Gig Bag Recommendation for Special Acoustic archtop

[Navdeep_Singh]

Hi,

I need a recommendation for my 8 string acoustic archtop, the neck is a bit wider than a regular guitar and it’s deep like an acoustic archtop. It fits nicely into a Cedar Creek hard shell case. See pic of case.

What’ the best best padded gig bag that would work and fit, snugly?

Thanks

[JSanta]

Without the dimensions of the guitar, it may be difficult to provide an accurate response. I'm a big fan of Mono cases, so if they make a product that would fit the dimensions of your instrument, I'd go with them.

[spencer096]

cronkhite

[Cunamara]

If this is for your Erich Solomon, you had described that as a 16" lower bout. In the Reunion Blues line, that would probably be their standard dreadnought gig bag. However, you could send them the dimensions and they will advise you as to what they think would be the best fit. I found them quite helpful when I was looking for a gig bag for my ES-175, which is sort of between sizes in their line. they recommended this one because of the thickness of the guitar from the back to the top of the bridge, compared to a flattop guitar.

RB Continental Voyager Dreadnought Case

I have been pretty satisfied with the case. It is not a *snug* fit, at least when the case is open, if that is specifically what you were looking for. When closed, I do not notice the guitar moving around inside it, so zipping the top shot may draw the sides of the case in against the body of the guitar. I don't usually use the Velcro strap at the neck support to wrap over the strings and secure the guitar for very short trips. That would batten down the guitar more firmly.

My 17" archtop will fit in the case, however, it cannot be zipped closed; the bridge is too tall and that visibly pulls the side of the case in against the guitar; in addition about being an inch wider, the upper bout is significantly wider than my ES-175, proportionally.



As a comparison, here is my other archtop in the same case:

[gitman]

mono bag for dreadnaught size - fits a 17“ archtop like a glove, has better protection than Reunion Blues or Cronkite.

[Jabberwocky]

Blue Heron Softshell Cases

[RJVB]

If you can find them you can also look at the top-of-the-line Ritter super-jumbo bag. They have thick padding (10cm of different foams and plushes IIRC) and are quite deep. I have one for my archtop and can leave both the DeOro guitar support and the Armadillo armrest on and still close the bag easily. Compared to the usual-suspect US brands it had a signficantly better price/quality ratio but that's probably also because it's a EU brand.

[Jimmy blue note]

Write to Emily at Mooradian. She makes time tested professional gig bags to fit custom size and the best in the business. She works custom orders by hand now to the individual customer. Very reasonable and when I wanted a bag for my D'Aquisto 7 string (long, with a big headstock) she made me a bag I'd trust to go anywhere with.
Choice of design, pockets, colours and details. She'll work with you every step of the way.
Emily@mooradian.com
She makes double bass, guitar, harp, cello, any instrument that needs a bag.

Highly recommended from every musician I know who's had one.

[John A.]

These are the bags I have in order from most to least protective

Reunion Blues Continental (semi-hollow size) IMO, more protective than anything but a flight case. Mine is the older version that’s fairly heavy and carries high on the back. Newer ones address that.

Music Area Wind 30 (dreadnought, fits 16” archtop). Great bag, but hard to find, sometimes pop up on Amazon)

Mono M80 (the “classic” version, dreadnought size; fits a 16”
archtop). Basically a tie with the Music Area. Both are very sturdy and protective (the Music Area maybe a little bit more so, but the Mono carries a hair more comfortably).

Road Runner Highway (strat
size, a bit less rigid than Mono and MO, but still pretty well reinforced, smaller form factor and storage.

Gator Transit (Les Paul size), not reinforced, but good thick padding.