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I received a Mono Vertigo Dreadnought Case last week for my Ibanez GB200. I already have the semihollow case for my ES 330 and GB10. It's very solid and comfortable to carry and gives perfect protection for the guitar with a notch for the strap knob and the very solid rubber boot.
The best features – that set it above the competition for me – is the top loading and automatic neck lock. That makes handling on tight stages and in rehearsal rooms so much better. You don't have to find space to lay the bag on the floor or on a table, you just unzip it (with the case standing up) and pull out the guitar.
They explain / show it in this video:
They are a bit pricy, but the comfort and protection is worth it IMHO. I guess these will last long. I also have the lighter "Sleeve" for my telecaster and after like 5 years it's still like new, same as the Vertigo for semihollows that I have for like 3 years now.
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05-13-2021 06:40 AM
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@guavajelly I'm looking into the Mono Dreadnought cases for an ES-175, but was leaning more towards the regular Mono Classic instead of the Vertigo, as I feel hesitant/concerned about the top loading design for a delicate archtop. Totally get it for strats, teles, les pauls, etc. but with the floating bridge, wider body depth, more delicate finish that I'm much more careful about compared to my strats, etc., I feel the pulling and pushing of an ES-175 into and out of the Vertigo could mess it up a bit.
Do you still feel real good about the top loading Vertigo model for your GB200 and other ES-175 type archtops?
Thanks!
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I recently bought the vertigo for an es275 sized guitar. Two things steered me away from the classic-
Originally Posted by cptl975
1/ neck is held less secure in the classic
2/ subtle, but the area of protective material designed to shield the guitar case material from the bridge of a typical dread or solid body finished right at the line of my floating bridge, so the softer grey fabric would tear up sooner. The sleeve has a much larger protected area.
I have not been too concerned yet with the insertion/ removal yet but to be honest I do wrap out of habit a microfibre cloth around the tuning pegs anyway and I use this same cloth to protect the guitar against any zipper rash going in or out. It does open out a fair way- far more than the solid body sleeve for my Strat.
I considered a case from Hiscox but too hard to tryout for fit without outright purchase first.
Emike.
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I have the original Mono case that I use with my Seventy-Seven 175-ish guitar. I actually top load it all the time just by unzipping the case about half way (though I guess it's at a bit of an angle, so not literally vertical). That seems easier to me than the way the Vertical opens, and offers the option of laying it down flat and opening the case all the way. My case is around 20 years old, and I've used it with other guitars. Not all of that time was with an archtop, therefore grains of salt, but it is still in good shape, with no sign of the fabric above the bridge wearing out.
I think the bridge somehow being affected or damaged by the case is a non-issue -- the amount of force involved in the incidental sliding contact the case makes with the bridge is negligible and not going to have any effect on it. While I don't have the vertical, I know people who use it with archtops, and I can see from the way they take their guitars out and put them away that this is a non-issue with the vertical as well. I think either of these cases is great. Pick the form factor that seems most convenient to you and don't worry about the rest.
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I have no experience about bigger Mono bags but the M80 Vertigo I had for some months was a BIG disappointment. For my solid body Les Paul it was too tight. And besides that for my traveling accessories the side pocket was too tight. I had big trouble stuffing my laptop, pocket recorder, a cable, bottle of water and a clean T-shirt in there. Eventually I had to sell it away.
My Protection Racket gig bags are bigger in the pocket department and they have two pockets. The bigger pocket of my ES-175 bag is 32 cm wide, 38 cm high and 8 cm deep. The smaller pocket is 21 cm wide, 29 cm high and 5 cm deep. It takes easily my Hercules guitar stand and cables etc.
And I can take my guitar from the bag easily in vertical position. Recommended!
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As I wrote in my post above IMHO the top loading is the USP for me. The handling is so much easier as I don't have to find a table or space on the stage floor to lay down the case. I just pull out the guitar from the standing case and when I'm done push it in. Easy peasy. Originally Posted by cptl975
FWIW for my tele I use a Fender gigbag and it is also no problem to load and unload it standing up – but I would not trust that for an archtop. I do trust the MONO even for my most expensive guitars.
Also the headlock is automatic so I don't have to worry about it.
And the rubber foot is also nice when using public transportation. The floor in the subway is not always clean so that gives me a better feel than having the fabric of a traditional soak in the dirt.
These are the features that set the Mono Vertigo above the competition for me. They also seem to be robust. I use these bags for years now (band bus, bike, subway) and they still look like new.
You may prefer something else though. There are a lot of alternatives on the market.
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EDIT: Only my 3 year old vertigo thinline has the logo on the cushion. The Dreadnaught case I bought in 21 doesn't have that. They seem to have fixed that.
There's one thing to note about the mono vertigo (edit: 3 Year old thinline case) if you have a guitar finished with nitro laquer. The cushion on the bottom inside the case has a printed logo which may interfere with delicate finishes if you leave the guitar in the case. Stupid design flaw!
I put a cotton cloth in there to cover that so even my ES 330 is save.Last edited by guavajelly; 11-21-2022 at 07:33 AM.
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I have a Mono vertigo case (dread model) that is about 3mths old. There is no logo on the inside. Perhaps it is a design flaw they fixed or it was limited to thinner case designs?? Originally Posted by guavajelly
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Everyone has that gig bag so it can be embarrassingly easy to walk off with the wrong guitar at jams.
is good case
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Yeah, I've heard that! You definitely need to personalise it on the Zipper pulls or something.
I hung an obvious Key Ring fob off one of the D-loops used for that Mono Tick accessory.
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You're right. Only my Vertigo thinline case has the logo there, the dreadnaught case (bought 5/21) not. I should have looked before posting. Originally Posted by EastwoodMike
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I swear by the styrofoam ‘softcase’ I use for my ES-125 (same dimensions as a 175). It’s for dreadnought but fits great and protects better than any gigbag but still is very light, has back straps and - most importantly- a big accessories compartment on the outside (I hate that the most from hardcases: you need to bring an extra bag with your sheets, cables and pedals.).
Mine is very cheap and the covering and straps are starting to get bad but still offers superb protection. I’ll upgrade soon to SKB or Gator, just wish they would offer different colors than plain black. (A vinyl leatherette covering would be great). Ibanez has a nice looking tweed one, but it has no accessories compartment… so lame
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To EastwoodMike's point, I actually found it annoying to differentiate between the two sets of zippers on my M80 bag (one for the main compartments, one for the headstock area pouch), so I got a "Remove Before Flying" zipper pull/lanyard for the main compartment, and it made it a lot easier to not grab the wrong zipper. Upside, it's also obviously my bag. Originally Posted by Christian Miller
But another idea... I kept loosing my all black Mono Tick on all black stages, so I added a couple pieces of high-vis orange tape to it, and now it's super easy to spot. You could always try that move on the bag instead.
(I've also used some phosphorescent green gaffer tape on my 3 gig bags, and I wrote which guitar was in each.... I'm rarely in a situation where I have a tech/assistant, but it certainly made it easier for them to put them in the correct bag and/or fetch the correct guitars for each festival set.)
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I actually did that recently, though the two gig bags in question weren't identical (just the same size and color). The other player caught it before I left the venue. Originally Posted by Christian Miller
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