Some PRS factory cases are too tight on hollowbody guitars

[SonicBlue]

Details and additional examples in this thread lead me to believe that the case manufacturer has some tolerance/qc issues that need to be addressed. There is nothing I know of that can justify putting significant pressure on the face of a HB guitars body for storage (solid body electric, bring it on). Wood bends, and with consistent pressure, over time it will bend. Hopefully the powers that be are on it! As for @SonicBlue , I would send that "replacement" case back for a "replacement" and let them know they better test it with a similar model before shipping it out, else that one will be coming back as well!

Yeah, I sent them all of the info I have and asked them to make it right. I'm sure they will since this is clearly a manufacturing defect and not typical for PRS to do this. For now I'm keeping my guitar out of it's case. Maybe that will make me play it more

 

[Prs Mods too]

Doesn't matter acoustic, hollow, or solid body. No guitar should have that type of pressure on it when cased. PERIOD

 

[dmatthews]

Doesn't matter acoustic, hollow, or solid body. No guitar should have that type of pressure on it when cased. PERIOD

Can't argue with that.

 

[Jo-]

Surely whomever is putting those guitars into those cases for shipping at the factory is aware of the issue. Ridiculous!

That’s exactly what I was thinking. Obviously the guys on the Private Stock team were happy to squish this guitar into the case and not think anything was wrong with it. (Hence why I felt foolish to bring up the topic).

I do not like to put this guitar back in its case because I’m scared to, so I leave it out and for a brand new PS that’s not something I want to do. I haven’t dinged it ….. yet.

 

[vchizzle]

Interesting(and not cool). My PS case, I believe is a fancy hollow body case. Reason being is I have a double cut that is singlecut thickness. I don’t have the body depth issue, but mine is super tight around the edges of the body. Difficult to get in/out. I rarely use the case because I don’t want to beat it up.

 

[László]

The case that came with my Private Stock acoustic in 2013 is an Ameritage case. It looks exactly like the GWW cases, in terms of the edge trim, etc., and it wouldn’t surprise me if it’s part of the same company,

At first the guitar was a tight squeeze in the case, though not as tight as what I’m seeing in this thread. After a while it did compress more easily. The case is still like new after 11 years; it’s very high quality.

I think the WL and PS cases for the solid body guitars are made by the same company, and they fit beautifully. So maybe it’s just the HB cases?

GWW made the travel case for my BAE 1073 desktop mic preamp, it’s just like the cases shown in the thread re: the edge trim and fabric covering. It’s a very high quality case and a perfect fit.

 

[Zoot Allures]

Let's see if I can get my case pics to come up... it's so black inside it grabs up all the light.

It's made in Costa Rica of all places

This is how far it fits in the case with a firm push

and this is how open the case is before applying what is in my opinion, way too much pressure to close it.

No, no, no, no, no!

 

[tdroid]

Maybe try a Gibson case? I know the sizes are slightly different, but my Epiphone Les Paul fits into my SE HBII case, and I believe Gibsons are a little more thick than an Epiphone, so may have more room for the Core HB II.

 

[László]

I mention these as reasonable alternatives that don’t involve shouting at clouds or demanding changes to what PRS is shipping (I think they’d just tell you not to worry about the tight squeeze). I’m extremely fussy, so I wouldn’t make a suggestion I couldn’t live with.

There are several high end gig bags that I would unhesitatingly use as daily drivers with a PRS Hollowbody. These include, but are not limited to, the Gigblade 3, the Access Stage 5, the Gator Icon, the Reunion Blues Continental, and the Mono.

All of them have excellent padding, All of them have hard plastic protection (often Corex) behind the padded layers, and I think they’re every bit as rugged as a wooden case, though I wouldn’t baggage check any case not designed for baggage checking, including a traditional wooden case.

I use a Gigblade 3 with my PS and Wood Library guitars, btw.

There are also light weight, excellent injection molded cases, particularly from Hiscox, that are worth checking into. Gator is also making some very heavy duty flight cases that appear able to survive a nuclear war, though they’re heavy.

I guess I should also mention the fiberglass and carbon fiber cases, though the best ones are expensive.

 

[Jo-]

Here are a couple more photos, so show what it's like..


This is my HB in a run of the mill PRS HB core case, it fits in nicely

Now this is my guitar in the PS case, and as you can see it cannot even fit partially in the cut out space, it sits on top of the hole, haven't even started to get it into the case as yet.

But, to answer this thread by saying just buy another brand case is not acceptable, especially for a Private Stock.

