Hiscox Cases Review?

[pgilmor]

I have one for my Greven, the Pro II, which is nice. Very well padded and light, although the case itself seems large to me. I recently flew 10,000 miles with it as checked baggage, and the case wound up a little bent on the lower bout. Absolutely no damage to the guitar, and I only mention it because I believe (keyword) that these cases are built to absorb the damage themselves while keeping the guitar safe. Similar to a crush zone in a car.

The only other evidence I have to back that up is the testimonials on the Hiscox website, many of which cite destroyed cases but intact guitars. Whatever the case, I like them at that price point. Seem very good. My other two cases are Karuras, which as someone mentioned, are silly money. But, they are also light and extremely strong. I think they are engineered more to deflect the brunt force rather than absorb it.

Short story long, I am not worried about the guitars in either case, but, if worse comes to worse, the Karuras will probably hold up and the Hiscox may need to be replaced.

If it were me, thinking along the lines of cost/benefit analysis, I'd be more likely to go with the Hiscox in the future. But I do love the Karuras, and not just for these reasons.

[BluesKing777]

And it would be brave, brave guitarist who owns any Hiscoxes to travel anywhere out their front door without their Hiscox cased guitar - just risk a quick trip with the plain old case, yeah right!

And my 2 old used Lowdens came in the original Hiscox cases they were shipped in! Doesn't that say something? One that Lowden use them and two that they have done the job for nearly 25 years....

BluesKing777.

[Malcolm Kindnes]

They are strong and they are light, but they are easily punctured.

[gitarro]

There is no comparison between hiscox cases and plywood cases - hiscox cases are far stronger and more protective. Only hoffee, Calton and karura cases are better and stronger - but they are also much more expensive.

[philjs]

Originally Posted by Brucebubs

Very, very good cases but be aware of the aluminum strip on the outer edges of the case and lid.
It might be possible, if you weren't concentrating, to accidentally slide your guitar across this strip and possibly scratch it.

I'm sorry, Bruce, but isn't this a lot like saying, "be aware of the guard rail on the side of the highway. It might be possible, if you weren't concentrating, to accidentally slide your car across this rail and possibly scratch it"?

All I can say is "don't do that."

Phil

[JayBee1404]

Originally Posted by Malcolm Kindnes

They are strong and they are light, but they are easily punctured.

Hiscox cases are de rigeur amongst UK musicians. In the past twenty years or so, I recall only seeing one with a puncture in the shell (it belongs to my friend) - the guitar inside was completely unharmed and the case is still in use fifteen years or so later. I have, however seen two cases, a wooden one and a Hiscox, reversed into by cars - the wooden case was destroyed, the Hiscox was scratched.

[kydave]

Originally Posted by Authentic

1. Hiscox cases are overrated in my opinion.

2. Although they are light, they are also very large and take up a lot of space.

3. Their case pockets do not have much room in terms of height.

4. Their plastic exterior easily cracks or is puncturable if it comes in contact with sharp edges.

1. Facts override your opinion pretty clearly.

2. They admittedly look bulky, but in reality they are not much deeper than a standard case. 7.5" deep - Hiscox; 7" deep Martin/Calton. The Hiscox is a hair shorted than either of the other two cases. The Martin case is a hair less wide than the other two cases. Bear in mind the Hiscox is flat on the main body compartment front & back, while the Martin has a pronounce hump (the Calton less so) on the top and both Martin and Calton have projecting pads on the bottom.

3. Relative comment. The Hiscox has the least depth of the three cases: 2.5" vs 3.5" for the Martin and only 2.75 for the Calton. Volume wise, however:
Hiscox has significantly more cubic inches than the Martin at 93.75 CI.
The Martin has 77 CI. The Calton wins with 102.25 CI.

4. You are the only person I've heard make the claim about "easily cracks" and this is not anecdotally borne out at all. Puncture? Again, this is not an issue with the anecdotal evidence I've seen following Hiscox cases for years, although there is probably an engineer out there who has done the experiments, which I'd be happy to read. I would expect that an ice pick could be driven through a Hiscox with less force than it would take to drive the ice pick through a 5 ply case, but I don't know how much. I do expect that in normal use, the sharp corner of a coffee table or a run in with a door knob would do no more damage to a Hiscox than a 5 ply.

Originally Posted by kydave

1. Facts override your . . . [snipped] . . . than a 5 ply.

Excellent post Dave -- I was just going to yell at the guy and call him names.

[kydave]

Facts and science tend to override opinions and fake facts... eventually.

In another thread someone implied, if not actually stated, that quality of capos was just personal preference, as if that were a fact.

Forums are an interesting glimpse into the hoi polloi, n'est ce pas?

