Rockbag 20507 Gig Bag Hollow Body

A review of this product has to bear in mind its price. Compared to other bags that I have both above and below this price range, I think that it holds its place quite well. Overall, it is well made. I have not found incorrect stitching, seams or threads hanging about on the one I got. It has quite ample storage for the notepads, cabling and other typical guitar materials one would routinely carry about. I also like very much the dedicated padding for the headstock and Velcro fastening strap to hold the guitar in place. There is also a padding at the footing of the bag to cushion the guitar when the bag is rested upright. Some reviewers have criticized the padding for not being thick enough but it is fine enough for me and I also would highlight that many other bags in this price range do not have this option. The bag is made of nylon material which makes it very soft so that, even with the guitar in it, it hangs loose like a bad fitting suit that may crumble off!! The soft nylon material also obviously raises some questions about the bag’s sturdiness against wear or tear. I however knew about the material before I bought the bag and this is of course also the reason why it is priced the way it is, at only about half the price of its much sturdier brother made of “Rocktex” that I have had for more than ten years, used it for long travel several times and it is going very strong without any real damage. Other reviews are also critical of the zipper but once again this is the type that one sees in most bags at this price range. For sure, mine has got stuck once or twice as I was drawing it open or closing it but so far it is working well and has certainly not jumped out of socket. There is also a lot criticism in the reviews about the bag’s straps which are said to be too thin and some have even apparently had theirs tearing off. Here again, these are pretty much what one sees in bags in this price range and frankly I have seen much worse. In my case, I hardly ever have to log the guitar over my back because of the limited mobile uses to which I put it and I really have not experienced any particular problem when I have slung the bag over my shoulder loaded with the guitar. The more important element for me is rather the handle. One reviewer has criticized it saying that his bag was difficult to carry in a balanced manner. I have to say that this has not been my experience so far and the bag carries normally without either nose-diving or kicking upwards to my face! I am also not unhappy with the padding of the bag as a whole. It is clearly not as thick as in the “Rocktex” version or other pricier bags but I would not call it thin either. Rather, I find it quite sufficient for the relatively controlled uses I had in mind when I bought the bag, namely for daily keeping of the guitar, to protect it from moisture, dust, dirt and other interferences of that nature and to use it for my weekly drives to the guitar class. I would definitely not use it for heavy or long-term storage of the guitar or in places or situations where it could be knocked about or drop down heavily. It is clearly also not suitable at all if you had to check in your guitar on a flight. In fact, even if you took the guitar in this bag with you in the cabin and placed it in the overhead locker, I do not think it would be well protected from items that other pax might place on it. Taking all these considerations into account, my overall view is that as long as the buyer is quite clear on the limitations of the bag and, even more importantly, the uses to which s/he plans to put it, for what you get at this price, it is quite a good buy for one’s money and even better than some others in this price range. The only other caution I would highlight is that buyers should pay special attention to the information that THE BAG IS MEANT SPECIFICALLY FOR HOLLOW-BODY GUITARS!! For regular ST, T style or double cut solid body guitars, it is way too large and would not be suitable at all. Even with the head-stock strapped in, the guitar wobbles around quite a bit and, as I have said, the bag fits in only a crumble around it! In fact, even for my Epiphone ES339 for which I bought the bag, it is way too large, tall and long and I have to pad the guitar with some soft materials for it to fit snugly and for the bag to be able to stand upright properly. But even with all that, I still made the decision to keep the bag and I am overall happy with it.