TWANG Posted July 9, 2008 Posted July 9, 2008 I finally broke down and bought a new case for the lp studio. First off, Sweetwater.. just started doing business with them and boy.. fast service and shipping for sure. sent two items back, vox amplug, alesis picoverb, as they weren't what I wanted.. no sweat.. very friendly service folk and really fast turnaround time.. I didn't expect this case to get here this week.. so, thanks Sweetwater for making all of this easy and trouble free. Now the case. Black covering.. light purplish fuzzy interior. four latches, chrome. interior compartment for storage, key for locking it up. a little bit of glue in a couple of places.. peels off by rubbing a finger on it. Fairly tight fit, but nothing problematical. the switch, for instance has plenty of clearance. I am guessing that the covering is not a tough as tolex, it feels softer.. and probably would scratch a bit easier than some more expensive cases. But, I take care of my stuff, including the case, besides which the case is what is supposed to take the inevitable abuse so.. no big deal for me there. the interior is a tad sloppy in that the very edges of the interior fuzzy material comes right to the edge of the case. It appears to be folded over and glued to the case interior. This is where the extra glue comes from.. run your finger along the inside top edge of the case.. and it rubs right off. I can see that in years time.. several, I would estimate, you may have to reglue the edges in a spot or two.. taking the guitar out and putting it in will put some stress where it's tight.. I couldn't care less.. I really think it will take quite a bit of use to start that happening,and it's easily fixed. arched top. I always like an arched top case. four lathes. three on the handle side and one in the back, also a thing I like. Keeps it more uniformly tight when closed so that's a little extra protection from temp/humidity. nice handle.. no complaint there. If the handle connections are weak, it's in the little 'axle' that runs through the connections and the handle itself. they are a tad thin. But, again.. an easy fix and probably not needed unless you swing it around like a monkey, and probably years down the road. Interior plush lining is nice.. and padding is correct.. a nice egg shaped pad in the top where the bridge/tail is.. a ramp on the bottom where the body is to keep that angled headstock secure and not pressurized when the guitar is in there and getting stored, shipped, transported, stacked, or dropped. I thought about a Gator case, an MF brand case.. etc.. but I took a shot at the epi case.. looks nice, to me, to have the epi logo on it!, and I'm glad I did. I feel pretty confident that this case will do the job and the price is right, too. I may go ahead and just tweak the handle so it's a bit sturdier right now.. cheap and easy so why not apply some prevention? Otherwise, it's as near perfect as I could ask for for .. I think it was 69.00.. free shipping. Glad I got it!
Ron G Posted July 9, 2008 Posted July 9, 2008 Sweetwater is the best, I agree. I have the Epiphone-logo'd case for my Dot, made by TKL. Good case, well made, snug fit. Found it interesting that the same case from TKL is more expensive.
dbirchett Posted July 9, 2008 Posted July 9, 2008 I just got a case from them as well for my Sheraton, which came without one. Looked at a lot of them and ended up springing for an SKB case with the ATA latches. Now the other guitar player in our band (who also has a Sheraton) is suffering from "case-envy." Here is a picture of a Sheraton in one: A very nice case!
carverman Posted July 9, 2008 Posted July 9, 2008 My goodness..all that description for a case! Yes the Epi LP cases are a good deal from Sw**tw*ter. I got one last fall with a Epi Special II and got free shipping to my daughters. I got a Rockcase (vintage tweed) for my LP Custom. Black plush with the arch top and 4 latches. I would have loved to get another Epi case for my LP type semi-acoustic, but had to order a 6 inch LP archtop case for this one, from the competition, because I couldn't find a Epi 6 inch thick case for LP style (13 inch bout).
The_Sentry Posted July 9, 2008 Posted July 9, 2008 Hmmm.... Got me a Gibson, TKL....and an SKB. If I was going to an airport (IMHO the true test of any case) or shipping it....I'd go for that SKB. Even over the Gibson case. Gator makes some really tough cases as well. I have to admit....because of what I do, the cosmetic side of things is typically secondary. The cases have to be able to take some abuse...
JRizZ Posted July 9, 2008 Posted July 9, 2008 I am so jealous that you can buy a descent case for $69, an Epiphone one no less! They cost about double that over here... I am still worried about my poor Sheraton hanging on the wall... I dread it getting damaged!
nugi Posted July 9, 2008 Posted July 9, 2008 I am so jealous that you can buy a descent case for $69' date=' an Epiphone one no less! They cost about double that over here... I am still worried about my poor Sheraton hanging on the wall... I dread it getting damaged! [/quote'] the picture is sideways. :(
PP_CS336 Posted July 9, 2008 Posted July 9, 2008 Twang, I recently bought an Epiphone Les Paul Standard Plain-Top VS. The Epiphone guitar case that came with it was made it China (mine has 5 latches on it). Yes, the material they use on the cover of this one, as opposed to my Sheraton II case, which is a TKL made in Canada, is quite different. It's kind of a soft, rubbery feel to it as opposed to the black vinyl used on the TKL case (One of my cats scatched the case already and you can see where the claw marks are). The wood they use on the TKL cases seems to be stronger, too. Maybe it's my imagination.:). All and all it's a decent case, though, as far as the construction, lining, fit for the guitar, etc.. I can't complain, although my case cost me $79.00. So I had to pay a wee bit more for mine than you did for yours.
