Here's a piece of case irony: I saved three years to buy my first Gibson Les Paul. Over that very inflationary time the price of used LPs went from $225 to $475, and I spent the whole time chasing the price. One day in 1977 I got an invitation to join a pretty major band and needed the Les Paul. I went out and shopped again and found one for $475, but I only had $425. The manager at the store had seen me chase the price all those year and said he'd give it to me at that price but would have to substitute a Univox case for it. Here is the guitar five years ago with the Univox case behind me.
A few years ago I decided my faithful friend needed a proper, original case, so I chased down a near mint example of the case for that year guitar and bought it.
And here is where the irony comes in: my bandmate in the band I joined had a nearly identical LP with this type of case. When the case arrived I was reminded that forty years ago I had thought that my humble Univox case was far more stout than the Gibson case. So, the guitar still lives in the Univox case but I do have the proper case to maintain the value of the instrument. And does
look sexier.
Bob