[BluesKing777]

Here is a short Hiscox story - when I got my first Hiscox Pro II dread model, I put my D18 in it, put it in the car to visit a friend. I parked at his skinny driveway and he came out to greet me, and while talking I grabbed my bag and the guitar. First thing I did was smack the Hiscox against the back of my car as I turned the corner of his house, and then In shock, I turned the other way and banged it hard against the corner of his house. Going beautifully, I then banged it on BOTH sides of his front door! Slight scratch on the side of the Hiscox, house and car fine, but it was so unlike me. The guitar may have been ok in the standard case, but I just know it wouldn't have liked it and the Hiscox had its first protection test! And I bought the next model up, Hiscox Artist, for my OM18A.......
<br\>
BluesKing777.

[HNS]

Hiscox cases truly protect your guitars.
Unfortunately, I had issues with the two I have. The strap that holds the top to the bottom part of the case, got cut easily on my two cases. It's impossible to replace it without spoiling the interior padding. You would also need to staple the new strap to the body. When the strap cuts, the hinges get twisted with use and the case doesn't close properly.

It still protects your guitars though but the design never had the replacement of that strap in mind and the quality of the strap leaves a lot to be desired.

Hiscox cases are also extra light which is a big big plus when traveling by air. The body doesn't scratch easily which is also great. Having said that, I experienced that they're easily punctured. A screwdriver inadvertently fell on the case a few years back and went straight through. I filled it with black silicon.

Will I ever buy another one? Yes ...The price quality ratio is still high for me, but I really need to have a solution to the strap issue. I sent an email to Hiscox, will report back.

Cheers
HNS

[Blueser]

Originally Posted by Nayoud

Hiscox cases truly protect your guitars.
Unfortunately, I had issues with the two I have. The strap that holds the top to the bottom part of the case, got cut easily on my two cases. It's impossible to replace it without spoiling the interior padding. You would also need to staple the new strap to the body. When the strap cuts, the hinges get twisted with use and the case doesn't close properly.

It still protects your guitars though but the design never had the replacement of that strap in mind and the quality of the strap leaves a lot to be desired.

Hiscox cases are also extra light which is a big big plus when traveling by air. The body doesn't scratch easily which is also great. Having said that, I experienced that they're easily punctured. A screwdriver inadvertently fell on the case a few years back and went straight through. I filled it with black silicon.

Will I ever buy another one? Yes ...The price quality ratio is still high for me, but I really need to have a solution to the strap issue. I sent an email to Hiscox, will report back.

Cheers
HNS

While I love the protection of the Hiscox Artist cases that I've used, I had problems with the interior as well. The glue that held the accessory compartment door came undone after less than a year of ownership. When I contacted Hiscox they were of no real help. Basically, "Sorry you're having problems, try some new glue". I asked them what type they suggested to glue the two pieces of fabric back together and never got a response.

Not a first world problem, but I expected them to be more helpful after spending ~$400 on their top tier case. I too felt that the accessory compartment was very shallow and did not hold as much as my stock Martin TKL/Geib style case. I have a newer OM size which seems to be made better than the one that I bought ten years ago, but alas, I will be selling my OM and will probably sell the case as well.

[HNS]

Originally Posted by Blueser

I too felt that the accessory compartment was very shallow and did not hold as much as my stock Martin TKL/Geib style case.

I see your point, my two cases are also around 8-10 years old. The compartment is not that big (but Dave's case compartment looks bigger) and the compartment flap is also poorly made. The glue started going off a few years back.

[kydave]

I experienced that they're easily punctured. A screwdriver inadvertently fell on the case a few years back and went straight through.

Out of curiousity:

How big/heavy a screwdriver?
Phillips or flat head?
How high did it fall from?
Lite, Pro II, or Artist case?

I'm going to have to go out to the garage with my Hiscox Pro II and try that!

[HNS]

Originally Posted by kydave

Out of curiousity:

How big/heavy a screwdriver?
Phillips or flat head?
How high did it fall from?
Lite, Pro II, or Artist case?

I'm going to have to go out to the garage with my Hiscox Pro II and try that!

Dave
I know it sounds quacky. I was on my desk, which is not that high BTW, the guitar case was under it. I was trying to raise the height of a pickup on my Les Paul, when the screwdriver fell from my hand ....1.5-2 feet max. The screwdriver isn't that heavy either, but it had a Philips head which acted like an arrow. Not nice my friend .. don't try it looool

It's a Hiscox lifelite. I guess it went through easily because the hole (near the handle) had little to no padding. My case is black, so I filled the hole with black silicon. It did the job quite well.

TBH the case is not designed to endure something like that, but it does raise questions.

Having said all that, I still think they protect your guitars quite well.

Cheers
HNS