 

[Moondog Wily]

I looked at my HBII 594 as I was putting it away last night, and the upper bout sticks maybe 1/4 to 1/2 inch above the edge of the case, whereas in the picture you have here looks like it is sticking a full inch or more above the edge of the case. Point is, I think that is where the problem is. The lower bout in your picture seems to be laying "properly", whereas that upper bout is way too high. May the powers that be make this right!!

Question to OP and Jo-, before you close the case, is the neck properly cradled or is there a gap?

 

[DreamTheaterRules]

It's funny, I was going to post about this problem but then I thought ppl would have had the 'get over it, it will stretch out' or something, so I didn't

Nah, we only do that to newcomers.

Serious note. That's kind of crazy... I'm not sure I'd close the case if it took that much pressure. These are after all hollowbody. I don't know if I want 15lbs pressure (even with padding) pushing down on the top of a hollow body guitar!

 

[SonicBlue]

I'm getting a replacement, though PRS said you typically just need to wait for the case interior padding to compress with time - but this was too much pressure for me to feel good about it on a hollowbody and even after a couple of months it wasn't getting any easier. I initially thought the case lid was warped, but it was just that it was too dang tight.

I hope it didn't cause any long term issues with my beautiful guitar. The battery door wasn't closing correctly like my other core piezo did, but once I got it out of the compression case for a couple of weeks, the battery door closes far better. I'm thinking the pressure of the case was deforming the guitar and/or the plastic battery door assembly on the edge, but it kind of went back into shape once it was out of there.

I put a camera inside the case as I closed it and it captured this video:

 

[Daryl Jones]

I'm getting a replacement, though PRS said you typically just need to wait for the case interior padding to compress with time - but this was too much pressure for me to feel good about it on a hollowbody and even after a couple of months it wasn't getting any easier. I initially thought the case lid was warped, but it was just that it was too dang tight.

I hope it didn't cause any long term issues with my beautiful guitar. The battery door wasn't closing correctly like my other core piezo did, but once I got it out of the compression case for a couple of weeks, the battery door closes far better. I'm thinking the pressure of the case was deforming the guitar and/or the plastic battery door assembly on the edge, but it kind of went back into shape once it was out of there.

I put a camera inside the case as I closed it and it captured this video:

Reminds me of the Loony Tunes cartoons: Daffy Duck, Wile E Coyote etc.

Getting back to the cases, My Hollowbody II Piezo case (true it's an SE model) fits the guitar perfectly. Snug, but not pressing or squashing my guitar at all. I hope you guys all get this sorted with PRS QC really quickly. Sounds/looks to me like the contracted manufacturer needs to be taken to task by the parent company and rattle the cages. I'd be royally pissed if it were me.
And I'm such a calm and collected sort...

 

[Jo-]

Update:
After reaching out to PRS Customer Service they have sent me a new PS black paisley case which fits perfectly. It's nice and tight and snug.... as it should be.

 

[SonicBlue]

I finally got a black replacement case that fits perfectly, so the third time was the charm. Glad to hear Jo- had a positive outcome as well.
They must have just had a batch of cases that were out of spec and I happened to get 2 hollowbody crushers in a row.


I still think this is something they should have caught in quality control before it left the factory and suspect they might add a case fitment check to their process in the future.

 

[Moondog Wily]

Update:
After reaching out to PRS Customer Service they have sent me a new PS black paisley case which fits perfectly. It's nice and tight and snug.... as it should be.

I finally got a black replacement case that fits perfectly, so the third time was the charm. Glad to hear Jo- had a positive outcome as well.
They must have just had a batch of cases that were out of spec and I happened to get 2 hollowbody crushers in a row.


I still think this is something they should have caught in quality control before it left the factory and suspect they might add a case fitment check to their process in the future.

That is awesome that both of you have been set right! I could not imagine putting pressure on an HB like that!! QCee, you have some "splainin'" to do (read in Ricky Ricardo voice with QCee pronounced similar to Lucy)!!!

 

[bodia]

Update:
After reaching out to PRS Customer Service they have sent me a new PS black paisley case which fits perfectly. It's nice and tight and snug.... as it should be.

I finally got a black replacement case that fits perfectly, so the third time was the charm. Glad to hear Jo- had a positive outcome as well.
They must have just had a batch of cases that were out of spec and I happened to get 2 hollowbody crushers in a row.


I still think this is something they should have caught in quality control before it left the factory and suspect they might add a case fitment check to their process in the future.

Happy to hear that you both got things sorted out.

 

[Daryl Jones]

Very good news!

 

[helmi]

Maybe this is the reason their using gig bags, defective hard cases!