soft case for amp head? Big NO-NO?

[bryan_kilco]

I have to thank Jeff for pointing me towards Tuki cases for my 4x12. Haven't taken it on the road yet, but the case feels good and durable.

Now looking at a case for my Mark IV head. I really don't want to go soft case for this, but any ATA case or similar is $150-200+.

Anyone ever drop their amp in a soft case vs dropping it in hard case? (Not that I plan on dropping it, never have....) but sometimes people grab shit while rushing off stage and I notice my precious amp getting bumped into things and I've had a gain knob shear off before.

 

[guitarfishbay]

Have you considered a used head flight case through ebay/etc? You aren't likely to get a perfect custom fit but so long as you get something big enough you can always add more foam on the inside. We went this route for my bandmate's head flight case and found one in decent condition for about £50 IIRC. With thicker inner foam (used some from an amp shipping box) it now fits great on the inside.

 

[bryan_kilco]

I cannot, for the life of me, find any cases used on eBay. I guess I could technically build one myself, but I don't exactly have the time for something like that and would rather have something ATA approved just in case.

 

[egan.]

My experience is that if you get a soft case everyone will be more careful but if you get a hard case don't cheap out b/c everyone will act like it's indestructible. The truth is that unless it's riding in a trailer all the time a soft case will be fine and won't add 20-30lbs. I bought a shock rack for my bass head after an issue on tour (it was dropped in an skb, and wrecked) and I sometimes regret it b/c it's so heavy now it's brutal to carry alone.