Guitar case prices are officially now ridiculous

dean701

dean701

Roadie
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I haven't purchased a case in a few years but I'm struggling to understand how a case I bought in 2021 has gone up 50%.
Gator, SKB, Fender, you name it, it's a @#$% show....and don't get me started on gig bags.

There's a dramatic price jump from wood to ABS/Polyethylene but then another jump if you want plastic TSA latches.

Canadian pricing:
ex.
abs/polyethylene with tsa latching
GWP-ELECTRIC Titan (tsa) 529.00
GTSA-GTRELEC (tsa) 269.00

abs with steel latch
GC-ELEC-A 200.00

wood and steel latch
GWE-ELEC 149.00
GWE-ELEC-WIDE 179.00

On the lighter side, if I were rich, I'd be into one of these just because of the video.
 
They used to be a lot cheaper when they were made in the UK . A friend of mine has 6 or 7 of them.
Sobell acoustics have one with them, or they did.
 
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just to close out my rant. It is also interesting on how the inner dimensions vary so much between cases. I understand that they are trying make the cases open to a variety of different guitars but when researching Strat cases, I found the following.
I researched for about 4 hours before pulling the trigger on the SKB Charvel case (even though it isn't for a Charvel, the dimensions were the best fit for the intended guitar with little wiggle room)


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norminal said:
I remember paying $99 for an SKB hard shell case. Inflation is a bitch.
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Yep, I remember those days too. In 2020 I paid $179 for an SKB 66. Now it's 100 more CDN.
Allexi said:
Is this good enough?
View attachment 30441
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I ended up going with this one:
I hope it fits. 5 weeks for order arrival.
I bought a Fender Deluxe case a few weeks back and it was nice but I didn't like the way the headstock was rammed against the outside edge so I returned it.




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yeky83 said:
lol plays three strings and says "still in tune," and it's overdubbed :rolleyes:
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Ya, I'm not sure of the validity of the test but I did like the orchestration. Calton are $2000 cases though and I think I'd rather spend that kind of money on insurance instead.

I like watching the smash up videos.

The Mono one is also suspect since they drop it on the bottom rubber.. Drop it on the headstock and we'll talk.



 
spawnofthesith said:
Brutal

I don't even really use hardshell cases honestly, my closets loaded with them taking up space. I mostly just use the same gig bag for any out of house travel, even with my LP :sofa
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I can understand that. I don't mind gig bags for local back and forth but I can't stack 10 of them at home and I don't trust them when people are throwing p.a. gear around. or car accidents. or air travel.
 
dean701 said:
Yep, I remember those days too. In 2020 I paid $179 for an SKB 66. Now it's 100 more CDN.


I ended up going with this one:
I hope it fits. 5 weeks for order arrival.
I bought a Fender Deluxe case a few weeks back and it was nice but I didn't like the way the headstock was rammed against the outside edge so I returned it.




View attachment 30445
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I've got both the "generic" and Charvel versions of this case. I'm pretty happy with them.

I bought a couple as open box thru Reverb and got good deals... Just had to be patient.
 
unix-guy said:
I've got both the "generic" and Charvel versions of this case. I'm pretty happy with them.

I bought a couple as open box thru Reverb and got good deals... Just had to be patient.
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I'm pretty happy with skb. If memory serves, they made all of the hard shell music man cases and I have plenty of those. Zero problems over 25 years. I love that the vibrato bars can remain on the guitar in the case.
Fender/evh followed suit with that idea with the wolfgang case but the Striped case is an anomaly. The guitar contour is more generic and no bar accommodation. Tried it. Didn't like it. Back to skb I go. I'll have to figure out the bar scenario with a drill, 3m 77 and some black velvet.
 
Hiscox cases are very good for the money.
Also TGI extreme gig bags seem too good to be true for the price. I see them all the time but has anyone used them for a long time?
IMG_3951.jpeg

You can buy four of these for one mono.
 
Baba said:
I'm starting to think "inflation" is the excuse, and it's really a mix between that and price gouging.
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I think they are trying to claw back lost margins. Guitar stuff in general stayed low and didn’t go up for years. In 1982 a squire Strat cost £200 30 years later it was less than that. Yes the product got worse but it is a reflection of the price people are willing to pay. Strings were £4.50 in 85 and in 2020 they were £6. Now £10.
 
Eagle said:
I think they are trying to claw back lost margins. Guitar stuff in general stayed low and didn’t go up for years. In 1982 a squire Strat cost £200 30 years later it was less than that. Yes the product got worse but it is a reflection of the price people are willing to pay. Strings were £4.50 in 85 and in 2020 they were £6. Now £10.
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I would believe you, if that practice didn't extend to damn near every category of goods. Seems like the "excuses", (chip shortage, supply chain, etc), that were once the problem, have turned into different excuses.
 
Baba said:
I would believe you, if that practice didn't extend to damn near every category of goods. Seems like the "excuses", (chip shortage, supply chain, etc), that were once the problem, have turned into different excuses.
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Covid was a big factor. Many small businesses that were forced to shut public access got crushed completely, others were able to just hang on. Businesses, closed or not, were forced to pay leasing/rent payments even though access was restricted. Like you said, supply chain, as an example, wood has gone up 200%. Any industry relying on that wood is going to charge more from their products. I just don't see any way back.
I do agree that many industries that were not impacted as much are still making this as an excuse to inflate prices. EVERYTHING has gone up.
I'm watching my neighbor put in a pool and I have no idea how they have the money to do that right now or why they would even pay it.
 
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