ESB-4 Cases

[fender3x]

Yes that pretty much reinforces what I thought (no pun intended). For better or worse, my wife is an environmental engineer. It's not just the resin she doesn't like, but also the fibers, and the lack of anything like the sort of filters and safety equipment the mfgs have at our house. She at one point was charged with inspecting mfgs that made boats, tubs, jacuzzis, etc. This is not one I can win...

I was thinking about something like 1/8" ABS or plywood glued to non structural foam... The gig bag I ordered is 8" deep (the one dimension that is different than the Thomann bag)--which is about twice as deep as the bass is thick at the high point on the bridge. So there is space to fill, which got me thinking about extra padding and something to add puncture and sharp blow resistance--at least to the top and bottom. In other words, the case is big enough that it got me thinking about a case within a case. All just idle speculation until it gets here ;-)

[fender3x]

The gig bag arrived today and it's enormous. It will fit either of my ESB-4 style basses--maybe at the same time. Jim, the tuners could stick out even further with no problem. Will have to figure out what to do with all that extra space. There would be no problem building a case for within the gig bag.

There is absolutely nothing fancy about this World Tour brand bag. But is it of reasonably good quality. Nice big zippers, 2 cm of padding. I probably will get one for my dreadnought.

[fender3x]

A conventional ESB-4 bass should fit very nicely in a Guild Starfire case--wide head and all. It is, unfortunately just a tad too short for my hybrid, which is slightly longer.

I looked at a Road Runner ABS case (RRMBA17). This would work for my hybrid but the peghead end is too narrow for an ESB-4. It's not a perfect fit. Too deep and would need some padding under and around the body. I am tempted since it's relatively light and looks like it would stand up to almost anything short of a nuclear blast.

I tried these today at Sam Ash and at Guitar Center...

[fender3x]

OK...the quality of the cheap gig bag was OK, but the thing is just huge, and after thinking about how I could fill it to make it better, I ordered Jack Casady Case for it. Free shipping to a local music store, and liberal return policy if it does not fit. Will report on fit for both a standard ESB-4 kit and for the Hybrid which is a touch larger. These cases list for around $150 US, but almost any music store here will give you a $20 discount if you ask... Sort of bummed out that there is a Yorkville Sound case that has exactly the same specs, and even says it's for a Jack Casady bass, but it appears that you can only get it in Canada. They would not even send it to a Yorkville dealer here in Miami. Cheaper and would not have had the Epiphone logo on it, but only available to Canadians. It's this sort of inflexibility that lead my ancestors to leave Canada two generations ago ;-)

[JimC]

It's coverings that get to me. I can't enlarge or even reduce in size a standard case because of the covering material. It will look like hell and probably peel off the edges if I try. Ripping it all off and replacing feels like a hell of a job, and even the damn glue costs a lump. This instrument is looking like ending up as the most expensive I own as it is, although admittedly my JB and Tele are both probably worth over double what I paid for them.

[fender3x]

It's coverings that get to me. I can't enlarge or even reduce in size a standard case because of the covering material. It will look like hell and probably peel off the edges if I try. Ripping it all off and replacing feels like a hell of a job, and even the damn glue costs a lump. This instrument is looking like ending up as the most expensive I own as it is, although admittedly my JB and Tele are both probably worth over double what I paid for them.

Every "solution" that I have come up with was either a ton of work, or likely to have bad results--or both. My best DIY idea has been to craft something out of styrofoam and bending plywood (which I have around the house) that would fit inside my giant jumbo-acoustic gig bag. That would need to be covered in fur (or something). The more I thought about it, though, the more work it was going to be to get it right. And what advantage would building a case to fit inside the gig-bag over just building a case. Materials are not cheap, as you say. I could build out of found materials but it would be ugly and heavy....

Funny how the sheer economic value vs expense equation goes with guitars. I paid $225 and traded my Epiphone Newport to get a Fender Precision in 1978. Now the P-bass is worth 7 or 8 times that, and if I still had the Newport it would be worth even more. My G&L ASAT is a better bass, particularly with the mods I put in, but probably worth half in part because of the mods. I have put $300 in parts into my SX bass (cheap Chinese) as well as a lot of elbow grease, and it now sounds and plays really well, but it's definitely the most low value instrument I own. As to the Hybrid.... If you don't count tools, failed experiments and the purchase of stuff intended for it but that I did not use, I am sure I have at least $400 in it. But it has by far the most "sweat-equity" of any instrument I own. And I must admit that I really like the way it plays looks and sounds. So, in for a penny...

[fender3x]

Good news and BAD news. The good news is that the Jack Casady Case, which arrived today is nice, and fits an ESB-4 as if designed for it. It is very wide at the head, and so the wide tuners that come with the kit fit just fine.

Not much help to JimC at this point but maybe good for others.

...but it's going back to guitar center on Monday, because it's just slightly too short for the hybrid....

Sent from my ONEPLUS A3000 using Tapatalk

[fender3x]

The case is heartbreakingly close to fitting the hybrid. If I compress the body into the lower end of the case it will fit--just barely. Uncompressed it sits on the wood. If they had just made the end of the case round it would have fit.

Disappointing but at least easy to return..

Sent from my ONEPLUS A3000 using Tapatalk

[king casey]

If it was me, I'd take about a centimetre off the end of the headstock...sure some extra finishing practice but hey!!

You know the ONLY reason a saxophone has bends in it?


...so you can put it back in the case.

cheers, Mark.

[fender3x]

If it was me, I'd take about a centimetre off the end of the headstock...sure some extra finishing practice but hey!!

You know the ONLY reason a saxophone has bends in it?


...so you can put it back in the case.

cheers, Mark.

Thank God my trombone already has a case...

I actually thought about modding the headstock to fit the case... But I finally have this thing looking, sounding and playing the way I want it to. I just can bring myself to cut the bills down to size so that they fit the wallet.

Now if I had known that this bass was not going to fit in a case before I finished it that would be different..but not now.