TWANG Posted July 9, 2008 Author Posted July 9, 2008 It's probably a cloth backed vinyl.... I have some here I'm going to make a cover for my vjr and cab for and it feels quite the same. it's a nice tactile sensation though.. feels good, but no doubt a little less roadworthy. I'm pretty happy with it, since I rarely take the guitar anywhere anyway, I don't have to worry about the airport. I took a Rick bass in stock case on the airport.. but when buying the ticket I told a big long chet atkins airport guitar smashing story.. don't know it if helped but my guitar was fine. I kinda hoped they thought I knew chet! I'd certainly gig with this, though. Great for the money, good to start with.. close enough for rock n roll!
kevin134 Posted July 9, 2008 Posted July 9, 2008 do any of the lp style cases fit a les paul with a bigsby??
dbirchett Posted July 9, 2008 Posted July 9, 2008 do any of the lp style cases fit a les paul with a bigsby?? I would think that most of them do. Fold your Bigsby handle badk over the bottom of the guitar and it should fit fine. My SKB even has a little recess for the Bigsby handle but I did not see one on the Les Paul case.
Dave Posted July 10, 2008 Posted July 10, 2008 When I bought the Epi LP, I picked up the SKB ATA latch case and it's solid. I think I ended up paying around $90 for it. The other guitar player in my band just bought a black Epi LP Custom and got the Epiphone logo case with it. It looks fine and I like the Epi logo on the side. I will probably buy the Epi case when I finally buy the '56 Goldtop re-issue I have GAS for right now.
Ricochet Posted July 10, 2008 Posted July 10, 2008 I would think that most of them do. Fold your Bigsby handle badk over the bottom of the guitar and it should fit fine. My SKB even has a little recess for the Bigsby handle but I did not see one on the Les Paul case. I don't own any Bigsby-fitted guitars' date=' but I think most of them [i']wouldn't[/i] fit a regular LP-case. All my LPs are a pretty tight fit in their cases...
Ricochet Posted July 10, 2008 Posted July 10, 2008 My goodness..all that description for a case! Lol, Twang lurfs his case!
jcwillow777 Posted July 10, 2008 Posted July 10, 2008 I bought a '56 Gold Top from Sweetwater a few months back, and an Epi hardshell case for it. The guitar is awesome, bu the case smelled really bad, so I called Sweetwater and sent it back. I have never had a case in all of the purchases I have made over the years smell this bad. They sent me a replacement and the same thing, so I sent it back too. One of the cases was a TKL, the other wasn't, but they both had the same strong odor. I have purshased lots of hardshell cases in my day, but never have I had any cases that smelled this bad before. I tried leaving the case open in the heat, Frebreeze and dryer sheets on the first case for 2 weeks and the odor didn't change one bit. I will say that Sweetwater is the best online store I have ever done business with, and I will do more. When sending the cases back, they sent me a new case before I had to send the other one back. In the new case was the FedEx slip to ship the other case back. Free shipping on everything, no matter the price. I love the guitar, and would not hesitate to buy another one from them. I usually like to buy guitars thru my local dealer, but they didn't have the '56 Gold Top in stock and would have to order it, and they said that would take 2 weeks. I had the guitar from Sweetwater in 2 days! I will definitely buy more stuff from them, just not cases, and I know it's not their fault. I have 3 other Epi cases, no odor problems at all and they are very nice cases. I bought them all new thru my local dealer. I am waiting on an Epi 335 case now from them. It's a hassle having to wait, but I'll buy my Epi cases thru them from now on.
TWANG Posted July 10, 2008 Author Posted July 10, 2008 I do lurf it, I really really lurf it. I should have added single stitching and the lathes close tightly enough to satisfy... you know how on a taylor case the latches can't rattle when closed.. these are a tad looser. that all adds up.. some guys don't want to be able to foresee the small problems.. and those are things that can make them go for ten or twenty dollars or more for another case. I think details matter.. for instance the MF fender cases let your guitar slide around inside.. not even a little strap for the neck, which is what the cheaper cases used to always have to compensate for that problem. I've heard the stinky cases complaint before, too. mine was ok. Maybe it's a return and JC's febreeze finally kicked in! *g* crazy musician story.. knew a guy who bought a mic off a guy he hated.... the guy must have known that because he crammed a chocolate bar into the mic.... one day the buyer guy screwed the ball off.. and was sure he'd been singing into crap for a month. just chocolate though. don't try that at home. TWANG
Whitmore Willy Posted July 10, 2008 Posted July 10, 2008 Hello Twang... Been a while (been away...again) Happy to here about the new case. Congrats...bought the same one for my paul and I love it.
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