High Quality 3/4 DB Gigbag - suggestions?

[Happy Jack]

I've been playing DB for less than 20 years but I seem to have got through a shedload of very expensive padded nylon gigbags. The destructive process has deffo been accelerated by switching to playing exclusively aluminium DBs which are - of course - significantly heavier than ply.

 

I'm thinking I should investigate heavy duty gigbags made of thick canvas or similar.

 

Has anyone here got any experience of such gigbags? Know where to look for them? Know whether they're worth it?

 

 

[Beedster]

I bought one of these when they were only £400, you won’t break it though 👍

 

https://www.thomann.co.uk/soundwear_performer_3234_02.htm

[Burns-bass]

Weird as it seems, the Hidersine gigbag was the best one I found to use with the aluminium bass.

[Owen]

I bought a Reunion Blues bag 30 years ago (ish). I will never need to buy another.

[Owen]

Just been to look for them and it looks like they are no longer available. Sorry. 

[Happy Jack]

2 hours ago, Beedster said:

I bought one of these when they were only £400, you won’t break it though 👍

 

 

Wow! £835 for a gigbag. 😮

 

How much do you want for yours, Chris? LOL

[Happy Jack]

11 hours ago, Burns-bass said:

Weird as it seems, the Hidersine gigbag was the best one I found to use with the aluminium bass.

 

Yes, but I eat padded nylon for breakfast. I really need something tougher.

Edited yesterday at 07:09 by Happy Jack

[Burns-bass]

25 minutes ago, Happy Jack said:

 

Yes, bit I eat padded nylon for breakfast. I really need something tougher.

I understand, but I used to own the bass you did and I found the Hidersine one to  be fine!

 

The biggest issue is lifting up stairs and the Hidersine one (to me) had the most logical handles.

 

I also had a Roth & Juinus one which was nice but was too thick and heavy. Its was almost impossible to put on and weighed (what felt like) 8kg. Add that onto an aluminium DB and it’s a brute to carry.

Whats easier with an aluminium bass is that it’s hardly likely to dent to much!

 

Edited Saturday at 22:53 by Burns-bass

[Happy Jack]

Understood Laurie, but obvs our needs differ. For toting the DBs about I can rely on the assistance of my roadie, the doughty @Silvia Bluejay, and the only gig I've ever played upstairs on DB was one where I happened to have a KK BabyBass with me, which Silvie carted - solo - up a spiral staircase while I was off finding a parking space.

 

My problem with nylon gigbags built down to a price is that means that everything is built down to a price. The cheap nylon linings start to disintegrate within months, then the cheap zipper tags snap, then the cheap zippers themselves start to fail, and finally the cheap external handles start to rip free from the main bodybag.

 

I'll not claim that I'm the world's gentlest equipment handler, but when I'm breaking down at 1am after playing three hours of rock'n'roll I find it hard to remember "Careful with that gigbag Eugene ...".

 

@Beedster's Bulletproof Deluxe is the perfect solution, but that price!

 

Far Canal. 

 

 

[Burns-bass]

32 minutes ago, Happy Jack said:

Understood Laurie, but obvs our needs differ. For toting the DBs about I can rely on the assistance of my roadie, the doughty @Silvia Bluejay, and the only gig I've ever played upstairs on DB was one where I happened to have a KK BabyBass with me, which Silvie carted - solo - up a spiral staircase while I was off finding a parking space.

 

My problem with nylon gigbags built down to a price is that means that everything is built down to a price. The cheap nylon linings start to disintegrate within months, then the cheap zipper tags snap, then the cheap zippers themselves start to fail, and finally the cheap external handles start to rip free from the main bodybag.

 

I'll not claim that I'm the world's gentlest equipment handler, but when I'm breaking down at 1am after playing three hours of rock'n'roll I find it hard to remember "Careful with that gigbag Eugene ...".

 

@Beedster's Bulletproof Deluxe is the perfect solution, but that price!

 

Far Canal. 

 

 

It’s a hard one. I normally buy expensive and buy once, but £875 for a gigbag is insane.

 

For that you could get 10 Hidersine ones.

 

I reckon you need to start treating my old bass better or I’ll have to start proceedings to get it back.

 

 

[Happy Jack]

Currently taking a look at https://messinacovers.com/bass-covers but there's absolutely no pricing info that I can see. 🙄

[Happy Jack]

Also https://drumlandsound.com/index.php?route=product/category&path=1951_1952_1979_1983&sort=pd.name&order=ASC&limit=50&page=1

 

Those Christopher bags look pretty handy.

