Would a Taylor Dread fit in a Calton J-45 case?

[rocketApe]

It looks like Taylor dreads are more or less in between the shape of a Martin dread and a Gibson J-45, as in, the Taylor’s shoulders aren’t as sloped as the J-45, but are less “square” than the Martin. The waist and hips seem closer to the Martin, and not as dramatic as the J-45.

So the question is, if I purchase a used Calton dreadnought case, made for a J-45, would it fit my Taylor BTO dread?

[phavriluk]

Taylor ships all their guitars in hardshell cases. Would the aftermarket case be any better than the OEM Taylor case?

[pagedr]

Originally Posted by phavriluk

Taylor ships all their guitars in hardshell cases. Would the aftermarket case be any better than the OEM Taylor case?

Yes - Calton's are extremely heavy duty travel cases that run north of $1,000 brand new.

[Wade Hampton]

A Calton case is a very high quality fiberglass flight case that is much safer than a standard hard case when checked through as luggage during airline travel. Caltons also offer superior thermal protection against extremes of cold and heat: I actually got my first one when I was traveling to remote Alaskan Native villages teaching music as part of the Alaska Artists In The School program.

On my way to the villages I would get dropped off at these gravel airstrips a mile or two from the village, and might be standing there in minus 35 degree Fahrenheit weather for half an hour or forty five minutes before someone from the school (usually the janitor) got around to coming to get me, on a snowmobile pulling a sled behind for my instruments and luggage.

Fortunately, another musician warned me about that before I made my first trip out to the Bush, so I prepared by getting a Calton case. No matter how cold it got (and it got plenty cold,) my guitar never suffered from it.

So Calton cases offer GREAT protection for the guitars carried in them, and - yes - they’re definitely superior than regular hardshell cases.

To answer your question, Rocket, putting a Taylor dreadnought into a Calton case intended for a Gibson J-45 should work just fine. I’ve long since sold the Mossman dreadnought that I bought my first Calton to protect, but the case hasn’t gone unused: I store my Larrivee OM-03W in it. I have another Calton case fitted for my 000-42, and if I decide to fly with the Larrivee I put it in the 000-42’s case. But I could probably fly with the Larrivee in the dreadnought Calton case if I wanted to.

Anyway, the size difference between a J-45 and a Taylor dreadnought isn’t so much that you can’t use the same case for both. It wouldn’t be considered optimal if you were flying with it every day, but if you were it still wouldn’t matter much.

Short version: go for it.

Hope this helps.


Wade Hampton Miller

[Shadowfox]

My other question is unless you are getting a great deal on it, you could get much of the increase in quality in a Hiscox case. Just an option

[phavriluk]

Thanks for the explanation about Carlton cases. Sounds like if someone wants to travel via the friendly skies with an instrument, the cases make sense.

[AMW]

We are a big Calton dealer... the square-shouldered dreads seem to fit in slope D cases without putting up a fight (the lower bouts aren't quite as wide) but you can't really go the other way, comfortably.

I think your Taylor would fit into a square-shouldered dread case just fine.

[Jabberwocky]

RocketApe, when you are buying a used case these days, please be sure to find out beforehand what the shipping cost will be. I bought a secondhand Hoffee case recently and the FedEx Ground shipping came out to $120.89 all in from Florida to Oregon. I got the Hoffee Case at a great price but the FedEx Ground shipping fee took some of the pleasure out of that. No fault of the seller's, of course, as he too was taken by surprise. He photographed and emailed me the receipt from FedEx. FedEx packed it in an undersized FedEx shipping box with a sheet of bubble-wrap around the case as a formality-my seller picked up the $25 tab for that- and the box bulged in the middle. The box measured 50"x20"x8" but I was billed for a 51"x20"x10" box as FedEx measured the highest points-the bulge in the middle and in the flaps-and squared the lines off to make the next largest virtual box rounded up to the nearest Inch with perfectly square sides. The volumetric weight came up to 51x20x10÷139=73.38 pounds or 73.5 pounds rounded up. I was billed for shipping 73.5 pounds. The actual weight was 18 pounds.

I bought new Hiscox Cases from Musician's Friend and they were all shipped free of charge by UPS Ground. MF often have the Hiscox on sale at 10% or 15% discount and 8% Backstage Pass points that you could use on future purchases. I don't know how much you are buying the used Calton Dread Case for but note that any savings you accrue may be wiped out by shipping charges.

I am not down on Calton Cases but they do weigh heck of a lot and provide arguably slightly better protection than the Hiscox. Why arguable? Because if a Hiscox Case cannot protect it I doubt it would do any better in a Calton. The whole design point behind a Hiscox is that it be sacrificial in an accident. You don't want to reuse a case that has seen a lot of trauma because it becomes weakened once it has seen trauma. You need to replace it. A resin-impregnated fibre case that has seen trauma must be replaced-it is less protective the second time round. The Hiscox is made to be replaceable at low cost. I intend to replace my Hiscox case that has seen some travel once every 5 years or so.

[rocketApe]

Thanks for all the input guys! I went ahead and ordered a dreadnought case (soecifically a J-45 case) off of eBay for a decent price, and it fits beautifully!

While I’m sure that ordering one specifically for the measurements of my Taylor dread would result in a custom-fitted case, I couldn’t be happier with the snug fit I’m experiencing. So, to answer my own question with hard data, yes, a Taylor dread will fit very well in a Calton dreadnought (J-45) case.

And if I could figure it out, I’d post some photos of the fit. But since I can’t, well, there you have it 😉.

[Wade Hampton]

Glad you're happy with it. I'm certainly happy with the two Calton cases that I own.


whm