle and lots of nice storage.

Cons: Don't even consider this case if you're tall unless you want to modify it! I'm 6'4" and the backpack straps on this are useless! I can't fit through doorways! I had both of mine modified and had a D-ring fitted on the front of the case so I could carry it sling-style like the Blue Heron. It's also big, bulky and heavy for a soft case and when I would set it down on its side it would aways tip over. I sold both of my RB Continental cases. If you're into shoes, the RB Continental is like the Keen Newport sandal of guitar cases. The Keen Newport is too much shoe-like to be a real sandal, but still not really a shoe either! The RB Continental is nicely protective but still not a good hard case and too bulky and awkward to be a good traveling soft case. If I want bulky protection, I'll just use my Calton.

Reunion Blues Classical:

Pros: All around wonderful gig bag/soft case. Nicely hits the mid-point of great protection with nice weight and portability. Very well constructed and super durable. I have the Cordura, not the leather. Nice big front pocket too.

Cons: The place where the backpack straps attach can sometimes dig into my back but it's not too bad and mostly comfortable to wear.

Mono: (I have the M80 for a dread and it fits my Taylor GA perfectly)

Pros: of the 4 mentioned here, this is my favorite case. I've been using one for a year now and love almost everything about it. This too hits the perfect mark of light and nice to carry AND feels very protective. It has held up perfectly through my first year of traveling. Tons of cool storage. Very well designed, thought out and constructed. I CAN fit through doorways while using the backpack straps so that's nice.

Cons: Just one con. I like a guitar case to carry at a bit of an angle when I'm using the handle. The Mono does not. It rides pretty much parallel to the ground. In most cases the headstock will sit a bit higher than the body and I like that for stairways, etc. I am usually using the backpack straps with my Mono so this isn't that big a deal but it's something I noticed right away.

So for me and what I do, the Mono gets my vote as the best all around soft case/gig bag that I've used. And if you need more storage, the Guitar Tick is a very cool option! I have one and use it as needed to expand my case:

http://www.monocreators.com/mono-M80-tick.asp

Hope that helps a bit.
Matt