The bag arrived, and I'm delighted to see that it has everything I was hoping it'd have, and nothing I don't care for.
It feels very high quality, solid and rugged. According to the spec sheets, at 8.1 pounds it's lighter than the Gator Icon by a pound and a half, and 2.5 pounds heavier than the Mono M80. Compared to my 18 pound hard cases, it still feels like a featherweight.
It's more rigid than the Mono bag, and that's probably where the weight differential comes into play. There are a few benefits to this that I'll get to in a few moments.
The outside of the bag is the 1680 denier ballistic nylon found on good luggage. There's a fairly large vinyl trim panel in the middle of the bag on both sides that's made to look like carbon fiber. It feels like it will hold up.
EDIT: I just realized that these vinyl pieces keep the rougher exterior of the ballistic nylon shell from abrading one's clothing while side-carrying. so they serve a purpose that's more than decorative.
I was worried about the possible cheese factor with these panels, but the bag looks much nicer in person than it does in the B&W photos I saw on the Gruv Gear website and places where the bag is sold.
There are two zippered compartments that are padded top and bottom. The top compartment has 3 large pockets, a couple of smaller elastic mesh pockets, and a strip of 8 catch-all loops that individual items can be attached to. The pockets are a nice, woven fabric of some kind that feels smooth. The bottom of this compartment is reinforced with something rigid, and it's padded on both sides. Because of the rigid panel between the storage compartments and the guitar compartment, the stuff in the pockets won't bounce against the guitar and damage it. That's a nice detail.
The case is solid enough to stand on its side. It doesn’t need to lean against a wall. That’s a benefit of the solidity of construction.
The zippers are covered with fabric so rain doesn’t drip in. The pulls actually have an interlocking feature. If you look at the pulls on the left there are two circular structures. You can see on the right that these overlap, so a small padlock can be inserted if you have one.
The compartment that holds the guitar has a rigid floor under the padding, and as previously mentioned, a rigid top to the compartment under the padding. Wherever the guitar touches the bag, it's padded. The fabric is very soft to the touch. I like the fact that it doesn’t have the rougher-material string protectors that always seem to be in the wrong spot in the bridge area in most bags. I’d rather protect the finish of the guitar than the bag, but for anyone concerned about the bag, I’d just put a microfiber cloth in place. Probably not something I’d bother with, YMMV. The neck rest is attached via a Velcro strip. It’s easily moved or removed, and its interior is a zippered storage compartment! In this pic there's a protective tape I forgot to remove from the logo on the neck rest. Sorry, it comes right off.
The bottom of the neck rest is also velcroed in place, and can be adjusted for a good fit.
There’s an electronic code tag in the handle area that someone finding the bag can scan to get it to the owner. There’s also an in-airport (or wherever) app to help locate the bag if baggage handlers can’t find it, or if a thief needs to be chased down by security. [Edit: there's a serial number and the code is scannable, but there isn't a homing device in the tag for an app.]
There’s very little side slack on my PRSes. Most of that tightens up when the bag is zipped up, and the beg holds the guitar in place very well. The neck rest is high enough to not let the headstock touch, though the tuning machines can. I’ll experiment with its placement but it seems like a good fit. For this shot I removed the protective film over the logos on the neck rest. The bag also has the film over the exterior logos on the bag. It comes right off with no residue.
The shoulder carry works as advertised. The strap is grippy enough to stay in place on the shoulder without slipping. The handle can also be grabbed when using the shoulder strap to lighten the strain on the shoulder if needed. You can also use the bag with another strap as a more traditional backpack bag. You have to buy the second strap. I wouldn’t need it.
Other things that should be mentioned:
The rubber running shoe stuff that you find on under the 'foot' on most bags isn't on this bag. the bottom is made of the same indestrictible ballistic nylon as the rest of the bag, but you might not want to set it down in a puddle. The bottom of the interior is well padded enough that I don't think it needs to look like a sneaker on the bottom. But for those with a concern, this bag might not be for you.
None of the bags I've seen have a leather wrapping for the handle. I'd like one.
The way the zippers are designed, the bag works either as a full length open, as shown in the pic, or you can use it as a vertical open bag.
The zippers are smooth and seem of good quality. The padding isn't overly thick but it's firm and I think it'll be plenty protective. It reminds me of the old USA made Reunion Blues bags in that respect, and they were great bags.
