Which style of case do you prefer?

[Scott O]

What style of case do you prefer for your electrics and why? (feel free to vote in the associated poll)

Gig Bag?
Rectangle hard case?
Guitar shaped hard case?

I just had a NGD recently (will post that up separately) and need a case but I'm not sure what to get.

The majority of my playing will likely be done in my house with some trips to friends houses to jam and hopefully an occasion gig somewhere in the future. What are the advantages/disadvantages you see to each style of case?

Mucho appreciated, thanks.

[Chickee]

It’s funny, I had a hard time voting because for Gibson guitars I prefer shaped hard cases, while with Fender guitars I prefer rectangular hard cases. I never though about that before.

[Steve DeRosa]

Originally Posted by Chickee

...for Gibson guitars I prefer shaped hard cases, while with Fender guitars I prefer rectangular hard cases...

^^^^^ What he said ^^^^^

[roylor4]

I voted gig bag. I use both, but when we are gigging, I really like to be able to make fewer trips and the back straps on gig bags is helpful for that. Also, as long as you are just normally careful and attentive electric guitars are much harder to damage than acoustic ones.

I use hard case for acoustic and gig bag for electric.

[Paleolith54]

Originally Posted by Scott O

What style of case do you prefer for your electrics and why? (feel free to vote in the associated poll)

Gig Bag?
Rectangle hard case?
Guitar shaped hard case?

I just had a NGD recently (will post that up separately) and need a case but I'm not sure what to get.

The majority of my playing will likely be done in my house with some trips to friends houses to jam and hopefully an occasion gig somewhere in the future. What are the advantages/disadvantages you see to each style of case?

Mucho appreciated, thanks.

I said Gig Bag because my guitars seldom need much in the way of protection at home, and my gig bag is built for, well, gigging so I have no problem using it for that. Hard cases for stuff like transport or long-term storage (which won't happen with me) but I assumed you meant day-to-day use.

[ataylor]

I love love love the look — and feel, and sound — of a Fender guitar in a rectangular G&G case. Something about that combination just feels authentic to me.

Here’s my Baja Telecaster in a black-on-black G&G case. Yes, I know the period-correct case for a blonde early-50s-style Telecaster is tweed, but I got a great deal on the black one and liked how it matched the pickguard and fretboard dots. Inside the accessories compartment is a black Shubb capo and black tweed Fender cable that matches the “custom shop designed” neck plate on the guitar.

[Dru Edwards]

For whatever reason I prefer guitar shaped cases for my Gibson Les Pauls and SGs and rectangular cases for other guitars.

[H165]

I voted gig bag because the guitars I use all the time are in them when transported locally.

I've got hard guitar-shaped cases for the acoustics and rectangular hard cases for the Fenders and shaped hard cases for the rest.

[FrankHudson]

It depends.

If I was storing multiple guitars I prefer the rectangular case. Some guitar shaped cases have arched tops and you can stack them on their broadest surfaces. Other than that, I never really think about the guitar shaped vs. rectangular form factor.

I often use gig bags when informally going to someone else's place with an electric guitar. Particularly with a classic Fender design I don't feel they need all that much protection when being carried around that way. I often think of the story of Mike Bloomfield arriving for a session with a Telecaster in a open topped shopping bag, pulling the guitar out, wiping off some fresh winter snow, plugging in, and then being Mike Bloomfield with this guitar.

Though I will carry a Gibson style instrument with it's unsupported headstock tilt in a gig bag in that same informal, short-term travel, but I always feel extra nervous about that. None of the gig bags I own have elaborate neck support systems. In theory, that sort of deluxe soft sided case might be better is preventing a "whiplash" neck break if the case or gig bag took a tumble, but I don't want to test either case to prove the theory. I used a case when I gigged with a Gibson SG back in the day. Hard cases are also nice when you are packing a lot of stuff into the back of vehicle.

Although I only own one for one of my acoustic guitars, if I had to live with one case choice I'd like to go with the TRIC system or similar. Protective both thermally and from falls/and most impacts, light, strap carry-able. Their only drawback is their somewhat greater bulk and the lack of anyone that I know of making them for common electric guitars.

[raysachs]

For electrics, I use gig bags most of the time, because I don't move around with them that much. I use hard cases with my acoustics because of the need for humidity control but I haven't had any issues with electrics. For the hard cases I do have, it just depends on the guitar. For strats and teles, the rectangles are fine. For Les Pauls, SG's, etc, usually guitar shaped cases.

-Ray

[DukeX]

I like Gibson style in guitar shape cases and Fender styles in rectangular cases.

[Silly Moustache]

The standard TKL "Geib" style cases that they come in for me. A bit heavy but practical.

[jim1960]

If I have a choice, rectangular cases are easy to stack and keep out of the way. But I'm okay if the case isn't rectangular.

[jim1960]

Originally Posted by Silly Moustache

The standard TKL "Geib" style cases that they come in for me. A bit heavy but practical.

This is the Electric Guitar forum so I think it's safe to assume the poll is about cases for electrics.

[Steel and wood]

My semi gets stored and transported around in a hard case (if it hadn't come with one I would have bought one for it) but my Telecaster and Stratocaster are both stored in padded gig bags. (Have contemplated getting rectangular hard cases for them but there's currently not a whole lot that can go wrong, given they're solid body guitars and I'm playing from home these days).

Hard case always for acoustics!