[Burns-bass]

29 minutes ago, Happy Jack said:

Also https://drumlandsound.com/index.php?route=product/category&path=1951_1952_1979_1983&sort=pd.name&order=ASC&limit=50&page=1

 

Those Christopher bags look pretty handy.

These do look good.

 

All joking aside I’ve got a 3 week tour potentially on the offing next year and I’d love to hear your reviews of this if you go this route.

[Happy Jack]

@Burns-bass - this makes interesting reading:

 

 

The relevant measurements for your old Alcoa are 74" overall (plus 2" for the endpin), 47" body (again plus 2" for the endpin), 20.5" upper bout, 26" lower bout.

 

I'm now thinking this isn't a 3/4 DB so much as a 7/8 DB ...

 

 

[Burns-bass]

5 minutes ago, Happy Jack said:

@Burns-bass - this makes interesting reading:

 

 

The relevant measurements for your old Alcoa are 74" overall (plus 2" for the endpin), 47" body (again plus 2" for the endpin), 20.5" upper bout, 26" lower bout.

 

I'm now thinking this isn't a 3/4 DB so much as a 7/8 DB ...

 

 

Yes when I had it checked and worked on by my Martin Penning he reckoned it was nearer 7/8. 
 

It would fit into a 3/4 case (albeit snugly) which confused the issue slightly.

 

I miss that old bass. 

[Happy Jack]

On 17/08/2025 at 10:30, Happy Jack said:

Also https://drumlandsound.com/index.php?route=product/category&path=1951_1952_1979_1983&sort=pd.name&order=ASC&limit=50&page=1

 

I was actually very impressed with the range of DB gigbags these people sell, and their prices are really keen, so I did some digging.

 

Oh dear.

 

Oh dear, oh dear.

 

Oh dearie, dearie me.

 

It's apparently a tiny music store in Thessaloniki, up near the Macedonian border: Papafi 91, Thessaloniki 544 53, Greece if you want to check them out.

 

Their FB page comprises endless photos of the same guy playing solo sax in different settings: https://www.facebook.com/drumlandsound/

 

Am I interested in sending Loadsamoney to Stavros? I am not.

 

[Happy Jack]

On 17/08/2025 at 10:27, Happy Jack said:

Currently taking a look at https://messinacovers.com/bass-covers but there's absolutely no pricing info that I can see. 🙄

 

This is making progress. They're giving a rough estimate of US$750 for a tailor-made bag to fit my bass, and in a custom colour. On top of that I'm looking at US$125 for shipping, and then at UK duty & VAT, so we're heading back towards UK£800 overall, but that's for a custom build.

 

The conversation continues.

 

[Happy Jack]

On 16/08/2025 at 20:42, Beedster said:

I bought one of these when they were only £400, you won’t break it though 👍

 

https://www.thomann.co.uk/soundwear_performer_3234_02.htm

 

This remains a lovely piece of kit but it's deffo intended for a genuine 3/4 DB, not a 7/8 DB like my Alcoa. Overall length is 2cm short (bit of a stretch but probably manageable), but body length is 7cm short for my bass.

 

My guess is that I could just about squeeze the Alcoa into this gigbag but it would be pulled out of shape with inevitable potentially disadvantageous consequences.

 

I.E. I'd end up breaking something.

 

Not keen to spend £835 to find out.

 

[pete.young]

If you've got room in the van, one of those semi-rigid cases with wheels might be an option? Someone had one FOC on the forum a couple of months ago, but it wouldn't fit into my car.

[Happy Jack]

Thanks Pete. Used to have one of these in 3/4 size, but I too gave it away. 

 

It would fit quite easily in my vehicle but (a) it was a right bugger to manoevre through the front door, the front hall, and the 90-degree turn into the sitting room, and (b) once emptied it took up as much room as when it was full.

 

Not sure whether they actually do these in 7/8 size anyway.

 

[JPJ]

I transport ‘Lilly’ in a Gewa Prestige bag, which seems to be well built and robust for the price (I paid £170 from Thomann).

[Happy Jack]

1 minute ago, JPJ said:

I transport ‘Lilly’ in a Gewa Prestige bag, which seems to be well built and robust for the price (I paid £170 from Thomann).

 

Their Prestige bag is described as "Gewa-Tex" which sounds to me like an expensive way to describe nylon while making people think that it's Gore-Tex.

 

What is yours actually made of (in the real world, not the marketing blurb)?

 

 

[JPJ]

I’ll take a look when I get home at the weekend, just landed in Nashville so heading out for some local culture yeehaw 🤠

[Happy Jack]

The bottom end of Broadway (down near the Cumberland River) is one of my favorite places on the planet.