There you have my report. It's a very nice bag!
It feels very high quality, solid and rugged. According to the spec sheets, at 8.1 pounds it's lighter than the Gator Icon by a pound and a half, and 2.5 pounds heavier than the Mono M80. Compared to my 18 pound hard cases, it still feels like a featherweight.
It's more rigid than the Mono bag, and that's probably where the weight differential comes into play. There are a few benefits to this that I'll get to in a few moments.
The outside of the bag is the 1680 denier ballistic nylon found on good luggage. There's a fairly large vinyl trim panel in the middle of the bag on both sides that's made to look like carbon fiber. It feels like it will hold up.
EDIT: I just realized that these vinyl pieces keep the rougher exterior of the ballistic nylon shell from abrading one's clothing while side-carrying. so they serve a purpose that's more than decorative.
I was worried about the possible cheese factor with these panels, but the bag looks much nicer in person than it does in the B&W photos I saw on the Gruv Gear website and places where the bag is sold.
There are two zippered compartments that are padded top and bottom. The top compartment has 3 large pockets, a couple of smaller elastic mesh pockets, and a strip of 8 catch-all loops that individual items can be attached to. The pockets are a nice, woven fabric of some kind that feels smooth. The bottom of this compartment is reinforced with something rigid, and it's padded on both sides. Because of the rigid panel between the storage compartments and the guitar compartment, the stuff in the pockets won't bounce against the guitar and damage it. That's a nice detail.
The case is solid enough to stand on its side. It doesn’t need to lean against a wall. That’s a benefit of the solidity of construction.
The zippers are covered with fabric so rain doesn’t drip in. The pulls actually have an interlocking feature. If you look at the pulls on the left there are two circular structures. You can see on the right that these overlap, so a small padlock can be inserted if you have one.
The compartment that holds the guitar has a rigid floor under the padding, and as previously mentioned, a rigid top to the compartment under the padding. Wherever the guitar touches the bag, it's padded. The fabric is very soft to the touch. I like the fact that it doesn’t have the rougher-material string protectors that always seem to be in the wrong spot in the bridge area in most bags. I’d rather protect the finish of the guitar than the bag, but for anyone concerned about the bag, I’d just put a microfiber cloth in place. Probably not something I’d bother with, YMMV. The neck rest is attached via a Velcro strip. It’s easily moved or removed, and its interior is a zippered storage compartment! In this pic there's a protective tape I forgot to remove from the logo on the neck rest. Sorry, it comes right off.
The bottom of the neck rest is also velcroed in place, and can be adjusted for a good fit.
There’s an electronic code tag in the handle area that someone finding the bag can scan to get it to the owner. There’s also an in-airport (or wherever) app to help locate the bag if baggage handlers can’t find it, or if a thief needs to be chased down by security. [Edit: there's a serial number and the code is scannable, but there isn't a homing device in the tag for an app.]
There’s very little side slack on my PRSes. Most of that tightens up when the bag is zipped up, and the beg holds the guitar in place very well. The neck rest is high enough to not let the headstock touch, though the tuning machines can. I’ll experiment with its placement but it seems like a good fit. For this shot I removed the protective film over the logos on the neck rest. The bag also has the film over the exterior logos on the bag. It comes right off with no residue.
The shoulder carry works as advertised. The strap is grippy enough to stay in place on the shoulder without slipping. The handle can also be grabbed when using the shoulder strap to lighten the strain on the shoulder if needed. You can also use the bag with another strap as a more traditional backpack bag. You have to buy the second strap. I wouldn’t need it.
Other things that should be mentioned:
The rubber running shoe stuff that you find on under the 'foot' on most bags isn't on this bag. the bottom is made of the same indestrictible ballistic nylon as the rest of the bag, but you might not want to set it down in a puddle. The bottom of the interior is well padded enough that I don't think it needs to look like a sneaker on the bottom. But for those with a concern, this bag might not be for you.
None of the bags I've seen have a leather wrapping for the handle. I'd like one.
The way the zippers are designed, the bag works either as a full length open, as shown in the pic, or you can use it as a vertical open bag.
The zippers are smooth and seem of good quality. The padding isn't overly thick but it's firm and I think it'll be plenty protective. It reminds me of the old USA made Reunion Blues bags in that respect, and they were great bags.
There you have my report. It's a very nice bag!
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